The Disciplines of Being in Community

The disciplines of Community

In my section of the country, sports is huge. Sports pennants fly from antennae flagpole, team logos show up on lawn ornaments. I’ve even seen coffins with Tiger paws on them! 

Fandom is a form of self-definition.  It is part of who people say they are.  “I’m a Panther’s fan,” or “My team is the Bulldogs.”  They see themselves as belonging to a community of fans, and feel obliged to publicly declare it by going to games and flying the flags.    

Faith identity is similar.  To grow in faith, we must find means to regularly connect to our community of faith.  Here are a few regular practices than can help us keep our faith connection.

The first is public worship.  Psalm 122 begins “I was glad when they said to me “Let us go up to the House of the Lord.’” Our joy does not only in worship, but with being with fellow worshippers.  There’s joy in being with other who share our faith. Their faith builds ours.  Heb. 10:24-25 reminds us, “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”

Public worship recreates on earth the reality of heaven, where the saints gather around God’s throne. If our main preoccupation there will be worship, it should be part of our life on earth.

Public worship isn’t about liking the music or the pastor, nor is it about the energy level of the room. An crowd can be swept away by emotion and still be wrong, like a Nazi rally or a lynch mob. Neither should we assume that a quiet, boring service is without God.  Stillness is a true and integral part of worship.  The real focus of worship is God, not professionalism or excitement.  “Worship” is about declaring God’s worth. Any worship which focuses mainly on ourselves, our feelings, of our desires doesn’t do Him justice. Any worship that lifts Him up is pleasing to Him.

A woman once left our church to join an exciting new church down the road.  She gushingly described it to me “They’re so much more alive there!”

I was a bit perturbed by this, so I asked her. “Have you ever seen a sponge?”

  “Of course,” she said warily.

“A sponge is an animal, just like a cheetah or a bird.  Both the sponge and the cheetah are equally alive. If God delights in both in both, why can’t He equally delight in churches that seem different?  It’s the Spirit within, not how we see them that makes us alive in Christ.”

True public worship isn’t about the show, but the condition of our hearts.  We can worship in any congregation if we remember that we are there to honor God. 

The second is congregation participation.  Public worship is only one part of what it means to be in community. For the rest, we are going to need a smaller group. 

Community requires mutual sharing.  It cannot be done by staring at a jumbotron screen in a megachurch, at a priest in a cathedral, or the back of our fellow worshippers’ heads.  We must meet face to face.  For this we need a congregation, not a crowd. A congregation is where each person contributes something, where we share affection, concerns, gifts, and problems. 

If the only time we meet with other Christians is to listen to professional musicians and speakers, we miss something fundamental.  We need to have be actively involved in other peoples’ lives--and the more different, the better.

The tragedy of modern church is that they have become institutional ghettoes where people gather with people who are just like themselves.  In ancient times Christians of all kinds met together—rich and poor, young and old. Young people were taught by the old, who were a visible example before them.  Old people were helped and encouraged by the young, who energized them with their excitement for life. 

The modern church is divided into groups by age, class, race, and temperament. We have allowed the church to be run by professionals, not by ordinary Christians. Most of the time, these groups have little to do and less to say to each other.  Young people are not encouraged to speak to old, nor will old people give ground to the needs of the young. The only communities we participate in are the same communities that would exist with or without Christ—fellowships of socially compatible people who may as well have interchangeable heads and bodies. 

In the original Christian communities, people with diverse backgrounds and talents shared what they had.  All contributions were welcomed.  All opinions were valued.  All people’s needs were mutually respected.  They bonded together through mutual love of Christ, not social connections.   

We don’t have to wait for our congregation to become more diverse--we can start by simply showing up to events where people gather who aren’t like us.  We can pray for all our congregation, not just our friends. We can go to nurseries and nursing homes; help in youth groups and soup kitchens--even more we can simply talk to one another with love and respect

We can volunteer—but not because we are needed.  We volunteer to be with others.  Even if we have nothing to contribute (which is hardly ever the case) we still need to be in community. A community is more than just a work team—it’s a necessary part of living.

The third is cultivation of soul friendships.  Soul friendships are people with whom w share our souls.  Soul friendships are necessary both for ourselves and to help others in their spiritual journeys.  They are also missing in an overwhelming number of Christians’ lives.

David Benner writes:

“The principle reason friendship is so undervalued is probably that too few people have ever experience a significant, enduring friendship.  All but the hermit have acquaintances.  But typically such relationships involve no more than a passing connection. . . The coin of friendship has been continuously devalued by being applied to those lesser forms of friendship.

“Relationships between acquaintances involve little of the intimacy, trust commitment, and loyalty of real friendships.  Friendships may grow out of these more casual relationships but are not the same. . .

