Training to be godly

Just a few blocks west of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah stands the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Completed in 1909, this Roman Gothic Catholic cathedral features a beautiful series of German stained glass windows. The description of these windows piqued my interest and resulted in an afternoon visit. The windows were beautiful but they quickly lost significance in the peace and sense of God’s presence that enveloped me. Several people occupied the pews in quiet meditation and prayer. All around the holy hush drew the eye and spirit upward to God.

This experience stayed with me for many days. I pondered it in conjunction with several phrases I had been mulling over. How did this fit in with Jesus’ words in Luke 12:21 about being “rich toward God” and Paul’s exhortation in 1 Timothy 4:7 to “train yourself to be godly”? Being rich towards God sounds so great until I think of it in terms of training towards godliness. It’s the training that becomes the stumbling block; harder even than physical training. Being rich towards God sounds wonderful and pious while I am reading books on spirituality. It’s a totally different picture when I am called to live out what I have read. When I am asked to walk through those times that God seems to be absent from my life, training to be godly is just plain hard work.

The disciples started their training by leaving their occupations and following Jesus. They found new meaning and direction in life. Life was rich and the way before them exciting. But then Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, the place of certain death. The training track now had a steeper grade. The questions set in. A sense of betrayal pervaded. Hope was renewed with the resurrection of Christ, only to be dashed with His return to heaven and the absence of His physical presence. At each level of their training, the disciples were called to a new level of commitment.

As I think of training towards godliness in my own life, I realize that most of the time I want the instant conversions and the overnight transformations in every area of my life. I want the excitement of the first conversion experience, not the hard work that is needed to mould me into the vessel that God designed me to be. But as Alan Jones in his book Soul Making so aptly says: “The light we receive enables us to move on because we are not only made aware of our poverty before God, we are also made aware of how much we are loved and of the lengths to which God is willing to go because he loves us.” It is this love that draws my eyes and spirit upward towards God, enriching my life and encouraging me in training towards godliness.

Out Front is a column written by leaders in our Conference. Marilyn Hudson is the director of Kindred Productions.