Over the past few years, social media influencers have taken the world by storm. Influencers are known for a large following, income from brand partnerships, and authenticity in sharing their daily life. Some influencers love sharing their life drama, latest Trader Joe’s or Target shopping haul, or their opinions on the latest political and social happenings. Others share “get ready with me” videos and all the revolutionary cleaning products that you should order on Amazon right this second. Others are what many would label “Christian influencers,” or those whose target audience is Christian men and women. We often find these influencers sharing their testimony, reviewing yet another Bible study (You wonder: is that her fifth time this month?), or posting about what they learned in their daily quiet time. As you close out of social media, a feeling of frustration sinks in.
Why can’t I have all these great brand partnerships, the best cleaning products, and a great spiritual life like all these other people?
What’s the purpose in trying when it feels like I’m not growing spiritually and these spiritual “disciplines” seem so pointless?
Will any of this time in God’s Word ever pay off?
Friend, I’ve asked myself all these questions (and more!) and have wondered how, if at all, God would use my time in the Word and various spiritual disciplines to enrich my walk with him. When you feel like giving up on that latest Bible study, don’t want to attend worship, regret implementing spiritual disciplines, or don’t desire to read Scripture, I encourage you to go back and reflect on the goal of spiritual disciplines: revealing the purpose and aim of our worship, discerning if we’re a follower or disciple, and meeting with God where he is revealed.
Revealing the Purpose and Aim of Our Worship
One purpose of spiritual disciplines is to reveal the purpose and aim of our worship. One author distinguishes between purpose and aim—purpose is about a result, while aim is about a particular target toward which you work or perform.1
According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the “chief end” (purpose) of every person is to “glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”2 As sinful people, the purpose for which we often live is not the glory of God, but our own gain, pleasure, and achievement, which is idolatry. In Exodus 20:3-6, God commanded the Israelites,
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Exodus 20:3-6
When we practice spiritual disciplines, they help us reexamine the purpose of our worship. The worship of every believer should be directed to God, not idols formed by our hearts and minds. Your time in God’s Word should aid your growth in grace and knowledge of God, and in turn, result in your living to glorify God in all things.
Regularly practicing spiritual disciplines also helps us reconsider and discern the ultimate aim of our worship. In his book You Are What You Love, James K.A. Smith explains, “Worship is the arena in which God recalibrates our hearts, reforms our desires, and rehabituates our loves. Worship isn’t just something we do; it is where God does something to us. Worship is the heart of discipleship because it is the gymnasium in which God retrains our hearts.”3 By regularly, faithfully practicing spiritual disciplines, we are forced to reexamine the aim of our worship. Am I seeking to have my heart, desires, loves, and entire life shaped by God’s Word, or am I merely doing this to cross off something on my long to-do list? As you faithfully, consistently spend time in God’s Word and practice spiritual disciplines, your heart, desires, loves, and life will be shaped to honor and reflect Christ. The world, flesh, and devil will seek to redirect your worship away from Christ to other things. By making spiritual disciplines and time in God’s Word foundational to our lives, we reorient our hearts, desires, loves and life to the worship of God.
Are You a Follower or a Disciple?
In addition to helping us re-examine the aim and purpose of our worship, spiritual disciplines make us ask ourselves: Who or what is discipling my heart? Who or what do I follow, give my attention to, and offer my allegiance to?
In a world that is filled with influencers, it’s easy to become a disciple. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with tapping the “follow” button and engaging with their content, it can turn you from a mere follower—someone who observes and engages—into a disciple, seeking to become like them. Soon, you’re buying the clothes they recommend, browsing Zillow for a home like theirs, and envying the new cars, fancy vacations, and spotless home they have. You’ve become a disciple, molding your purchases and life habits to mirror an influencer you follow. Before you realize it, any time you’d previously used to read God’s Word is replaced by scrolling on Instagram or TikTok, becoming a disciple of another sinful person, rather than Christ. When you have a hard day, your kids are misbehaving, or you’ve had another fight with your spouse, instead of turning to God for help, you scroll and scroll, comparing your imperfect life to the influencers who seem to have it all together. Instead of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, you’ve become the disciple of a sinful person.
