"Appropriate Spirituality: Is there such a thing?" (Part 2)

"Trips like ours are greener grass left unknown for fear of believing trite sayings; sayings that are sometimes true. But our friends back home live an existence under the weight and awareness of time; a place we are slowly escaping; a world growing fainter by the hour and the mile." - Donald Miller (extract from, Through Painted Deserts).

Why a narrow view of devotional life may not meet all our spiritual needs.

Picking up from the last article we'll continue to explore the topic of spirtuality, this time unpacking why a narrow mindset of devotions and spirituality can hinder our lives.

There is nothing wrong with the desire to build good devotional habits into the lives of young believers. Regular bible study, regular prayer and a disciplined approach to a relationship with Christ are all commendable and necessary. John 15:1-4 is as important today as ever. However when reading two different translations of the same passge we notice some differences. One (kjv) uses the very old-fashioned term "abide in me" which people simply don't use today.

Times have changed, imagery has changed, the way we live daily life has changed. Central biblical truths have not changed but the way we set them in our current context is different-and different for different people, circumstances and cultures.

For example,

- If our devotional literature uses mainly rural images and we live in a strongly urban environment, it is hard to make the connections.

- If the language used is not our language, it means we have an extra step in the process of understanding.

- If the content focuses on explaining background in the Bible times without linking the principles with current issues, then I'm left without help for the issues I face.

That which we use as an aid for our spiritual understanding must:

- capture my attention
- deal with my realities
- bring scripture to life for me
- contribute in a systematic and progressive way to my spiritual stature
- speak in language and pictures I can understand and identify.

Now that sounds like a lot to ask. What do you think of these demands?

If you use some form of devotional material, how does it rate by these measures?

And consider in passing two other simple questions:

Do I understand the content of my devotional reading?

Here's a qoute from someone who's been there and back, "Many people surprisingly have what I call the 'dose of medicine' view of spirituality. When we thake medicine prescribed by a doctor for an illness, it doesn't matter that the formula of the medicine is a mystery to us. It doesn't even matter that we can't pronounce what we're taking. What matters is that we take it!
"Sometimes people get thouroughly confused and think the important thing about 'daily devotions' is simply that they 'do it.'
" 'Understanding isn't part of the deal. I have taken my medicine for the day, God has ticked it off in my record in the sky so it will all be OK!'
"Now my apologies if this iis pushing the picture too far but there is enough reality there to be warning to some at least."

Does it work for me, with the personality I have?

Here is something we will come back to but it is considerably more important than most of us realise.

in some way even to raise these issues feels like trampling over sacred ground. Is it not destructive to analyse or criticise the way a person goes about the devotional life?

However the aim of this article is not pull down but to force us to ask if we have the very best spiritual resources available for facing the real world on Monday.

Please do comment on the articles as a big part of this project relies on feedback. And thats just another confession from me a Jesus Freak...

-AndyC.

"Appropriate Spirituality: Is there such a thing?" (Part 1)

"Remember, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Steven Covey

Phil was a financial controller for a real estate firm. It was a great job, lots of money, lots of perks and lots of brownie points in his CV.

It was also at times a difficult position to be in as some of the company policies and practices stretched the truth from time to time and certainly favoured company more than client. Phil knew about these practices and sometimes was expected to ignore the fact that they were happening as papers went across his desk.

It was Monday morning, early. Phil was a keen Christian, a man of strong character and firm discipline. He had been taught from earliest Christian life to start the day with God and so this morning, when the alarm went, he rolled out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee to wake him up and settled into his favourite chair in the lounge to read and pray.

However as he picked up the latest copy of the devotional guide he always used something strange happened.

He looked at the cover, a tranquil New Zealand scene of mountain and bush. He read the passage, one of the more violent of the psalms and then the comments which soothed the violence down into a gentle murmur.

Then he thought of his day. Included was an interview with a sales rep who had pushed through a dubious deal, a check on the advertising budget which was under strain and a meeting with the CEO to express concerns about a new marketing strategy that was strong on sex appeal and weak on fact.

The devotional for the day nothing for him! Its themes were rural, tranquil and its comments simply explained the background of a world thousands of years and thousands of miles from where Phil sat.
It left him feeling confused, angry, guilty and let down. Surely there was more to his spiritual life than this!

So what is appropriate spirituality?

Appropriate spirituality, I believe, is that form of spiritual life that shapes a believer in a way that enables them to translate their relationship with God into effective daily living in all settings in which they find themselves.


