Thursday, June 27, 2019

The Face of Authentic Spirituality

What does authentic spirituality look like - in my life as an individual Christ-follower or in the life of a community of Christ-followers? I suggest the following traits bear witness to authentic spirituality in one's life. They are also the marks of authentic Christian community. Sadly, they are often missing in the life of the institutional church. These traits are drawn from Jesus' Great Commandment, his Beatitudes, Paul's fruit of the Spirit, and Paul's remarks about love in 1 Corinthians 13.

The first and most obvious trait is love for God, that is, a love for who God is and for God's ways. The spiritually authentic person is captivated by God's nature of self-giving love and hungers to live the grace-based ways of the Kingdom. This love is greater than the unhealthy form of self-love that lies at the core of our human nature and gives birth to our self-serving ways.

Love for God fosters deep trust in God's faithfulness. This trust or faith is expressed in a spirit of glad dependency upon God. It moves us beyond the delusion of self-sufficiency and the arrogance of self-reliance.

Love for God gives birth to openness and honesty, first with oneself and, then, with others. The courage to live authentically moves us beyond the fear-driven pretense that is inherent to our human nature.

Such openness and honesty are accompanied by humility. Humility recognizes my spiritual bankruptcy, that is, my never-ending dependency upon God and my recurring need of God's grace. Healthy humility also recognizes the gifts and abilities, the insights and understanding, the progress and experience that God has entrusted to me. These God-given gifts are tools for me to use in giving to others in Jesus' name. I call this kind of humility confident humility. Confident humility knows what I have to offer others. It knows that whatever I have to offer is God's gift to me. It acknowledges my dependency upon God in offering those gifts to others.

Openness and honesty are accompanied by self-awareness and self-management. The Spirit guides us in being aware of the anxiety-based reactions and patterns that unconsciously stir within the interior dimensions of our lives. Recognizing and understanding these archaic patterns puts us in a position to manage our behavior through the Spirit's power. Spirit-empowered self-management (Paul's language: self-control) opens the door to change and growth. It places us in a position to choose to move beyond the old ways of thinking and living that were ingrained in us in our formative years (Paul's language: "do not be conformed to the patterns of this world," Romans 12:2).

Self-awareness becomes the Spirit's invitation to turn to God for help (glad dependency). It opens the door to experience again the peace of God that the Spirit gives. Authentic spirituality is marked by the ability to rise above the anxiety and fear that are a normal part of our human experience so that we live out of a deep, recurring sense of God's peace. 

The peace of God frees us to experience joy. Joy displaces the negativity, frustration, and anger that arise whenever we are confronted with our powerlessness.

The Spirit's gifts of joy and peace set us free to live out of a servant spirit, i.e., to love others as Jesus loved. The servant spirit gives freely of what God has given me to address the need of others. Its primary concern is the other's growth and maturity.

The servant spirit is filled with and expressed in compassion and mercy. It moves beyond harsh, judgmental thinking to respond to the other with gentleness and kindness. It is patient and faithful, refusing to give up on the other. It gives freely out of a spirit of joyous generosity.

I am sure authentic spirituality has features other than these I have named. But the traits I have identified are all associated with authentic spirituality. They are the marks of spiritual maturity. They are what it looks like to be Christlike. They are what the Spirit produces in our lives when we walk in intentional relationship with God.

May it be so for each of us!



Monday, June 17, 2019

It Doesn't Have to Be That Way ... So What Is Missing

What is missing in the institutional church? It has worship, Bible study, small groups of all shapes and sizes, mission projects, ministry teams, prayer, religious education for all ages, training opportunities, etc. What is missing in the midst of this corporate religious life?

The missing element is not some activity or program. The missing element is a primary focus that governs all of these activities - a purpose for which these activities exist - a clear, central core around which every aspect of church life revolves. Spiritual vitality and health flow out of this central core.

