The Deepest Desire of Our Animal Brain • We are more distracted than ever, and marketing departments have figured out how to manipulate our vulnerabilities in human psychology. • Our deep urge to look and feel good just to get us to buy a product is a rule of life, and it’s a way of staying true to our deepest desires.
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These primal drives and all of us for sexual or sensual pleasure, for hedonistic gratification, for domination, for survival. And I don’t know if this is true or not, but it feels like it’s never been easier to get sidetracked by our animal brain than in the digital age. Where not only are we distracted all of the time, as T.S. Eliot said decades before Twitter, I assume that naming has no relation, quote, in this Twittering world where we are distracted by distraction. He said that, it’s fascinating. As he, like not only are we more distracted than ever, but marketing departments, the world over have figured out how to manipulate the vulnerabilities in human psychology and how To monetize this part of our animal brain that is literally wired for comparison to like plot ourselves, people above us, behind us to our right, to our left and for competition, and This deep urge that we all feel to look and feel good just in order to get us to buy a product. A rule of life is an act of defiance against the digital empire. It’s a way of staying true to our deepest desires, not the surface level desires that we feel most days, but the deepest ones for union with God, for what the early church called theosis In Greek or deification to become deified in the sense of to becomeA Good Rule of Life: A Guide to Peace in a Distracted World • We are more distracted than ever. • Marketing departments around the world have figured out how to manipulate human psychology. • A good rule of life should help us experience peace day over week, over month, over year.
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As he, like not only are we more distracted than ever, but marketing departments, the world over have figured out how to manipulate the vulnerabilities in human psychology and how To monetize this part of our animal brain that is literally wired for comparison to like plot ourselves, people above us, behind us to our right, to our left and for competition, and This deep urge that we all feel to look and feel good just in order to get us to buy a product. A rule of life is an act of defiance against the digital empire. It’s a way of staying true to our deepest desires, not the surface level desires that we feel most days, but the deepest ones for union with God, for what the early church called theosis In Greek or deification to become deified in the sense of to become like God Himself in our inner woman or man, and to do whatever it was that we were put on earth to do before God. So we don’t get sucked off track into just scrolling on Instagram or buying more things that we don’t need and eventually just throw out or watching Netflix late until the night. To really live in deep alignment with what we most want at the core of our being before God, where our spirit touches God’s spirit in our soul. And finally, a good rule of life should help us experience peace day over week, over month, over year.Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos • Jordan Peterson is a Canadian public intellectual who has a fascinating critique of how far left now is, in particular Marxism and postmodernity. • He is ostracized by pretty much every major media outlet in the world, but his book, “12 Rules for Life,” is the number one bestselling book on Amazon.com all over the English speaking world.
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I don’t know about you and I hesitate to say this, but I found last year in particular the Jordan-Peterson phenomenon just fascinating, from an adjective kind of like observer on the Sidelines. Here comes this dude out of nowhere, this Canadian public intellectual, who’s basically a center left classic Union clinical psychologist. And he has a really fascinating critique of how far left now is, in particular Marxism and post-modernity in some of the ways that it’s thrown around at a popular level. Now he’s not actually a conservative, so everybody hates the guy, right? Liberals all hate him because he’s not liberal enough, conservatives all hate him because he’s not actually a conservative. So he’s ostracized, he becomes a social pariah, he’s ostracized by pretty much every major media outlet in the world, every op-ed I could find on him was all negative, most of it just Characters, and every intellectual I read on him was just a poo-poo him off to the side. And yet he publishes a book called, wait for it, 12 Rules for Life, can you think of a less millennial title? Then 12 Rules for Life, and over a year, don’t quote me on the exact stat here, but for basically a year and a half, it is the number one best-selling book on amazon.com all over the English Speaking world.The Menu Anxiety of the Urban Elite • Having a lot of options can be anxietyprovoking. • It’s better for children to be raised in a conservative home.