“Friendship is one of God’s special gifts to humans. Remarkably, friendship is one of the terms God uses to describe the relationship He desires with us. Friendship is therefore no ordinary relationship.  We cheapen it when we reduce it to mere acquaintanceship.”[1]

Larry Crabb goes even further: 

“Churches . . . have become as dangerous to the health of our soul as porn shops.  People leave both superficially titillated and deeply numbed.  Religious events can be as irrelevant to real life as cocktail parties at country clubs .  .  .

 “Most people tuck their soul out of sight and try desperately to ignore that something is missing they can’t supply. We speak few words that come out of an honest look at our soul, and few words that are spoken to us that inspire the courage to take an honest look that give us the hope and painful authenticity would lead us to real life.”[2]

Finding a soul friend is easy--we simply listen to them rather than talking about ourselves.  Then we share our stories, sharing honestly our thoughts, dreams, hopes and desires. In this way, we develop a soul-to-soul bond that may endure a lifetime.

Finding a friend may seem hard, but that’s mostly because of the limitations our culture imposes.  We think that soul friends are people with whom we have things in common.  Not only is this untrue, it’s also limiting and degrading. A friend doesn’t have to look like us, think like us, or share our age, gender or education. What make a friend is the mutual bond of trust we share.      

A fourth is forgiveness and reconciliation Unkind words, misunderstandings, little suspicion and minor slights collect in a community like plaque in our arteries unless we periodically purge them through forgiveness.  But when we let go of them , we experience the free flowing of love of the community.

Forgiveness is not pretending there was no injury, but a choice not to seek redress or revenge.  Forgiveness is letting go of the past so we can go on living in the present.

Reconciliation is a restored relationship. For this to occur, there has to be a recognition that someone has been hurt.  Both the hurter and the hurt should sit down and discuss it, bringing the pain out into the open. Hopefully, both sides can agree to forgive past transgressions and time will do the rest.  A mutual desire for community will in time overcome our hurt for past wrongs.

Reconciliation always takes longer and is harder than forgiveness.  Sometimes, reconciliation isn’t possible to restore the same level of trust. Nevertheless, it should be attempted, for the sake of the greater community and our own well-being. Having a friend is better than losing a friend; nothing is accomplished through continued animosity. Division within Christ’s body are destructive, and deprive us of the benefits of community. That is why it is always in our best interest to make peace.

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[1][1] David Benner Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship and Direction,  IVP books, Downer’s Grove, Ill., 2002,  pp. 61-62.

[2] Larry Crabb Soul Talk, Integrity Publishers, Nasshville, Tenn.,  2003,  pp. 16-17

Aspects of Faith--Community

“Let those who will not be in community fear being in community.

Let those who will not be in community fear being alone.”

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together[1]

The story goes that evangelist Dwight L. Moody once stopped at a country inn f where one of the patrons tried to engage him in a theological argument.  The man said that he was a Christian, but that he did not believe in going to church.  After all, isn’t one’s religion a personal matter?  Why should we have to be in company with others? 

Moody was too tired to argue.  Instead, he took a poker to the coal fire in the fireplace.  He pulled out one coal and set it on the hearth.  They watched as the coals in the fireplace remained hot, and the one on the hearth turned black and coal.  “That, sir,” Moody stated simply, “Is why we need a church.” 

Community living is like a dance between porcupines—we are drawn together out of loneliness, but we can’t help trading barbs.  It would be easier to live in isolation, but we can’t—we really do need each.  

Robert Bellah wrote in Habits of the Heart,

“We find our (true) selves not independently of other people and institutions but through them.   We never get to ourselves on our own.  We discover who we are face to face and side by side with others in work, love and learning.  All of our activity goes on in relationships, groups, associations, and communities ordered by institutional structures and interpreted by them.” [2]

Kenneth Boa writes:

“Life in Jesus is not meant to be solitary and individualistic but shared and collective.  . . . the nurture of the community of faith is designed to prepare us for our everlasting life with the Lord and with one another.”[3]

Christian community is not a goal to be achieved, but a present reality created by Divine command, not human effort.  We do not “achieve” community—we already are a community. Any effort to “achieve” it is bound to fail, since we cannot do in the flesh what already been done in the Spirit.   Jesus called the Christian community ecclesia, or  “the called-ones.” When anyone responds to the call of God to become a participant in His kingdom through surrender to Christ,  that person, no matter how different they may be from us becomes our brother or sister.  We did not choose who we are called to love. We are called to love all who believe in Him, and so we already exist in community with them.

This must have been terribly hard for the first generation of Christians were common fishermen from the same town—business competitors. Matthew was their tax man.  Simon Zealotes was a member of a terrorist group that murdered tax men.  One of their number was a traitor and a thief.  Some were young and some were old.  Some were married and others single.  Some were wealthy and others poor. Some were educated and others illiterate. Yet Jesus they became closer than brothers, willing to die for and with each other.

