Mick Turner
Richard Foster, author of that landmark book on the classical spiritual disciplines, entitled, Celebration of Discipline, shares how he was honored with the opportunity and privilege to go about teaching and sharing his knowledge of the spiritual disciplines. In a subsequent article entitled, “A Renewed People for Our Time” Foster describes some of the realities he discovered regarding areas of spiritual deficiency among sincere Christians.
Briefly stated, Foster says that he saw three basic areas of spiritual deficiency and these were:
People Were Trying Rather Than Training
People Were Scattered Rather Than Gathered
Vision of People Was Myopic Rather Than Synoptic
I can say without reservation that over the years our work at LifeBrook International has borne out the validity of Foster’s assessment. We, too, have seen this trio of spiritual short falling and the subsequent litany of spiritual maladies that flow in its train. And like Foster, this has been an area of great frustration and disappointment.
I saw these things and I can’t tell you how discouraging this was to me. These good people honest people, sincere people were like sheep without a shepherd. And it led me to a period where I stopped all speaking and all writing. When I entered this time I did not know if I would ever write or speak again. I actually thought I would not.
Experience here at LifeBrook, especially in relation to intensive training in spiritual discipline, has revealed what I find at the core of the “trying rather than training” issue. People are initially well-meaning and the first fruits of their pursuits of spiritual disciplines tend to reward this initial burst of commitment with positive results. However, we have seen that many of these sincere seekers fail to understand the depth of our problem (Calvin would call it complete depravity, although I would not). As spiritual practice deepens our level of commitment must also take deeper root, otherwise we cannot bear up under the intensity of those unexpected hobgoblins that tend to rise up out of the dark silence of contemplation.
In actuality, these encounters are not all that bad and, in fact, can be both constructive and healing. The problem is, it seems, is that most of the folks who take up this disciplined lifestyle are either ill-informed or ill-prepared for some of the things they will encounter along the Yellow Brick Road. Lions and Tigers and Bears – (Oh My!) – seem to be the least of our worries. John of the Cross termed one of the stages of the mystical life “the dark night of the soul” for good reason.
Secondly, when a person is sincere about becoming a true spiritual aspirant rather than a pew warmer or pot luck patron, he or she is embarking upon a path that can be isolated and lonely. To emulate the lifestyle, the priorities, and the spiritual values of Jesus is not in keeping with mainstream American life, no matter what the Religious Right may tell you. To be like Jesus is to be weird, radical, and set apart.
To be like Jesus is, well, to use the correct biblical term, to be holy.
The following quotation by Houston Smith, although somewhat lengthy, is highly pertinent and illustrates vividly just how out of the box this business of Christ-following is:
…we have heard Jesus’ teachings so often that their edges have been worn smooth, dulling their glaring subversiveness. If we could recover their original impact, we too would be startled. Their beauty would not paper over the fact that they are “hard sayings,” presenting a scheme of values so counter to the usual as to shake us like the seismic collision of tectonic plates…We are told that we are not to resist evil but to turn the other cheek. The world assumes that evil must be resisted by every means available. We are told to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. The world assumes that friends are to be loved and enemies hated. We are told that the sun rises on the just and the unjust alike. The world considers this to be indiscriminating; it would like to see dark clouds withholding sunshine from evil people. We are told that outcasts and harlots enter the kingdom of God before many who are perfunctorily righteous. Unfair, we protest; respectable people should head the procession. We are told that the gate to salvation is narrow. The world would prefer it to be wide. We are told to be as carefree as birds and flowers. The world counsels prudence. We are told that it is more difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom than for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye. The world honors wealth. We are told that the happy people are those who are meek, who weep, who are merciful and pure in heart. The world assumes that it is the rich, the powerful, and the wellborn who should be happy. In all, a wind of freedom blows through these teachings that frightens the world and makes us want to deflect their effect by postponement – not yet, not yet! H.G. Wells was evidently right: either there was something mad about this man, or our hearts are still too small for his message.
To truly follow such a renegade can be a lonely enterprise. No wonder Jesus told his potential followers to count the cost before investing.
Finally, Foster’s observations regarding the myopic vision of many Christians is quite astute and based on the undeniable reality that many sincere Christians are raised in myopic traditions that see one aspect of the gospel message to the exclusion of others. The resultant lack of unity and commonality of purpose is obvious and pandemic. For too many years, charismatic, evangelical, incarnational, and social gospel traditions have come close to shunning each other, rather than utilizing their unique differences to augment and balance each others efforts in working to establish Christ’s kingdom here on earth.
Fortunately, the winds of change are blowing and seem to be picking up velocity. On both individual and corporate levels, the Body of Christ is beginning to grasp the reality that if one truly desires a deeper walk with the Master, it is going to require major life changes and shifts in perspective. The 21st Century church can no longer afford to offer up its traditional menu and hope to engage a culture that is far more sophisticated than it was just 20 years ago. Nor can the church put forth any variant of what J.I. Packer so wisely called “hot tub religion” and count on any degree of success except maybe among a few disillusioned prosperity gospel-teers.
No, any significant movement in the church that has a chance to succeed must begin with having potential adherents count the cost of what they are getting into. Only then can a realistic decision for Christ be made and only then can a genuine discipleship commence. We don’t need what many in South Florida call an “Everglades Christianity,” – which is 50 miles wide and an inch deep. Today, more than ever, we need a Consecrated Christianity, with educated rear ends warming the pews – educated in what it really means (and costs) to follow the Master.
Further, these newly committed and consecrated Christ-followers must band together in commonality of purpose. It should no longer be necessary for a sincere Christian to walk an incarnational path of worship, love, and service while feeling like the Lone Ranger. It is time for consecrated Christians to gather together in oneness, unity, and shared mission. And with this commonality of purpose comes a sharing of vision – a synoptic vision that embraces and welcomes all aspects of the Christian faith. There is great unity in our diversity, if only we would lower our noses long enough to catch a glimpse of the brother and sister standing next to us.
We are the church, the Bride of Christ – consecrated, gathered, and synoptic. If we truly work for, embrace, and ultimately manifest this vision for the church, nothing can stop us. And the Gates of Hell can’t stand against us.
© L. D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved