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Right? You ever been there? Like I’ve only been a few times, but inevitably you have some suburban friend who just drags you out to cheesecake factory, or grandma or something, and you sit there, you never been There, you open the menu, and first off it’s basically an advertisement, and in between the advertisements it’s like a textbook. I don’t know how many things they have in the menu, hundreds, I have no idea if that’s an exaggeration or not. And I just feel like a limbic system just spiked with a deep primal fear. It’s like a predator just came out of me or something, and I’m scared to death because of so many options. And the reality is the more options that you have, which often come, the more upwardly mobile you are, the more money you have, the more you’re in an urban context, the more you’re in a Leftist or liberal or progressive kind of context, the more anxiety you feel. Psychologists argue that for mental health it’s far better for children to be raised in a conservative home than a progressive home, because children freak out when there isn’t structure, Boundaries, rules, law, order. It’s so counterintuitive to everything that we hear, much of it with a capitalistic agenda, because people that don’t have a rule of life are easy prey. Margaret Gunther, wife, mother, and Anglican priests, and also a beautifulThe Anti-Rule • Psychologists argue that for mental health it’s far better for children to be raised in a conservative home than a progressive home, because children freak out when there isn’t structure, boundaries, rules, law, order. • Margaret Gunther, wife, mother, and Anglican priests, and also a beautiful writer in her little book on the rule of life, says it so very well, quote, a good rule can actually set us free to be our true and best selves. • It is a working document, a kind of spiritual budget, I like that, not carved in stone, but subject to regular review and revision. • It should support us, but never constrict us, and there’s that healthy balance.
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Psychologists argue that for mental health it’s far better for children to be raised in a conservative home than a progressive home, because children freak out when there isn’t structure, Boundaries, rules, law, order. It’s so counterintuitive to everything that we hear, much of it with a capitalistic agenda, because people that don’t have a rule of life are easy prey. Margaret Gunther, wife, mother, and Anglican priests, and also a beautiful writer in her little book on the rule of life, says it so very well, quote, a good rule can actually set us free To be our true and best selves. It is a working document, a kind of spiritual budget, I like that, not carved in stone, but subject to regular review and revision. It should support us, but never constrict us, and there’s that healthy balance. Now, if you hear all of this, and it sounds overwhelming to you, you’re already tired and stressed out, and now you’re like, you’re hearing about how you’re doing something else wrong From me, or it triggers a deep, emotional kind of defense mechanism in you, the antonomy and anti-rule thing, or a wound from a legalistic prior church experience, or your current church Experience, or whatever. Here is something for you to consider, if you just take a deep breath.Tips for Living a Rule of Life • For now, let’s shift gears and do a few best practices for how to actually do this. • The rest of our time is going to feel more like a tutorial than a sermon, so I’m not sure if I should say I’m sorry or you’re welcome. • But that’s fine with me because the whole point of a rule of life is to move from kind of information and inspiration to formation, to get something out of your mind and into your muscle memory.
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For now, let’s shift gears tonight and do a few best practices for how to actually do this. The rest of our time is going to feel a little bit more like a tutorial than a sermon, so I’m not sure if I should say I’m sorry or you’re welcome. But that’s fine with me because the whole point of a rule of life is to move from kind of information and inspiration to formation, to get something out of your mind and into your muscle Memory. So really fast, here’s seven things to keep in mind as you come up with your own personal rule of life. First is this, just start small. It’s tempting to overreach an attempt to live like a monk or a nun from day one, you know? Like let’s do all of the things right now. Margaret Grunther calls this first day of Lent syndrome, which I love is fantastic. And that is a strategy bound to fail. Start as a general rule, the adage is start where you are at, not where you should be, where you think or feel you should be. Don’t let guilt or shame or anxiety or legalism or pressure from the stage motivate you, but let love and desire to follow God and to receive his love motivate you.How to Balance Spiritual Disciplines • We need a balance of upstream and downstream practices. • We need to make sure our rule is holistic. • We need to be careful not to forget that everything we do is a spiritual discipline.
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They target the part of you where you’re really weak in you or I have a lot of growth ahead of us on the road with Jesus. But then we also need downstream practices or disciplines, which just are the opposite. They are fun. They are life-giving. They don’t even feel like spiritual disciplines. They just feel like having fun with Jesus and his people or whatever. And they just flow naturally out of our being. I think as a general rule, we need a lot of downstream practices and a few upstream practices. But their need, we need to architect some kind of a healthy balance. Finally, make sure, number seven, that your rule is holistic. Meaning you are a whole person. I love that word holistic. Jesus said that we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength. Meaning with all that we are. The downside to a moniker like spiritual disciplines is we forget at some level that everything is a spiritual discipline. Scrolling on Insta is a spiritual discipline. Watching Netflix is a spiritual discipline. Going to 24-hour fitness is a spiritual discipline. Sleeping in is a spiritual discipline. Meaning everything that we do, it does something to form our spirit. Our inner woman or man.How to Make a Rule of Life that Works for You • A rule of life is just a tool to an end, and the end goal is to become more loving and joyful and peaceful in the Kingdom of God with Jesus. • It’s important to prioritize rest, and to not make your rule of life a list of things to do.