Individualized faith isn’t just incomplete, it’s mostly imaginary.  We can’t live as Christians without obeying Jesus’ one new commandment- “love each other.”  Isolated Christians are easy targets for temptations, but joined together we reinforce can have great strength.   Whatever knowledge and experience we think we have, the community has more.  Our combined strength is greater than the sum of its parts.

Living in community keeps our faith real. In it our feelings, attitudes, and behavior are exposed. If we act in any other way than what we proclaim, the community will discover it and we are “outed” as hypocrites. If we are serious about living as a Christ-follower, we will welcome this exposure as a means of purification. But if we keep our faith alone and to ourselves, there is no one to expose the places we need correcting.  When we walk with others we walk in the light and grow strong in our faith. 

The virtues of Community

The first virtue of community is presence. Despite computers and social networks, we still need whenever possible to come together face o face.  A computer screen of smart phone is not sufficient when a person is hurting. Facebook messages and well-meaning texts cannot hold our hands when we are hurting, or hug us when we are feeling lost.   We may be spiritual creatures but we inhabit animal bodies,  and need the touch of other bodies.   There is no substitute for a sympathetic smile, a warm touch, and a listening ear. 

Being in community is messy, but being out of community is worse. Augustine wrote, “Without the church, there is no salvation.”  While that statement may be debatable, it is undeniable that we need each other to lead us to the full life of Christ.  

The second virtue is empathy. Empathy is the ability to move out of our own thoughts and feelings and into the thoughts and feelings of others.  Of all the attributes, of community, this may be the most important.

Recently, I met a small-groups director from one of the largest churches in the country,   His job was overseeing one hundred and ten small group leaders—and there were two more men who had his position with just a many groups! He never met the groups—only the leaders.  He was a small group leader himself of newlyweds in their twenties.  It is no stretch to say that these groups had tremendous empathy for each other.  After all, the people in these group shared the same age, views, and social strata.  It’s easy to have empathy for people like ourselves.

My current church is small—fifty or sixty people on a good Sunday—but it is diverse.  Old and young, black and white, rich and poor, new believers and mature believers meet together, sharing the work, the jokes, and the tears.  There is nothing wrong with either church,  but I must ask the question—if our goal is to grow empathy with people who are different, in which one are we most likely to happen—in a place where everyone is the same, or a place where we are forced to listen to people who are different? Empathy is learning to appreciate our differences and see the hearts of people beneath the superficial differences. 

The third virtue is Accountability. We grow in community not so much from mutual enjoyment as from exercising grace through conflict. The sword and the whetstone lie peacefully together only when rusting in the drawer. It’s in the sharp exchange of ideas and feelings that true communities are forged. 

Paul makes it clear that we should value other members of our community as better than ourselves.  Each member, offers something to us, something from which we may benefit. We learn only if we sincerely seek to see their perspectives. This requires a humility, taking the stance of a learner, not seeking to instruct, but to be instructed.  

It’s not always easy to stay together, but that doesn’t mean we should forsake the company of brothers and sisters who irritate us.  Proverbs says “As iron sharpens iron,  so does one man sharpen another” When iron strikes iron, sparks fly.  The only way we get sharp is through tough, honest interaction.  Through argument, emotional response, forgiveness and reconciliation we chisel each other into the shape God intends.  

The fourth attribute is commitment.  Community requires a bond of trust.  There must be no deceit or hidden motives. The higher the level of intimacy required in a relationship, the deeper the commitment we need.  

In Matthew 10: 11-13 Jesus told us “whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.”   In other words, change homes because someone else has a nicer house. Don’t be looking for greener pastures, stay and learn to love who’s here. This is the principle of stability, or blooming where we are planted.

Commitment to a local body of believers is essential to community. This commitment is something we enter not because we deserve but because they don’t. Commitment is recognizing that community is not for us, but for all of us together.

Jesus asked Peter in the last chapter of John, “Do you love me?”  He asked three times and Peterr told Him three times “You know I love you.”  Each time Jesus answered the same way  “Feed my sheep.” They way we express love to Christ is to care for those Have cares about.  We have to see our identity as part a community of faith, and not as solitary individuals. As we feed they those around us,  their faith feeds us, and we grow in faith together.

How about you?  How does your self-awareness connect with the community of faith around you?  How do you keep your connections with God strong through your community with others?  Would you be interested in building connections with other Christians online or in person? I’d love to

Hear from you about it                                                                                                    .

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[1] Dietrich Bonheoffer  Life Together (Harper & Row, New York) 1954, p.  77. 

[2] Robert Bellah, Habits of the Heart, quoted in Bobos in Paradise by David Brooks, p.  236.

[3][3] Boa Conformed to His Image, p.

The limits of Self-awareness

The limits of self awareness are better shown than told.   Pay attention to these three pictures.

Self awareness does not do us much good without God awareness.  When we obsessively pull up our roots to examine them.  we turn our face from the Son, the source of all our strength.
Examine yourself regularly. But in the meantime, keep your face turned towards the light of the Son.

