1

Removing Half-truths

In June 1988 I had an interesting conversation by the River Thames in London with Richard Foster, author of The Celebration of Discipline.  We discussed what sincere Christians in biblically-based congregations were looking for in terms of growth in Christ and the faith.  He told me that in America he finds that many are asking such questions as: Where do I go from here [i.e. from my having made a decision for Christ]?, and how do I begin to move forward [on the narrow way that leads to eternal life]? and how do I change [so that I become more like Jesus]?  Apparently there is – at least in some areas – too much emphasis on birth and too little on growth.  What is needed is more teaching on growing into Christ for those who have entered the narrow door into the Christian way.  You can only be born once but you must keep growing!  And you need to grow in a rounded way towards maturity.

In April 1987 I had a series of interesting conversations with Simon Chan in Singapore.  Dr Chan is soon to publish an important book on meditation with Cambridge University Press.  We discussed what was needed in the charismatically-renewed congregations of that island.  He explained to me that along with their joyous emphasis on celebration in worship he saw the need to introduce asceticism (by which he meant discipline and order and duties).  For while many, baptised in the Holy Spirit, were rejoicing in the Lord they felt that they were not growing: they were living on the same diet, as it were, which kept them rejoicing as they stood still.  They needed – and were asking for – help in order to grow deeper into Christ.

I hardly need add that in my home country, Britain, the same interest and concern for growth and maturity is expressed by people of varying ages and traditions.

What is desired in America, Singapore and Britain is (in modern terms) a deeper spirituality.  And this is the background which has already inspired me to write several books.  My Longing for the heavenly realm (London, 1987) is about meditating upon the exalted Lord Jesus Christ in heaven in order to have his mind and know his will.  My From Mind to Heart: Christian Meditation Today (Grand Rapids, 1987) is a general introduction (for American students) to the biblical basis and historical practice of meditating upon Christian themes.  Then my Meditating upon God's Word: Prelude to Prayer and Action (London, 1988) is a call to practise seriously the art of meditating daily upon a part of the Bible.

Apart from writing my own books I have edited two important classics in this field of spirituality – Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (London, 1988) and Christ for all Seasons: Meditations for Lent, Easter and Christmas by Thomas à Kempis (Basingstoke, 1989).  The original title of the latter was Orationes et Meditationes (Prayers and Meditations).  I hope it is true to say that I have learnt a lot from reading the classics of the spiritual life – be they Catholic or Protestant.

I do not claim to be an expert on spirituality or to be a saint in daily living (those who know me would confirm this statement!).  However, I do seek the Lord and I am a serious and careful searcher after truth in this whole area of Christian growth and maturity.  I do study, meditate and pray.  And in this book I try my best to be as clear and as simple as possible in my account of spirituality.

I would say that this book is no more difficult than Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline but more difficult than Joyce Huggett’s Listening to God.  This is because I attempt to analyse important ideas, concepts and themes as they appear in Scripture; and these do not lend themselves to illustration by the kind of moving personal stories that Joyce uses in her books.

However, my friends who have read this book in manuscript tell me that those who read it slowly and carefully will benefit much from its contents.  I hope you will find this to be true and that you will make the effort to read and think about its teaching.

A book has to be targeted to a particular readership: one cannot write for everybody.  This book is written primarily for those who would place themselves – generally speaking – in the evangelical and/or charismatic schools of thought and experience.  In other words I have kept in mind those Christians who insist on the importance of personally confessing Jesus as Saviour and Lord: further, I have borne in mind their high view of the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word and their belief in the dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit.   To have done so is not difficult for I share these basic commitments.  I fully recognise that others from different traditions share these emphases: I sincerely hope they too will benefit from my writing.

Before attempting to state precisely what is spirituality, I believe that it will be helpful to remove some misunderstandings.  Here are twelve different views/definitions/descriptions of the content of spirituality which I think are unsatisfactory.  Considering them will help us gain clarity of mind to be able to form a satisfactory definition of this elusive word.

