Cultivating Sacred Character: The Role of Spiritual Disciplines (Part Two)

L. Dwight Turner

If we ever hope to grow into the fullness of Christ as Paul promised we could, we not only have to imitate Christ. Although the “What Would Jesus Do?” teaching was both admirable and beneficial, it did not go to the core of the issue. If we want to manifest the character, the mind, and the heart of Jesus, we have to live as he lived. This means, among other things, that we have to practice the spiritual disciplines of our faith.

 

I am always fascinated by those folks who are threatened by the spiritual disciplines and especially those writers and teachers who warn us against practicing the disciplines. These folks go so far as to infer that the practice of spiritual disciplines is at best unscriptural and at worst, from the bowels of hell.

 

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

 

I don’t know what scriptures these teachers are reading from, but it surely isn’t the Bible and certainly not the four Gospels. Time after time we read accounts of Jesus going off in solitude to pray and engage in fasting. His consistent use of scriptural references tells us clearly that he engaged in the practice of sacred study. And in one of the most telling passages, Jesus went off alone and prayed all night long. The most telling aspect of this passage is the fact that Jesus did this before choosing the twelve apostles.

 

I can think of no other way to put it: to state that Jesus did not practice spiritual disciplines is sheer lunacy.

 

The classical spiritual disciplines of the Christian faith have been practiced for centuries, starting with Christ himself and carrying forward throughout the Church’s history. These disciplines do not “save us” in the sense of justifying us before a Holy God or granting us brownie points for spiritual behavior. As Paul clearly tells us, it is God’s grace that saves us and, logically extended, it is God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that ultimately sanctifies us and helps us lead more holy lives. Does that mean there is nothing left for us to do? Hardly! Paul tells us to “work out our salvation with trembling” and James states in a most straightforward manner that “faith without works is dead.” There is plenty left for us to do and that is where the spiritual disciplines come in.

 

My experience has been that practicing the spiritual disciplines has helped me to accomplish several important milestones in my walk of faith. First, as their name implies, the spiritual disciplines have helped me to become a more disciplined person. By practicing the spiritual disciplines, especially prayer, contemplation, meditation, solitude, and Bible study, I have become a more steadfast follower of Christ. Second, practicing the disciplines have helped me reduce and even eliminate some of the major strongholds of resistance I have to leading a spiritual life. Let’s face facts: following the teachings of Christ is not something you or I come to naturally. Due to our inherent nature of “flesh,” we are not so inclined to set aside times for communion with God through studying scripture or engaging in practices like prayer, meditation, and solitude. To the contrary, for many of us it seems almost second nature to avoid getting to close to God. Instead, we tend to either ignore him or do whatever we can to minimize our moments of divine contact.

 

Thirdly, and I find this to be the most beneficial aspect of the practice of the disciplines, by engaging in these sacred practices I am brought to a place of receptivity to God’s presence and action in my life. Yes, it is God’s grace toward me and the work of the Holy Spirit that brings about desired change in my life. However, if my hands are not empty, I cannot receive this gift of grace and Spirit. By this I mean that I must be in a space of receptivity in order to receive. It is precisely the practice of the spiritual disciplines that brings this about.

 

I am reminded of the biblical characters Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus, two individuals who seemed to understand that Jesus was no ordinary person and went to great lengths to place themselves in a position to receive whatever it was that he might have to offer. Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus would never have been drafted by an NBA team as a potential center. A very short man, Zacchaeus had to shimmy up a tree right in Jesus’ path in order to even get a glimpse of the great rabbi. The tax collector ended up getting more than he bargained for. Jesus saw Zacchaeus perched up on the limb of the tree and called him by name. Not only that, he summoned the short little man down from his perch and to Zacchaeus’ astonishment, said, “Guess who’s coming to dinner?”

 

If Zacchaeus had not placed himself in a position of receptivity, chances are the story would have unfolded in a much different manner.

 

Bartimaeus also had a divine encounter with Jesus by making himself available. As Luke 18: 35-43 unfolds, we learn that Bartimaeus is a blind beggar sitting on a roadside near Jericho. While sitting there begging, he hears a distant commotion that steadily grows louder and louder. When he asked those standing around him, a sizable crowd by now, what was going on they informed his that Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples were approaching.

 

Blind but not deaf, Bartimaeus had no doubt heard of the miracle working itinerant rabbi and immediately wanted to make sure he could somehow get to the great teacher before he passed by.

 

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me,” came the cry from Bartimaeus’ heart.

 

Those gathered around as well as those leading the procession, most likely some of the big wigs from Jericho, told Bartimaeus to pipe down and keep quiet.

 

Undeterred, the blind beggar shouted even louder.

 

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me.”

 

Indignant, those around the social outcast told him even more strongly to shut up or else. Not wanting to offend the rabbi, chances are they might have even roughed the beggar up a little.

 

Jesus, however, stopped and to everyone’s astonishment I’m sure, asked Bartimaeus what he wanted. Bartimaeus by this time had removed his cloak and headed toward Jesus, who promptly healed him on the spot.

 

As far as I am concerned, the removal of the coat is a significant aspect of the encounter between the blind beggar and the Son of God. Bartimaeus, indeed, made himself available – receptive – in a position to receive the gift of healing from Christ. The removal of his coat implies a taking off of impediments that may block the flow of blessings from the Lord. It is the consistent practice of the classical spiritual traditions that assists in melting away those things that stand in the way of our more intimate contact with the Lord.

