Only
God can transform us. To be transformed by God we must enter and live in his
presence. But what is it in us that gets transformed? The biblical answer is:
“spirit.” (Or “heart.”) I will present an understanding of “spirit” by using some
of the biblical metaphors of spiritual transformation.
If
persons are essentially spiritual creations, what is "spirit"? The
Bible provides us with many "metaphors of spirit." These metaphors do
not give definitions or point-for-point descriptions of "spirit," but
rather gesture towards the nature of persons as spiritual creations. A
"metaphor" is the use of a word, phrase, image, or object to create a
framework through which we express or view some aspect of reality or
experience.[1] Metaphorical description is necessary because most, if not
all, of our common experience cannot be captured in the steel nets of literal
language.[2]
To
refer to spiritual experience we must often speak metaphorically. Consider, as
an example, this metaphorical description of the spiritual life from Thomas
Merton: “I consider that the spiritual life is the life of man's real self, the
life of that interior self whose flame is so often allowed to be smothered
under the ashes of anxiety and futile concern.”[3]
Here
Merton uses three biblical metaphors:
1) The
spiritual life is that which is most real about persons.
2) The
spiritual life is something interior ("below the surface"; "deep
inside"; see, e.g., Proverbs 20:5).
3) Spirit is
"energy," "fire." Thus it can be "smothered" or
"quenched."
This brief metaphorical description of the spiritual life
issues an invitation to consider viewing one's life through its lens.
The
biblical metaphors of spirit, while not providing exact definitions, gesture
towards the life of the spirit and invite us to participate in this life. They
are all grounded in a common understanding of spirituality, which is: To be "spiritual" is to be in
God's presence; to be "unspiritual" is to be apart from God.[4]
The
biblical metaphors of spirit into types. Our first example is a type of volitional metaphor and is found in
Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God." To "be
still" means, literally, to "cease struggling." This means that
if we are to be transformed we must stop struggling and resisting God and surrender
to God. Therefore, spirit is something that can either surrender to God or
resist God. When we are
surrendered to God then we are, in the best sense, “spiritual.” To be wholly
surrendered to God is a way of being in the presence of God. It is in the place
of non-striving that we know God. And “knowing God” is not, for the psalmist,
theoretical knowledge where God is the object of knowledge, but rather
experiential knowledge. Because knowing God is experiential it is
transformational. To know God truly is to be changed.
Our
second metaphor of the spiritual
life is a type of activity metaphor: "Rest in the Lord, O my soul."
As Hebrews 6:19 says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm
and secure." To be in God's presence means to cease from certain
activities so our spirit, like a ship, might be anchored to God who is the
dock. To be spiritual is to live securely anchored to God's Holy Spirit.
Conversely, our spirit is lost when it becomes a "restless, drifting,
wandering soul." This is spiritual insecurity. Therefore, spirit is something that can be either
securely anchored or drift. To be
anchored to God is a way of being in God’s presence. And it is in God’s
presence that we are transformed.
Our
third metaphorical description is a
type of part/whole metaphor, and speaks of having an "undivided
heart" or a "whole heart" (Psalm 86:11). The implication is that
we cannot both be in God's presence and simultaneously attend to someone or
something else. One can’t multi-task the God-relationship.
Henri
Nouwen has said that the basic question of the spiritual life is: Who do we
belong to? To live out of God's presence is to be, as James 1:8 says, dipsuchos.
It is to have "two psyches," or be "two-hearted." In such a
condition the spirit is divided regarding its allegiance, and is said to be
"fragmented." In such a state of spiritual dipsuchos the human
spirit has two lovers. I have found it often happens that when we go alone to a
quiet place to pray we are shown how divided our spirits are. Therefore, spirit
is something that can be either whole or divided into parts. To be in God’s presence is to be
whole-hearted towards God.
Our
fourth metaphor of spirit is the
central biblical one of energy. "Spirit" is fire. When in God's
presence there may come "tongues of flame." We can be "on
fire" towards God. Nouwen often speaks of our need, therefore, to
"tend the fire within." Conversely, spirit can be
"quenched," or it can "burn out."[5] A colleague in ministry, speaking of his need for spiritual
renewal, once said to me, "What I feel I now need in my life is a burning
bush." Spirit burns, therefore we must tend it to keep it from burning
out and guard it so it will not be quenched. To be in the presence of God is to have the fire burning inside one’s
heart.
Our
fifth example is a type of cathartic
(cleansing) metaphor: "Create in me a clean heart, O God."
"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be
whiter than snow."[6] The implication is that we truly dwell in God's presence
only with pure hearts. To have a pure heart, as Kierkegaard wrote, is "to
will one thing." Conversely, our hearts can be "stained,"
"blemished, " and covered with "blots," thus
"impure." The central biblical image of sin is "stain."
Many agree that the first step to spiritual renewal always involves confession,
repentance, and receiving forgiveness. Clean hands and pure hearts are
necessary preconditions for loving God. Therefore, spirit is something that
can be spotless or stained, clean or unclean, acceptable or unacceptable to
God. If you want to ascend the
hill of the Lord to stand in God’s holy presence clean hands and a pure heart
are needed.[7]
Our
sixth and seventh examples are both types of dwelling metaphors. The first
speaks of "remaining in" or "abiding in" Jesus:
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you."[8] We can be said to dwell with Jesus if we are branches,
connected to the True Vine. To be out of Jesus' influence is to become
"disconnected" from the vine, possibly to attach oneself to other
sources for sustenance. Therefore, spirit can attach itself to God or be
detached from God. To be in the
presence of God is to be attached to him and get one’s life-resources from him.
Another
dwelling metaphor speaks of God as "our fortress and strength." When
we live within the walls of God's protective fortress, "what shall we
fear?" Thus Nouwen asks the question, "Do you live in the house of
God or the house of fear?"[9] It is in God's house that our spirits find comfort,
encouragement, and strength for the journey. But when we dwell outside these
protective walls and life's attacks come, fear and anxiety predominate. It is
in this light that Nouwen offers his "proof" that prayer works. We
know that prayer works because when we do not pray our lives are more filled
with fears and anxieties.[10] Therefore, spirit has a home, and is endangered when it
makes its home anything but God.
To enter into the presence of God is to live in God’s fortress.
Our
last three metaphors of spiritual
transformation are spatial, and indicate the "location" of spirit.
The first concerns "creating a space in your heart" for God. Jesus
said, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to
your Father, who is unseen" (Matt. 6:6). This "upper room" or
"secret place" is a heart where Jesus is allowed to live. Our heart
is allowed to be Christ's home. As an old hymn asks, "Have You Any Room
for Jesus?" But our "rooms" can be "cluttered," with
no space for God. Therefore, spirit
is a roomy space that can be cluttered with so many distractions that God has
no opportunity to enter in. The
heart has a resting place, a hiding place. Enter in, for God’s presence is
there.
A
second spatial metaphor is found in the Quaker expression "to center
down." In both the Old and New Testaments the heart is the
"center" or "seat" of all that is unique to persons, to
include the will, the passions, thought, and the religious center to which God
turns.[11] We are to "love the Lord with all our heart."
God, Who seeks out all things, "knows our hearts."[12] The movement of our spiritual life should be
"centrifugal," proceeding from the center of our being, rather than a "centripetal" movement
that begins with the surface things of life and attempts to move through them
to the heart of life. Because we so easily stray from center it is no wonder we
often find little meaning in our activity. Therefore, spirit concerns the
central reality of persons, and determines all activity and desire. It is the
source of being which, in the spiritual life, precedes doing. To live centered on God is to live in God’s
presence.
Our
final metaphor of the spiritual life is also spatial, and speaks of there being
"a temple within." Paul tells the Corinthians that, individually and
corporately, they are temples of God's Holy Spirit.[13] Paul Tournier refers to this inner temple as "the holy
sepulchre within." Tournier refers to this by asking, "What is there
then within this sepulchre where all the repressed rubbish of all humanity as
well as our own is rotting?"[14] One worship song says “Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary.”
Another says “purify my heart.” Conversely, Jesus said we can
"whitewash" this sanctuary. This would be to live a life of facade,
pretense, what Merton called the "false self." Therefore, spirit
is a holy place where God's Spirit dwells. To be "spiritual" is to
allow God to reign in one's spirit, which is God's rightful dwelling place. To
be "unspiritual" is to occupy that dwelling place with our own ego as
king, while painting the outside so as to appear to be spiritual.
There
are many metaphors of spiritual transformation.[15] They figuratively define what it means to be in the
presence of God, and tell us that spiritual transformation comes as we:
-
Surrender to God.
-
Anchor ourselves to God.
-
Are whole-hearted towards God.
-
Tend the fire within.
-
Remain clean before God.
-
Attach ourselves to God.
-
Dwell in God's fortress.
-
Make room in our heart for God.
-
Center our life on God.
[1] See Piippo,
John Paul, Metaphor and Theology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation, Northwestern
University
[2] Much of our
language is metaphorical in origin. For example, when we speak of the
"leg" of the table we have forgotten that at some point somebody used
the human "figure" to speak of the table's leg. Paul Ricoeur has
shown in The Rule of Metaphor that "figurative language" is
language which uses the human "figure" to speak of experience.
[3]
Merton,
[4]
See especially Gordon Fee’s commentary on 1 Corinthians. Fee says that
Paul’s basic question for the Corinthian church is, “What does it mean to be
“spiritual” or pneumatikos.”
[5]
On spiritual
"burnout" and ways to rekindle the flame, see Louis Savary and
Patricia Berne, Prayerways.
[7]
Psalm 24:3
[9]
See Nouwen, Lifesigns;
A Cry for Mercy. No one is better in articulating the emotion and spirit
of fear than Henri Nouwen.
[11] See Geoffrey
W. Bromily, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1985), p. 416.
[15] Another
metaphor is: To be in God's presence one must have a "quiet heart."
To be out of God's presence is to "have ears, but not really hear."
When the human heart is filled with many voices and noises it is difficult to
hear the single voice of God. Heart-stillness is the condition where only God's
voice is attended to. "Spirit," therefore, is something that can be
either quieted or chaotic.
[16] When we reverse the positive biblical
metaphors of the spiritual life we see those spiritual conditions which will
render prayer-as-relationship-with-God less effective. Relationship with God is
blocked when our spirits are...
...noisy
...restless
...fragmented/divided
...focused on life's
peripheral issues
...cluttered
...white-washed
...stained (by sin)
...disconnected from the
Vine
...dwelling out God's
fortress.
...and
so on...
