WEEKLY COMMENTARY: He Told Me: "I'm Spiritual, But Not Religious"

Recently I had a phone call from a neighbor, inviting me out for a golf date.  I don't really play golf, so I had to decline, but we had not spoken for a while, so I extended the conversation to ask about his summer plans and what his kids would be doing in the fall. Then, I suggested that he and his wife might find some interest in some of the things we are doing at Central Presbyterian Church.  I offered to bring them to one of our church services and to introduce them to our Senior Pastor.

"Jim, thanks," said my neighbor, "but you have to understand that I am spiritual, but not religious, and my wife feels the same way.  But, thanks for asking."

Later, I wondered about my neighbor's response.  What does it mean to be "spiritual, but not religious"?  Does it just mean not being denominational?

I remembered that my neighbor once told me that he finds God in the sunsets, in walks on the beach, in vistas from mountain tops.  Clearly, for him, God is in nature.  But does that mean that people who go to church ---- people who are "religious," like me, are sort of like monastic hermits who never see beyond their church building?  Does he think we don't also see God in the sunset?  As if we don't realize that God is in nature when we read the psalms, the creation stories, and throughout our deep religious tradition.

Being privately spiritual but not religious just seems like eating only snack food.  There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself.  For me, what is interesting is doing this work in community, where other people might call me on something I propose, or even disagree with me.  I think that where life with God gets rich and provocative is when we dig deeply into a tradition that we did not invent merely for ourselves.

Couldn't one say that being privately spiritual is rather self-centered?  That such people may find ancient religions dull, but find themselves uniquely fascinating?

So, what difference would it have made if my neighbor had said he is religious, not merely spiritual?  In my view he would be saying he had been shaped by "a mighty cloud of witnesses," sharing the wisdom and faith of many generations.  That he is someone brave enough to encounter God in a real human community.  Aware that when we least expect it, we can suddenly wonder why we're here and where we are going. Church can give us a way to work that out.  And when life gets scary, he would want the company of someone "religious" holding his hand, saying a prayer and simply putting up with him, just like we try to do in church.

I know that some people are not going to be comfortable with traditional church buildings or theological traditions.  To understand the ritual of worship in a traditional church setting requires some prior learning ---- some familiarity with Scripture and basic theological concepts.  But, perhaps as youths they never learned these basics.

What might be meaningful to Christians not educated in the traditions and formalities of traditional worship?  Perhaps they need immediate personal experiences ---- concrete and visible experiences, rather than abstract theology and Scripture readings.

Nearly 30% of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, according to a Gallup survey.  But more than 90% of Americans still believe in God, or in a universal spirit, according to Gallop research, even as fewer claim a particular religious "brand" or denominational identity.  While more people are opting not to align themselves with one religious denomination or tradition, their interest in faith remains keen.  Some folks just don't like the aura of past-founded religious denominations, where the church looks to outsiders like it is a club.  In short, a new emphasis today seems to be on personal good works and personal holiness, with less emphasis on church participation..

This growing disinterest in theological dogma and abstract tradition, reminds one of earlier cycles in American religious practice.  One in particular is the 19th century Transcendentalist Movement, which some of us remember puzzling over in college literature courses.

Transcendentalism is a cluster of ideas in literature and philosophy that developed in the 1830's and 1840's.  The Enlightenment had come to new rational conclusions about the natural world, mostly based on experimentation and logical thinking.  However, the pendulum was swinging to a less rational, more intuitive, more in touch with the senses, way of thinking.  As one of these spokesmen said, "God gave humankind the gift of intuition, the gift of insight, the gift of inspiration ---- why waste such a gift?"

Among the core beliefs of Transcendentalists was an "ideal spirituality" that transcends the physical and empirical and is realized only through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions.  Transcendentalists longed for a more intense spiritual experience.  Some of the major figures in the movement were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

They were strong believers in the power of the individual ---- they were champions of individualism.  They believed in the ability of mankind unassisted, to realize almost anything.

Transcendentalism, in fact, is said to really have begun as a religious movement, an attempt to promote the idea that humankind is capable of direct experience of the holy. It was a reaction to the Unitarian rationalist view that the truths of religion are arrived at by a process of empirical study and by rational inference from historical and natural evidence.  William Henry Channing (1810 - 1844) viewed Transcendentalism as a pilgrimage from the "idolatrous worlds of creeds and rituals to the Temple of the Living God in the soul."

