On Finishing Well (5): Teachability

 I've been looking at a fine article, written a few years back, about Finishing Well, by which the author means, "following Christ to the very end of our lives." I'm interested because, well, I've recently entered upon that potentially benighted state known as retirement. "Benighted," as you will see if you click on the link, means "overtaken by darkness." I don't want that to happen!

The article posits six characteristics of those who finish well. Of these, I have a word or two to say about the first three: Christ-centered, focused, and disciplined. You will notice that Christ-centered would seem to be an obvious one for one who wants to "follow Christ to the very end." But focus and discipline are more generic. They come together, for me, under the heading, avoid distractions.

The next trait in this author's list is teachable. Yes, I like that one. We are talking, keep in mind, about retirement, and so usually about people of a certain age. Gray-hairs, I might call them. Or in my own case, no-hairs. And it is not necessarily a common trait of our set to be teachable: to be willing and eager to learn.

I find it to be a rare trait. Many people, once they achieve a certain age, seem to disable their internal teachability mode. As with focus and discipline, this trait exists on a spectrum that not necessarily Christian. After all, one doesn't have to be a Christian to be teachable. Its my contention tat wen a Cristian pursues focus or discipline or teachability she pursues these things all along tat spectrum, not simply te Christian end of it.

So . . . advice to self: be always learning. Learn the names of those weeds growing in your lawn; learn how to fix a broken spoke on your bike; learn to read music, or the case for and against something before making up your mind, etc. There is, it seems, always learning to be done. 

As for the particular connection between being a Jesus follower and being teachable should be obvious. The very word disciple means student. The disciples often called Jesus "Teacher." By definition, a disciple places himself or herself in Jesus classroom, ready and eager to learn from the teacher. Our concern is for what Jesus says and what he does and where he leads. 

On Finishing Well (4): Discipline

 We're talking about discipline. It's the 3rd of six traits listed in Donald Sweeting's article about Finishing Well. The first was Christ-centered, the second was focused, and now we arrive at the third trait, disciplined.

You can kind of see how discipline might be an issue for some people who have recently retired (like me). I mean, all of the sudden you have time on your hands! How will you use it? Piper famously said to young people, "Don't waste your life," but time-wasting and life-wasting are keenly felt issues for many retired people.

When Christians talk about discipline they're inevitably talking about spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, etc. As for these things, I'm not a great "prayer-warrior" type, but I'm trying to pray every day. I'm also journaling through the Gospel of Mark (something I talk about briefly here and again here).

For spiritual disciplines, that's the tale of the tape. that's what I'm doing. I hope that it helps keep me a little more Jesus-centered, and a little more focused. Jesus knew the Scriptures well and he often stole away to pray. In delivering his all-important message he was focused and, yes, disciplined.

One thing I want to emphasize though is that there is no necessary bright line between so-called spiritual disciplines and other kinds of discipline. It is difficult to be disciplined about spiritual things but undisciplined (careless, heedless) about the rest of your life. This is why we teach children to make their beds, to be diligent about getting their homework done each day, and to hang in there against the inside pitches. Discipline is a spectrum, and these "little things" lay the foundation for greater things, greater kinds of discipline that they will need as they grow.

Me, I have not discovered yet what I will do for the Kingdom in my retirement. How specifically can I put my retirement to work for the Kingdom? And I will not find that answer apart from discipline: discipline in the little things, and discipline in the big things, the spiritual things. All these are disciplines that help me walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

The series so far: Introduction, Christ-Centered, Focused.

On finishing well (3): avoiding fatal distraction!

 Thus subject is focus, so let's try to, you know, FOCUS.

In Donald Sweeting's article, Finishing Well, where the author lists six traits of those who finish well, the second of these traits, just after "Christ-centered," is focus.

I suppose focus is a prerequisite for doing anything well, so there is no doubt then that it is crucial to finishing your life well. I should add here that when Sweeting uses this phrase, finishing well, he means "following Christ to the very end of our lives."

So I'll need focus, yes. The more so since everything about this culture, the very culture I've steeped in for nearly 67 years now, seems specifically designed to steal my focus, lessen my attention-span, and keep me always distracted. 

Neil Postman warned about just this in his 1985 book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, but he died before the rise of social media, which has only proven Postman all the more prophetic.

I think of Jesus, driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit after his baptism in the Jordan River, facing down the devil and his three temptations, each of which would have distracted him from his mission and thereby destroyed his mission (fatal distraction). And I think of Jesus "setting his face like flint" for Jerusalem, knowing all the while that crucifixion awaited him.