 

Countless numbers of sincere Christians desire just that: a more intimate contact with God. Recognizing that something deeper must be available in the Christian journey, these seekers are a bit different from those spiritual aspirants one might find in some of the more occult or New Age groups. Although those seeking the Light through these various paths are many times sincere enough, they are not sure exactly what it is they are trying to find. Conversely, many of the Christ-followers I encounter either at LifeBrook or at various churches are quite clear about their spiritual goal: they want to establish a deeper, abiding relationship with the Divine Source – God.

 

Granted, there are many other Christians who are not so much interested in discipleship in general and the deeper, more abiding realties that can only be found through practicing a disciplined life. These believers figure they have had their ticket to heaven punched and that is all that really matters to them. Quite satisfied to maintain the appearance of spirituality, these folks warm the pews with their backsides while their spiritual hearts grow increasingly cold. As the light placed in them by God at their conversion fades to a predictable dimness, they are unable to articulate even the most rudimentary knowledge of the contents of their faith. They can, however, bring one heck of a casserole to the Wednesday night potluck.

 

In addition to these two types of believers, those who want something deeper and more transformative and those who are content to maintain a cosmetic Christianity, there is a third type we need to briefly examine. In this case, these Christians perhaps want something of more genuine substance in their walk with Christ, but they have rarely expended much spiritual energy in pursuit of authentic spiritual formation. They may have had a number of surface experiences, but have never gone far beyond that. Content to splash about the wading pool of Christian discipleship, these folks usually won’t even put on a snorkel. Noted expert on the spiritual disciplines Donald S. Whitney paints a vivid portrait of the spiritual lives of these believers:

 

So many professing Christians are so spiritually undisciplined that they seem to have little fruit and power in their lives. I’ve seen men and women who discipline themselves for the purpose of excelling in their profession discipline themselves very little “for the purpose of godliness.” I’ve seen Christians who are faithful to the church of God, who frequently demonstrate genuine enthusiasm for the things of God, and who dearly love the Word of God, trivialize their effectiveness of the Kingdom of God through lack of discipline. Spiritually they are a mile wide and an inch deep. They are no deep, time-worn channels of communing discipline between them and God. They have dabbled in everything but disciplined themselves in nothing.

 

I hold the firm conviction that the Holy Spirit works through the spiritual disciplines in ways that are profound and transformative. The Spirit uses these classical spiritual exercises as a sort of matrix through which he can do his deeper and more intimate work. Therefore, it behooves us as true disciples to make it a point to not only become acquainted with these disciplines of grace, but to make them an integral part of our daily walk of faith.

(c) L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

Cultivating Sacred Character: The Role of Spiritual Disciplines (Part One)

L. Dwight Turner

As Christians, scripture tells us that we are to increasingly grow into the character of Christ – in other words – become more Christ-like. Left to our own devices, this would be an impossible demand. Tainted by sin and mostly dominated by our lower nature, who among us could generate even a sliver of hope of emulating Jesus in thought, word, and deed?

 Fortunately, scripture tells us that we have an omnipotent ally in this process of spiritual formation. The Holy Spirit walks along side of us, giving us strength to offset our weakness, wisdom to overcome our ignorance, and divine love to gradually eradicate our extreme self-centeredness. It is this promise of the Holy Spirit that gives us a reason to proceed down the road of spiritual formation and further, provides us with a legitimate assurance of success.

 Still, we cannot fold our arms, lean back, and wait for the Holy Spirit to magically turn us into exact replicas of Christ. Over the centuries countless numbers of Christians have tried this approach with predictable results. Scripture is clear in stating that we have a part to play in the attainment of what we here at LifeBrook call “Sacred Character.” Sacred Character is based on the character and integrity exhibited by Christ during his mission here on earth. By studying the character of Christ, we can gain valuable insight into what it means to live our own lives from the sure foundation of Sacred Character.

 As Jesus walked this earth, he revealed the character of God. “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” said Christ and in this statement he revealed a profound truth. Christ was so intimate with the Father that his character and his behavior were perfect reflections of his heavenly parent. Our goal, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is to live in the same intimacy with Christ as he lived with the Father. If you want to gain a deep and abiding perspective on this kind of intimate relationship, I suggest that you prayerfully read through the 17^th Chapter of the Gospel of John.

 In order to grow into this type of intimacy with Christ and increasingly manifest Sacred Character in our daily lives, we must engage in certain activities that foster spiritual development in a positive and proven direction. These activities have a long and valuable history in the Christian tradition. Here I am speaking of the classic Christian spiritual disciplines.

 In some quarters, sincere believers become edgy just at the mention of spiritual disciplines. Steeped in the theology of God’s unmerited and unlimited grace, these well-meaning Christians believe that pursuing the practice of the classical spiritual disciplines is somehow “salvation through works.” This kind of thinking is both incorrect and unfortunate. It is incorrect in the sense that the spiritual disciplines are not related to salvation or the final destination of one’s soul. Pursuing spiritual disciplines is more concerned with placing ourselves in a position of receptivity to the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to form us into the image of Christ. Although this spiritual formation is ultimately a work of the Spirit, we are told to do all that we can to assist in the process. As the great Quaker writer Rufus Jones once said,

 “The grace of God is like the wind blowing across the Sea of Galilee; if you want to get to the other side, you have to raise your sail.”