However, Orestes Brownson, a contemporary of Emerson thought he saw "transcendental selfishness" in such views.  "Are all things in the universe to be held subordinate to the individual soul?  Shall a man take himself as the center of the universe, and say all things are for his use, and count them of value only as they contribute something to his growth or well-being?  According to this system, 'I am everything; all else is nothing, at least nothing except what it derives from the fact that it is something to me.' "

In the end, don't we need to be both spiritual and religious?  I find that each strengthens the other.  But they both take some work.  Some people may think the heavy lifting is just in the theology of church participation.  However, being "spiritual" isn't always easy. Sometimes finding God in nature is a struggle.  Do you remember Hurricane Sandy?! Did you find God in that event?

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal growth this summer at CPC.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Why Do We Show Compassion, Sometimes?

I have a friend with a large house on the Jersey Shore, and a 45-foot boat on which he invites friends to go fishing.  He mentioned the other day how his cleaning lady had asked him for some help to pay the medical bills of her sick mother.  The mother has no medical insurance, and she had already been in the hospital for three weeks.  My friend said he was glad to help.  "My cleaning lady has so little and I have so much," he said.  He gave her $200.

My friend said he realized that his gift would cover only a small part of the hospital bill, and now he felt guilty that he had not given more.  But, he said, at first he was not inclined to give her anything, and then guilt induced him to give the $200.

There was no spontaneous generosity here.  He seems not to have been moved by compassion.

What kind of mercy do you think God requires?  Showing mercy is commanded both by Jesus and often in Scripture.  But shouldn't it be initiated by a willing heart, and not just be in response to a command or a feeling of guilt?   What is the right magnitude of response, given that each of us always has many concurrent demands placed on us: for our money, our time and our emotional support?  How do we make the choices for how much of us to give, and to whom?

And do we have a legitimate claim to some of these resources?  If we give away all our food, for example, are we not going to starve, and thereafter be unable to help anyone else?

One extreme way to look at this is to ask: "How selfish are we if we eat steak and drive two cars, while many in the rest of the world are starving?"  This may create some emotional conflict in the hearts of some Christians who hear such questions.  They may feel a little guilty!  However, all sorts of defense mechanisms are quickly engaged. "Can I help it if I was born into this rich country?"  "How will it help anyone if I stop driving two cars?"  "Don't I have the right to enjoy the fruits of my labor?"  Soon with an anxious weariness, we may turn away from books or speakers who simply make us feel guilty toward the needy.

There is another way to approach this dilemma.  Think of showing generosity to the needy as our "sacrifice of praise" for God's gift of grace to us.   What is this grace?  It is unmerited divine assistance given by God to sinful mankind, thereby freeing us from the curse of our sins.  We have received this God-given grace free of charge.  It is a huge benefit we have received, but have not earned.

It is truly a "sacrifice" on our part, because whatever we give ---- be it money, time or our emotional support, we have given it away, so we do not have it any more for our own use.  But, perhaps such a sacrifice is the best way we can show our thanks for God-given grace, which we have not earned.  The risen Lord of our salvation is not here bodily for us to anoint his feet.  Instead, we have the opportunity to help the needy as a sacrifice, to show our love and honor for Christ.

True compassion is spontaneous ---- it is an expensive love that comes from an awareness of the grace of God.  Hopefully, the deeper the awareness of this free grace from God, the more generous we might become to others.  One measure of a Christian may be whether he or she loves to give.  How regularly are we aware of God's gift of grace to us?  Is it something we want to repay by passing compassion along to others?

A sensitive social conscience and a life poured out in deeds of compassion for the needy, are the signs of a person who really understands the nature of God's grace given freely to us.  Guilt should not be the main motivation for helping the needy.

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal growth this summer at CPC.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: The Best Things In Life, Are Not Things

Prior to the Reformation, vocation or calling ("What shall I do in my earthly life?") was thought to be only for those who worked for the church as priests, monks or nuns.  An important belief of the reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther was that God calls every person.  Vocation was not just for pastors and those who work for the church, and "vocation" was not limited to the time spent earning a living.

John Calvin had high expectations that baptized Christians would actively seek the welfare of others in the community of Geneva, Switzerland where he lived, through education, health care and governance.  For example, he dispatched Elders to inspect fireplaces for safety.  Imagine if pastors today asked for reports from Elders at each Session meeting on their activities for the community's welfare!  But Presbyterians actually are involved in many such activities ---- the PTA, city council, literacy campaigns, clean air task forces, etc.---- so there would be much to report.

Ministers and other ordained leaders of the church are charged with equipping and encouraging all the baptized to respond to their vocational calls.  They also are talent scouts, always on the lookout for gifts in others that can be nurtured and put to use. A retiree is connected with Sunday school teaching.  A beautician is encouraged to offer her skills to a women's shelter.  A gifted young musician performs for nursing home residents.