In my mind, that primary focus is spiritual formation - the transformation of heart and mind that happens as we walk in intentional relationship with God. This transformation is the Spirit's work (2 Corinthians 3:18), conforming us to the likeness of Christ, empowering us to love as Jesus loved. This transformation involves a process of learning the ways of God that Jesus taught (the Kingdom of God). It involves confrontation as God's ways challenge our inherent, self-focused ways of thinking and living. It involves struggle to turn loose of the old and embrace the new. It leads to change - in how we think, in how we view and relate to others, in how we view and use material possessions/wealth, in our lifestyles, in how we live - so that we live the ways of God in our daily relationships and routines. The common term for this process is spiritual growth. (See Acts 10:1-11:18 for an account of spiritual growth in Peter's life.)

The Apostle Paul's term for this process of transformation was salvation. In his letter to the churches of Rome (the New Testament book of Romans), Paul outlined his understanding of the gospel as the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). He outlined four dimensions of this process.
  • Romans 1:18-3:20, our need for salvation because all (Gentile and Jew) have sinned. God loved us and reached out to us in our need. But God proved (God's) love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, Romans 5:8. John Wesley referred to this reality as the prevenient grace of God. God loved us first, unconditionally - what we call grace - and acted on our behalf in Christ Jesus.
  • Romans 3:21-4:25, we are reconciled with God as a gift of grace. Paul piles up metaphors to communicate this truth: justified, redemption, atonement, forgiveness. We embrace this gift by faith, that is, we respond to God's grace by opening our lives to God and a relationship with God. John Wesley referred to this stage as justifying grace.
  • Romans 5:1-8:17, the Spirit uses the challenges of life to help us grow in the likeness of Jesus (character, Romans 5:3-5) so that we experience Christ's life (eternal life) as our own. We die to an old way of life and are raised to walk in this new way of living. We were once slaves to our old way of thinking and living but have been set free to this new life (Romans 6). The advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life (Romans 6:22). God in Christ Jesus has broken to power of Sin that enslaves us (Romans 7:14-25). Through the work and power of the Spirit, we experience life and peace as we live in relationship with God as beloved children (Romans 8:1-17). John Wesley referred to this process as sanctifying grace.
  • Romans 8:18-39, we live in the quiet confidence (hope) that before God is through with this transforming work in us, we will have been conformed to the image of God's Son (Romans 8:29). John Wesley spoke of this hope as perfecting grace. 
Salvation is God's work in our lives as we walk in intentional relationship with God. God's Spirit sets us free us from the power of sin and death, thereby, setting us free to experience God's kind of life as our own.

This focus on the relationship with God and God's transforming work is what is missing in most institutional expressions of church life. We assume the purpose is there because we are doing church activities, but unless the focus/purpose is intentional, it is overtaken by our ego-driven agendas.

Without this primary focus, worship is often about performance or following a set ("proper") order of service or listening to a good sermon. With this primary focus, worship focuses on God and the relationship with God. Its intent is to help us encounter God anew. Worship reminds us of who God is, of God's grace, of who we are as God's beloved children. Worship is designed to help us open our lives to God anew that we might experience God's grace and hear God's word for us. Worship guides our response to God and God's grace.

Without this primary focus, Bible study and religious education emphasize knowing biblical facts and learning the biblical stories. They teach us to find things in the Bible and how to quote scripture. But when we do Bible study with a focus on spiritual formation, study becomes a means of knowing God and encountering God. It is the path that leads to learning the ways of God that Jesus taught. It is about allowing Jesus' teachings to challenge and shape how we think and, thereby, how we live. What is missing in most Bible study is application: what is the implication in my life? What am I being called to do? Apart from these kinds of questions, Bible study becomes an intellectual exercise - a head trip - the pursuit of more biblical knowledge that leaves us unchanged.

Without this primary focus, small groups tend to become primarily a place of social connections. A focus on spiritual formation changes the group into a cluster of spiritual friends. We share our spiritual journey with them, including the struggles on that journey. These spiritual friends become a support system as my partners in what God is doing in my life. Prayer becomes central to our group's life together. They pray with me and for me and I with and for them. While the relationships involve a social dimension, the spiritual dimension is primary and what is prized. Thus, the group is intentional about fostering the spiritual dimension. Spiritual formation takes place in the context of spiritual friendships.

