The disciplines of Hope

How do we develop hope? Here are some activities may help:

Being Thankful

“In everything give thanks,” Paul wrote “For this is God’s will.” (1 Thess. 5:18) This isn’t a suggestion but a command.  He does not say to give thanks if we feel grateful, but to give thanks whether we feel anything like gratitude or not.  It is wonderful if our heart can be involved, but it is not necessary. In time our heart will catch up with the rest of us, and we may feel something like gratitude, but it isn’t necessary. Give thanks anyway.

Thankfulness helps to orient our mind towards ultimate purpose and destination.  It is an acknowledgement that is or can be part of God’s great satisfaction. Thanksgiving lifts us out of the tyranny of the moment and helps us see the vistas around us 

In the novel The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins his friends are stuck for weeks in a dark, foreboding forest.  Despairing of their predicament, they send Bilbo to climb one of the highest trees and look around.  Once above the treetops he feels fresh air and sunlight again and is greatly encourage.  More importantly, he sees their destination, the Lonely Mountain, is not far away. 

Thanksgiving gives us a glimpse above the treetops. We may be stuck in the muck of today, but it reminds us that we are actually making progress. Thanksgiving is the assurance of our souls that we are holding to the right course. 

We thank God for small blessings in the middle of major disasters.  Terminally ill patients can sometimes be filled with hope, not of a long life, but of seeing a loved one again, going to a graduation, or feeling a sea breeze. Small thanksgivings can be ours in big disasters.  The discipline of thankfulness reminds us of our many blessings.

We thank God for big blessings in the middle of minor disasters. When we are late for work,  our car breaks down, or we are caught in a rainstorm,  we can easily forget that life for us is actually pretty good. When we feel bad about something we forgot to do, we forget that God has redeemed us and still loves us, wholly and completely. Giving thanks for big blessings helps us deal with small disasters. 

Affirmation

Affirmation is the practice of self-reminding.  We sometimes forget who we are and where we are going.  The daily practice of affirmation helps us remember this. 

Affirmation is not magic. Reciting to ourselves “I am a good person” does not really make us a good person if we are not.  No, affirmations must first all be the truth to have power. 

A good affirmation is based on our position in Christ. It is a statement of how Christ thinks of us, and what He can do with us. It is not a statement of our own abilities, but of His 

Here is an example of an affirmation I have written and used for years.

“Today, I will remember that I am forgiven

“Today I will remember my worth in God's eyes.

“Today I will remember to give others my honesty and friendship

“Today I will remember that I am already loved enough

“Today I will remember that I can do all things through Christ

“Today I will remember the shortness of life and to live inthis moment

“Today I will remember to be thankful for all things

“Today I will remember that I can trust Him

“And in trusting, hope, and in hoping, know

“And in knowing, rejoice.”

A good way of writing an affirmation for yourself is a “beloved covenant” described in Trevor Hudson’s book Discovering our Spiritual Identity:

 Sit down in a quiet place and recall your favorite verses from the Bible.  If you aren’t familiar with the Bible and are just starting out reading it, just thumb through and write down a few promises.  Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to verses that stand out to you.  After you have a few verses,  read them over and over slowly.  Don’t look for things to do or to pray for—look for what God says about you, and His relationship to you.  Take these verses and write them down.  Then go back over them for about ten minutes a day for a few days.  Let these statements sink into your soul. You will find that it really helps to build confidence and hope to know just what God thinks of you.

Patience

We usually think of patience as a gift, but it really more of a choice. It’s knowing the reasons for hurry, but choosing to ignore them-- a hundred times a day, if necessary. 

I may be in a hurry to get home, but I choose to slow down and be safe instead of speeding up, because I know that home will be there when I arrive.  I want to buy a new car, but I choose instead to save my money, because I believe in the future I can afford it. I think that school is too hard, but I choose to do my homework, because I hope to graduate one day. I make these choices because of hope for the future. By choosing to say “no” to my immediate impulses, I am expressing my hope of future reward. 

Do not confuse impatient feelings with impatient actions. We can still be patient even when we feel impatient. Worry is resistible, and the act of resisting it is what we mean by patience. In time, the feelings of impatience will give way to peace, but it will not happen until we choose to be patient.

Use your Imaginations

Sit down, and make a list with three columns on it.  Label the first  “1year from now”,  the next “3 years from now” and the third “10 years from now.”

Now, close your eyes and use your imagination. Picture yourself one year in the future, with God in absolute control of your life and your situation.  What would your life be like in the best possible future with God in control, at these three points in the future?  Don’t focus on what your occupation will be, whether you have accomplished your occupational goals.  Don’t imagine a life without enemies, struggles or opposition, but instead concentrate more on who you will be inside,  and what your attitudes and inner realities will be.  Not so much what your will be doing at this time but who you will be inside.  Then pray over the lists and save them. Look back over them from time to time as you approach the future.

Hope is faith for the future.  In order to have hope future, we must see God there.  This requires a sanctified imagination. We need to have an image of our future selves with God in control, and what our lives would be like if we were.