 The notion that practicing the disciplines is “works” is also highly unfortunate in that this misguided belief has prevented countless Christians from availing themselves of the very thing they need in order to foster the deeper, more effective walk of faith. I am of the belief that the great “faith/works” controversy of the 16^th Century, although beneficial in many ways, gave birth to a trend in Protestant Christianity that resulted in pews filled with believers that were both powerless and confused. This tragic trend continues even today.

 As the Body of Christ moves forward in this challenging age, establishing ministries focusing on vibrant, dynamic discipleship is of paramount importance. Unless the church develops consistent ways to grow its members deeper in the faith, it runs the danger of becoming, at best, irrelevant to the contemporary culture, or at worst, dead.

 To begin, I think it is critical that we come to understand just what a disciple is. From all evidence, it would seem the church at large has lost touch with a crucial element of its mission – disciple-making. Just prior to his ascension, Christ did not tell his inner circle to “go and make converts.” No, he told them to go and make disciples. It is obvious that constructing a workable definition of a disciple is a high priority. Margaret Campbell gives us a great jump-start:

 A disciple of Jesus is a person who has decided to live in attentiveness to Jesus. We live in attentiveness in order to become like Jesus on the inside and, thereby, able to do what Jesus would do on the outside. As maturing disciples we progressively learn to live in attentiveness, adoration, surrender, obedience, and thankfulness to God, and all of this, without ceasing. Through the hidden work of transformation, God writes his good way on our minds and hearts and this is very good. By his grace, our hearts are divinely changed. We are progressively conformed to be like Jesus in mind and will and soul and word and deed. What we say and what we do more consistently reflect the glory and goodness of God.

 If that isn’t clear enough, let’s listen to George Barna:

 True discipleship is about a lifestyle, not simply about stored up Bible knowledge. Often, churches assume that if people are reading the Bible and attending a small group, then real discipleship is happening. Unfortunately, we found that’s often not the case. Discipleship is about being and reproducing zealots for Christ. Discipleship, in other words, is about passionately pursuing the lifestyle and mission of Jesus Christ.

 From these two definitions it should be clear that real discipleship, the kind of Jesus-following that makes a difference in a person’s life and the life of others, involves more than wearing a “What would Jesus Do?” bracelet.

 (To be continued)

(c) L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

Today’s Encouraging Word

“As for me, I never lived. I was half dead. I was a rotting tree, until I reached a place where I wholly, with utter honesty, resolved and then re-resolved that I would find God’s will, and I would do that will though every fiber in me said no, and I would win the battle in my thoughts. It was as though some deep artesian well had been struck in my soul…You and I shall soon blow away from our bodies. Money, praise, poverty, opposition, these make no difference, for they will all alike be forgotten in a thousand years, but this spirit which comes to a mind set upon continuous surrender, this spirit is timeless.”

 Frank Laubach

Do You Hear What I Hear?

L. Dwight Turner

Although many things in the modern world conspire to deafen us to the subtle voice of the Father, rest assured that his voice is indeed there. God calls to us continually, asking us to put down our nets and, like the fishermen disciples of old, come and follow. Jesus tells us in John 6:44 that no one comes to him unless the Father first draws him. What this means in highly practical terms is that we not only have a God, we have a proactive God that seeks relationship with us. Our end of the bargain is to put ourselves into a position of deepening receptivity, so that we might hear his voice more clearly and experience his love more intensely.

 There are others who hear God’s voice and respond, accepting his offer of grace, forgiveness, and acceptance into his blessed family. These are generally sincere disciples and are often quite active in their local church fellowship. They also involve themselves in service work and serve the Master to the best of their ability. Yet it is these very people – these sincere followers of the Lord – who, in their heart of hearts, often find themselves asking, “Isn’t there something more to the Christian life? I feel like something is missing. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is a vague emptiness…”

 It is to these genuine disciples that the still, small voice comes beckoning in the silence of a sleepless night, or drifting in on the golden leaves of an autumn wind. That irresistible, persistent voice that repeatedly whispers:

 Come, follow me….

 When we find ourselves in such a situation, we need to recognize that we are both blessed and vulnerable. We are blessed in that the divine source, the creative power that put this awe-inspiring universe together, seeks relationship with us. The incomprehensible intelligence that maintains all that we see and even more remarkably, the mysterious quantum realm that we don’t see, together in harmonious balance desires intimacy with us – intimacy beyond anything we have ever known.

 Yes, friend, God calls to us in a gentle voice that only the mystic can truly hear. And in that persistent calling, the Creator invites us to join in the mysterious dance of spiritual transformation. Most amazingly, he is not calling us to go into a monastic hideaway or a hermit’s cave, but to stay put right where we are. And if we stay and we become open and discerning, he will use the mundane events of our daily round as his methodology of instruction. More often than not, God’s classroom is characterized by the pedagogy of the ordinary and it is precisely in the realm of the unremarkable that true divine alchemy occurs. Sue Monk Kidd, a woman who knows this process through personal experience, describes it this way:

 It seems to me that Christ continually calls us through the daily events of our lives…In moments like these God stirs the waters of our lives and beckons us beyond where we are to a new dimension of closeness with Him…God desires to transform certain experiences of ours into awakening events. These may be our most common moments, but if we let them they can become doorways to a deeper encounter with Him. Who knows at what moment we may begin to wake up to the astonishing fact that Emmanuel (God with us) is still God’s name, that every moment the Word of God, Jesus Christ, is coming to us.

 I know that in my experience, God calls me in ways I never expected. I have discerned his voice in the sacred silence of meditative stillness and his message has often slapped me to my senses as it spoke from the pages of Holy Scripture. I have also learned to be increasingly sensitive to his call as manifest in the choreographic harmony of the natural world and especially when it dances in the eyes of a child.

 If you want to validate the existence of this divine presence, forget your test tubes, your state-of-the-art laboratories, and your most advanced computer programs. Instead, go find a child and spend the day with them. Any kid can teach you more about the inner workings of this energy, what the Chinese call the ‘Dao, than an entire university physics faculty.

Children are one of the most spectacular yet subtly sublime gifts God can bestow upon us. God surprised and blessed my wife and I with the birth of Salina in May, 2004. For me, it was particularly surprising as I was 55 at the time. Now I am 60 and Salina celebrated her fifth birthday a few months back. In this past half-decade, I have been given a new perspective on why Jesus told us to be as little children if we wanted to see the kingdom.

Salina has always amazed me with her curiosity, her sense of discovery, and especially her spontaneous wonder and awe as she encounters things new and exciting. Further, she never tires of things that strike her fancy, especially if I do something that she likes but has never really seen before. I am reminded, for example, when I first showed her how to blow bubbles with bubble gum. For me, it was old hat – but for her, this simple act was like seeing a rainbow for the first time or discovering the wonders of ice cream. Whenever I produced a large, pink bubble as if by magic, she would pop it with her hand, laugh in that way that only children can laugh, and say, “Do it again, Daddy; do it again.”

This amazing ability to turn something new into an almost sacred event is, I think, part of that unsullied and untainted aspect of the image of God that we are blessed with in our creation. Moreover, children never seem to tire of monotony, at least until they get a bit older. At those miracle ages of two through five or so, kids just seem to revel in both newness and repetition. I am reminded of the famous words of G.K. Chesterton:

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity to make all daisies appear alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never grown tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite for infancy: for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

Sometimes when I sit quietly and open myself to what Chesterton says in these few words and what the Holy Spirit speaks to me when I reflect on them, I am literally stunned into silence; and then I shiver.

Children have not forgotten how to experience our world with a sense of wonder and awe. Noted Jewish philosopher Abraham Heschel, one of my very favorite authors, calls this capacity for reverence in life “radical amazement” and affirms that the spiritual journey cannot be completed until we reattain this inborn spiritual quality. Heschel makes this statement, “The beginning of awe is wonder and the beginning of wisdom is awe.” When I first discovered these words, I pondered on the meaning for weeks and eventually discovered by doing so I totally lost their true import. I have come to see that Heschel is alluding to the fact that true wisdom begins with the experience of awe, and this basic sense of “radical amazement” has its birth in a childlike wonder at the incredible thing we flippantly call “life” ; the unfathomable creation that surrounds us every moment. I will let Heschel say the rest:

The secret of every being is the divine care and concern that are invested in it. Something sacred is at stake in every event…..The meaning of awe is to realize that life takes place under wide horizons, horizons that range beyond the span of an individual life or even the life of a nation, a generation, or an era. Awe enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine, to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common and simple; to feel in the rush of the passing the stillness of the eternal.

Deep in my personal spirit, when it is connected with and animated by the Holy Spirit, I know with certainty that my daughter Salina innately understands this. She cannot articulate it with the eloquence of Heschel but she expresses this sense of radical amazement nonetheless. Every time she giggles when Daddy blows a bubble; every time she sits on the deck and watches birds feeding in the back yard and cows feeding in the field beyond; every time her eyes dance with wonder when she sees a sunset and screams, “Look Daddy, God is smiling,” – I know she gets it just as much as Heschel ever did and just as much as I long to once again.

I am always amazed at how she sees the world in all its glory, the way God intended it to be seen, and responds without any sense of guile or bewilderment. Just yesterday we stopped the car along a rural lane near our home to watch a group of wild geese circle a field, then land in a large pond. My daughter’s eyes grew wide as she saw these birds gracefully glide almost silently on to the surface of the water. She sat there spellbound as she quietly took in this aspect of God’s remarkable world.

 My grandfather was in many ways my first spiritual director. Working as a game warden, a career that my father also pursued, he spent most of his time in natural settings and he had this uncanny ability to see the intricate and interconnected patterns that were everywhere to be witnessed if a person only had “eyes to see.” My grandfather often said that it was important to see each new day with what he called “fresh eyes.” A deeply spiritual man, he rarely attended the Baptist Church where my grandmother was an active member. Instead, he often went off into the woods of north Alabama with one of us grandkids in tow, giving us his own version of Sunday School.

 I don’t say this to discount the importance of church-going, only to say that, for my grandfather, it was not a high priority. Coming from a family with a long tradition of Quakerism, my grandfather treasured silence and solitude and often told me that my “inner light” could best be seen on a calm lake or pristine mountaintop. According to my grandfather, the best way to rediscover my “fresh eyes” was to go into nature and go into “the sacred silence,” then just notice what was going on around me. Yesterday, as I watched Salina as she “noticed” the geese as they went about their business, I understood deeply that she had “fresh eyes” and that most children possessed this significant talent, at least until they were educated out of it.

 I also understood why my grandfather never said I needed to develop fresh eyes; he always said I needed to rediscover them. The childlike perspective of awe and wonder that we all possessed when we were young is still there. Our task, with the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, is to go through the cognitive clutter we have all accumulated and find it once again.

 On the way home I also recalled a passage from a remarkable little book, written by Jeanne Gowen Dennis. The book is entitled, Running Barefoot on Holy Ground and subtitled, Childlike Intimacy With God. A fine and educative book, “Running Barefoot” discusses the notion of having fresh eyes. Let’s listen to the author:

 “Why do children notice so many things that adults miss? Maybe being closer to the ground gives them an advantage. Perhaps it’s because they’re discovering the wonders of the world around them for the first, second, or twentieth time, and somehow the novelty has not yet worn off. Unlike most adults, little children also pay attention to details. We are so distracted by our responsibilities that we often miss what is right before us. Perhaps we should take regular walks with toddlers and let them lead us along. Still, we’ll only learn to see through their eyes if we use the time to exercise our sight, not just our bodies.”

 Having Salina around has been a blessing in many wonderful ways, but one of the most beneficial spiritual lessons she has brought my way is helping me rediscover my fresh eyes – helping me learn to see again. She has in some magnificent manner taught me the spiritual discipline of “noticing.” For example, there was the time she looked into a clear night sky at a quarter-moon and said, “Look, it’s just like my fingernail,” or the occasion when she sat in wondrous rapture watching three butterflies flitting about on our back deck. As the two of us “noticed” the choreography of their airborne dance, I became aware that I was, for a few brief moments, actually seeing what was going on. It was, in a word, exhilarating.

 All of this comes natural to children, but we adults must now somehow train ourselves to be open to the marvels God parades before us on a daily basis. It not only involves “slowing down to smell the roses,” no – it goes much deeper than that.  In my experience, I have had to learn to live in my body again; allowing myself enough time to become reacquainted with my five basis senses and perhaps discover a few I didn’t know, or more likely forgot, that I even had. In order to see like a child, I needed to rediscover how to experience life in the pristine clarity of the moment – unsullied by morbid memories or future fears.

 I not only needed to learn how to see – I needed to learn how to be.

 A good way to begin this process of rediscovery is by learning to pay attention to what is coming in through your senses. Pick on of your senses, say hearing, and go outside and just spend five minutes paying attention to what you hear – the birds chirping in the trees, a distant plane overhead, a passing truck on the Interstate two miles away. Don’t strain to do this; simply allow the sounds to come in and just notice them. Just allow them to be what they are and just allow yourself to just be. I have found it useful to spend about three days on each one of my senses and to keep a journal of my experiences. I record what I noticed and also what prevented me from being present to my surroundings. For me, as well as others I have taught to use this exercise, let the sense of vision be the last one you focus on. I can’t explain why this seems to be the best way to do this, all I can say is, for the majority of people, it works best that way.

 In conclusion, let me suggest one other thing that might seem a bit silly to you. You may, in fact, think this is childish. Yet, when you think about it, that’s the whole point, isn’t it. Try doing things the way a young child does them. Experiment with your body and your posture. What do I mean? I’ll close with this quotation, again from Dennis’ book:

 “To see as children see, all our senses must be alert. New worlds open up when children exercise their power of sight. They see with fresh eyes – fully, simply, and in intricate detail. Young children experience each new discovery to the fullest, first with their mouths, then with their hands and fingers, and finally with their whole beings. They “see” with all their senses and in every possible position: on their knees, on their stomachs, on their backs, upside down, backward, and sideways. They explore the world with eyes wide open, closed, or squinted; through drinking glasses or cellophane; from inside cabinets, under coffee tables, and even in mirrors.”

 If you apply these ideas you may, like my daughter Salina and the great poet William Blake, discover (rediscover) that you “hold infinity in the palm of your hand.”

 © L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

Today’s Encouraging Word

Of all the things that may change about you when you connect to God, here is one that should fill you with confidence – if you have lived your life running away, this is not who you are any longer. Where once we ran from problems, failures, hardship, danger, and challenges, we are now among those who thrive in the midst of them. You need to know who you are and to which tribe you belong. Others may run in fear, but you are not of those who shrink back. You recognize that the greatness within you can only emerge if you are willing to face your greatest challenges…Maybe you didn’t know that about yourself. Maybe your life history doesn’t reflect this. Maybe all your experience tells you that you are inherently a coward, a failure, and a quitter. But God says, “No, You’ve misunderstood yourself. You’ve misjudged yourself. You’ve underestimated yourself.” If you are in a relationship with the God who created you, no matter who you’ve been or what you’ve done or how many times you’ve messed up or failed or quit, you are no longer that person, no longer a part of the tribe that shrinks back.

Erwin Raphael McManus

(from Wide Awake)

Pseudo-Repentance: The Pandemic of Superficiality

L. Dwight Turner

Over the past few days the Spirit has graciously led me to see that it all begins with “repentance.” The theme starts early in scripture, is emphasized in Psalms and the Prophets, and the New Testament is loaded with that word – repentance.

 

John the Baptist screamed it and Jesus’ first mission words recorded included it: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven draws near. Can we deny in any way that repentance is the key to the door of the Christian way? I think not.

 

In its most simple yet accurate definition, repentance is saying yes to Christ. The official definition is something like “to turn, or change direction” and it specifically implies “a change of the mind.” These are basic truths no doubt, but what is it that motivates and causes this process to begin? One thing:

 

Saying yes to Christ and really meaning it.

 

When we truly repent, we involve ourselves in the process of “consecration.” We consecrate our minds, hearts, wills, and bodies to God. From what I can gather, true repentance, the kind of repentance that makes a difference in a persons life – the kind of repentance that results in conversion and leads to transformation – is an event that is initiated by God and completed by us. We come to understand what is being offered, what is required, and we either accept the proposal or we reject it.

 

Yet things are rarely that cut and dry. Like most things involving humans, we tend to cloud even the most crystal clear situations and complicate things needlessly.

 

As I look at my own history with the faith, coupled with what I see going on in the Body of Christ as a whole, and what I see is something that is a bit puzzling and even more disturbing. Based on my own behavior and that of many others, it would seem that either we never really understood what repentance was all about and made an ill-informed decision, or, worse still, maybe we never really repented.

 

I can only answer this issue where I am concerned. I think, after honestly looking at my own history with Christianity, that I never truly repented. I never really intended to make the “complete turn” that true repentance calls for. It is hard for me to acknowledge this, but the facts lay bare the reality and truth of what I am saying. My initial repentance was not much more than skin deep and it never, ever, reached the level of my deeper mind and certainly never penetrated my heart. The result was that after a few years of youthful exuberance and activity, things leveled off into a lukewarm routine of going through the motions.

 

By the grace of God I finally woke up to all of this, but I discovered that it was so easy to repeat the same mistake. When ever I needed to truly repent, I would often think that I had when in actuality, all I had accomplished was to push a particular issue to the back burner for a time, rather than really deal with it.

 

I think I am not alone in this tendency toward “pseudo-repentance.”

 

I have also come to believe that part of the problem in all of this is the fact that the church does a generally poor job of letting believers know what repentance is really all about. We become so concerned about getting people “saved” or getting them through the church doors and into a pew that we fail to let new believers in on a central fact of the faith. Although God’s grace is freely given, much is required if you are to become a true disciple.

 

New and/or prospective converts need to hear the fundamental truth that Christianity is not about getting you into heaven; its about getting heaven into you.

 

Peter Vardy wrote a great little book entitled, And if it’s True? I am not sure it is even in print anymore. I found my copy of it years ago at a used book store, yet I can safely say it was a book that literally stopped my in my tracks. Vardy speaks clearly about what one has to consider when it comes to taking on this thing called Christianity and coming under the mastership of this being called Jesus Christ. Getting right to the meat of the matter, Vardy says:

 

Christianity calls each of us to believe and trust in God, a belief and trust based on love. This is not simply a matter of intellectual assent….It is a matter of the truth of Christianity becoming ‘true for you’, as an individual. Only when Christianity becomes true for you so that you are willing to stake your whole life on it, does it really become true in your own case.

Belief that God exists does not come near to what Christianity is about. It is only when the factual truth of Christianity becomes ‘true for us’ so that it becomes the center of our lives around which our whole existence revolves that we, as individuals, can see what Christianity involves….it means each of us coming to understand what it is for Christianity to become ‘true for me’, what Christianity is going to involve when it is taken on board and lived. Once we see and understand this, we then each of us have to decide whether or not we wish to try to live it – but that is our free choice. Until we have understood what is involved, however, we cannot even make the decision.

Christianity requires passion and total commitment – a commitment to a lived love relationship with God. The relationship has practical consequences and these can, to an extent, be foreseen.

‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’ ….The important way of looking at this question, however, is to see it as asking each of us, ‘What does it mean for me to be a Christian?’ This is much, much more uncomfortable and challenging. There is no single right answer – each of us needs to think the answer through for ourselves.

 

If you find that your walk of faith has not been what you feel it should be, then I would suggest that you spend a bit of time really studying what Vardy has said in this short passage. You may even try to get your hands on a copy of the book as I am sure it can be found somewhere. But be prepared to take an honest, hard appraisal of your walk of faith and also be prepared to practice a bit of brutal honesty with yourself. It may not be the most pleasant exercise you have ever undertaken, but I can say with assurance, for many of you, it will be far from a waste of time.

 

In fact, it may be life changing in ways you would have never imagined.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

Recognizing the Universal Christ

L. Dwight Turner

If we read scripture with both diligence and an open mind, we come to see that we humans were created with a purpose and a holy mission from the Father of Lights. We were to be his representatives here on this earth, to have dominion, and to be the spirit-beings through which God’s kingdom principles were translated from heaven to earth. Just because of the Fall and its effects, nothing has really changed. How can I say that? It is simple, actually.

 I can safely say that our mandate has not changed because of the work accomplished by Christ, when according to his calling and his mission, he abandoned his Heavenly Home and took up residence here on this world. Through the successful work of Jesus Christ, God reclaimed all that was lost when humankind was exiled from the Garden and sent “East of Eden.” I have little doubt about the fact that we humans, with our finite understanding, have but a faint – a very faint – awareness of the mysteries involved in Christ’s mission to this world in general, and his work on the cross, his death, and subsequent resurrection and ascension. In the words of the Apostle, we see through a glass darkly. We do know and can take assurance of this cogent reality: What was once lost has now been reclaimed by God and part of that reclamation is the re-establishment of humankind’s dominion rights and authority.

 Scripture also reveals to us another reality as a result of Christ’s successful mission to earth. Christ is now not limited by a physical human body, nor is he in any way limited by special dimensions as we understand them. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4: 10 that:

 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

 We learn here that Christ exists above all things and within all things. His being is pure love and unbridled compassion and in some very real way in which none of us fully comprehend, his being is like a magnetic force, drawing all things toward himself. I am not saying here that everyone and all things will be saved, but what I am saying is all will be drawn to a point of awareness where they will have a clear choice whether or not to accept Christ’s offer. In essence, Christ is now cosmic and universal in scope and in that universal identity has established an ongoing presence and a continual victory.

 This biblical teaching is one of the reason why I don’t respond in a negative fashion when any of my friends who are followers of New Age ideas claim “the universe did this” or “the universe presented me with that.” The biblical teaching is quite clear: Christ is the universe and his presence pervades all that exists.

 Christ sacrificed much so that we might once again live in freedom and in intimate fellowship with God. Now Satan is forced to operate underground, or in more subtle ways. One of his strategies, as we have seen, is to convince us that rather than joint heirs with Christ and God’s children of the Light, we are nothing more than sinful worms, with no power or status under God. It is a lie from the pit of Hell.

 Your choice, my choice – the choice before every believer is whether or not we will live according to Satan’s lie or Christ’s empowerment.  As for me, I choose the latter. I will take possession of my status as God’s representative here on earth.

 What say you?

 © L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

Wise Words for Today

 Christianity calls each of us to believe and trust in God, a belief and trust based on love. This is not simply a matter of intellectual assent….It is a matter of the truth of Christianity becoming ‘true for you’, as an individual. Only when Christianity becomes true for you so that you are willing to stake your whole life on it, does it really become true in your own case.

Belief that God exists does not come near to what Christianity is about. It is only when the factual truth of Christianity becomes ‘true for us’ so that it becomes the center of our lives around which our whole existence revolves that we, as individuals, can see what Christianity involves….it means each of us coming to understand what it is for Christianity to become ‘true for me’, what Christianity is going to involve when it is taken on board and lived. Once we see and understand this, we then each of us have to decide whether or not we wish to try to live it – but that is our free choice. Until we have understood what is involved, however, we cannot even make the decision.

Christianity requires passion and total commitment – a commitment to a lived love relationship with God. The relationship has practical consequences and these can, to an extent, be foreseen.

‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’ ….The important way of looking at this question, however, is to see it as asking each of us, ‘What does it mean for me to be a Christian?’ This is much, much more uncomfortable and challenging. There is no single right answer – each of us needs to think the answer through for ourselves.

Peter Vardy

(from And If It’s True?)

Personal Authenticity and Spiritual Worldview

L. Dwight Turner

Spiritual transformation is not so much a process of creating a “new you” – but instead, is about becoming the “real you.” As we increasingly grow “in Christ” we are led by the Holy Spirit into a deeper level of self-evaluation and, as the Spirit reveals to us both our strong and weak points, we gain understanding into who we are and why we do what we do. It is sometimes a painful process as we begin to see who and what we are behind the various masks we create. Still, this is a part of the process that we must undergo if we are to become useful vessels in God’s kingdom.

 In essence, it is all about becoming a person of “authenticity.” An authentic person is a person who is guileless and consistently exhibits impeccable integrity. If more of us displayed just these traits, an absence of guile and consistent integrity, think of how different life would be. Wouldn’t things be more pleasurable and less taxing emotionally if we consistently dealt with people who are trustworthy and responsible?

 You see, that is exactly what would happen if we developed enough authenticity to operate without guile and lack of integrity. We could count on others being worthy of our trust and we could also reasonably expect them to do what they said they were going to do.

 Many of you must be thinking that this is both naïve and unrealistic. In the real world where “look out for No. One” is the most fundamental moral principle, to think that people can be trusted or that we can expect them to be responsible is nothing more than pie-in-the-sky idealism. This is certainly a viable response, at least on the surface of things. However, I think we need to take a deeper look.

 Think of it like this – if we can never expect people to become better than what the currently are, why bother? The fact is, people can become better, a good deal better. Spiritual growth is not only possible, it is practical and furthermore, we live in a universe that is both evolving and purposeful. As integral parts of that evolving universe, we humans, as a whole, are also subject to what amounts to a universal law: something either grows or it dies. As we look about the created order, we can see this principle at work. The minute something stops growing, it begins the process of disintegration. God created a purposeful world and that purpose is continuing to unfold. As part of that purposeful creation, we, too, must continue to grow.

