The Hsu’s Views

I’ve been working through “The Great Omission” by Willard for this course I’m in. It is a collection of writings and sermons/talks on discipleship. Great stuff. Willard writes:

“Spiritual formation in Christ is accomplished, and the Great Commission fulfilled, as the regenerate soul makes its highest intent to live in the commandments of Christ and accordingly makes realistic plans to realize this intent by an adequate course of spiritual disciplines.” P. 76

Then comes a great comment that is useful in helping heal so much of the division that exists in the church today.

Christian spiritual formation understood in this way is automatically ecumenical and inclusive in the sense that those thus formed, those who live in obedience to Christ, are thereby united and stand out as the same in their obedience. The substance of obedience is the only thing that can overcome the divisions imposed by encrusted difference in doctrine, ritual, and heritage. The lamp that is aglow in the obedient life will shine. The city set on the hill cannot be hid. Obedience to Christ from the heart and by the Spirit is such a radical reality that can never be achieved by direct efforts at union. It is not achieved by effort, but by who we are: “I am a companion of all who fear you” (Psalm 119:63).

Some years ago, ecumenism attempted to center on the confession (italics mine) of Christ as Lord. Little came of it because, in the manner to which we have been accustomed by history, the attitudes and actions of real life were left untouched by such a profession. But actual obedience (italics mine) to Christ as Lord would transform ordinary life entirely and bring those disciples who are walking with Christ together wherever their lives touch. Christians who are together in the natural contexts of life would immediately identify with one another because of the radically different kind of life, the eternal kind of life, manifestly flowing in them. Their mere non-cooperation with the evil around them would draw them together as magnet and iron. Any other differences would have no significance within the unity of obedience to the Christ who is present in his people.

Two reflections from these thoughts, maybe three. First, merely confessing Christ as Lord is not enough to transform our lives and give us the peace that accompanies the spiritual life that Jesus offers us within his Kingdom rule. We must choose to obey Christ, in all he teaches us. This choice should be reflected in our pursuit of spiritual formation.

Second, within the framework of the centered/bounded set conversation, I’ve seen the importance of developing or finding people who want to gather together because of (1) their love for Jesus, and because (2) they were informed with a Kingdom theology. I would now add a third critical element, Obedience to Christ. Intending to obey Christ will lead to a “radically different kind of life” characterized by “non-cooperation with the evil around them.”

Third, I may be self-deceived, but this is what I see in the lives of those U40-ites who choose to walk and minister together in the city. We have so many different callings and foci of ministry, yet we are not drawn together because of a particular denominational affiliation, a particular ecclesiology, or worldview. We love Jesus. We want to participate in His Kingdom. We want to obey him.

I’ve been working on an independent study class on Celtic Spirituality and Movements. I’m interested in studying spiritual formation, both the ancient monastic traditions as well as today’s neo-monastic thought. It interests me because I believe this is the piece that much of the church in the West (or at least N. America) has systematically forgotten in large measure. There have always been the exception; people who cultivated a deep and abiding faith manifested in a transformed life… but this has been so far from my own life and ministry.

My understanding of discipleship was primarily dependent on a set of materials that I needed to learn or that I needed to get people through. Discipleship was largely the conveyance of information, with the belief that that information would change a persons thinking and behavior. Today, thanks to a Monday morning study with a group of men, together working through Dallas Willard’s “Renovation of the Heart,” I think differently about discipleship.

Today, it is about the transformation of the inner self. “Spiritual formation of the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself.” (P. 22 - Renovation)

Prayer, as a spiritual discipline (or “spiritual practice” as preferred in today’s language) was a central element in Celtic spirituality. Specifically contemplative prayer… often in solitude. I like what Ray Simpson says in his description of contemplative prayer in his book, “Exploring Celtic Spirituality.”

“…contemplative prayer is the opposite of controlling prayer. It is fatally easy to project the unrecognized needs of one’s own ego into prayer requests. Prayer meetings or private prayer times then become dominated by human self-will dressed in religious clothing. Control is the last thing a Christian clings to in her or his journey into obedience. Contemplative prayer is natural, unprogrammed; it is perpetual openness to God, so that in the openness his concerns can flow in and out of our minds as he wills.” (p. 74 - Exploring)

The contrast between “self-will dressed in religious clothing” and “a perpetual openness to God” (and his will) is what struck me about contemplative versus intercessory prayer. I’m more used to intercessory prayer. And what causes me to sit up and think is that my “request for things” might reflect merely my “self-will.” How would that spiritually form me? It seems to me that a diet heavy in intercessory prayer alone will shape how I see God… alas, even use God.

I like the idea Simpson introduces about contemplative prayer being about a perpetual openness to God’s will. This is consistent with Willard on his chapter of transforming the will. He asks, What does a will or heart look like that has been transformed into Christlikeness? How is it to be characterized?

Single-minded and joyous devotion to God and his will, to what God wants for us — and to service to him and to others because of him — is what the will transformed into Christlikeness looks like. (P. 143, Renovation)

Contemplative prayer + joyous devotion to God and his will = transformation of the inner life.

I’ve been paying more attention to spiritual formation recently through a book that our ministry is reading together called, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” by Peter Scazzero. He talks about the importance of growing emotionally. He writes that “Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.

The second half of the book describes some of ancient spiritual practices that can be employed to help one develop an emotionally healthy spirituality. One of these includes the Daily Office. The “office” is a liturgical aid that contains bible readings and prayers that are intended to be used by a community to keep people focused on the Lord together. It provides a rhythm or an order to ones life that centers it on Christ.

I’ve been using “The Missio Dei Breviary” for a bit now, and will be switching to a printed version of the Northumbria Community’s daily office.

The prayer for this morning’s reflection was/is called The Methodist Covenant Prayer. I enjoyed it’s message and included it below for your benefit.

THE METHODIST COVENANT PRAYER
I am no longer my own, but Thine.
Put me to what Thou wilt,
rank me with whom Thou wilt;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for Thee
or laid aside for Thee;
let me be exalted for Thee,
or brought low for Thee;
let me be full, let me be empty;
let me have all things,
let me have nothing;
I freely and heartily yield all things
to Thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am Thine.
So be it.
And the covenant
which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Take a few minutes to invest in your marriage and help others in theirs.

My friend, Dr. John Wu of Point Loma Nazarene University is conducting a study on marriage. While taking the survey will help John gather data for his study, the real benefit of taking the survey is for your own marriage. At least that was the case for me. I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on my own marriage, and wonder how my wife would answer the questions herself.

It was easy to do, and took less than 15 minutes. It is completely confidential and anonymous. Click on the introductory video below.

Dr. Wu has also made available several great resources to help you in your relationship with your spouse.

I dunno. He looked confused, cold, tired and hungry. I didn’t know who he was. It didn’t seem like anyone else knew who he was. But he opened the door, looked in, seemed to see the coffee cart, then walked right in making a beeline for the coffee.

The forty of us sat a bit bewildered, but continued to press into our theological discussion on the meaning of James 2 regarding favoritism for the man that comes to your meeting with a gold ring and fine clothes. We boldly pressed on, not wanting to be distracted or to insult our visitor with a stare. We tell our kids not to stare because it is rude… but some of us were rude that morning.

Ken got up and helped our visitor with some coffee and exchanged a couple of words.

“Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also come in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’…”

Our visitor got his coffee and began to look around the large ring of table that we all sit around. He made his way to the one seat that was unoccupied. Chuck was actually sitting there, but at the moment was at the restroom. Chuck had just returned from a several month absence due to his brush with death. Chuck was moving slowly with a cane due to the paralysis his illness brought on. We had to save Chuck’s seat.

Our visitor was headed to Chuck’s seat. I thought to myself, “Oh please let him see Chuck’s coffee cup, bible and notes. Is there another seat for our visitor? I hope somebody does something.” As our visitor crouched to sit in Chuck’s seat, the only available at our table, he heard, “This seat is taken.”

“…but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you have insulted the poor.”

The only remaining seats were a couple of armchairs off to the side and well below eye level of the rest of the group, so much so, you couldn’t see our visitor. These were not seats of honor.

I thought to myself that if I were the visitor, entering into a room of new people and was told I couldn’t sit at the table with everyone else, I’d be embarassed. I might even want to sit out of view of everyone… besides, they were all staring. How insulting.

Is this really happening? I can convince myself that I don’t go to a wealthy church, and that the expensive cars in the parking lot… aren’t. I can try to tell myself that it is just a coincidence that we didn’t have a single chair at the table for this dazed, homeless (?), I-don’t-know-what-his-story-is man. But did it have to be this passage of preferential treatment that we had to pretend to be so preoccupied with that we could pretend to ignore the profound object lesson that our visitor was teaching us without words?

Wayne whispered to me, “I think he is an angel.”

Like the 40 others in the room, I had no idea what to do. I closed my bible, I couldn’t hear a thing behind the voice in my head that was swimming in that surreal world when something was happening that couldn’t possibly be happening. The whole room had to have felt the palpable presence of God’s Holy Spirit pressing in on our hearts and minds. I was getting ill with my desire to do something, anything. But I was paralyzed. Nothing came to mind.

Eventually I thought about leaving and telling our visitor that he could have my seat, but what if he didn’t want to draw further attention to himself? If I came over to insist that he take my seat, I’d get points for being Jesus-like, but at whose expense? That’s not gonna work. I calmed down but remained quite uneasy.

Next thing I knew, he was gone.

This is a beautiful and powerful skit.

“It is not possible for the same group of men in one context—when facing the non-Christian world—to assert that the death of Christ is the one sufficient event by which all men may be made one family under God, and, at the same time, in another context—when dealing with one another—to assert that the event is not sufficient to enable those who believe in it to live as one family.”~ Lesslie Newbigin, “The Quest for Unity Through Religion,” 1955, p. 29

I’ve been thinking about jungle missionaries lately. Pam and I went to a funeral for our friend Monica’s mom. Jeanne East and her husband Guy, were missionaries to Bolivia with Wycliffe Bible Translators. It was wonderful being able to hear from her family and friends about what a great woman she was. Apparently she was as comfortable hosting a large dinner party in San Diego, as she was making her way down a jungle path (with machete and pistol tied to her waist.)

Those were real missionaries. People you really had to admire for their willingness to drag themselves and their families to jungles where jungle runways and shortwave radios, machetes and pistols were daily things.

Jungle missionaries always bring to my mind the story of Jim Elliot and the Auca Indians. Read what John Piper had to say about the title of Elizabeth Elliot’s book:

It was not a slip up in 1958 when Elizabeth Elliot gave to “the life and testament” of her slain husband the title, SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY. Jim Elliot and four other missionaries to the Aucas were killed on January 8, 1956. In 1949 when Jim Elliot was a college student, he wrote the words that have become the motto of many of our young people at Bethlehem: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Around the world the death of Jim Elliot and his four friends was called a nightmare of tragedy. But Elizabeth Elliot wrote, “The world did not recognize the truth of the second clause in Jim Elliot’s credo: ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’.” She called her book SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY from Psalm 91:1 because she was utterly convinced that the refuge of the people of God is not a refuge from suffering and death but a refuge from final and ultimate defeat. He who saves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for the sake of the gospel will save it—because the Lord is GOD ALMIGHTY. (Piper’s sermon)

What are we trying to save that we ultimately can’t keep?

Elizabeth Elliot writes in the preface of her book:

“Jim’s aim was to know God. His course, obedience – the only course that could lead to the fulfillment of his aim. His end was what some would call an extraordinary death, although in facing death he had quietly pointed out that many have died because of obedience to God.

Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him, after all, so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?

Further more, to live for God is to die, “daily,” as the apostle Paul put it. It is to lose everything that we may gain Christ. It is in thus laying down our lives that we find them.” P. 11-12

You might be interested in the trailer for “End of the Spear,” a docu-drama telling the story of the missionaries. A documentary was also filmed around the same time called, “Beyond the Gates of Splendor.” Nice trailer.

