Gospel Powered Spirituality – Integrating Theology, Psychology and Christian Spirituality
Tick! Tick! Tick! goes Life
A perpetual loss
Of time
Of loved ones
Of precious moments
All is evanescence
All lost into oblivion
Is the ticket worth it, Alyosha?
Or can the earth be kissed, Ivan?
But oh wait!
Little buds becoming roses
Little babies becoming lovers
Time becoming blessedness
New Creation coming into Being.
Tick! Tick! Tick! goes Life.
Reality is hard, truth is sharp and facing it head-on broke me and cut me deep but I know (better) who I am.
Reality is hard, truth is sharp one who faces it head-on will be broken and cut deep but he/she will know who he/she is.
I had a room mate for a brief period. One day he bought himself a bottle of liquor and was treating himself to it. I asked him what was up. He said that whenever he went through stressful or sad times he liked to have some liquor to soothe himself. For this friend liquor was a coping mechanism.
There was a phase in my life where I was going through some very lonely times. It then occurred to me that because I did not want to depend on coping mechanisms as liquor or wine, I was faced with the prospect of facing life head-on. It meant I may realize how fragile I really was. It meant that I might get depressed. It meant that I might break down.
I had two options,
1. Use a quick coping mechanism, of that sort that helps me escape reality, to get by the rough phase.
2. Use this experience of getting close to the edge to map out the pathos of my psyche – it longings and disappointments – by journaling and praying so that I get a better sense of who I am.
I chose the latter, and so I know myself better than I would have had I chosen the former. Reality is hard, truth is sharp and facing it head-on broke me and cut me deep but I know (better) who I am.
At the most fundamental level to be Christian is not about having the right ideas, but about having the encounter with Christ through the power of the Spirit. Unfortunately, the Buzzfeed Christians have nothing to say about Christ or about an encounter with Him. They have essentially created a new legalism of conformity towards cultural sophisticated ideas in the place of Christ.
Buzzfeed recently did a few videos to desterotype some stereotypes and did a few videos about Asians, Latinos, Fat people etc. In this series they also did one for Christians (below).
The videos is a series of answers spliced together about three questions.
1. Who a Christians is not?
2. Who a Christian is?
3. What would you like people to know about Christianity?
The answer to the first question ranges from “I am Christian but I am not homophobic” to “I am Christian but not uneducated”. The answer to the second question ranges from “I love wine” to “I do go to Church on Sundays”. The answer to the third question ranges from “I would like people to know that I am Christian but I am not kind of crazy” to “Just because we prescribe to a faith that has some terrible people, it does not mean we are all terrible.”
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So What are They Really Saying?
If I were to sum up their answers in one sentence would be, “I am Christian but I am culturally savvy and sophisticated enough, so don’t take me for a naive and narrow minded Christian.” I don’t disagree with any of what they said. I do not think what they said was wrong. My contention is that in trying to define them against “others” they missed a very important point.
So What are they Missing?
Answer, an encounter with Jesus Christ!
An encounter with Jesus Christ being the core of the identity of the Christ is exactly what is missed in this video. Whether one is perfect or not, or judgmental or not, or terrible or not, is beside the point. Being a Christian is not just about having right non-judgmental ideas, for if that were so Christianity would be a mere dogma. At the most fundamental level to be Christian is not about having the right ideas, but about having the encounter with Christ through the power of the Spirit. Unfortunately, the Buzzfeed Christians have nothing to say about Christ or about an encounter with Him. They have essentially created a new legalism of conformity towards cultural sophisticated ideas in the place of Christ.
Tolkien’s Hobbit world, in which I wish I was living in, as of today, having crossed over my 33rd year, I would no longer be considered a Tween. Between ages 20 and 33, the Hobbits were considered to be in their “irresponsible twenties” – the tweens.
Tolkien’s Hobbit world, in which I wish I was living in, as of today, having crossed over my 33rd year, I would no longer be considered a Tween. Between ages 20 and 33, the Hobbits were considered to be in their “irresponsible twenties” – the tweens.