The Disciplines of Self-awareness

 There are many ways of learning about ourselves. Here are a few methods which have proven helpful.

Journaling

Journaling is perhaps the best and oldest method of self-examination. Journaling can be written or recorded on audio tape or video.  Most practitioners of journaling still prefer to write them,  since the process of writing is slower and causes us to weigh o

Journaling not only records our reflections, but helps us uncover our emotions. In telling the story of each day, we do what every story teller does—we assign meaning to what is most important. When we adopt a prayerful attitude, we learn to assign that meaning in the light of Christ.

Journaling was widely used among Christians of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries.   The journals of Wesley, Whitfield, John Owen, and others provide for a rich record of God’s work in individual lives, and provided a source of stability in the lives of the authors. 

Donald Whitney writes:

“More than almost any other discipline, journaling has a fascinating appeal with nearly all who hear about it.  One reason is the way journaling blends biblical doctrine and daily living, like the confluence of two great rivers, into one.  And since each believer’s journey down life’s river involves bends and hazards previously unexplored by them on the way to the Celestial City, something about journaling this journey appeals to the adventuresome spirit of Christian growth.” [1]

In our journals, we write down what happened during the day, and what we felt about them. But in Christian journaling we take it one step farther.  We ask the question—where was God in our day?  God is a living presence in our lives every moment.  How is He reacting hour by hour and minute by minute to what we are thinking, doing and feeling?  Where was God in our struggles? What blessings has He given us?  How is He revealing Himself in our lives?  Journaling is not just and inner conversation, but an upward conversation to Him.  As we speak in our journals about Him, we often experience His voice talking back to us. 

Examens

Examinations are means of laying our thoughts, actions, and emotions against the authority of Scripture.  The practice is very old, going back to the Old Testament.  Psalm 119:9, for example, says  ‘How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word’.

Paul recommends Scripture-based examinations in 2 Tim. 3:16-17,   “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We often focus on the semantic issue of what he meant by “God-breathed” and miss the very practical issue of what he is asking us to do—submit our thoughts, lives, and behavior to the correcting, rebuking, and training the Scripture.  We talk about the Bible as God’s word, but we don’t treat it as God’s word.  It becomes an object of debate, but not obedience.

Examens are practical applications of the Bible to our lives on a regular basis.  Here’s an example.

Begin with a passage of Scripture—the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) for example,  or the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).  Read it several times slowly, each time asking yourself one of these  questions:

What is there for me to do or believe in this passage?

What promises are here for me?

Where have I fallen short?

Where do I need to change?

We should not become discouraged when discover our thoughts, feelings, and behavior are far short of what they should be. Growth takes time. Just accept God’s forgiveness and move on. 

Many times, we discover that we have not disobeyed God in big things--we’ve committed no murders or have avoided adultery--but we do find in ourselves harsh, cynical attitudes, or small slights towards others. When we find this, we should confess them and deal with them.  This is not because God is such a petty perfectionist that He would cast us out of His kingdom over littering or jaywalking, but because God wants us to improve ourselves, and get stronger. 

Effort given to small sins increase our ability to resist big sins.  A small weight lifted a hundred times will build as much muscle as a large weight lifted ten times.     The small, daily victories of God’s grace in our lives, when told and recorded, will strengthen our faith daily. 

   The word “examen” comes from St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.  It has been adapted for the modern world many times. One such modern form is found in Jim Manney’s excellent little book A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St.  Ignatius Loyola's Examen.  He suggests five simple steps done daily:

“1. Ask God for light. 

“2. Give thanks. 

“3. Review the day. 

“4. Face your shortcomings. 

“5. Look toward the day to come.[2]

Every self-examination needs to be accompanied with an assurance of God’s forgiveness.  If in our zeal for improvement concentrate too hard on our faults and our need for improvement, then our thoughts wander from Him and towards ourselves.  The only way to perform an examen profitably is keep the Cross in mind.   Our failures are due to our sinful nature; our successes are due to His grace.  Remembering this helps us to keep perspective so that each recognition of our osn limitations becomes a reminder of His unlimited forgiveness. 

Questions for Self Examination

Do I journal my thoughts on a regular basis?

Is a spiritual self-examination part of your devotional life?  If so, how is it working for you?

What methods of self-examination work best for your life?

If this blog has meant something to you, please share it with your friends.  Also, go back and read my other blogs in this series, and if you are interested in knowing more on the subject of the Faith Matrix, subscribe for the latest updates.  

Check out my YouTube channels, too, especially the faith matrix channel.  You might also check out my sermon blog, billsmessages.blogspot.com.  

One more thing—comment on the post. I crave feedback.  If you don’t want to comment publicly I can be reached on Facebook or directly by email at pastorbill@comporium.net or bfleming2@windstream.net. 