While other church members may influence the call that one perceives, discernment of call often begins within ourselves, with a yearning to follow an inner voice.  So, we might start with the questions, "What gifts has God given me?  What is God calling me to do with them?"

At any age, assessing our own gifts is tricky.  We are not always the best judges of our talents.  Sometimes we are drawn to a particular path in ignorance of other paths, or out of personal egotistical aspirations, rather than in response to God's call.  There is the old story about the man who saw "PC" in a cloud formation and thought surely he was called to "Preach Christ."  After listening to many of his sermons, some church folks suggested that he was called to "Plant Corn."

We need help sorting out our inner stirrings, to find God's call. Presbyterians understand that discernment of call is not something we do alone, but in the community of God's people.  The best decisions come out of group appreciations of one's gifts.  We may believe that we have leadership skills, for example.  But, do others see that?  If so, perhaps we are on the right path.

The great "call" stories of the Bible demonstrate that a true call from God is often resisted rather than welcomed.  Our Scriptural role models usually did not volunteer. They did not want to be called, and they did not think they had the required qualities. Out minding the sheep, Moses was drafted.  He gave many excuses, but God did not accept them.  Some of the most effective Biblical leaders tell stories of being drafted for service, and trying to tell God that they were not the right candidates.  But they did respond to God's call, and we remember them today.

In today's world, where individuals have many options for the use of their time, with many voices speaking and many career choices offered, the Christian understanding of a "calling" as self-sacrificing service to God and neighbor is not popular.  Perhaps we ourselves are often like the Bible leaders God called, who initially were sure they were just not the right candidates, because it would mean giving up something they were already doing comfortably.

Discerning one's vocation for God is not just a quest for self-fulfillment, though many do experience deep satisfaction in their vocation.  A response to God's call often does require self-sacrifice and even discomfort.  Living out our vocation may involve going places where we don't want to go, and denying ourselves in order to aid someone else.  But, looking back at the things we have actually done for others can give us a very warn feeling ---- be a source of pleasure and delight in our life as a giver.

Perhaps the question is more like this:  "What am I supposed to do with what God has given me?" This includes how we earn our paycheck and how we spend it.  It includes how we spend our time outside of work.  It includes looking for ways to help others, and acting on them ---- not just for the sick and the infirm, but with the youth in our families and neighborhoods who are seeking direction in their own lives.

No one really retires from God's call.  Retirement is just a gift that allows us to serve in new ways.

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, 

hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal spiritual growth this summer at CPC.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: If Lives Are Ruled By "Luck," What's Left For Us To Do?

Last month I spent a day in New York City.  As the return train to Summit left Penn Station, I spotted a former neighbor walking up the aisle, and I motioned to him to join me.  My friend Tom and I had first met years before in a Bible study class.

After a little catching up about our respective families, I remembered that Tom had been an engineer, employed by a prominent internet communications company.  Predictably, we were soon asking each other how our work was going.   I proudly admitted that I had retired a few years earlier, but I was keeping quite busy.  Tom said he was now doing much of his work in foreign countries, and that he had recently returned from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.  I remembered that a huge earthquake had devastated that country last April.  Tom said that it had killed nearly 9,000 people and had badly damaged the infra-structure of the country.

"It didn't help," Tom said, "that the country is in the middle of the Himalayan Mountains, quite remotely placed between India and China."  Tom had seen widespread ruin across the country, and many dead people and animals along the sides of roads, and bodies being collected from collapsed buildings and houses.

"And it made me realize," Tom continued, "that we are so lucky.  We are so lucky to be living here and not there."  He had some tears in his eyes when he said that.  He said he was sort of overwhelmed with gratitude.

I listened quietly, and then said, "You have so much gratitude, but then what?"

"We're just so lucky that we live here instead of there," Tom said.

"Really?  That's it?"  I said to Tom.

I paused and then asked a question:  "When you witness suffering and then declare yourself to have achieved salvation in the "religion of gratitude" for having good luck, do you think maybe you have fallen short of what God would have you do?"

I paused to think about my next words.  "While I think God does want us to feel gratitude," I said, "I do not think God particularly wants us to feel 'lucky'.  I think God wants us to witness pain and suffering and, rather than just feeling 'lucky', God wants us to get angry and then want to do something about it."

I continued:  "Feeling 'lucky' is like saying that the gods pick one person to live in the suburbs of the richest nation on earth, and another person to starve.   In a worldview of 'luck,' any righteous behavior by us is just not relevant.  'Luck' suggests that we are powerless and unable to change anyone else's "bad luck".  Furthermore, at some point the worldview of 'luck' just doesn't pan out.  At some point one realizes that this religion of 'luck' isn't enough, and we long for something as outrageous as a new heaven and a new earth."