Friend, as you spend time in God’s Word and practice spiritual disciplines, you will be challenged to reexamine your heart. In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus explains to his disciples,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26
One commentator remarked, “The person who rejects God’s will and instead pursues his own will for his life ultimately loses eternally every earthly good he is trying to protect. . . Acquiring all of the money, pleasure, and power of this world brings no lasting benefit if one forfeits his soul to spiritual death and separation from God.”4 Friend, when you commit to regularly reading Scripture and make spiritual disciplines an integral part of your walk with Christ, you will be confronted with a life-changing question: Will you be a mere follower of Jesus Christ and the disciple of an influencer, or will you choose to follow an influencer and be a committed, genuine disciple of Jesus Christ? At the end of your life, will you look back on thousands of dollars spent on clothing, houses, and vacations that were ultimately destroyed (Matthew 6:19)? Or will you look back on your life and observe the ways that you grew “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)?
Meeting with God Where He Reveals Himself
Finally, spiritual disciplines help us meet and commune with God in the place where he is revealed—the Bible. The author of Hebrews explains, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The Bible is a gift from God to his people so we might know, love, honor, serve, and discern his will for us. At the end of the day, the best way to truly know God and grow in grace is by reading, memorizing, and studying the Word. No amount of podcasts, church services, devotionals, or theology books can replace the invaluable time spent knowing God as he is revealed in Scripture.
Because God’s Word is the way we know him, we are called to be attentive and committed to regularly investing ourselves in studying it. Consider a new romantic relationship or friendship—the best way to know the other person is by spending time with them and asking questions. Over time, the relationship or friendship is built and deepened. In the same way, the only way you will experience true growth in your faith and knowledge of Christ is by regularly investing yourself in studying God’s Word and asking questions about the nature, character, and actions of God. Who is God? What is God’s character, and how is it displayed in Scripture? How has God acted on behalf of his children over time, and how does that apply to me? As you read God’s Word regularly, you are communing with him where he desires to meet you. God’s Word is a gift, a priceless treasure of great value—treat it and use it as such! God delights to reveal more about his nature, character and goodness to you. No time spent in God’s Word is wasted—he uses it to grow our faith and make us devoted, joyful disciples who long to live and love as he did (albeit imperfectly). Friend, there is great reward and joy for those who make God’s Word their ultimate delight and greatest priority.
Before you go back to scrolling Instagram, filling your Amazon cart, or browsing Zillow for multi-million dollar homes, I encourage you to use the questions below to reevaluate your attitude towards and practice of spiritual disciplines. Friend, God promises to use the time you spend in his Word and practicing spiritual disciplines to reorient the purpose and aim of your worship; make you his committed, passionate disciple (not a mere follower!); and teach you more about himself and his character through the Bible. Spiritual disciplines and time in God’s Word are never, ever useless, but rather, are the things God uses to strengthen us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. . . ” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Return, again and again, to the Word of God, and run your race well until you meet your Savior face to face.
Reflection and Evaluation Questions
- Where do I feel like giving up in my relationship with God?
- What would my phone use, purchasing habits, and daily attitude say about my worship?
- Do I worship God or worship worldly idols?
- When I spend time reading God’s Word or practicing another spiritual discipline, what is my purpose in doing so? Am I seeking to check off a box on my to-do list, or am I doing it with the goal of having my entire life shaped by God’s Word?
- Am I a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ? What evidence in my life demonstrates whom I’ve chosen to follow or be a disciple of?
- Do I delight in spending time knowing God as he is revealed in his Word? Do I give God as much time as I give my friends, family, and others?
- What is one step I can take this week to recommit myself to and reorient my attitude toward spiritual disciplines and time in God’s Word?
Footnotes
1 “Difference Between Aim and Purpose,” Difference Between, Published on May 21, 2011, https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-aim-and-vs-purpose/. Accessed March 3, 2023.
2 “The Westminster Shorter Catechism,” Published in 1649. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, https://www.opc.org/sc.html. Accessed March 4, 2023.
3 James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016), 77.
4 ESV Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 1856.
Photo credit: Ashley Kate Miller
Leah Jolly is a graduate of Wheaton College where she studied international relations and Spanish. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband, Logan, and is pursuing her MDiv at Calvin Theological Seminary. She attends Harvest OPC in Wyoming, Michigan. You can connect with Leah on Instagram and Substack.