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[1] Whitney, Donald S.  (2012-01-05).  Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life with Bonus Content (Pilgrimage Growth Guide) (p.  221).  Navpress.  Kindle Edition.

[2] Jim Manney A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St.  Ignatius Loyola's Examen (Kindle Location 1).  Kindle Edition.

The Virtues of Self-Awareness

We get self-knowledge the same we acquire any other knowledge--by applying ourselves to study the subject. We do this by setting aside time alone to meditate on our own history,  goals, and basic nature.  

But self-study is considerably harder than studying mathematics, astronomy, or psychology. It is hard to see ourselves objectively. We need God’s help, along with the help of of people close to us. But once we have come to understand who we truly are in God’s eyes, then that self-awareness can help us overcome anything the world throws at us.

Joseph the Patriarch was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and unjustly imprisoned.  But after he was released and promoted to a position of great power, he told his brothers “you meant it for evil, but God intended it for good.” (Gen. 50:20) It was his self-awareness of his own place before God that enabled him to survive and thrive.

Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, and left for dead, but in reflecting on his life story said.  “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Cor. 12:20) His confidence in the face of suffering came from His awareness of himself before God.  He interpreted his life story through the lenses of God’s love, and His confidence before Him.

This kind of confidence only comes by daily struggling to establish daily practices of self-awareness.  These practices are based upon the developing certain basic virtues of self-awareness.  These include:  honesty, introspection, expression, remembering, and forgetting. 

1. Honesty.  Before we can know ourselves, we must be honest about our thoughts, feelings and actions.  This honesty means not only recognizing them to ourselves but acknowledging them to others.  John calls this “walking in the light” in 1 John 1: 5-7:

 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin

To walk in the light is to live honestly and transparently. We must reject the old adage “fake it till you make it.”  We cannot present one side to the world and another side to God. We must show our true--not without fear of what others will do, but trusting God to defend us.    

2, Introspection.  Self-awareness also requires self-examination. This means we must have a regular habit of self-appraisal on an ongoing basis. Only by practicing regular self-examination can the Spirit make us aware of our personal shortcomings as well as our personal assets, so we can improve the former while maximizing the latter.    

We all put on masks in front of others.  The biggest masks we wear, though, are the ones we wear when we look in the mirror.  We refuse self-examination and so we lack self-awareness.  We have reasons for this neglect.  We tell ourselves we don’t have time to look inside, and dismiss introspection as pointless navel-gazing. Sometimes this might be true, but more often we just don’t want to be bothered by a need for change. We often whitewash our real motives and conduct and make excuses for behavior for which we ought to be ashamed. 

But if we are ashamed of the past, it is only because we do not yet have the mind of Christ.  God has forgiven our past sins through Him.  We no longer stand condemned by God. We do not look back in shame, but to learn how to live in the future.

 Confession and recollection of our sins is like doing an autopsy on a dead animal. It nat be unpleasant but it can be helpful. Our past sins are dead, they can no longer harm us, but they can show us what to avoid in the future. We are free.  We can honestly assess our past, since we are no longer bound by it.   To hide sin is to give power to it.  Nor do we need to pretend to any kind of perfection, since in acknowledging and confessing sin, we have already acknowledged our imperfection.

3. Self-expression.  Have you ever had the experience of speaking and suddenly becoming aware that you were saying too much?  You find yourself expressing irritation at something you thought was already over.  Later, you say to yourself “Why did I ever talk like that?”   We do this because speaking is like turning on a spigot to our inner thoughts and emotions.  We may think we know what is us, but we are often surprised at feelings that rush out. 

Learning to express ourselves, both through journaling and speaking is necessary to really know ourselves.

Counselors call it “the talking cure.”  By getting a client to tell their story over and over, they process it in their mind. Each time we say or write what we have thought or done, we learn something new. We are not only speaking to others, but to ourselves.    

Sometimes words are not enough.  Art is a means of self-expression that reveals ourselves to ourselves. Any activity kind of creative activity opens up a window to our own soul. 

4.  Remembering.  Rabbi Joshua Heschel once wrote “Much of what the Bible demands can be compressed into one word—remember.”[1]  We need to remember events of ancient times, but we also need to remember where we came from, where we are going, and what God has done for us along the way. Telling the story of our faith journey helps us understand who we are, and to become aware of what God is doing in our lives. 

There are two kinds of memory—long term and short-term. One is the long story of where we were and where we are headed, of  answered prayers and moments of joy.  These memories sustain us through hard times. 

Short term memory is important when we get lost in the big tragedies of life.  They focus our attention down, like the lens of a microscope, on the daily blessings of today.  Remember the little blessings of this morning or last night helps us give thanks for the daily things when life seems long and hard.

One of my daily prayers each morning goes like this “Holy Father, maker of all things, thank your for Your universe.” It reminds me that God made all things to be enjoyed. When I fail to notice the beauty of my surroundings, I remember that the One who made all things for a good purpose.

