The fruit of the Spirit

Self Control

A new series of “Millennium child” started last week – year by year following a group of children who were born in 2000. A few years ago they showed an interesting experiment on the show, based on research at Stanford University in the 1960s.
Children were told that they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right now. However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Some preschoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately, but others were able to wait what, for them, must have seemed an endless 20 minutes. To sustain themselves in their struggle, they covered their eyes so they wouldn’t see the temptation, rested their heads on their arms, talked to themselves, sang, even tried to sleep. These plucky kids got the two-marshmallow reward. The interesting part of this experiment came in the follow-up. The children who as 4-year-olds had been able to wait for the two marshmallows were, as adolescents, still able to delay gratification in pursuing their goals. They were more socially competent and self-assertive, and better able to cope with life’s frustrations. In contrast, the kids who grabbed the one marshmallow were, as adolescents, more likely to be stubborn, indecisive, and stressed. Self Control can make a difference!

The Greek work for self-control in the list in Galatians is enkrateia.

This was a very important concept to the Greek philosophers. It was introduced as an ethical standard by Socrates and literally meant ‘having power over oneself. Plato and Aristotle also took up the idea – they considered it to represent someone who has strong desires but is able to suppress them so they are not ruled by their desires. Passion under control

A nuclear power station that is under control generates useful power. But if it is left to run wild, you have a disaster like Chernobyl. Our passions are powerful and can be used for great good – but if uncontrolled can cause great harm too.

Now it is tempting to think about the idea of self control and jump straight to the idea of disciplined athletes training for the Olympics, disciplined Christians reading their Bible regularly and so on.

However... as profitable as those issues of self-discipline are to consider, that isn’t what is in mind when the Bible uses enkrateia for self control. Enkrateia means abstinence from excess. Essentially self-control in relation to things like food, drink and sex.
All of these are fine in their proper context, quite legitimate pleasures in their proper context – but problematic when taken outside of the patterns which God gives us to protect us.

So first we need to consider self-control to live within limits.

Self- Control to Live within Limits

You will probably remember our sermon series last year on the ‘seven deadly sins’, and included amongst them were gluttony, greed and lust. We thought about the problems which we experience if we step beyond those legitimate pleasures which God sets before us.

It is worth reminding ourselves that when God sets down limits such as ‘don’t commit adultery’ he isn’t doing it in order to spoil our fun. He gives us clear boundaries so that we know what behaviour is safe for us and good for our society.
Breaking Gods limits can have bad effects on us personally – emotionally, physically and spiritually. It can also have bad effects on other people in our community and society too. It can make it difficult for us to hear God and respond to him, by grieving His Spirit within us.

The basic standard of self-control that we read of in the fruit of the Spirit is a positive thing, not a negative thing. It isn’t there as a reminder ‘don’t do that’ – rather it is a positive statement that the Spirit develops in us a desire to walk within Gods boundaries. I think that is an important distinction.

On Friday night I watched an interesting programme which demonstrated the ineffectiveness of many ‘negative commands’ or “don’t do that’s” – Trick or Treat by Derren Brown. He demonstrated the extent to which a command to ‘not do something’ can play on the mind and in the end force someone to do the very thing they want to avoid by giving a young woman 5 minutes to not electrocute a kitten by pressing a big red button. If this cat lover can go 5 minutes without pressing the button, the kitten lives and she gets £500. With some subtle psychological loading of the situation, in the last few seconds of the five minutes, the girl presses the button! Don’t worry, the kitten wasn’t harmed. But you could see how focussing on the thing that she mustn’t do eventually built up such pressure that she did it! There was another example with a tightrope walker to whom he says “Don’t fall off”. He had never fallen before that day, but once the idea was put in his mind....

How often have Christians struggled with “the self control to say no” to something but fallen into that same trap, where it builds up tension in the mind which results in someone doing the very thing they don’t wish to do?

Has anyone ever had the experience of the biscuit tin calling to you, or is it just me?

Seriously though, it reminds me very much of the well known passage in Romans 7v 15-19; a passage which also gives us our solution “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” and “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Although we know asceticism was popular in the Qumran community of Jesus’ day, Jesus doesn’t teach a general standard of self-denial. Although it was taken up by some of the monastic orders, the idea of Christians wholesale renouncing possessions, sexual activity and foods or drinks is not something that we find in the Bible. For some people, in some circumstances, it is necessary (thinking of the rich young ruler who was told to sell his possessions, or John the Baptist with his distinctive diet), but it is not a general standard.

However, throughout the Bible we find that God’s people are enjoined to periods of greater self-control, and the specific term of fasting (not eating) can be used as an effective shorthand to embrace a range of activities where we can extend abstinence for a period in order to cultivate our relationship with God.

Self- Control to Promote Praying

So what do I mean? Well, I think it is a suitable opportunity to think a little about fasting.

Fasting generally means going without food for a specified time for spiritual reasons. It isn’t like a hunger strike which is for political reasons or dieting to cut down food intake for physical reasons.

So given that fasting is going without food (or other things – I’ll come to that in a minute) for a specified time for spiritual reasons... what kind of spiritual reasons might there be?

a) to reinforce prayer

Like when Jesus came down from the mountain and found his disciples hadn’t been able to drive out a demon and he said ‘this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting’. Or when Ezra arranged for the people to fast and prayer about safety on their journey.

b) as a sign of repentance

In Jonah 3 (which we will be looking at in detail in a few weeks time) the Ninevites hear the message of judgement from God and they repent with sackcloth and ashes and fasting – and God changes his mind about the judgement he was going to bring on them.

In Joel 2v13 the prophet brings a strongly worded message when he says “Even now, declares the LORD, return to me with all you heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend you heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God for he is gracious and compassionate”.

c) seeking the Lords guidance

In Ex34 Moses spent 40 days and nights fasting before bringing down the ten commandments. Jesus spent 40 days fasting before starting his public ministry.

The early church, in Acts 13v2 were worshipping the Lord and fasting when the Holy Spirit told them to set apart Barnabus and Saul as missionaries. In Acts 14v23 Paul and Barnabus appointed elders in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord.

In each case, Fasting is associated with prayer. You abstain from food for a specified period in order to devote yourself to prayer and demonstrate to God how serious you are about the matter.

Nicky Gumbel writes about a time in 1876 where Minnesota farmers faced the prospect of a devastating plague of locusts, and the Governor called them to a day of prayer and fasting (p154-155, Challenging Lifestyle) <read>

But ‘Fasting’ can be from other things too – such as from sexual activity (1 Cor 7v5 says “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control”).

In the 21st century there may be some creative opportunities for us to consider things that we may want to give up for, say, one day a week in order to make some time for praying. Perhaps TV, home computers or the internet? Things which are fine in themselves, things which it is reasonable for us to enjoy, and yet which we can decide to set aside for specific periods, for the greater purpose of knowing God better. Of serving him better.
 

Alex White