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So make sure that you always revisit, revisit, revisit. Just to ask with honesty and compassion, is this still doing its job? To bring my soul before the life of Jesus. Second, remember that a good rule is a means to an end. I say this all the time, but I just have to say it until I’m blue in the face. A rule of life is just like all of the practices or spiritual disciplines. All of them are a means to an end. So the end goal is not, I have a rule of life and I’m really disciplined with it. Who cares? The end goal is that you’re becoming more loving and more joyful and more peaceful in the Kingdom of God with Jesus year over year. A rule of life is just a tool to that end. You don’t even have to do it if you don’t want to become loving and joyful and peaceful. You don’t need to do it at all. Sorry, it’s a little sarcasm there, which I’m still working on with Jesus. I’m sorry. The more tired I get as it goes on, the less Christlike I am, which is why I sleep eight hours a night is on my rule of life. But it’s a means to an end. The end is to experience life in the Kingdom of Jesus and be transformed into the image of Jesus. Finally, number three, remember to prioritize rest. It’s really tempting just to make your rule of life a list of things to do. It’s just as important that it’s a list of things to not do or specifically to rest.The Importance of Disciplines of Engagement • Disciplines of engagement are ones like the one you’re doing right now, like church or what he called worship, where you’re doing a spiritual discipline right now. • Disciplines of abstinence are where you abstain. It’s about not what you’re doing, but what you’re not doing. So fasting is the example par excellence, where you abstain from food, or silence and solitude, where you abstain from noise and stimuli and other people. • As a general rule, the more busy your life is, the more you’re in an urban or metropolitan context, the more you’re in a job that isn’t just like a way to pay the bills for you, but it’s some kind of a career or even more, it’s a vocation. You feel like it’s your calling in life. The older you get, the more responsibility you have, if you’re a parent or you’re in a marriage or some kind of a long-term relationship, the more your life is full, the more you need to prioritize disciplines of abstinence, specifically disciplines of rest, such as Sabbath, and silence and solitude, and quiet in the morning, and sleep.
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Disciplines of engagement are ones like the one you’re doing right now, like church or what he called worship, where you’re doing a spiritual discipline right now. You’re doing something to form your spirit right now, and you engage. You stand, you come, you sing, you give, you pray, you clap, you celebrate, you listen, all of that stuff. Disciplines of abstinence are where you abstain. It’s about not what you’re doing, but what you’re not doing. So fasting is the example par excellence, where you abstain from food, or silence and solitude, where you abstain from noise and stimuli and other people. I think as a general rule, again, this is oversimplification, but as a general rule, the more busy your life is, the more you’re in an urban or metropolitan context, the more you’re in A job that isn’t just like a way to pay the bills for you, but it’s some kind of a career or even more, it’s a vocation. You feel like it’s your calling in life. The older you get, the more responsibility you have, if you’re a parent or you’re in a marriage or some kind of a long-term relationship, the more your life is full, the more you need to Prioritize disciplines of abstinence, specifically disciplines of rest, such as Sabbath, and silence and solitude, and quiet in the morning, and sleep.How to Live a Life That is Deeply Joyful, Peaceful, and Contented • Spiritual formation is important for living a fulfilling life. • The system of one’s dayday life is important for achieving spiritual formation. • Spiritual formation is not just theology or the Bible, it is a whole way of life.
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But I love to quote whenever we teach on spiritual formation and it’s this, your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you are getting. When you apply that logic to your spiritual formation or your emotional health or your relationship with Jesus or other people, the results, if the results that you are getting are, I live with a low-grade anxiety. I hate how I just get sucked into my phone. I hate that I’m in debt, I’m always behind on my budget. I don’t like how far I feel from God. I don’t like how I know a lot of people, but I don’t feel like depth of intimacy with that many people. I feel weird about my body where I feel uncomfortable in my own skin or I’m tired at all the time and I don’t sleep or whatever it is. Then the odds are that something about the system of your day-to-day life or mine is off-kilter. As we like to say, our life is the byproduct of our lifestyle. This is why Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. Not just the truth. I’m not just theology, I’m not just the Bible. I’m a way of life. I’m a whole way to be human. As Peterson said, it’s the way of Jesus wedded to the truth of Jesus that brings about the life of Jesus. The Lord said something to the effective, we must arrange our days so that we are experiencing deep joy, peace and contentment in our life with God.
