read a article in christianity today this week that really describes in part 'where i'm at' as far as spirituality these days. i never heard of the author, richard foster, but he really puts into words a good bit of what i've been thinking. most of this will be direct quote but i take liberties of various sorts to personalize what he said - our world today cries out for a theology of spiritual growth that has been proven to work in the midst of the harsh realities of daily life..vast numbers ..have exhausted themselves in church work (me up until some point during 2008)..others have immersed themselves in multiple social-service projects..still others have a practical theology that will not allow for spiritual growth..to them it smacks of works- righteousness and they are saved by grace!..finally a general cultural malaise touches us all in some way..we have become accustomed to the normality of dysfunction as reported and portrayed by the media that true integrity spiritually can seem impossible (yet through the last 2000 years there have been many examples of real, substantive transformation into the likeness of Christ) we desperately need spiritual formation..this is not a toolkit for fixing our culture, churches or selves. fixing things is not our business. we do it because it is kingdom work and leave all else in the good hands of God.
God tells us to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ'. (II pet 2:18) all real spiritual formation is heart work for the heart is the wellspring of all human action. john flavel, 17th century puritan, notes that the 'greatest difficulty in conversion, is to win the heart TO God and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart WITH God..heart work is hard work indeed'. focus on the heart means that external actions are never the center of our attention.. this follows the ancient maxim actio sequitur esse, 'action follows essence'..this does not discount good works but of primary significance is our vital union with God, our new creation in Christ, our walking in the Spirit..when the branch is experientially united with the vine ..spiritual fruit is a natural result..it is no vain thing for us to return to our first love over and over again. it is an act of faith to continually cry out to God to search us and know our heart and root out every wicked way in us (ps. 139:23-4). this is a vital aspect of the salvation of the Lord, but God does not come uninvited. we must seek, we must welcome, we must respond to divine scrutiny...our being born from above must include being formed from above
so we begin to pray, to enter into an interactive communion with God. at first our praying is uneasy and halting. it's an alternation of our attention back and forth from divine glories to the mundane tasks of home and work. back and forth, back and forth and often the alternation is worse - much worse- than not praying at all. one moment we are reveling in divine glories, the next moment our minds are wallowing in the gutter of base desires. our lives are fractured and fragmented. in time though, in the depths of our being, violent alternation starts to give way to a life of more and more unbroken , humble adoration in the living presence of God...we develop the habit of divine orientation..this is no perfectionism but spiritual progress. (while here we will always be a work in progress..hopefully) the interior work of prayer moves toward simple (little glances heavenword and quiet breathings of submission) as well as (according to nee) more powerful resisting and wrestling with the evil spirit..
as apprentices of Jesus we are learning , always learning how to live well; love God well; love our spouse well; raise our children well; love our friends, neighbors, even enemies - well; face adversity well; run our businesses well; form community life well reach out to those on the margins well; and die well - ars moriendi.
as we learn to live well, we share with others what we are learning. we are not alone in this work of the reformation of the heart. IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR US TO HELP EACH OTHER IN EVERY WAY WE CAN..the desperate need is for the emergence of a massive spiritual army of trained spiritual directors who can lovingly come alongside precious people and help them walk by faith in the circumstances of their own lives..trained not certified. these directors are life-trained not book-trained.
a spiritual director has a continuing hunger for intimacy with God; an ability to forgive others at great personal loss; a lively sense that God alone can satisfy the longings of the human heart; a deep satisfaction in prayer (and nee again...is willing to suffer and resist and engage in spiritual warfare in prayer);a realistic assessment of personal abilities and limitations; a fundamental freedom from focus on spiritual 'accomplishments'; a demonstrated ability to live out the demands of life patiently and wisely.
spiritual direction is an interpersonal relationship in which we learn how to grow, live and love in spiritual life; involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying; cannot happen without discernment; involves no comination or control; without being 'established in God' it cannot happen.
this is the first step to congregational renewal. as the church the closer one looks it is true that we have a name that we live but we are dead. we have 'hurry sickness' looking for the magic pill (patient, time-consuming care is always the hallmark of spiritual formation work)... we have a Christian entertainment industry masquerading as worship..we are consumers which keep ourselves front and center (i want what i want, when i want it and to the measure i want it.) the andidote to this is Jesus Christ seen in life-trained persons! if i am longing to know Jesus and follow Jesus and serve Jesus and be formed into the image of Jesus - then i am powerfully drawn toward anyone and everyone who is seeking to know Jesus in this way. a person filled with the beauty of Jesus has fellowship gathering power.
we need to do all we can to develop the ecclesiola in ecclesia - 'the little church within the church' (as i have been wrestling over what to do in reference to the group of believers of which i am a part this is exactly where God has been leading - don't wander elsewhere but BECOME WHAT YOU DON'T SEE IN OTHERS. this means being deeply committed to the life of the people of God (BE TO THEM WHAT THEY ARE NOT TO YOU) and is not sectarian in any way. no separation, no splitting off.. no setting up a new denomination or church. we stay within the given church structures and develop little centers of light within those structures and then let our light shine. (historically this approach as well as separation have both happened many times) 3 historical expressions of this can be seen in philipp jakob spener (1635-1705) and his collegia pietatis..john wesley (1703-1791) with his societies (for the purpose of fellowship), class meetings (for accountability) and bands (for the purpose of loving each other and mutual confession of sin)..hans nielsen hauge (1771-1824) and his 'inner mission'.
we need to learn to suffer together, to share openly and to actively support one another.
finally we need to address the cultural mandate. this involves training the heart in two different directions: toward contemptus mundi, the process by which God begins to pluck the world out of our hearts.. it is a loosining of the chains of attachment to positions of prominence and power. all our longings for social recognition, to have our name in lights, begin to appear puny and trifling. we learn to let go of all control, all managing, all manipulation. we freely , joyfully live without guile. we experience a glorious detachment from all this world offers.... then toward amor mundi, where we and God together carry the world in infinitely tender love. we deepen our compassion for the bruised, the broken, the dispossessed. we ache and pray and labor for others in a new, selfless, joy-filled way. it is this that compels millions of ordinary folk like you and me to minister life in Christ's good name to our neighbor, our nigh-bor, the ones near us.
well God enabled me to work 30 per week just about on the button for 2008. now the plan is to go to 20. i guess that will do away with any more saving but..hey..we'll just have to see what God will do. am finishing this up monday pm so i better just send it off. God's best to you in 2009. love, dad
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