 |
| Window in our former house in East Lansing |
Pray to be changed into greater Christlikeness. (Galatians 4:19) How does this happen?
Dallas Willard writes: "The realities of Christian spiritual formation are that we will not be transformed "into His likeness" by more information, or by infusions, inspirations, or ministrations alone. Though all of these have an important place, they never suffice, and reliance upon them alone explains the now-common failure of committed Christians to rise much above a certain level of decency."
This typical Willard-quote explains why so many Christians live lives of spiritual mediocrity. What is needed is: to learn what it means to abide in Christ, like a branch is connected to a vine, with Jesus being the Vine and you being the branch.
Dallas Willard writes: "The realities of Christian spiritual formation are that we will not be transformed "into His likeness" by more information, or by infusions, inspirations, or ministrations alone. Though all of these have an important place, they never suffice, and reliance upon them alone explains the now-common failure of committed Christians to rise much above a certain level of decency."
This typical Willard-quote explains why so many Christians live lives of spiritual mediocrity. What is needed is: to learn what it means to abide in Christ, like a branch is connected to a vine, with Jesus being the Vine and you being the branch.
The fundamental secret of caring for our souls is found in a
verse like Psalms 16:8-9: “I have set the Lord continually before me; because
He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and
my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely.”
Willard writes:
"Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect
our minds constantly to Him." Then, as this happens day after day after
year and after year, our trust is in a God who can morph our souls into for the
form of Christ.
Greg Boyd, in his book Present Perfect, writes:
"One of the reasons why many contemporary Western Christians place so much stress on hearing sermons, engaging in Bible studies, reading books, and attending seminars and conferences [is because] we believe that acquiring information is the key to helping us grow spiritually and solve our personal and social problems." (98)
While sometimes information does help people grow and sometimes helps people solve problems, knowledge "does not on its own empower us to become more Christlike. When it comes to living in the Kingdom, moment-by-moment, our typical Western confidence in information is misplaced." (98-99)
In the West we are "massively informed" about this. We have more data, more information, than Christians at any time in the past. But we are not more spiritually mature than Christians in the past. Many have written about how the lifestyle and core values of Western Christians are no different from pagan, worldly non-Christians. And this, in spite of all our Christian bookstores and books and websites and seminars and conferences and Bible studies. We have a real problem. Clearly it isn't due to a lack of information.
Greg asks, "Why do so many Christians today spend more time listening to sermons or reading books than they do feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, welcoming outcasts, visiting prisoners, or engaging on other activities Jesus said should characterize Kingdom people?" (98)
The answer lies in the great gap being knowing about the Kingdom and knowing Jesus and living out the Kingdom. I fully agree with Greg when he writes that "all the information in the world is worthless if it distracts from the simplest thing in the world, which is practicing the presence of God in the present moment." (100)
Submit to God now, in the present moment. As you do this God's "Life flows in and through us," and "transforms us in a way no amount of knowledge can." (101)
While sometimes information does help people grow and sometimes helps people solve problems, knowledge "does not on its own empower us to become more Christlike. When it comes to living in the Kingdom, moment-by-moment, our typical Western confidence in information is misplaced." (98-99)
In the West we are "massively informed" about this. We have more data, more information, than Christians at any time in the past. But we are not more spiritually mature than Christians in the past. Many have written about how the lifestyle and core values of Western Christians are no different from pagan, worldly non-Christians. And this, in spite of all our Christian bookstores and books and websites and seminars and conferences and Bible studies. We have a real problem. Clearly it isn't due to a lack of information.
Greg asks, "Why do so many Christians today spend more time listening to sermons or reading books than they do feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, welcoming outcasts, visiting prisoners, or engaging on other activities Jesus said should characterize Kingdom people?" (98)
The answer lies in the great gap being knowing about the Kingdom and knowing Jesus and living out the Kingdom. I fully agree with Greg when he writes that "all the information in the world is worthless if it distracts from the simplest thing in the world, which is practicing the presence of God in the present moment." (100)
Submit to God now, in the present moment. As you do this God's "Life flows in and through us," and "transforms us in a way no amount of knowledge can." (101)