Mission projects and ministry teams are important ways we live out our faith. Their objective is to help someone, particularly someone in need. Without this primary focus on spiritual formation, however, our mission and ministry involvement can leave us unchanged. We perform tasks on another's behalf (or give money), but our efforts are often devoid of any meaningful relationship with the one we are helping. We touch a short term need that leaves the other's situation essentially unchanged. The social system that created the need is not recognized, much less addressed. We walk away feeling good about what we have done to help, yet blind to our place in and contribution to the system. Approaching mission and ministry from the perspective of spiritual formation puts us in a position to receive as well as give, to learn as well as help, to be changed as well as help change another's situation.

Without spiritual formation as a primary focus, prayer is often about the difficult situations our family and friends and church are facing. Prayer requests seek God's blessing on these family members and friends in the midst of their challenge. Prayer becomes a way to open and close a church gathering. A focus on spiritual formation gives prayer a prominent place in our lives and our life together. Prayer becomes a way of seeking God, God's guidance, God's direction. It is the path to discernment. Prayer opens us to God and to how God wants to use us. It allows God to help us see how we are a part of the problem as well as how we can be a part of the solution. Prayer is an indispensable aspect of the relationship with God and God's transforming work within us. 

When what is missing is restored - a primary focus on the relationship with God and God's transforming work in our lives - we give the Spirit freedom to move and work. Spiritual life and vitality return. Spiritual energy abounds. Lives are changed. The church and its members grow.


Thursday, June 13, 2019

It Doesn't Have to Be That Way ... Yet It Is

I suggested in my last blog that the problem underlying the decline of the institutional church is a spiritual problem. Let me be more specific.

The institutional structure of a church is a tool to foster the spiritual life and development of the community. The spiritual community is primary; the structure is secondary (as I said in my previous blog - yes, I know I am repeating myself!). When the structure, i.e., the institutional expression of the church (organization, committees, groups, programs, traditions, beliefs), becomes primary, the spiritual life begins to suffer and diminish. Without a vibrant spiritual life, the church becomes nothing more than another human institution/organization, albeit a religious one.

The institutional church does not require an spiritual life in order to function. (Read that sentence again and think about it.) In fact, the institutional church appeals to the human ego. It offers places to belong, positions to hold, roles to play, power to wield. Our identity and sense of value can become tied up in our involvement in the institutional life. Beliefs allow us to perceive ourselves as "right" and, thereby, superior to those who believe differently. Functioning out of ego makes us comfortable and complacent ... as well as angry and defensive when something disrupts the comfort and familiarity of our status quo. (BTW, have you ever noticed how disruptive God can be?!)

When the ego gets involved, spiritual life is displaced. We revert to functioning out of our human nature, not out of the ways of the Kingdom. We use power the way the world uses power - to dominate and control, i.e., to protect our position-place-role-power-identity-value-beliefs. We think in terms of us-them. A critical, judgmental spirit displaces the spirit of love; seriousness and inflexibility block the spirit of freedom and joy. Decisions made in the parking lot by a few take the place of open, honest communication that seeks to discern the Spirit's guidance. The servant spirit of Jesus, rather than permeating all that is done, becomes the exception because the human ego is in control.

This ego-driven, human-oriented way of functioning is possible because of flawed thinking theologically.
  • Salvation is viewed as going to heaven when we die, not as the transformation of my life as I grow into the likeness of Jesus.  
  • Sin is viewed as doing things wrong - the violation of a religious, moral standard - rather than as an attitude and way of life that opposes the ways of God.
  • Jesus is viewed as a Savior who gets us into heaven rather than as Lord whose ways we follow. 
  • Jesus' death is seen as the price required to gain God's forgiveness rather than the predictable result of our resistance to God and the ways of God. This perspective reduces salvation to a transaction between God and me: in exchange for believing in Jesus, God forgives my sins and grants me access into heaven. 
  • Salvation is based upon belief - believing certain facts about Jesus and his death - rather than upon opening my life to God and living in a daily, personal relationship with God. 
  • The Christian life is reduced to church involvement, assenting to a core set of beliefs, conforming to a moral standard, and doing good things to help others. A life of love, patterned after the ways of the Kingdom that Jesus taught, drifts out of view. In short, church membership displaces discipleship. 
  • The world gets divided into us-them - those who believe and those who don't, the righteous and the sinners, those like us and the "other."
  • The Bible gets used as a rule book to validate what we believe.
This kind of thinking creates a man-centered Christianity that opens the door to an ego-driven religious life devoid of vibrant spirituality. Vibrant spiritual health is the work of the Spirit, not the product of human effort or human ways.

