I ran across an interesting op-ed piece in the New York Times titled Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind, written by two authorities on neuroscience, Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang. They present two scientific discoveries that I believe to have interesting implications for Christian discipleship, particularly the value of asceticism and spiritual disciplines.
The first discovery is that people have limited amounts of willpower, so that at any given point in time, exercising self-control in one area tends to diminish one’s ability to exercise control in another:
The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others. . . . The brain’s store of willpower is depleted when people control their thoughts, feelings or impulses, or when they modify their behavior in pursuit of goals.
That’s the bad news.
The second finding is that self-control can be developed and increased over time:
The good news, however, is that practice increases willpower capacity, so that in the long run, buying less now may improve our ability to achieve future goals . . .
Neither of these discoveries are particularly earth-shaking. Perhaps I should call them scientific confirmations. My point, however, is that I found this article helpful because I have pondered the value of spiritual disciplines in light of the following passage of Scripture:
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23, English Standard Version)
In light of Paul’s teaching, what value is there in such disciplines as fasting, which might appear to be the application of “asceticism and severity to the body.” Paul seemed to me to be saying that this kind of activity is useless in controlling the flesh.
On further reflection, Paul may not be saying that exercising self-discipline has no value. Instead, he is saying that an ascetic lifestyle, which consists of rules which prohibit eating certain kinds of foods, or forbidding marriage (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5), or keeping certain Jewish laws based on clean/unclean distinctions, cannot control the flesh and its passions. An all-or-nothing approach is incompatible with the way our souls/bodies work.
It may be that long-term, consistent work at self-control may work when it is part of a lifestyle that acknowledges the goodness of our bodies and of creation:
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5, ESV)
After all, elsewhere Paul can speak of discipline positively:
But I discipline my body and keep it under control,lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV)
What I am getting at is that use of spiritual disciplines is not the same as adopting an ascetic lifestyle. It is the application of various practices which, over time, can be of assistance in our pursuit of becoming more like Jesus Christ. That is to say, on the one hand, asceticism tends to be self-defeating because our capacity for excercising willpower is limited. On the other hand, spiritual disciplines can be effective because they take into account the reality that personal change takes place over time.
