Does spiritual growth require some kind of hormone, like
other efforts to enhance performance?
Some of us may be disappointed with ourselves, like my
brother Richard. Not so much with particular things he has done, as with
aspects of the person he has become. Richard lives in Colorado, and we met and
talked at a family wedding this summer.
I did not know much about Richard's private life, but after
a few wedding toasts he was willing to talk freely about his pain of not being
the person he had always thought he would become.
I told Richard boldly that we are called to become the
person God had in mind when he originally designed us. Richard listened
politely. I asked Richard if perhaps he had removed God from the central
role God longs to play in our lives. I told Richard, "Perhaps you
have refused to let God be God, and have appointed yourself in his
place."
Later, we had a chance to talk, away from the
distractions of the wedding reception. I told Richard that perhaps what he was
missing was some of the mysterious process called "spiritual growth."
The goal of spiritual growth, I told him, is to live as if Jesus held
unhindered sway over our bodies. Of course it is still we who are
doing the living. We are called by God, I said, to make daily life
choices as the uniquely created selves which each of us is ---- with our own
particular temperament, our own gene pool, our unique history. But to
grow spiritually means to make those choices increasingly as Jesus would have.
John Ortberg, a teacher, writer and the pastor of Menlo Park
(CA) Presbyterian Church, agrees that we may be missing the life we were
appointed by God to live. Too often, says Ortberg, people think about their
"spiritual lives" as just one more aspect of their existence,
alongside and largely separate from their "financial lives" or their
"vocational lives." Periodically they may try to get their spiritual
lives "together" by praying more regularly or trying to master some
other formal spiritual discipline. It is the religious equivalent of
going on a diet, or trying to stick to a budget, Ortberg says.
The term "spiritual life" is simply a way of
referring to one's whole life, says Pastor Ortberg, every moment and every
facet of it ---- but from God's perspective. "Another way of
saying it," continues Ortberg, "is that God is not interested merely
in our "religious life" ---- God is really interested in our lives as
a whole. He intends to redeem one's whole life!"
As Pastor Ortberg sees it, "God holds out the
possibility of transformation, and the possibility of transformation
generates hope. Hope is the primary goal of spiritual
life." The goal of spiritual transformation can and should be
pursued full-time, he says. Often we reduce our "tools for spiritual
growth" to a few activities, such as prayer and Bible study, or a few
periods of the day called "quiet time." However, every moment of our
lives can be an opportunity to learn from God how to live like Jesus.
Getting clear on what the "spiritual life" looks like is
not a casual affair. How do we know if we are settling for false
transformation instead of the real thing? Here are a few warning signs
offered by John Ortberg:
1.) Am I spiritually authentic? One would be
"inauthentic" if preoccupied with appearing to be
spiritual. Sometimes we may work harder at making people think we are a
loving person than we do at actually loving them.
2.) Am I becoming judgmental or exclusive or proud?
Pride is a problem for anyone who takes spiritual growth seriously. As
soon as we start to pursue virtue, we begin to wonder why others are not as
virtuous as we are.
3.) Am I becoming more approachable, or less? In
Jesus' day, rabbis had the mistaken notion that their spirituality required
them to distance themselves from people. The irony is that the only rabbi
that outcasts could touch was Jesus ---- he was the most approachable religious
person they had ever seen. The other religious leaders had a kind of
awkwardness that pushed people away.
4.) Am I growing weary of pursuing spiritual growth?
Conventional religious goodness manages to be both intimidating and
unchallenging at the same time, and this is tiresome. Intimidating because,
for example, it might involve 39 separate rules about Sabbath-keeping alone.
Unchallenging because we may devote our lives to observing all the
rules and not ever open our hearts to love or joy. Conforming to some
particular religious subculture may simply not be a compelling enough vision to
captivate the human spirit.
5.) Am I measuring my spiritual life in superficial
ways? God's primary assessment of our lives is not going to be a measure
of the number of our prayers, Scripture readings or meditations. Rather,
the question is whether we are growing in love for God and other people.
The real issue is what kind of person are we becoming? Practices such as
reading Scripture and praying are important ---- not because they prove how
spiritual we are ---- but because God can use them to lead us into the life
He desires for us.
Pastor Ortberg summarizes these thoughts by saying that
spirituality refers to the Spirit of God and the fact that we are actually
spiritual creatures. So, Christian spirituality has to do with having our
inward person (our mind, our will, our desires and intentions) formed and
shaped by the words of Jesus, into a character that will honor God, not simply
honor ourselves.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage your pursuit of personal
spiritual growth this fall at CPC.
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