Don’t Run or Sit—You Were Made to Walk
Learning to walk by the Spirit.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Paul’s admonition in Galatians 5:16 to “walk by the Spirit.” Here are some reflections for the road ahead.
I. Walking requires a particular speed of movement.
This may seem to be a simple observation, but it’s a difficult one to truly embody in the spiritual life.
We live in a fast-paced culture. We’re always busy, always online, and always within reach (via phone call, text, or email). The pace of the news on X keeps us on edge. The adrenaline rush of the notifications we receive makes constant activity seem like a normal way of being in the world, perhaps even the morally upright way of being in the world. I don’t have to repeat what others have already said. I think you get the point.
But the apostle Paul knew of another pace. The same Paul who traveled the Roman world to spread the good news of Christ; the same Paul who moved quickly from town to town to avoid untimely persecution; the same Paul who urged Timothy to always be ready to fight the good fight of faith—this same Paul understood that the spiritual life, which is a combination of fighting fleshly desires (Gal. 5:17) and cultivating spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22–23), requires a particular speed of movement, namely, that of walking.
In light of this, ask yourself the following question:
Am I sitting, walking, or running in my spiritual life?
II. Spiritual runners need the assistance of spiritual walkers.
When you slow down and ask yourself the above question, what rises to the surface of your soul? Do you start to think of unfinished spiritual tasks? Do you begin to fret over the practices or disciplines you’ll need to implement in order to slow down with God? Do you wonder if you need to buy more books, listen to more sermons, or go to more conferences focused on slowing down in the spiritual life?
If so, allow me to offer one simple suggestion: Put those worries aside for a moment and befriend someone in your life who walks slowly with God.
Now, let me be clear: when I say someone who “walks slowly with God,” I mean someone who walks so slowly with God that being around them might make you feel a little panicky or restless inside. A little on edge. A little “more realistic” and “more down to earth” than that spiritually-slow person.
Why?
Because we who are restless need counter-examples of those who are at rest. We who are spiritually-running need counter-examples of those who are spiritually-walking. We who are anxious and worried about many things need counter-examples of those who are quiet and content with the “one thing,” which in the end, might be the only thing necessary.
In short, learning how to walk by the Spirit is a community effort. Let’s move to our third and final point.
III. Spiritual walking avoids the double-edged sword of antinomianism and legalism.
First, let me define the terms.
“Antinomianism” is an attempt to separate saving grace from empowering grace (which could be called “spiritual sitting”).
“Legalism” is an attempt to avoid saving grace and empowering grace altogether (which could be called “spiritual running”).
Spiritual walking avoids both dangers.
To start, let’s remember that we do indeed walk “by the Spirit.” This means that from beginning to end, the walking involved in our spiritual life—whatever it might look like—is itself a gift from God. He saves, He empowers, and He sets the pace. To put it differently (and to put a twist on another Pauline passage), “Walk out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who walks within you” (see Phil. 2:12).
Secondly, it is clear that walking requires movement, and movement in the spiritual life is nearly always a sign of life. It is an assuring signal that God’s saving and empowering grace is truly present and active in the depth of a person’s soul. Thus, the disciplined movement of walking by the Spirit (as opposed to a spiritual lethargy or stand-still) avoids the danger of antinomianism, that strange notion that God is capable of saving us but utterly incapable of transforming us.
Thirdly, we may note that even as walking requires movement, it also requires a kind of contentedness. Spiritual walking says, “I do not need to run in order to get to my final destination. I am content with God’s pace (and grace!) at work within me, and I trust that God’s pace (and grace!) will bring me home.”
Who knew that walking at God’s pace could avoid such dangers?
IV. Take A Walk
Perhaps the best way to learn how to “walk by the Spirit” is to simply go outside and take a literal walk (if you are able, of course). Notice the colors of the sky. Notice the feelings in your body. Notice the ways that literal, physical walking—without a phone and without the pressures of a time limit—slows you down, clears your mind, and allows you to focus in ways that even stillness sometimes does not.
Perhaps, in doing this, it will inspire your imagination and enable you to do in your spiritual walk the very thing that you are required to do on a physical walk:
Take the next step.