A Different Kind of Life
The persons and ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus himself, both rich in the practice of activities designed to strengthen the spirit, were held constantly before [early Christians].
So, wherever early Christians looked they saw examples of the practice of solitude, fasting, prayer, private study, communal study, worship, and sacrificial service and giving to mention only some of the more obvious disciplines for spiritual life.
These early Christians really did arrange their lives very differently from their non-Christian neighbors, as well as from the vast majority of those of us called Christians today. We are speaking of their overall style of life, not just what they did under pressure, which frequently was also astonishingly different.
—Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines
Dallas Willard reminds us that the earliest Christians didn’t just believe differently—they lived differently. Their daily rhythms were shaped by spiritual practices like solitude, prayer, fasting, and sacrificial generosity. These weren’t occasional religious obligations, but a way of life modeled after Jesus and John the Baptist.
What made their faith compelling wasn’t just their theology—it was their lifestyle. Their habits formed their character, and their character shaped a community that looked radically different from the world around them. It’s a powerful call to us today: What would it look like to reorient our lives—not just our beliefs—around the Kingdom of God? —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics