Spirituality in search of content
In his book, Christ Plays in 10,000 Places, Eugene Peterson picks up on a trend that many of us have probably noticed. He says that he hears people over and over tell him something on the order of "I don't go to church. But I consider myself to be a very spiritual person." I know that I personally have heard people tell me this dozens of times.
And perhaps this is why the term "spirituality" is seen by many as suspect and by others as vacuous. What do people mean by "a very spiritual person?" What spirit? It seems that for many, the content of spirituality is not well-defined.
But here is an area where we Reformed folk are prepared to shine--that is, if we have a spirituality at all. While we have often erred by ignoring any sense of personal spirituality, focused as we are on receiving Word as it is preached in the context of worship in the community of faith, most Reformed christians also practice "private worship" or "secret worship" as some earlier people called it, in which we read and reflect on scripture and pray in our prayer closets, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths of Scripture to us and to help us understand what God is calling us to do in response to Christ the Word as he is revealed to us. Our spirituality has a content. Our prayers, our reflections, our meditations (if we are faithful to our Reformed heritage) draw their substance from scripture. If God speaks to us in silence, it is because we have entered into that silence under the influence of Scripture as it attests to Word preached to us and reflected upon in the quiet spaces of our lives.
If our spirituality is to be substantial, then the substance comes from Scripture as revealed by Spirit. That is the essence of Reformed spirituality. If we practice an openended spirituality, waiting for some nameless cosmic connection, we are like the people the Apostle Paul preached to on Mars Hill in Athens in Acts 17. Paul noticed that in the pantheon of Greek gods who were represented by statues and monuments in Athens, there was one dedicated "to the unknown God." Seeking political correctness and to avoid offending any God whose acquaintance they had not met, the Greeks left to door open for spiritual encounters with a nameless deity. Paul took advantage of the opportunity to introduce the Greeks to his God and proceeded to tell the people about Jesus, part of the Trinity that defined the one God Paul wished everyone present to know.
I am not saying we should go to every non-Christian place of worship in the world and yell, "Hey, you guys are deluding yourself. If you want to know God, you need to be talking about Jesus here." But, like Paul, in the company of other religions, all I can say is that, for me, if I am to speak about God, I must "preach Jesus, and him crucified."
I do consider myself to be a deeply spiritual person. But, drawing on the Reformed understanding of spirituality my spiritual practices have content in the scriptures and the Spirit I serve has a name.
And perhaps this is why the term "spirituality" is seen by many as suspect and by others as vacuous. What do people mean by "a very spiritual person?" What spirit? It seems that for many, the content of spirituality is not well-defined.
But here is an area where we Reformed folk are prepared to shine--that is, if we have a spirituality at all. While we have often erred by ignoring any sense of personal spirituality, focused as we are on receiving Word as it is preached in the context of worship in the community of faith, most Reformed christians also practice "private worship" or "secret worship" as some earlier people called it, in which we read and reflect on scripture and pray in our prayer closets, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths of Scripture to us and to help us understand what God is calling us to do in response to Christ the Word as he is revealed to us. Our spirituality has a content. Our prayers, our reflections, our meditations (if we are faithful to our Reformed heritage) draw their substance from scripture. If God speaks to us in silence, it is because we have entered into that silence under the influence of Scripture as it attests to Word preached to us and reflected upon in the quiet spaces of our lives.
If our spirituality is to be substantial, then the substance comes from Scripture as revealed by Spirit. That is the essence of Reformed spirituality. If we practice an openended spirituality, waiting for some nameless cosmic connection, we are like the people the Apostle Paul preached to on Mars Hill in Athens in Acts 17. Paul noticed that in the pantheon of Greek gods who were represented by statues and monuments in Athens, there was one dedicated "to the unknown God." Seeking political correctness and to avoid offending any God whose acquaintance they had not met, the Greeks left to door open for spiritual encounters with a nameless deity. Paul took advantage of the opportunity to introduce the Greeks to his God and proceeded to tell the people about Jesus, part of the Trinity that defined the one God Paul wished everyone present to know.
I am not saying we should go to every non-Christian place of worship in the world and yell, "Hey, you guys are deluding yourself. If you want to know God, you need to be talking about Jesus here." But, like Paul, in the company of other religions, all I can say is that, for me, if I am to speak about God, I must "preach Jesus, and him crucified."
I do consider myself to be a deeply spiritual person. But, drawing on the Reformed understanding of spirituality my spiritual practices have content in the scriptures and the Spirit I serve has a name.
posted by Frank at 8:55 AM
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