A pessimist envisions the future and sees all the things that can go wrong. This is useful, since we all know that things can go wrong and it is good to be prepared. But pessimism alone cannot motivate us to do anything good. The more we imagine bad things happening to us,  the more we are that our negative imaginings will actually happen.

An optimist envisions the future and sees what can go right.   Hope arises from these positive imaginings. But we must be careful where our positive imaginings take us. If we divorce our hopes from our faith they are just wishful thinking. Our hope must come from God, and His power to change us.  If we just hope to be a better, kinder person without being a more Godly person, there is no real reason to believe we will succeed.  If we see ourselves conquering our present calamities and we do not see God in charge and getting all the glory, then our real hope is not in Him but in ourselves.

Real hope is not imagining a future without problems, but imagining a future with God’s sufficiency. It is unrealistic to think we can live in a sinful world and find everything easy and uncomplicated. But it is realistic to imagine that in the future we may be better equipped to cope, when we pursue a deeper relationship with God. 

Circumstances are guaranteed to change for us, but the relationship we have with God, who is the provider of all things can get stronger with every passing day. With His help, we will better be able to cope with life changes because we learn to trust Him daily,  The struggles of today will make us more able to trust Him in the future.

We cannot change the world, but we can change ourselves.  In changing ourselves we learn to better  cope with the world. 

The disciplines of Heritage

Here are four ways we can get reconnected with our spiritual heritage—

Know the roots,

Taste the fruits,

Understand the teachings, and

Try the rituals.  

Know the roots 

Evangelicals are fond of saying that “faith has no grandchildren.”  While it is true of individual churches, it is not true of the church at large. What God started in Christ will not end because of our incompetency or neglect. Their work will stand until Christ returns, and on into eternity afterwards.  

Each generation of Christians brings a new perspective. The early church relied on the Holy Spirit and on the authority of the living apostles. The ancient and medieval churches, developed habits of devotion still practiced today.  The Sixteenth Century gave us thinkers and theologians who took us back to the essentials--Christ alone, Scripture alone, Faith alone, Grace alone, for God’s glory alone.  Eighteenth Century pietism challenged the overly scholastic heirs of the Reformers to experience God with their heart.  Writers like Blaise Pascal and Jonathan Edwards put the heart and the head together. Puritans emphasized separation from the world and a whole-life commitment. Moravians, Anabaptists, and Methodists emphasized Christian community.  The Holiness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements cherished the warmth of the Spirit.  Millerites, Adventists, and Dispensationalists gloried in the Second Coming, while the Salvationist and Missionary movements emphasized societal and personal change. Every branch of the tree of faith has some dynamic and useful aspect to contribute to the whole. 

Start exploring the Christian heritage by discovering your own spiritual roots. Many times people criticize the differences between these groups as if being different was necessarily wrong.  But it’s not the differences that are bad, but the intolerance and hatred of people who see things differently, plus the prideful assertion that only our denomination is right that divides the church.  We can enjoy our distinctives without being intolerant of everyone else.

Our roots are worth preserving.  Each branch of our faith preserves a portion of the whole.  If one segment of the church is lost, we are diminished, and a piece of Christ is missing.

Taste the Fruits

What are the positive fruits of our tradition? Baptists are known for their upbeat worship and doctrinal simplicity.  Presbyterians emphasize education and the majesty of God. Methodists have a tradition of transformational social action. Pentecostals are known for their enthusiasm and the reliance on the Spirit. Lutherans emphasize grace and the sacraments. Catholics are marked by their elegant and elaborate worship and their emphasis on humility.  Every tradition of the church has aspects that all Christians may admire. 

We know, or think we know, our tradition only through the experience of our own home church.  This is like saying we know our country because we know our own back yard. Our heritage is larger and richer than we can possibly imagine.  Our own experience is extremely limited. Until we study the fruit of our faith tradition, we cannot fully comprehend it.

After we have tasted the fruit of our own tree, we should sample some of the fruit of others.  It is a sad mistake to think we can understand the whole of Christianity from our own limited perspective. Being a Presbyterian does not mean we cannot enjoy a Baptist revival or a Catholic cantata.  Other Christian traditions are not competitors—they are companions on our journey to spiritual maturity. 

Many recent authors have recently written the positive nature of Christian diversity.  Books such as Kenneth Boa’s Conformed to His Image and Longing for God: Seven Paths to Christian Devotion by Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe have explored the rich, historical landscape of the multi-traditional church. We can enrich ourselves from the Puritan writers, the early Methodist classes, as well as the ancient traditions of lectio divina and the daily office.  All lift up Christ, and each explores a different aspect of Him.  The more places we look, the more ways we learn to tune our hearts to God.    

Understand the Teachings                                                                                                                                                              

Of course, we should try to understand what our church actually believes.

All attempts to explain God ae really only metaphors. They are our attempts to explain the unexplainable.

 Most of the time, when comparing what churches believe, we focus on our differences.  This is unfortunate.  A more interesting study is to look at how traditions approach expressing the same truths.  The Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians and the Second Helvetic Confession of the Dutch Reformed are similar, but not the same. The Eastern and Western branches of the church expressed the Trinity differently.   On issues where we disagree--such as baptism, church government, and predestination—there is much to be learned from both sides.  Debates over doctrine have been going on for centuries, and much careful thought has gone into all sides of these issues.  It is unlikely we could come up with any arguments that have not been suggested before. But reading the arguments helps us to understand the awesomeness of God and His Scriptures.   

