Christian Spiritual Formation – Page 3

Don’t Be Afraid!

Of all human emotions, fear is the most debilitating, the most immobilizing, and the most detrimental to faith and our life together. In the Bible the opposite of faith is not unbelief, but fear. In the garden, Adam confessed his fear as God approached him: “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Gen. 3.10). From the beginning then fear has been a reality in our lives.

So God reminds his children frequently not to be afraid.

With Egyptian soldiers pressing behind and the sea blocking the path in front, Moses calls to the people:

Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today… The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Ex. 14.13, 14).

After the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses narrates:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. (Ex. 20.18-21)

Despite God’s admonition, fear dominates the people of God throughout the Bible, “Don’t be afraid.” Unhealthy fear of God, as opposed to respect, increases the distance we feel between God and us. Notice in the passage above how the people “stayed at a distance.” This is not merely a reference of physical distance; it refers to a spiritual reality as well.

In the Gospel of Mark, people who witnessed Jesus will either respond to him with awe and amazement (1.22, 27; 2.12; 5.20, et. al.) or in fear (4.40; 5.15, 33, 36; et. al.). Very often it is Jesus’ disciples who are afraid. In fear they all abandoned Jesus (14.50). Both Peter and later the women, who show more courage then the men, view Jesus “from a distance” (14.54; 15.40), just as the Israelites had done years before when they found the presence of God too much for them.

Yet, God continues to invite us to come near to him and not be afraid. So let’s approach our God with confidence.

Do You Have a Passionate Spirituality?

This is not a question you get asked everyday. Nonetheless it is still a very good question to ponder.

To define our terms a bit, spirituality can refer to anything from how I feel about myself to what God is doing in and through me. However, while the word spirituality does not occur in the Bible, related words such as spirit and spiritual do. The words translated spirit, in both the OT and NT, can also mean wind, breath, or spirit. Thus, this word group can be used to describe both internal and external “unseen” processes.

There is much that could be said here, but in sum, when the Bible and Christian tradition speaks of spirituality, the notion deals with some connection we have with God’s Spirit. Christian spirituality is when God’s Holy Spirit touches our human spirits. It is a way to speak of our journey towards God. This journey is the primary work and mission God has placed on the church.

When I ask if you have a passionate spirituality, what I mean is your spirituality alive, vital, and practiced? Again, the Bible and Christian tradition has passed on to those who seek to follow Jesus certain practices that will condition them for the journey. These practices include, but are not limited to, the following: prayer, meditation, reading scripture, giving, fasting, worship, spiritual conversations, reading works of spirituality, and service. Those who have a vital, passionate spirituality are those willing to commit to these practices.

While these spiritual practices can’t make God respond to our (self-)perceived needs—would we really want that anyway?—they can posture us so that we are more useful to God’s purposes.

Pray right now, if you can, that God will give you and your church a deeper, more passionate spirituality.

The Disappearance of Sin

It has been a long time coming, but I think we can safely say that “sin” is hardly a functional concept in our culture. As early as 1973, Dr. Karl Menninger published a book entitled, Whatever Became of Sin? In this book he explores why “sin” became obsolete. He promises

… to review the events in the recent rapid decline and disappearance of the word “sin,” not because any particular word is so important in itself, but because its obsolescence may be a clue to fundamental changes in the moral philosophy of our civilization (p. 27).

While the world has lost the notion, the Bible retains a rich vocabulary for sin (at least ten words in the OT alone). The Hebrew word most commonly used for sin in the OT means “to miss the mark.” When use of archery, the word referred to missing the target. In religious contexts, the word described actions which fell short of some divine standard or goal. Paul picks up this image in the famous passage from Romans:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22–24)

There are several other passages that get close to defining sin in the NT as well. For example, Paul writes later in Romans: “…and everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23) which touched on doing something about which a person is unsure. The apostle John will identify sin as “lawlessness” and “unrighteousness” (1 John 3:4; 5:17).

The problem with sin is not so much the inappropriate behavior (which can be more or less serious due to the consequences) but how it functions to keep us away from God. The longer we are away from God, the less clearly we can think about our sin. Therefore, it is important for the church to remember that we have been called to “interfere” in the lives of sinners. Paul said it this way: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1).

Whatever the world does with the notion of sin . . . it will remain in the church’s vocabulary. When we totally lose the vocabulary of sin, we will have finally arrived at the place where no one is responsible for anything.

The Continuing Conversion of the Church

Church is suppose to be the place (people?) of new life, but so often we experience it as the place of old habits—both personally, because our habits are rarely challenged, and, corporately, because “running” the church trumps “being” the church. Furthermore, in so many places, saving the church has replaced the church’s mission of saving the world. Many have commented on the malaise found in the churches today.