I’ve been thumbing through Bobby Clinton’s book again recently. When I saw this post at OnMovements.com the power of his observations stuck me anew. It was powerful when I read it, but it seems even more true as I view it in light of the challenges that are before the church today.

This work is the fruit of a comparative study of over 1200 leaders and the various stages that people go through as the Lord shapes them. Pages 44-46 are worth the price of the book alone. This understanding was powerful in itself when I read it as a (very) young Campus Director at the University of Connecticut.

Unlike many of the books that now sit in my library, Clinton’s book seems even more timely and relevant. I like to think it is because I’m growing in wisdom. In any case, the onmovements blog entry is a great summary of the Seven Major Lessons on leadership. You can also head to Bobby Clinton’s website and download his paper entitled Leadership Lessons. (Straight from the horse’s mouth.)

While you are at it, I’ll just point out that the articles link at Clinton’s sight looks like it is packed with awesome stuff.

Our Staff team is working through a book called, “We Would See Jesus” by Roy and Revel Hession. In the preface we are introduced to the question, “What is the purpose of life?” to which we are introduced to the author’s thesis. Our purpose “is to know, and to love, and to walk with God; that is, to see God.” P. 14. To the Hessions, to see God, is the chief end of man as captured in the Westminster Confession; namely, to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.

The section of chapter one that is most piecing to me is when the authors make the observation that our ministry for God can too often serve as a substitute for seeing God. In other words, we tend to believe that our meaning and satisfaction in life will come as we work to sacrificially serve God, when in fact, the most important thing is to see and know God himself.

“To concentrate on service and activity for God may often actively thwart our attaining the true goal, God himself. At first sight it seems heroic to fling our lives away in the service of God and of our fellows. We feel it is bound to mean more to Him than our experience of Him. Service seems so unselfish, whereas concentrating on our walk with God seems selfish and self-centered. But it is the very reverse. The things that God is most concerned about are our coldness of heart towards Him and our proud, unbroken natures. Christian service of itself can, and often does, leave our self-centered nature untouched.”

The authors go on to suggest that this misdirection is whey there are so many unresolved problems of personal relationships in churches, parachurches, and committees. Christian service gives us opportunities for leadership and position where we can quickly “fall into pride, self-seeking and ambition.

“With those things hidden in our hearts, we have only to work alongside others to find resentment, hardness, criticism, jealousy and frustration issuing from our hearts. We think we are working for God, but how little of our service is for Him is revealed by our resentment or self-pity when the actions of others or circumstances or ill-health take that ministry from us!”

In the language of Tim Keller, we are talking about the idol of doing ministry. It is the doing of ministry that really gives us meaning and satisfaction and a sense of purpose in life. We can tend to measure our sense of well-being with God by the quality and impact of our work. The size and fruitfulness of our ministry becomes the source of psychic and soulish peace, instead of the work of Christ on the cross.

“Alas! In this condition, we are trying to give to others an answer, which we have not truly and deeply found for ourselves. The tragedy is that much of the vast network of Christian activity and service today is bent on propagating an answer for people’s needs and problems which few of those propagating it are finding adequate in their own lives. We direly need to leave our lusting for ever-larger spheres of Christian service and concentrate on seeing God for ourselves and finding the deep answer for life in Him. Then, even if we are located in the most obscure corner of the globe, the world will make a road to our door to get that answer. Our service of help to our fellows then becomes incidental to our vision of God and, ideally, the direct consequence of it.”

So, if the chief end of man is to know God and to glorify him forever. Seeing God, really knowing God is “both the blessing and the way to that blessing – the means and the end.” The very thing I really seek is God, but rather than “being” in relationship, I’d rather be “doing” to earn my place with God. I think I’m in submission to God by doing His work, but I’m actually in rebellion, choosing to worship at the altar of my ministry and service for God.

“This then is the purpose of life: to see God, and to allow Him to bring us back to the old relationships of submission to Himself.”