"I think I hear what you are saying," Tom responded.  "What is missing from the "religion of 'luck' " worldview is the perspective that we get in a Christian community, that would take us from thinking ourselves merely 'lucky', to actually doing something about the hardships of other peoples' lives.  At some point, if one thinks about it at all, the person with the self-made religion of 'luck', will use his God-given brain and the wisdom of hard experience, and start to ask angry and provocative questions, and see holes in the spirituality of status quo.

We were now approaching Summit station, so I needed to say something that would wrap up our discussion:  "The civil rights movement didn't happen because people felt 'lucky'.  The hungry don't get fed, the homeless don't get sheltered, and the world doesn't change because people who are doing okay feel 'lucky'.  We need more.  As Christians we expect more, way more, like a new heaven and a new earth, and because we follow Jesus, we had better expect to be involved in making it happen, side-by-side with other people.

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal growth this summer at C.PC

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY: Our Church Must Be Stable, But It Cannot Stand Still

On June 23, 2015, at a stated meeting of the Presbytery of Elizabeth, two well-known neighboring Presbyterian churches were dismissed from the PC(USA), at their request.

For more than six months Resolution Teams from the Presbytery had met with leaders of both churches, attempting to give in detail all the reasons why those churches should not seek dismissal.  Both churches cited decisions made by the PC(USA) General Assembly over several years relating to same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay individuals as Presbyterian pastors.

The Liberty Corner Church and the Presbyterian Church at New Providence have large and thriving congregations.  They will be missed as members of the Presbytery of Elizabeth.  Both churches intend to affiliate with the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO), which has a more traditional opinion on the church role for gay persons.

While the foregoing may seem alarming, we should view it against some Presbyterian history, to see that our denomination has often seemed to evolve a bit dramatically, over the years - - - - - .

In 1640, a Presbyterian congregation was organized at Southampton, Long Island.  It is considered to be the oldest Presbyterian church in the United States.

Before that, however, in Scotland, reformer John Knox (1510 - 1572) was the primary author of the Scots Confession.  He is considered the founder of the Presbyterian Church.  But it was John Calvin (1509 - 1564) in Geneva, Switzerland, who had developed the system of Christian theology from which the Presbyterian Church evolved.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the first presbytery in the American colonies was organized in 1706 in Philadelphia, by Francis Makemie.  He is sometimes referred to as "The Father of American Presbyterianism."

Almost 50 years later, in 1746, William Tennant, a minister and educator, established a cabin academy, dubbed the "Log College," which evolved into the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).  John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  Witherspoon was the only active minister to sign that historic document.

The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States met in Philadelphia in 1789.  Again, in Philadelphia, the first African Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia was organized in 1807, being the first African-American Presbyterian church in the United States.

Then in 1812, in New Jersey, a Theological Seminary at Princeton was established by the Presbyterian General Assembly as its first national school for ministers.

The General Assembly spoke again in 1818, pronouncing against slavery and calling for a gradual emancipation.

In the mid-1800's, the growing divide between the Northern and Southern states created some problems for organized Presbyterians.  In 1861, the General Assembly pledged loyalty to the Federal government.  Southern commissioners protested and withdrew.  The Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America (renamed the Presbyterian Church U.S. in 1865) was organized in Augusta, Georgia.  This divide would not reunite for 122 years ---- in 1983, forming the Presbyterian Church (USA).

In the intervening years, Margaret Towner became the first Presbyterian woman to be ordained, in 1956, as a minister of the PCUSA.  In 1972, a woman was first elected Moderator of the General Assembly.

Finally, in 2011 Presbyterians approved an amendment allowing for the ordination of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals, called to ministry.  Within the past year, a majority of PC(USA) presbyteries voted to give our congregations and pastors the authority to undertake same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Do you think the PC(USA) was leading the social changes in our American society over the last centuries, or were we following?  Remembering that Presbyterians deliberate on a congregation-by-congregation basis, perhaps it was a bit of both. Perhaps this mixed bag of social change sets a good pace --- it satisfies in orderly fashion the "change leaders," while supporting others who are slower to accept that social change doesn't really mean abandoning our Jesus-oriented principles.  Today the PC(USA) faces new challenges as membership and active participation have been declining.  But, are not challenges what we should expect in a healthy church that actively engages the dynamics of a changing contemporary world?

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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage some personal spiritual growth this summer at CPC.

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