God gave us scholars and teachers who debated, challenged, speculated, and questioned, discarding bad ideas and keeping good ones, seeking always for the truth, to give us a firm grounding in what it true.  We are free to doubt, disagree and speculate, also, but we must understand with whom we disagree.

Try the rituals                                                                              

Ritual is history lived out in practice. It is our way of remembering what should never be forgotten.

Not long ago, I attended for the first time a high Lutheran service.  When I entered the sanctuary, I was surprised to find the baptism font in the center aisle.  As people entered the sanctuary, the made the sign of the cross with their hands on their forehead.  At first, I was put off by this, but I came to realize what they were saying.  They were not being baptized multiple times but signifying that everything we do is covered by the grace, expressed in that original baptism.  Each time they entered, they celebrated that grace.  It was not the way I had seen it before, but it made sense, and it was beautiful.

Don’t be fooled by pseudo-knowledge passed down from uninformed laypeople. When visiting a new church, don’t assume you understand what people mean by it.  Take the time to read what the church says about itself, and hear their own reasons in their own words.  Don’t go by hearsay, but discover the meaning from informed people within that tradition.  You can accept or reject is, just make sure you properly understand it before you do.

Rituals speak to us when words do not.  A dying man asks for communion or baptism.  We child learns to fold hands in prayer and bow his head before he learns to speak.  People go to church even when they are too deaf to understand a word.  It is the actions themselves that preach louder than the words. 

Rituals remind us of God’s continual presence.  It is not necessary to do them all, but neither is it necessary to perform all physical exercise to keep in shape. We choose to perform the rituals which most closely remind us of God’s power and goodness.

Here are some questions to get you started thinking about your heritage:

Do I know the faith traditions of my parents and my grandparents?

Can I trace the history of my church back, without skipping large parts of that history?

Do I know what makes my church tradition different from others?

Can I accept other traditions of the church, without judgment or feeling compelled to point out why they are wrong?

What can I point to in my church tradition that makes me proud to be part of it?

What’s your faith tradition?  What do you like about it? What have you learned from the traditions of others?  What would you like to know about your own faith tradition, or from others? 

I’d love to hear what touches you in your own faith background.  Write a comment below. 

The Limits of Community

The Limits of Community

Our love of a community--whether it is our nation, town, race or family—is one of the most easily corruptible loves.  It can quickly devolve into idolatry if we are not careful with it. For this reason, we must carefully differentiate our community of faith from our community of origin. Idols are created out of the materials most at hand. The unseen God becomes eclipsed by a visible representation of his attributes we see displayed in the image of God the masses of people of which we are a part. Christians must never treat family values or patriotism as if they were synonymous with Christian values, no matter how much they love family or country.  The splendor of the crowd and the intimacy of family pull at our emotions, catching us up in their currents and into a casual acceptance of their often immoral practices.  Patriotism sounds good until we remember what fascist dictatorships made of it.  Family values sound virtuous until we remember that the Mafia is a family, too.   God must always come first, over every allegiance.

How can a virtuous community become corrupted into an obstacle to God?

The first way is through our desire to conform.  This is not really “peer pressure,” since it is often not the community that pressures us.  Instead, it comes from our own fear of being alone.  We come to look to our community for the things we should get from God—strength, comfort,  meaning,  and so forth. Losing our community seems like losing our lives, so we say, do, or believe anything to keep it.   Our fear of ostracism often can drive an entire community blindly over the brink of folly, when it should be obvious that the group is headed in the wrong direction.   

If our relationship with God which is stronger than our relationship with the community, we do not need to fear being different.  Jesus said “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields — and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30

The second way is through our willingness to tolerate abuse against ourselves and others. What happens when our community turns on us?   Wives are called to live in community with their husbands, but not to be punching bags.   Parents are called to love their children, but not to put up with childish anger and destructive behavior. If our love for parents, spouses or children causes us to accept behavior that leads them away from God, it is not love.  Abusive behavior seeks to dominate, by pulling us away from God into orbit around the abuser, making the abuser our god.  When this happens, we need to break away and seek the true God.  

Jesus faith did not depend on the faith of others.  He was comfortable standing up against the whole world, if necessary, because of His self-awareness of His own unique place in the kingdom of God. 

When the drumbeat of conformity in any community becomes too loud, it can drown out the voice of God. That is why Christians need to balance their calling to be part of a group with their calling to be complete in Him alone.   The community is a great gift, but it is not the only gift.   Participation in the community is a great blessing and is a necessary part of every life, but the community without God leads us further into the darkness.

Have you ever been part of an abusive community?  How hard was it to break away?

How do we know when the time comes to break with an abusive community? 

Write me and let me know.

Also, if you like this post, share it with your friends, and subscribe to this blog.  I will look forward to hearing from you. 

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.

---

[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

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?

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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.