Jesus was nothing if not focused, and he was focused even under extreme duress. 

What are our main causes of distraction? First, I think, is time on our hands. Oh yes, I know, everyone is busy, but most of all still spend plenty of time flipping through the stations on TV or scrolling our social media feeds or trying to beat our personal best at Candy Crush.

Secondly, there are things in our life that we'd like to stop thinking about. We use distraction to take our minds off our worries or even our physical pain. Distraction as sedation!

And again, there is the pool we're swimming in. The commercial culture in which most us were raised is built to produce easily distractable beings. So to focus, to set your mind on one thing and not be turned to left or the right, feels like swimming against a mighty current. 

What can we do? Well, as a general practice, a discipline, we can cultivate long-term mental engagement. We might want to fast from social media now and then. We will probably have to increase our ability to focus by increments, and we'll have to work at it, but I think it is best to begin doing these things long before you reach retirement. 

I'm two weeks away from that blessed milestone, and I want to be sure that I have a focused finish. 

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Part 1, Part 2

On Finishing Well (2): A Jesus-centered Retirement

 I'm interacting with this article by Donald Sweeting from way back in 2014 on the subject of "finishing well." Sweeting lists 6 aspects of finishing well. Here they are:

1. Christ-centered
2. Focused
3. Spiritual disciplines
4. Teachable
5. Well-networked
6. A lifelong perspective

These 6 characteristics resonate with me. They seem right. They address areas where a lot of us feel challenged, especially as we get older. So I'm going to take these items one-at-a-time, assessing my own spiritual condition as I do so. 

CHRIST-CENTERED

This is foundational, I suppose. That is, the other 5 are going to be difficult, perhaps even fruitless, if this one isn't in place. 

The question arises, what does it actually mean? I know people who would answer that question differently than how Sweeting answered it. Here's what he says.

First, those who finish well have a Christ-centered life. They know they are saved by him, and they never get over it. He is their life source. He is the center of their affections. As Graham Kendrick put it in a one recent hymn, they know “there is no greater joy” than knowing him. Consequently, they focus more on loving Christ than avoiding sins. They know that a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus and a daily walk with him are essential to everything. He is the spring from which comes all spiritual fruit. He is the vine; we draw our life from him. When we plateau in our spiritual lives, we must come back to him and seek renewal. Why? Because he is “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

 A daily walk. Know him, talk of him and talk with him, learn from him, follow him, love him. I'm not a model Christian where all this is concerned, and it doesn't help that our churches are often not exactly Christ-centered either. They can be centered on many things, and some of these things might even be Jesus-adjacent, but that doesn't actually help. "Distraction" is what we're fighting against here. 

So how would it look to be Jesus-centered (I prefer the name to the title in this case)? First, I think I'd be reading my Bible more than I do, and especially the four biography-like books that tell his story. I'd come back to these four often. I'd be praying more, too, and not just beseeching God to help me through my troubles, but praying for more of Jesus. Prayer that is focused on Him, grateful to Him, and desirous of following Him into each new day.

As a soon-to-be retired guy, I want to make my retirement Jesus-rich . . . heart, mind, and hand.

On Finishing Well (1): Ask for the Ancient Paths

 I'm still a working stiff for another 4 weeks, so that's going to make fitting in these posts a little tricky. But I want to come back here frequently, establishing the habit of putting words down, forming sentences, trying to say a little something.

Speaking of retirement, I googled "finishing well" yesterday and the first few options were from Desiring God, The Navigators, and the National Association of Evangelicals. I liked the last of these three and would like to consider it in detail here. The article is by Daniel Sweeting. It lists 6 characteristics of those who finish well. But first, what does "finishing well" even mean?

Sweeting puts it this way:

When we use the phrase, “finishing well,” we mean following Christ to the very end of our lives, finishing his assignments for us and hearing his “well done, good and faithful servant.”

When I think about finishing well, I think about not wasting my retirement. I don't want retirement to be a time of lackadaisical meandering, looking for projects to keep me busy, etc. I suppose I want it to have purpose, an aim. Even the term "finishing well" conjures the metaphor of a footrace. You want to keep running, even despite the fact that in many ways you're slowing down. You want to keep your eyes on the prize, to remain faithful to the call, etc. All those articles linked above speak of such matters.

I'm at the doorstep of a new era of my life. It feels something like graduation from high school. What now? I think Sweeting's definition of finishing well is basically right. It's about "following Jesus." I'm going to look one-at-a-time at his six characteristics in future posts. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to figure some things out, burn away the fog. I hope so!

This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." Isaiah 6:16