Sunday message · Spiritual Habits series
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Message Summary
In the fourth message of the Spiritual Habits series, Kent Johnson turns to the habits of silence and solitude. He recalls that spiritual habits are not self-help but rhythms of living God uses to transform us to look like Jesus. Silence and solitude can seem at odds with a noisy, busy, distracted culture, but Kent isn’t describing a monk’s withdrawal. He means regular time in everyday life to stop, be still and be alone with God.
Many of our days are filled with noise from the first glance at the phone to the last. Kent, who remembers life before most of today’s technology, says we have learned to live with constant input and developed an aversion to quiet. Technology and our culture’s desire to stay connected aren’t bad, he stresses. The trouble comes when we cannot stand to be alone or quiet, and when even the church tacks “do your quiet time” onto an endless list of things to do.
Silence and solitude aren’t one more thing to do, Kent says, but a way to disengage from an ever more engaging culture, to stop, rest and breathe. They are as vital to spiritual health as showering is to physical health. First, they make room for self-reflection. In Matthew 7:3–4, Jesus warns against pointing out the speck in someone else’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own. We can’t help others if we can’t see ourselves clearly. Social media makes it easy to stare at everyone else’s sawdust, but quiet lets us ask why we act and feel the way we do, and who we want to become.
Second, they make room for self-examination. Kent points to Psalm 4:4, which tells us to search our hearts on our beds and be silent, and Psalm 139:23–24, where David prays, “Search me, O God.” Self-reflection helps us know ourselves, while self-examination measures our lives against God’s word in his presence, leading us to repent and receive grace. It builds humility and reminds us that our faith is real, a relationship with a Father who speaks, corrects and encourages.
Why do we avoid it? Kent names the fear of missing out, our appetite for others’ attention and approval, and the fear of what we might find, since it is easier to blame the world than admit we might be part of the problem. Yet silence and solitude bring a peace that surpasses understanding. We may uncover hard things to work through, but we come out knowing our Father sees us fully and still loves and accepts us. As Pastor Phil often says, nothing we do can make God love us more or less.
Moses, David and Elijah modeled this, and Jesus often withdrew to pray. Kent closes by urging everyone to keep engaging the culture while regularly pausing to be with God, so they can better serve those around them. He sees silence and solitude as a catalyst for the other spiritual habits, including worship and knowing Scripture, as God changes us from the inside out.