Ironically, I have done more irresponsible things in my 32nd year than the prior ones, quit my job to go back to school, grown long hair to name a couple. However, the truth is, the seemingly irresponsible things which I did are really adventures setting up the next stage of my life.
After 10 years in the field of Software, I got God’s call to go take care of His sheep by being in a preaching/teaching ministry. So I quit my job last October. I stopped getting haricuts because I figured I can be more generous with the books I bought if I save spending money on hair-cutters by having long hair. Besides, the best time to let down your hair a bit is when you are a student anyways.
All this to say, that the seemingly irresponsible things I have done is but a part of being in a bigger adventure. In Tolkien’s book ‘The Hobbit’, when Bilbo left his safe Shire to go, with Gandalf and the Dwarves, on what his Shireites would have considered an irresponsible errand, he really was embarking on a adventure. Every time Bilbo went through a rough patch in his adventure, Tolkien says that Bilbo would wish he had been in his home in Shire sipping tea and eating cake by the warm fire place. Over the past year, there have been rough patches where I have wished that I had the security of a good job. But the journey goes on and God has been immensely faithful to me.
Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took one. God has brought me so far on this road has helped me do so many things I would never have imagined to have been able to do. I am immensely grateful for His grace and presence being with me. I pray that God will help me be faithful to Him through the rest of the journey.
prayer gives us union with Christ, the greatest gift. In union with Christ we can face any reality. Without union with Christ we cannot face any reality. Without union with Christ we can do nothing.
Prayer makes the Christian (read here). Prayer making the Christian means prayer prepares the Christian to enter into new unexpected realities, whatever it is.
When we pray, in our mind’s eye, we see a reality of life situation we want for ourselves. Prayer moves God’s heart. So we may have our prayers answered. However, sometimes the reality of life that unfolds in front of us is unexpected, not desirable. At such times, our prayers prepare us for whatever face, by the strength of the union with Christ.
Ultimately, prayer gives us union with Christ, the greatest gift. In union with Christ we can face any reality. Without union with Christ we cannot face any reality. Without union with Christ we can do nothing.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
When St. Augustine says “weight moving me is love”, he means that if his love is heavy like earth then it will be stuck in the materialism of this world. On the other hand when one’s love is light like the fire, it will raise up towards the Heavens where God resides.
I have been reading St. Augustine’s Confessions for a class I am teaching on it. One phrase that grabbed me in Book XIII of the Confessions is, “weight moving me is love.”
In Greek thought, the world is made of four elements – Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Earth is the heaviest so it is stuck at the bottom. Water is lighter so it is above earth. Air is lighter still and raises above water. Fire is the lightest for it sends flames heavenward. When St. Augustine says “weight moving me is love”, he means that if our love is heavy like earth then it will be stuck in the material-love of this world. On the other hand when our love is light like the fire, it will raise up towards the Heavens where God resides.
Of course, this lightening of love does not happen by self-effort. Augustine says…
“By your (God’s) gift we are kindled and borne upward, we are set afire and we go… It is your fire, your fire for good, that burns in us as we go up…”
What is the weight that moves our love? What fires our passion and keeps us moving? Is it the fire of the love of the living God or is it the fire of personal ambition, which entangles us in the web of earthly loves?
Prayer is not extra security that is added so that the Christian, who is already formed by other means, stays safe. Prayer IS the furnace where the Christian is cleansed and forged for God’s great purpose. Prayer makes the Christian into who he/she is. In as much as we miss this, we miss what prayer is about.
Prayer should not be treated as ‘extra security’. Extra security is not a dire necessity. While planning an event, sometimes people add extra security just to make sure any unexpected circumstance that arises is managed. Sometimes, we treat prayer as an extra security measure. Most of our prayers are about preventing something bad or unexpected from happening to us – like losing a job or our children getting sick or getting a flat on the way to work…
Prayer is not extra security that is added so that the Christian, who is already formed by other means, stays safe. Prayer IS the furnace where the Christian is cleansed and forged for God’s great purpose. Prayer makes the Christian into who he/she is. In as much as we miss this, we miss what prayer is about.