5.  Forgetting.  Forgetting is just as important as remembering.  We should be aware of all things, but we do not dwell on all things.  I can choose lay aside those memories that are not profitable to me.  Intentional forgetting is not a denial but a choice to not allow those negative parts of my story to become important to the overall ending.  I choose to forget sins against me--not because they didn’t occur, but because I simply do not dwell upon them. 

Christian self-awareness comes from examining and interpreting our lives in the light of Christ. We put aside the elements of our past that we lead away from Him, while remembering what lead us to Him.  In this way, we surrender our story to the grace and mercy of Christ.

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[1][1] Quoted from Trevor Hudson’s Discovering our Spiritual Identity,  IVP press, 2010, p. 35.

A Milestone

Thanks to God that we have had our first thousand view on the faith matrix blog! Thanks especially to those who have visited, shared, commented and subscribed.  If what I have written blesses you, I hope you will subscribe and share too.
All glory goes to God.
As we go forward, I will continue to lay out the faith matrix.  Afterwards,  we will be branching out, writing on new faith-based subjects, and seeking for guest blogs by friends and fellow searchers.
Again, thanks to all.

Bill Fleming

The Identity Balance

John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Faith,  wrote:

“Our wisdom . . . consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.” 

In other words, we need to know ourselves in order to know God, and we need to know God in order to know ourselves.

It’s easy to see the hang-ups we have from having too low or two high an opinion of ourselves.  If we have a poor sense of our own worth, we may try to overcompensate destructive ways. But if our sense

of identity is too high of self-esteem, we wind up self-centered and inconsiderate of others.

But how does this connect with the knowledge of God.  If our self-identity is too low, then it is difficult to see how God can love us.  But if our self esteem is too high, we can easily forget Him. Either way,  an improper sense of identity can cause us to fall off that tightrope balance that is the “narrow way”  righteousness.  To fall of doesn’t mean death, since we are in God’s hands, but it does make it difficult to know him and have faith in Him. 

Our sense of identity has two parts.  We are aware of ourselves as belonging to a community, giving us  a place in a wider world.   An American sees himself as belonging America, just as a Roman saw himself as belonging to Rome. A Christian equally defines herself being in Christ, which is what the word “Christian” originally meant.

We grow faster in our faith when we live it inside a supportive community.  It also gives us a place to express and communicate our faith with others.  Love calls us to togetherness, while self-love (which is of equal importance to love of others) calls us to be alone.

 We are also self-aware, having a personality that is different from the rest. We are not just American, British, Australian, Catholic, Baptist, or Christian, but we are also individually different.  This self-awareness means we can stand alone without external support from others. We can support others and join the crowd, but we can also choose to go our own way.   

Our faith defines our community and our inner knowledge. We need to be part of a group, but we also need to be away from that group. If we lose ourselves too much in group awareness, we risk becoming blind, overly dependents followers of a cause or cult.  If we lose ourselves in self-awareness, we can become unable to see ourselves properly, and are prone to arrogance.   If we go too far in either direction,  we will not be a whole person. 

Michael Kerr tells the story of a porcupines living in a common burrow while trying to endure a hard winter.  If they huddle closely for warmth, they will get stuck on each others’ quills. If they stay apart, they freeze to death.  We have to live close enough to our fellow people to share their warmth and far enough away to keep from being stuck. [1] Independence keeps us from being led astray, while community spares us from loneliness. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote “Let those who will not be alone fear being in community. Let those who will not be in community fear being alone.”[2]  In order to have a close relationship to God, we need to build bridges to fellow believers, as well as a strong understanding of who we really are.  This is a hard balance to strike, but it is worth the effort. 

Are you more comfortable being alone, or being with others?  We are all think, act and feel differently about what part of this balance of identity is the most important to us.

Think about when you feel closest to God.  Is it when you are worshipping in a crowd or alone in prayer? 

How can you use both your alone time and together time to draw closer to God, who is with us at all times? Write me and let me know what your think.  If this makes you think share it with others, or better yet, take a moment to subscribe to this blog.  Write me a note or a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

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[1][1] Quoted in Creating Healthier Churches:  Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and congregational life From the Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, Min, 1996, p. 66.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together.  

The Limits of Witness

Just as thoughts and feelings can become idols, so can actions.  Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7: 21-23

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

It is hard to believe that someone who calls Jesus Lord, preaches the Gospel,  prophesies,  casts out demons,  and does great works can find themselves rejected by God, but that’s what Jesus says here.  If we do all these things and haven’t known Jesus personally, it really does us no good.

Being Jesus-connected is more than just being active in the church, or even in good works outside the church. It is a living and ongoing relationship.  It is easy for us to get caught up in the activity of doing what we think is God’s work, and forget to consult with Him about what He really wants for us. 