For example, Darrell Guder in a book entitled The Continuing Conversion of the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000) charts how the church came to be in this place. In sum, it has to do with the church’s confusion between church member recruitment and making disciples. After years of recruiting members to maintain the institution of church, there should be no surprise that Jesus’ call on our life sounds strange and demanding.

Guder further suggests that most ministers should first focus on the conversions of the church before embarking on the mission of converting the world. Rob Bell may be right that “God wants to save Christians, too.”

Back in the colonial period of American history, a revivalist preacher named William Tennant had the nerve to preach a sermon entitled “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry” which was aimed at ministers of established church who had exchanged comfortable salaries for preaching the way of Jesus. Of course, there was a considerable backlash—but that is the way it is for prophets, right?

It may be the time for the sermon “The Dangers of an Unconverted Church.”

So what is the path forward? It really is quite simple. Be re-converted. God’s goal is to transform each of us to the image of Jesus. While there are instantaneous moments along the way, Jesus usually works through the ordinary and mundane tasks of life. However, for those who like steps, Jesus began his ministry with these action words: Repent (for the kingdom of heaven is near); Believe (the good news); and Follow (me). And when we get off track: Repeat.

I’m ready to begin again. Are you?

God’s Life: Taking on the Powers

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power (Eph 6:10 NRSV). With this command, the letter to the Ephesians enters the final stretch. Nice transition from the previous conversation about power between people, wouldn’t you say?

One of the most prevalent commands in the Bible is to be “strong and courageous” (See, for example, Deut 31:6–7, 23; Josh 1:6–7, 9, 18; 10:25; 1 Chr 22:13; 28:20; 2 Chr 32:7). Take, for example, the following:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deut. 31:6 NIV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. (Josh. 1:9 NIV)

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight. (2 Sam. 10:12 NIV)

God must know that we need our courage bolstered—

—especially since our war is not with humans but against demonic forces, known in the Bible variously as principalities, powers, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil. Ghastly is the evil that seeks to dethrone our God and destroy us.

However, there is protection—the armor of God. In a rather extended metaphor, Paul uses various pieces of armor to describe God’s resources for us in the battle against evil.

These consist of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, sandals/shoes ready to spread the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and finally the sword of the Spirit. In each case what is important is not the piece of armor but the virtue that piece of armor represents.

Attempts to tie these to the armor worn by Roman soldiers—often done in Vacation Bible Schools—fail primarily because we know where Paul gets each piece of armor—from the OT prophet Isaiah. For example, the belt of truth (in 11:5), the breastplate of righteousness (11:5, 59:17), sandals/shoes ready to spread the gospel (52:7), the shield of faith (31:5), the helmet of salvation (59:17) and finally the sword of the Spirit (49:2).

What this means is that the armor of God is not armor from God, but the armor belonging to God. It is God’s armor that we are invited to wear! In each of the Isaiah texts, God wears the armor, except for the sandals. I wonder why?

If this is God’s armor, a couple of pieces seem to require some explanation. For example, why would God need a helmet of salvation? Aren’t we the ones in need of salvation.

Here it is good to remember that all of these images come out of the Old Testament stories of military battles. In that context, the word we translate as “salvation” might be better translated “deliverance” or even “victory.” Thus, God wears, and shares with us, the helmet of victory over our enemies, in this case, the forces of evil.

Additionally, the sword of the Spirit only secondarily refers to the Bible as so often understood. The sword represents the Spirit of God—God’s very voice, God’s decisive judgment against those who challenge his people. See this image in the Isaiah text listed above and in the picture of Jesus in Revelation:

… and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. (Revelation 1:13–16 NIV)

While it would be profitable to trace the development of the notion that God is our warrior throughout the Bible, we don’t have space here. However, these strands find a tight synthesis in the Jewish writings between Old and New Testament times. In a first century BC writing called the Wisdom of Solomon (5:17-20), we find

The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor, and will arm all creation to repel his enemies; he will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and wear impartial justice as a helmet; he will take holiness as an invincible shield, and sharpen stern wrath for a sword, and creation will join with him to fight against his frenzied foes.

While the images are fluid, the point remains the same: God is our mighty warrior and not only does he fight for us, it is his armor that will protect us.

Be strong in the Lord, indeed.

God’s Life: Dealing with Power Relationships

In applying the text treating the relationship between masters to slaves (Eph 6:5-9), most modern sermonizers will connect it with the employer-employee relationship. However, the landscape here is bigger than that and this text might be a word for any of us in relationships where there is a differential in power.

By the way, the previous relationships in the larger context dealt with such power relationships (e.g., husband and wife; parents/fathers and children). As in the previous instructions, Paul here addresses the less powerful member of the dyad first. This move alone recognizes that the weaker member of the couple is not all together powerless. There are some things they can think and do.