Without a healthy, vibrant spiritual life, the institutional church will decline and die ... just as everything human declines and dies. It doesn't have to be that way, yet it is because the human ego gets involved.


Monday, June 3, 2019

It Doesn't Have to Be That Way ... So Why Is It That Way

Any number of reasons could be given for the decline of the institutional church in American culture:
  • The culture has changed and the church hasn't adapted. 
  • Same song, second verse - the way we did things back then don't work today. One might say the church is stuck in the past. 
  • Same song, third verse - back then, church was a primary social center for people (alongside school activities). Today's society offers multiple social outlets - think kids sports, dance, etc. People don't look to the church for social connections the way they once did. And they don't have time for church because they are so involved in those other pursuits.  
  • Same song, fourth verse - the country has become polarized around issues and politics. The church has contributed to and duplicated the polarization rather than offering a viable alternative - a different way of living in relationship. 
  • Same song, next verse - the church has lost its prophetic voice because it duplicates the division in the culture and/or because it seeks to force its beliefs/positions onto the culture through legislation. 
  • Same song, sixth verse - much of the culture (particularly younger generations) has moved beyond the issues the church is stuck on (i.e., the LGBTQ+ issues The UMC is fighting over). 
  • Same song ... - fighting over issues never changes anyone. (Did prohibition work? Has the War on Drugs solved the drug problem? Has the War on Poverty eliminated poverty? Will making abortion illegal stop abortions?) The only hope for real change is the grace of God, the transforming work of God's Spirit - the old biblical-church word salvation (being transformed into the likeness of Christ, not going to heaven). 
  • Next verse - the church has forgotten its message and its purpose. It's message is grace, not condemnation and judgment; its purpose is the transformation of lives, not getting people to believe like us so they will be like us. 
How did this happen? Why has this happened?

There is a deeper issue that is generally unrecognized and, consequently, unaddressed. All of the things listed above are symptoms of this deeper issue. The deeper issue is a spiritual issue. (Do you see the irony in that statement?)

In his letter to the churches of Galatia, the Apostle Paul drew a contrast between the flesh and the Spirit. (See Galatians 5:16-26.) The flesh refers to our basic human nature - our default way of thinking and functioning. We don't have to choose to act out of this nature. It is automatic. The Spirit refers to the Spirit of God who lives and works in us as the followers of Jesus. The Spirit teaches us and empowers us to live the ways of God. This way of thinking and living must be consciously chosen as the Spirit guides us. We must choose not to act out of our human nature in order to live the ways of God.

Paul taught that the flesh and the Spirit are at odds with one another. They produce different outcomes. The flesh is self-indulgent, power-oriented, and divisive. It produces chaos and destruction, resulting ultimately in death. (See the works of the flesh, Galatians 5:19-22.) The Spirit leads us to love out of a spirit of joy and peace. The Spirit leads us into the abundant life Jesus promised. The Spirit works in us (1) to set us free from the power of the flesh while (2) producing Christ's life (the fruit of the Spirit) in us.

The spiritual issue of the church lies in this distinction. The way members frequently think and act is governed more by their human nature than by the Spirit. The result is a human institution that operates out of our human nature. (Think of the conflict that churches experience - of the petty issues over which we fight - of the ways we attack, complain about, and criticize one another - of the way we use power to get our way, i.e., win.) The ways of God are absent; the Spirit's influence is missing. The result is what our human nature always produces: chaos and division that leads to destruction.

The decline in the institutional church is a spiritual issue. More about that in my next blog.


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