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June 2004 Greetings! I have always seen the Word of God as all about spiritual, emotional, relational health, cover to cover. When I was in seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield), I studied in both the Masters of Divinity (MDiv) and the Masters of Counseling Psychology (MaCP) programs. To me, the two fit hand in glove. Some people live neck up—absorbing facts and doctrine, learning, but never letting it sink down a foot or so to the heart. Others live neck down—controlled by emotion and feelings, up and down, always seeking “the warm fuzzies.” Others are do-ers. They are willing to help out, support a cause, build a house, feed the poor, but it is ultimately from a core of self. How can we live in such a way that the head, the heart, the hands are all following hard after God? How can I place your hand in the hand of Jesus, then get out of the way and let Him work? This is how I see ministry. But when I talked about ministry in like this, some of my professors said I couldn’t do it that way. “Why not? It seems to be working,” was always my reply. Apparently what I was doing for years, feeling like a voice crying out in the wilderness, was spiritual formation. So you can just imagine what joy it was last week to join 900 of my closest friends at the Spiritual Formation Forum in Los Angeles. (http://www.spiritualformationforum.org) It was so good to be with people like Dallas Willard, Marva Dawn, Eugene Peterson, Bruce Demarest, Jan Johnson and others who speak the same language as I do. [I taught two sessions on “How to Complain Biblically”…How do we handle pain, disappointment and discouragement in our lives in a way that honors the Lord? How do we balance "do all things without grumbling" (Philippians 2:14) with "pour out your heart" (Psalm 62:8)? How can we bring God into the negative? How can He bring us out of our struggles? How can we honestly lay our lives before the Lord in such a way that He is glorified and we are transformed instead of staying stuck in whining mode? I certainly have not arrived, being a world-class complainer myself, but I think God had me teach this in order to teach me!] Why do we see so few truly authentic, Christ-like people in a country with the most incredible Christian resources the world has ever seen? I see some people learning more and more of the Word and getting more involved with ministry, only to become more legalistic, black and white, looking down on others. ”The best argument for Christianity is Christians; their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians--when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.” (Sheldon Vanauken) I see others get involved in “good enough Christianity”, as Larry Crabb calls it--who attend a church that makes them feel good, who love the upbeat worship and engaging messages, but who are never broken by the reality of their own sin, gripped by the power of the Word, eager to be obedient, transformed into the life of Christ. As Paul says, they are “walking like mere men” (1 Corinthians 3:3) and their lives are no different than the average Joe’s. The American church in 2004 seems to polarize between extreme exclusivity (us vs. them) on one hand and being too accommodating to the world around us on the other (mustn’t offend!). We are far too quick to jump on the next Christian bandwagon (book, speaker, church growth program, etc.) as the answer. Then there are a very few people… These rare individuals live a life of obedience and holiness without one whiff of self-righteousness. They are at the same time, a joy and a challenge to be with, because I am always being focused toward Christ, not toward them. It feels like you are in the presence of someone who is in the presence of God—and it feels like true freedom. Trip Moore defines spiritual formation as “Seeing our interior worlds transformed to resemble more and more the world of Jesus.” I like that definition. The people I know who truly walk with Christ are genuine, authentic, the same person inside and out. They don’t need to control or manipulate others because they entrust them to God. They aren’t swayed by the wind or destroyed by other people, because their security is in Christ. They won’t let me get away with even a shade of sin, because they know how destructive it is, but somehow, it is Jesus who draws me to repentance. Just being around them causes me to want to draw close to Jesus. They are beginning to understand the mystery that is “Christ in you, the Hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). That's the only key. Not some guideline of do's and don'ts, not some book or program or guru or church or "special blessing". It is Jesus Himself living out His supernatural life in us. It’s not about us. It’s about God. And what He wants to do in and through us. May we continue to unfold this mystery in such a way that Christians become more and more like Christ because it is truly Christ’s life flowing in them. That’s my goal in Psalm One Ministries and that’s my goal in Linda Kline. To that end: As most of you know, I am pulling away for June and July to have a study break. Sort of a mini-sabbatical. I love the ministry and I love my job but I need to be in a completely non-ministry mode for a while to catch my breath after five years of whirlwind speaking and teaching. So I hope folks will understand if I am not available for most of the summer. But don’t forget me! I need your prayers and support as study, rest and renew…and my hope and prayer is that we will all reap the fruits of this. Now get out there and enjoy the summer! See you in August! Blessings, |