Also notice how much time Paul gives to the slaves (vv. 5-8) vs. the masters (just v. 9). Some conjecture that this is because there are more slaves than masters in the Christian movement; however, Paul spends more time talking about the husbands in the earlier text. (By the second century, the pagan Celsus will criticize Christianity for attracting primarily women, children and slave). More likely, Paul has weighed his comments to fit the needs of his readers at that time.

Again, this text can inform us whenever we are dealing with people in power or are ourselves the people in power. Thus, when working for others, whether for pay or as a volunteer, we should work as if we are working for Jesus. This is echoed in all three verses to the slaves: “as to Christ,” “as slaves to Christ,” and “as serving the Lord.” We can do this because the “Lord will reward everyone for what every good s/he does.”

Hidden from the English reader, the word “master” is actually the word “lord,” in the original—the same word used to speak of the Lord Jesus. Thus running through this text is the contrast between “earthly (fleshly) lords” (v. 5) and the Lord (v. 7). Masters, therefore, should treat their slaves well because the Lord is Lord of both.

Still, the most amazing comment is that the masters are to treat their slaves “in the same way” (v. 9) as the slaves treat the masters. How is that even possible?

In the ancient world, a husband could abuse his wife with impunity, fathers could beat their children without reprisals, and masters could treat slaves even worse—legally! In each case, here, Paul offers a surprising word to each.

Husbands are to love their wives even if they means dying for them, fathers are not to provoke their children, and masters are not to threaten their slaves. In each relationship, Paul introduces the radical revolution of submission.

And where did he learn this? Jesus. This is the way of Jesus.

As a husband and wife were to model the relationship between Christ and the church, Paul saw the day when all of our relationships—even the difficult ones—would also reflect the gospel of Christ’s love for the church, so to speak.

God’s Life: Raising Kids Who Get It

Previously, we explored the mutuality of marriage as God intended. Now, Paul in Ephesians (6:1-4) explores what it means to have God’s life as the ruling influence in the relationship between parents and children.

No doubt there is a sense in which parents submit to the needs of their children, however, here the submission revolves around the needs and (unequal) roles of each.

First, Paul calls children to obey their parents. Obey is not a command placed on the wife in the husband-wife relationship in the Bible. (Though Sarah is said to have obeyed Abraham in 1 Pet 3, it was not commanded of her). Moreover, in healthy families, there is a clear recognition of who the parents are and who the children are. When parents allow their children to violate this boundary, all kinds of dysfunction follow.

Obedience to parents would have been an expected virtue in the ancient world, however, Paul roots obedience to parents in God’s life. Children are to obey “in the Lord” which might be more freely rendered, “as is consistent for those who belong to the Lord.” Furthermore, obedience to parents reaches back to the Ten Commandments call to honor one’s father and mother and is connected with the promise of a long (prosperous) life on earth. Obedience, then, is an important spiritual discipline in which children are to experience and live out God’s life.

Second, Paul calls on fathers particularly (notice the move from “parents” in v. 1 to “fathers” in v. 4; see also Col 3:20-21) to educate their children. This move is probably not to exclude the mother—which the Ten Commandments clearly included—but to recognize the role that fathers were supposed to play in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Note that the text begins with restraining fathers: “don’t make your children angry.” Children, as well as wives, in the ancient world belonged to the husband and so the category of child abuse was nearly absent. However, this is not the way of Jesus.

Instead, fathers who belong to Jesus treat their children different than the way the world treats children. Even more Paul calls on fathers to make sure their children are disciplined and educated by the Lord.

Note how much this sounds like what Moses taught the nation of Israel:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4–9 NRSV)

Therefore, one of the main questions we should ask as we raise our children: “what kind of people are we making?” How we raise our children will affect them for life, and maybe, even eternity. It may be the turning point to whether or not “they get it.”

God’s Life: Flipping Marriage on its Head

Throughout history, marriage has been viewed as a hierarchal relationship where the man should be the clearly defined leader of the relationship. Very few cultures have approximated truly egalitarian marriage with husband and wife as full partners.

In the debate over the role of men and women today, proponents generally choose one of these poles. However, the biblical understanding of marriage in Ephesians 5:21-33 challenges both of these poles by offering a third way to view the marriage relationship.

After Paul calls his readers to submit to another (Eph 5:21), he calls on women to submit to their husbands. For the record, there is nothing new here that one could not have picked up on the streets of Ephesus. Any Latin or Greek moralist would have called for the same behavior from women.

However, Paul roots this (expected) behavior in something very different from the need for good order. For him, the wife’s behavior echoes the relationship that the church has with Jesus. The church should submit to Christ, and likewise a wife submits to her husband. Sounds hierarchal, doesn’t it?

However, in a sweeping tour de force, Paul realigns the husband’s role with that of Christ’s toward the church. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her—so should the husband for his wife. The husband should always move to present his wife in the best light, just as Christ would the church. In fact, the husband should love his wife as himself. He should treat his wife as he himself wants to be treated. Sounds egalitarian, doesn’t it?

Finally, to think of marriage as either hierarchal or egalitarian misses the mark. Christian marriage imitates the relationship between Christ and the church. Christ is the head of the body—not in the sense that a corporation has a CEO, but in the sense that a human body has a head. A head without a body is no more functional, or desirable, than a body without a head. Sounds (oh, what word would work here? how about) interdependent, doesn’t it?

If this sounds strange to your ears, notice what Paul says in another place:

For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man… In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. (1 Corinthians 11:8–12 NIV)

or in yet another place:

But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. (1 Corinthians 7:2–4 NIV)

Interdependence (reciprocation or mutuality) might be the better word to describe Christian marriage. While a wife respects her husband, he should love her. As a husband loves his wife, she should respect him. In this way, the needs of both are met and they are better people because of the relationship.

This is how a Christian husband and wife participates in the mystery of Christ and the church.

What do you mean? Spiritual?

Supposedly, we are in a time of spiritual awakening—I mean, with angels floating around our heads and paranormal activity on the increase, we now hear the words “spiritual” and “spiritual-ity” often—even on TV and at the movies!

Now Christians are obviously not opposed to the spiritual, in fact, we embrace it. Nevertheless, it may be that we have missed what a spirituality centered in Christ really is.

In our culture “spiritual” often means no more than “religious” or even “ritualistic.” Yet, more recently, “spiritual” is good while “religious” is bad. So all in all, being spiritual is a bit confusing.

If, though, we allow the New Testament (NT), and particularly Paul—after all it was he coined this word—define what it means to be spiritual, we come up with a completely different understanding than those current in popular thought.

Paul thought of the word in relationship to the Holy Spirit, thus he spoke of Spirit-uality. The Greek word translated spiritual occurs 17 times in the NT, literally means something like spirit-ness.

Thus, for Paul, spirituality had nothing to do with being religious—a thought both Jesus and Paul repudiated—but with what happens to a person who encounters God’s Spirit—that is, what happens when our spirits come in contact with God’s Spirit.

For example, in 1 Cor. 3:1, Paul writes, “Brothers and sisters, we were not able to speak to you as those who are spiritual (led by the Spirit) but as those who are carnal (led by the flesh), even as babies in Christ.”

While Paul touches on being spiritually immature here, the focus is on our unwillingness to yield to the Spirit of God, and this is the way one becomes Spiritual. Paul had already pointed out that the unspiritual, (those without the Spirit of God) cannot understand the things of God for they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:10-16).

Thus, being spiritual in the New Testament has to do with being changed by the presence of God—that is what the Spirit symbolizes: God living in us.

For those interested in following what the New Testament say about being Spiritual, the references are: Rom. 1:11; 7:14; 15:27; 1Cor. 2:13-15; 3:1; 9:11; 10:3, 4; 12:1; 14:1, 37; 15:44, 46; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 1:3; 5:19; 6:12; Col. 1:9; 3:16; and 1Pet. 2:5.

Mimicking God

The goal of Christian spiritual formation is that the believer becomes more like Jesus. This does not entail an abdication of one’s own personality but rather an embracing of those Christ-like characteristics, dispositions, and habits that brought Jesus into harmony with God.

Furthermore, and paradoxically, the more like Jesus we become the more truly human we become. The new creation work of God is to recreate us in the “image” of God (Eph 4:24). This “image” language intentionally echoes the Genesis creation story where God created people in his own image. Thus, to become like God is to become truly human.

Therefore Paul invites his readers at the beginning of chapter 5:

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1–2 NRSV).

Having just called for his readers to forgive like God forgives, Paul continues to call people into the deeper life of God by calling them to remove what is not truly human. There is a long list of these beastly vices: fornication, impurity, greed, vulgar talk, and drunkenness. In place of these vices should be wise living and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

In this rather lengthy call for ethical living (Eph 4:17-5:21), what stands out to me is how Paul teases his reader into the transforming work of God. Early in this text, Paul speaks of learning Christ as the way to God. This learning-Christ curriculum involved deleting the old self and wrapping yourself with the new self—“created based on the likeness of God.”

Therefore, it is not a far stretch to see the way of Jesus as the way of imitating God—much like how young children seek to imitate their parents. As God’s beloved children, Paul calls us, we are to live a live of love because Christ showed us the way. Jesus was both the demonstration of God’s love for us and a model for how we should love God.

Because of the work of Jesus, we are now “children of light” (Eph 5:8). Therefore, we live in the light and not the darkness; in fact, our lives themselves shine light on the way of darkness.

So imitating God, we say, “Let there be light!”