Lots of Rules, But No Discipline

My mom and I listened as Janna* detailed the challenges of her work at a local private school.  As a teacher’s aide, she was directed to monitor school-aged children but never to interrupt their behavior. If a dissatisfied child was hitting a classmate with a wooden block, Janna was not allowed to use her hands to grab the block and stop the hitting. Additionally, there were no consequences to dole out to the child for hitting a classmate.  She also detailed that an enrolled infant could not cry for more than 1 minute, even if the classroom teacher was occupied with soothing another child.  School administrators delivered “violation” notices to teachers if they reprimanded children or if infants were caught crying for more than 60 seconds.  Each violation resulted in a permanent rebuke in a teacher’s employment record.  At the end of the retelling Janna remarked, “There are lots of rules, but no discipline.”

Her final statement drove home the sentiment that although the school employed a long list of rules (aimed at teachers) for maintaining classroom learning environments that met parental expectations and institutional standards, students were never disciplined into acceptable forms of social behavior. The thought caused me to reflect on my encounters with rules and discipline.

We apply rules to our diets, physical activity regimens, dating behaviors and spousal preferences, financial management, Bible reading, and other elements of our daily lives. Yet, we consistently fall short of maintaining allegiance to these rules because we have not been disciplined into authentic alignment with what works best for us. We eat past 9pm and abandon our morning workouts after 14 days. We spend too much money Labor Day weekend, and forget to keep up with our devotional readings (despite reminders from the Bible App).  Even Paul remarked, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15).

Although the word “discipline” invokes relation to abuse and control, the Bible says that the Lord disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6). I believe that the enemy has contaminated our appetite for discipline to keep us stuck in a cycle of determining rules for ourselves and failing to meet them, leading us to feel shame and to hide from God. And when we hide from God, we stop inquiring about his best for us.

As I walk out freedom from rebellion, will I trust the Lord to discipline me?  Will you trust the Lord to discipline you in every dimension of your life? Will you invite him in?

*name changed