In our culture we often define ourselves by what we do.  When two people meet, the first question they ask is about their occupation “What do you do for a living?”  The greatest compliment you can give them, which is heard at many funerals, is to call them “a hard worker.”  The worst insult is to call them “useless.”  We often define our lives in terms of how much we can get done, or how much we influence the world around us. 

But this is just another form of community spirituality. Our ultimate worth comes from our relationship with God, not from what we do in the world.  When our lives become obsessed with action, we become a house without foundation. We try to get the outside of our lives in order, but the interior connection is not there.  This leads to burnout and frustration. 

Faith is more than just going through the motions. Head and heart must also be present.  We must know the Lord of our faith, both intellectually and personally.  In real faith, actions are an expression of a whole-life commitment to God. The details of our actions matter less than the reasons we are doing it.

Doing is not enough unless it also includes knowing and being.  We can go through all the motions and never become grounded in our faith.  When that happens we see several problems.

An over-obsession with outward actions leads us to judge ourselves by performance. If we are making a difference in the world, but if we do not perceive ourselves as making a difference, we get depressed and down.  What gives meaning to our lives is not what we accomplish but doing the will of our Father. His will may be for us to accomplish great things, or it may be to spend our time guarding little things.  We are like soldiers who are willing to march on the front lines, but are not willing to do guard duty on a lonely wall at midnight. Yet our place of sitting still is just as important as our place in the heat of battle. 

This action-oriented approach often becomes a problem at the end of life. What happens when we can no longer do for others or even ourselves?  What happens when we a sidelined by illness,  caretaking a loved one, or by job loss?   Can we be happy doing nothing important? Al of us will face a time of imposed idleness.  If we are not strong in our relationship to God, these can be the most difficult times we face. 

Then there is the problem of judgmentalism.  Mission-oriented people can fall into the trap of believing that everyone must have the same mission that we do.  There are many missions that God may give—evangelism, foreign missions,  discipleship,  social action,  political action, and many others.  But not all of us have the same mission. There is no one “main” mission of the church.  The Christian life is not about mission, but submission to Christ.  We must know Him and hear Him,  before we act. 

 Legalism is another problem.  Legalism is an obsession with doing everything right. It is the assumption that if we don’t do the right things in the right way that God will not accept us.  This is a distortion of the relationship we have with God. God loves us, not our action.  He does not exclude us from His fellowship because we do not do everything correctly.   He cares for who we are more than he cares for what we do.  Our best efforts for God all fall woefully short.  Compared with the perfection of Christ, our greatest efforts are like childish crayon scrawls next to the Mona Lisa.  But God, like any loving parent, would rather have those pictures painted by a loving son or daughter than all the great works of art combined.  He accepts us because He knows us. We do not witness for Christ to earn his love;  we witness for Christ because we already have it.

Witness In the world is a good thing. But it is not the only thing. A relationship with Him must come first. 

How about you?  Was there ever a time in your life when your service to God eclipsed your relationship with Him?  If it did, how did you get back in touch with God?

Write to me and let me know how this impacts you, share it and  subscribe to this blog. I will be writing new articles regularly.  

exploring the matrix: Witness: the Habits of witness

(Click here to see video)

Being a witness for Christ means developing certain daily habits of thought and action and living them out in the world. These habits include:

Stewardship.  Stewardship is part of what it means to be submitted to God. All we have belongs to God when we have fully submitted to Him, so we should view it all as being dedicated to  serve Him.

The symbol of our financial surrender it tithing, or percentage giving off the top. Ideally that means a minimum of ten percent, but amount of the percentage does not matter as much as the principle of it.  It is the symbolic “first fruits” of our labors.

But tithing is not all that is meant by stewardship. The rest of what we have belongs to God, too, and should be used in way that brings glory to Him. 

I have known people who felt led to give away all they own to God’s work, and chose to lead a pauper’s existence. Many orders of monks and nuns do this as part of their vows.  Even so for most people this is not what God has in mind.  What He expects for most of us is something much harder--to manage what we own in a way that it will all further the kingdom of God. God has given each one of us authority over some small part of the world, even if it is just the clothes on our back and the energy in our bodies. Whatever is ours to control needs to be used to be a witness for Him.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told a parable about a man who gave three servants piles of gold to invest.  Each one was to use that money to make more money.  Two servants invested well and brought in a substantial dividends. The third held his money back for fear of making bad investments. The master took his money away, saying he was a poor steward because he was more afraid of losing money than in displeasing his master.  Fear or laziness kept him from completing his task. Jesus told this story to remind us of our obligation to be a witness with what God has given us, and to seek to bring greater glory to Him by investing in the larger world. 

This is true financially.  We should manage our investments in ways that bring the best yield, but also be aware of the political and social ramifications of where we invest.  The bottom line is not the only consideration.  We should try to use our investments to do good to the most people. It matters what companies we invest in, and how that money will be spent.   

