Daily Practices

The Psychology of Discipleship 102: Daily Practices

We live in a hurried age. Many technological advances have promised to make our lives more efficient so we can focus on what matters most, but instead we still live an anxious pace of life with little room for time with our Creator. The simple invention of the lightbulb dropped average hours of sleep from 11 hours to 7 hours per night. Where does that time go these days? Most recent estimates show Americans average 3 hours per day of smartphone use. For some of us, our phones are the only escape from our fast-paced life of productivity, the 24/7 news cycle, jam-packed kids activity schedule, or “just one more episode.” What if we could escape to what our souls and bodies are really craving?

All this hurry has produced a divided age with little time to be neighborly. The last decade’s worth of digital headlines are polluted with prejudice, political polarization, and violent extremism. Many of us think we’re above that, but get sucked into the culture-warring around us full of name-calling that Jesus warned about (Matthew 5:21-22). Unfortunately, once we finally have true face-to-face time with our neighbors, often “it seems the most interesting person in the room… isn’t a person at all. It’s a cell phone” (Jeff Shinabarger). The cycle repeats, but what if we could break this cycle?

A growing number of church leaders have noticed that this “lost discipleship time” has been costly to both our spiritual, mental, and community wellness. However, many church leaders subscribe to a goal-driven discipleship that is spiritually ambitious but impractical and unrealistic – producing just as much hurry, hustle, and burnout as the world does. The good news is that Jesus calls us to a walk that is not about hurry, but is mindful of how much intention we give to our attention. Many discipleship experts have shown a more patient way around the “hustle culture” with the support of an ancient practice called a “rule of life” or intentional daily habits. With the everyday grace of God, we can give our attention more intention towards following the patient way of Jesus and His kingdom. 

Dr. Chris Barclay, The Psychology of Discipleship

Part 2 Digging Deeper

1. What societal symptoms of hurry and division (e.g., the anxious pace of life, less sleep, partisanship, and polarization) do you mourn the most?

1. What daily habit (e.g., news, family commuting, to-do list, social media, streaming videos) is your largest source of “lost discipleship time?”
2. How do you react to the idea of small, incremental daily habits as a structure to discipleship?
3. What daily habit – a cue, practice, and grace – would you like to try to take a step towards being a “disciple first”? 
4. What other examples do you have of small, daily practices that help you slow down to pay attention to God and/or your neighbor?