DISCIPLESHIP AND OUR CULTURAL ADDICTION TO PLEASURE

I'm reading Spirit of the Disciplines this week and something Dallas Willard has said there struck me: as a society, we are addicted--even more, committed--to our own pleasure. I see it in those around me; I see it in myself.

To be honest, I usually see it after I've made a choice. Too often, I feel regret rather than intention, for in the moment of decision, commitment to pleasure wins out over other commitments.

Some stuff to ponder:

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 Timothy 4:6-10

What then is the specific role of the spiritual disciplines? Their role rests upon the nature of the embodied human self--they are to mold and shape it. And our part in our redemption is through specific and appropriate activities, to "yield" the plastic substance of which we are made to the ways of that new life which is imparted to us by the "quickening spirit."

Dallas Willard
Spirit of the Disciplines, pg. 92

I've a few more chapters to read, and other works by other authors to add to my investigation, but even now I must ask, how do we, as embodied persons pummeled by our culture, get past the cultural training?

Tag(s): spiritual formation