  It is even more so when we think of investing our time, talents, and energy.  We all have a limited amount of each.  Are we managing them in ways that furthers God’s kingdom, or are we just spending them on ourselves?  It is true that we all need rest and recreation, because it helps us to be productive. But do we work so we can rest, or do we rest so we can work?  we to have the right priorities. 

Helping.  Helping others is a deeply ingrained habit in people of faith. When we see a need, it is our natural reaction to help, because that is what Christ would do. 

Christ’s healing and miracles were signs of His power and divinity. But He never did them to show off His power. He preached, taught, healed and delivered because He could not bear to look on human suffering without doing what He could to help.  He would heal Gentiles and sinners, even though it was not His current job.  He was called to minister first to the Jews, but when a hurting Gentile came to Him, He stopped to help.  He would heal people and tell them to keep it quiet. There was no attempt to us miracles as advertisements for His ministry.  He helped others both publicly and anonymously because He cared about them.   It was His habit to help when He could.

To follow Jesus is to experience compassion for those who are hurting, and try to help. We don’t always do the right thing even when we help.  Sometimes we are mistaken. We do not always see a difference in people’s lives. But the habit of caring helps us become more like Jesus, even when our help doesn’t make things better.  It teaches us how to be more like Christ, which in the long run will make us instruments of blessing to the world around us.

Faith sharing the stewardship of our experience. Our relationship with God is not meant to be kept ourselves.  We were intended to share our testimony with others.  We need to learn to boldly say what is on our minds and hearts.

But sharing our faith takes more than words. Trevor Hudson in his book Discovering our Spiritual Identity suggest that to be a witness, we should occasionally undertake a deliberate “fast” from too many words. He suggest that we live close to unbelievers, be a friend to them and seek to bless them, but wait to share our testimony until they ask. “There is a strong tendency among Christ-followers” he writes “to emphasize the role of talking.  Yet verbal witness can go wrong when it neglects the silent dimension.”[i]   This is not to saw we should never boldly share the faith—we certainly should! But if it is hard to be a verbal witness,  it is even harder to live with such love for others that they will want to hear what we have to say.

 Even so, we should actively work to share our faith and seek ways talk to others about it.. 

Peacemaking. The church, often uses warlike imagery to describe its mission---campaigns. crusades, victory, conquest. The Bible does occasionally use these terms, but more often it uses the language of peace—proclamation, reconciliation, unity, grace, and forgiveness.  The purpose of the Gospel is to bring the world into peace with God and with each other.

Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. “ Matthew 5:9.

Paul said in Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Also, in I Corinthians 5:18-19  ^“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Peacemaking is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. Look at the list of famous peacemakers who have been martyred. To be a peacemaker is to put oneself deliberately in the gap  between two warring factions, which means that we always take fire from both sides.  Peacemakers fail more than they succeed. But in the end, peacemaking is a witness to Christ, brought us to peace with God.

The ministry of peacemaking in our lives isn’t a call to mark for disarmament,  or even mainly to make peace between nations,  but to bring peace into our small part of the world,  into families, work places,  and neighborhoods.  Families have their own  version of war. With divorce rates over fifty percent, children estranged from families, and neighborhoods where people live side by side for years and never know each other, peacemakers are needed to reunite fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives.  The church frequently needs peacemakers to keep peace between ourselves. The church today is a disjointed array of individual congregations and individuals who see themselves as purely independent.  We need carpenters to unite it together in love.    

Activism. Christians should be involved in making their world better. We don’t have to agree on what “better” looks like.  There are committed Christians one  all sides of every political and social  movement. We frequently disagree about politics and economics. But the main concern we all share is that Christ wants us to improve the conditions of the world around us.  Christian commitment to improve the world has brought great improvements in life. This has occurred, not only through breaking down immoral social structures, but also through modifying and improving society to make it less cruel and exploitative. Christian capitalists care about their workers and are interested in their employees’ well-being.  Christian kings sought to rule fairly and justly. In the days of slavery, Christian slaves became witnesses to their masters, and sometimes won them over to Christ. While they were doing this,  other Christians were seeking to abolish absolute monarchies and slavery.  Christians within and without the system, by living our Christ’s commands were doing good where they were.

The key to being a successful witness in all areas of life is to realize that witness isn’t something we do. It is something we are.  It’s not about joining movements or upending society, but about being an honest, loving representation of Christ where we are today.  Then, when God opens up an opportunity to do good, doing it with all our hearts. 

Where do you live out your faith in the world?  How do you keep in the habit of being a witness to others?  I would love to hear from you about it. Send me your comments and thoughts.  While your at it,  sharing this blog and subscribing to it would be very much appreciated. 

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[i][i] Trevor Hudson  Discovering Spiritual Identity: Practices for God’s Beloved, IVP, Formatio Press,  Downers Grove, Ill.  2010,  p. 128.