Prayer is not extra security, prayer is the blazing furnace fueled by the vision of God that melts us forms us into who God wants us to be. This prayer that yearns for the vision of God and gazes on His beauty will make the Christian.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit channels a bit of Jerry Maguire in the life of the Christian, so to speak. He is there as the ‘Helper’ who wants to see us become the great Child of God, but in order to do that, He has to help us by convicting us of our sins – by helping us break away fom the prison of our own pride, ambitions and dreams.
In the movie Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise plays the role of an agent who is helping an NFL player played by Cuba Gooding jr. Cuba Gooding jr wants to make BIG money and is unwilling to accept the low paying contracts that Tom Cruise brings him. Tom Cruise says that if his client is unwilling to take the low paying contracts now he will never have the opportunity to work up to the higher paying contracts later. His client is afraid that if he starts with low paying contracts he will be stuck there forever. Tom Cruise realizes that his client’s own pride, ambition, and dreams are imprisoning him so to cajole him to accept the reality, Tom Cruise says, “Help me, help you.” By this he means “accept the bitter pill of humility now, so that you will be ready for greater glory.”
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit channels a bit of Jerry Maguire in the life of the Christian, so to speak. He is there as the ‘Helper.’ He wants to see us become a great Child of God. To do that He has to help us by convicting us of our sins – by helping us break away from the prison of our own pride, ambitions and dreams. Jesus tells His disciples about the Holy Spirit coming as the ‘Helper’.
John 15:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment
Of course, the point at which this Jerry Maguire analogy breaks is if someone were to assume that the goal of the Holy Spirit helping is our own self-aggrandizement. In Jerry Maguire, the agent helps the player bask in his self-glorification. The purpose of the Holy Spirit helping us is for us to be in union with Christ so that He is glorified.
We leave the obsessiveness and anxiety of finite time that culminates in ending and death, and enter into eternity.
In the introduction to Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karmazov’, Prof. Marie Jaanus writes describing the experience of reading Dostoevsky…
We leave the obsessiveness and anxiety of finite time that culminates in endings and death, and enter into eternity.
While I was reading it, I couldn’t help but wonder how this describes prayer so well. In our normal life, we are caught in the prison of timely anxieties, and crave for the “two seconds of pure joy” like Ivan Karamazov. Prayer lifts us away from the suffocating anxieties of everyday living. Prayer is a vehicle of transcendence that draws us into an ecstasy giving us a taste of eternity, from within the present life. This ability for transcendence frees us to enjoy our present life enriched.
Bonehoeffer, “…(God) responds to sincere prayer and responsible actions.” Jesus in His humanity had prayer and obedience as his primary values was He walked through suffering (Heb 5:7-8). If we are to be conformed to His image, our values should be His – Sincere Prayer and Responsible (obedient) action.
Bonhoeffer, a few months before he was imprisoned wrote to his best friend Eberhard Bethge…
I believe that in every moment of distress God will give us as much strength to resist as we need. But it is not given to us in advance, lest we rely on ourselves and not on God alone. I believe that God is no timeless fate but waits for and responds to sincere prayer and responsible actions. – Letter and Papers from Prison – Vol 8
Sincere Prayer and Responsible Action should be the two values that sustain us and help us overcome life’s travesties.
Upon facing life’s vagaries the temptation most people give into is to rely on oneself too much; very few err on the side of too much praying. Nevertheless, we need both sincere prayer and responsible action in obedience. In His humanity, Jesus’ primary values were prayer and obedience as He walked through suffering (Heb 5:7-8). If we are to be conformed to His image, our values should be His – Sincere Prayer and Responsible (obedient) action.
Christ Centered Spirituality 