It is not appropriate:

- If it sets us up for Sunday but not Monday
- If it works amongst Christians and not amongst non- Christians
- If it works at home but not at work
- If it works at work but not at home
- If it can be switched on and switched off
- If people who know us find they don’t really know us
- If it can be set to one side in the hard decisions and the ethical dilemmas we face
- If it makes it harder for other people to see Jesus
- If I am just at the same level of spirituality I was five years ago
- If I am not getting closer to my Lord

That’s a tough test right there! I suggest that you take some time out and see how many of the above statements that reflect your spiritual life…

The purpose of this exercise is not to make us feel bad but to make us reconsider the way we build up our spiritual lives. A lot of what we thought was simply the ‘norm’, standard practice, what "everybody else" does is simply not up to the job in a complex modern world.

To give ‘some’ shape to this study that we’ll be embarking on, let’s consider (for future reference);

- Why a narrow view of devotional life may not meet all our spiritual needs
- The rediscovery of the spiritual disciplines
- Spirituality and our support systems
- Spirituality and personality

This is a rough idea as to where this study might end up going. But there is always flexibility in terms of what needs to be discussed and worked through.

This is all for now, I’ll give some time to digest and rethink maybe some of the things you’ve thought had to be certain way?

So, that’s just another confession from me… A Jesus Freak!

-AndyC

Call Waiting... (pt.3)

"If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo carved marble. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote pictures. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven will have to say, "Here lives the street sweeper who did his job well."
- Martin Luther King

Last time we covered the intentions and purpose of work, basically what work is meant to be like. How God has gifted us, and the attitude we have towards work. This article will be a direct continuation of the last one.

"How does this inform and light up our attempt to draft a sound theology of work?" This is the question we should be asking ourselves when we approach the theology of work.

So for example, one of the divisions of theology is eschatology, the doctrine of the end times. If we ask how eschatology affects our theology of work, it raises some highly charged issues:

- How do we understand the second coming of Christ? For example if we see Christ returning prior to a thousand year reign, prior to the Judgement (pre-millennialism) then our work makes very little difference to the state of the world and therefore affects the effort we put into it. And it’s vice versa for the opposing argument.

- How do we view the end state of things?A final judgement after which believers live with Christ in Heaven and the rest… Or do we take strongly the statements that there shall be a new Heaven and a new earth and therefore ‘work’ is going to be a continued part of the new creation?

And so on…

The point is that we can take each major doctrinal area and fashion an approach to work in the light of its teachings.

The way biblical figures have reacted to work-like situations.

The Bible is a book about real people and their stories can fashion our own approaches. The story of Joseph for example is rich in material of this nature. It is not just about work in terms of paid employment but it is a powerful for those in settings of both leadership and oppression.
There are examples in many places of the impact of God’s people on their workplace:
-Joseph, Daniel, Amos, Boaz, Nehemiah…

… and the way in which ordinary people are part of the mission of God wherever they are (Note in Acts 8:1 the fact that after the death of Stephen ordinary Christians were scattered and went their way spreading the good news, something that would have happened in the workplace as well as at home and in worship).

The whole balance of Scripture indicates that the majority of those who form the biblical story are ordinary people in everyday settings and not just religious professionals.

So how do we draw this together in a theology of work?
It is your task to form your own theology. By this I mean that you need to work out which biblical themes shape the way you perceive your work. There is ample instruction in Scripture about the way you work, your attitude to others, your relationships with those round about you, your ethical standards. But the big picture of work, how it fits into your faith, how it relates to the view you have of the Kingdom of God – these are your tasks.

Richard Higginson in approaching ethical issues related to business in particular, says he uses four key themes as the framework within which he constructs his approach:

Creation

- Why did God make the world?
- Why did he make us?
- How does this affect what we do and how we do it?
- How do we reflect His image and carry out His intentions?

Fall

- How do I understand myself as a sinner?
- How does sin specifically affect my workplace?
- How does sin affect the structures of work on both a micro-scale (where I work) and the macro-scale (work as a whole)?

Redemption

- In what way has the work of Jesus saved me in my workplace setting?
- Has my personal salvation affected my work?
- Where does work fit into the work of Jesus?
- Does the fact that Jesus came in the flesh (incarnation) have a bearing on the way I see myself in the workplace?

Future Hope

- How does work fit into God’s Kingdom intentions?
- Am I just ‘filling in the time till He comes’ or ‘preparing the way for his coming?’
- In what way is my attitude and my work a sign of hope?
- What do I expect to work at the return of Christ?

This is brief outline of how to approach a personal theology work based on the major doctrines of the Christian faith. This approach could also be adapted to other areas of life.
That’s all for this week, I try not to make the articles too long, but I’m sure you understand that when we’re exploring and discussing an issue it’s always as straight forward as we think! And that’s another confession from me… a Jesus Freak!

-AndyC