 I am always amazed at those people who contend that spiritual formation and the classical spiritual disciplines of the Christian faith are not “biblical.” The fact is, if we didn’t need to grow spiritually, we wouldn’t need a Bible. Further, the notion that we can do nothing to improve ourselves is, in my mind, the worst form of heresy. Not only does it confuse justification with sanctification, but it also slanders the consistent teaching of Jesus, Paul, and Peter. Moreover, it ignores the biblical fact that Jesus, Peter, Paul, and all the rest – prayed, fasted, meditated, and practiced spiritual disciplines such as solitude, celebration, and especially, selfless service to others.

 At the end of the day, the purpose of spiritual transformation is to become more authentic and humankind is in the process, sometimes slowly and certainly with pockets of resistance, becoming more authentic.

 If we are to, indeed, become more authentic persons the obvious question becomes, from a spiritual standpoint: How do I become more authentic?

 Chances are if you ask this question of a dozen different people, you will get 12 different answers, depending on the spiritual framework or tradition a person identifies with and advocates. Still, I think it is vital that we find at least a few universal principles that will help us answer this important question. Regardless of our spiritual tradition, I tend to think we can begin our journey toward authenticity by laying the proper groundwork and this fundamental task is accomplished through the establishment of moral integrity filtered through a well-thought-out and internalized worldview.

 Authentic personhood and its foundational spirituality begin and end with personal morality. As I have expressed in other writings, our own system of personal values and morals should serve as the foundation stone for our lives. For me, this means that I have to have a clearly defined worldview and, as part of that worldview, clarity of vision in terms of what is right and wrong. My personal value system serves as my North Star, guiding my actions and fostering better decision making as well as personal integrity. My personal worldview and its component system of morality serves as a matrix through which not only are decisions made, but also, a filter to determine and evaluate how disciplined I actually am. How consistent am I in terms of keeping my behavior in line with my system of personal morality?

 A further connection between personal values and my overall worldview is the ability to judge behaviors, feelings, and thoughts in relation to my worldview. Is a particular action, for example, conducive to living by my code of ethics? Will a particular action or decision move me toward the goals that flow out of my worldview? In this sense, is a specific course of action productive or counter-productive in reaching my goals and manifesting my purpose and vision? In this sense, our worldview becomes the matrix through which we can filter our thoughts, feelings, actions, and the events we encounter in our daily lives.

 As we have seen, the presence of an internalized system of values and moral integrity, coupled with and flowing from a well-reasoned, cogent worldview are necessary if we are to mature as authentic persons. All of these things, taken together, are intimately connected with one another and form a kind of “spiritual hologram.” By this I mean that each component, the value system, moral integrity, reasoned worldview, and authentic personhood, contains all the elements of the other components.

 Granted, putting together a workable worldview involves dealing with intellectual abstractions, but even these cognitive pursuits have their base in every day living. For it is our worldview that gives our lives meaning, purpose, and direction. Further, it is our worldview that forms the basis for our decision making process. Few things are more “down to earth” than these issues.

 Authentic personhood, personal responsibility, trustworthiness, and the other spiritual traits we have discussed all flow from the common source of moral integrity and this foundational integrity is anchored in our worldview. Without a worldview, we have no compass to guide our actions – no North Star to serve as a reference point as we attempt to navigate the uncharted waters of our current cultural drift. Using another analogy, it is like weightlessness. Using the metaphor of gravity, Elisabeth Elliot speaks to the importance of our calling to discipleship:

 In space, astronauts experience the misery of having no reference point, no force that draws them to the center. The effort of performing ordinary activities without the help of that pull is often vastly greater than it would be under normal conditions (try pouring a glass of water, eating a sunny-side-up egg, or turning a screwdriver – water will not fall, the egg will not stay on your fork, the screwdriver will not revolve; you will). Where there is no “moral gravity” – that is, no force that draws us to the center – there is spiritual weightlessness. We float on feelings that will carry us where we never meant to go; we bubble with emotional experiences that we often take for spiritual ones; and we are puffed up with pride. Instead of seriousness, there is foolishness. Instead of gravity, flippancy. Sentimentality takes the place of theology. Our reference point will never serve to keep our feet on solid rock, for our reference point, until we answer God’s call, is merely ourselves. We cannot possibly tell which end is up. Paul calls them fools who “…measure themselves by themselves, to find in themselves their own standard of comparison.”

 From what we have covered in this article, it should be apparent that we, as both a culture and a spiritual tradition, need more people who exhibit authentic personhood, personal integrity, and purposeful living. In fact, it is around such people that the emerging forms of the Body of Christ must be built. With Christ as the cornerstone and authentic people as the foundation, the church can not only survive – it can come alive and thrive.

 © L.D. Turner 2009

Wise Words for Today

One of Jesus’ greatest promises was this: “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20), but we may not experience this. Instead, we keep praying, “God be with us.” That’s because we are distracted by life’s thousand demands and by our habit of filling in empty time slots with entertainment. Our mind flashes from one thing to another, always occupied. A weekly visit to church can’t begin to penetrate this busyness. Contemplation reconnects us with God in the midst of this scatterdness. Life pulls me in so many directions – between the demands of my work, my husband’s plans, the kid’s needs…..I may say I am “thirsty for God as the deer is for water,” but at the moment I need to get my hair cut. However, when I pause to contemplate and be with God, I sense that this God who holds the universe together can also hold me together. In the quiet, I recall how God has helped me in the past. Without the clamor of demands around me, I remember that I am one God so loves.

Jan Johnson

(from When the Soul Listens)