1. Spirituality means taking over or adopting certain Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox practices and doctrines.  ‘To be truly spiritual you must call the Lord’s Supper the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion as often as possible; you must pray to Mary, mother of our Lord, as well as to all the saints asking for their help; you must carefully observe holy days and saints’ days; you must highly value candles in church; and you must insist that clergy wear proper vestments.’

Our reply is that spirituality does not require a devout Protestant to imitate devotional practices from Roman Catholicism or Greek Orthodoxy: however, she/he may learn much about prayer from these traditions.

2. Spirituality is adopting Eastern forms of meditation in order to get in touch with ‘reality’.  ‘Civilised people are not in touch with reality.  They confuse the world as it truly is with the world as they think about it, talk about it and describe it.  By meditation you strip off the layers of false consciousness; you unlearn that which you have learned; and you begin to see clearly who and what you are.  You come to experience the real world deep within yourself and all around you.’

Our response is that spirituality does not require a devout Protestant to adopt techniques of meditation developed in the East in Buddhism, Hinduism and Yoga: however, she/he may learn much about self-discipline from these traditions.

3. Spirituality is gained by going off on regular retreats.   ‘You are living in a busy, frenzied world.  It is difficult to find space and time to be silent.  To become spiritual you need to get away to a retreat centre to give God a chance to meet you, and you him. In this setting you will be fortified to live as a Christian in the daily world.’

Our comment is that spirituality does not require all Christians to go off on regular retreats.  It does, however, require that ‘when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen’ (Matt 6:6; cf Mk 6:31).

4. Spirituality is acquired by participation in celebratory events.  ‘The Lord is wonderfully present at Keswick/Spring Harvest where God’s people celebrate his salvation and praise his name.  You must go there to be inspired and uplifted.  Your batteries will not merely be recharged: they will be both renewed and fully charged.’

Our view is that spirituality does not require all Christians to attend special, intense, and moving meetings.  It does, however, require ‘everything that has breath to praise the Lord’ (Ps 150).

5. Spirituality is gained by being as busy as possible for Jesus.  ‘There is so much to be done for the kingdom of God.  The fields are ripe for harvest, People are hungry for the gospel and you must declare it to them; people are in need of practical help and you must serve them; your church has meetings most evenings and you must support them.  Only by keeping active will you grow in spiritual life as a Christian.’

We claim that busyness for Jesus is the fruit of spirituality not its cause.  The genuine Christian life is a dynamic union of the active and prayerful aspects, or the active and meditative/contemplative dimensions.

6. Spirituality is reading and discussing the latest, ‘top-of-the-chart’ books on the spiritual life.  ‘Have you read Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster [or God of Surprises by Gerard Hughes or Listening to God by Joyce Huggett]?  It’s really exciting and tells you how to be a real Christian today.  Just get hold of it and see what it has to say.  You’ll be into a deeper Christian life very quickly.’

We believe that reading good books can be very helpful and inspiring.  But spirituality is all about the state of the mind, heart and the will: what is read has to be put into practice.

7. Spirituality is reading classics from the past, especially those which deal with contemplative prayer.  ‘Have you read the anonymous The Cloud of Unknowing or The Revelations of Divine Love by Mother Julian?  You need to discover contemplation and silence, and these and similar books are the way into it.  For as Richard Rolle said, ‘Contemplation is a wonderful joy of God’s love’ (in his The Fire of Love).’

We know that reading the classics of contemplative prayer can be helpful at the right time in the Christian pilgrimage.  But spirituality involves much more than attempting to be silent and to engage in contemplative prayer.

8. Spirituality is the search for special experiences of the gifts of the Spirit in prayer, fellowship and worship.  ‘Have you ever felt a warm glow in your heart as you have begun to speak in tongues, to prophesy or to utter a word of wisdom (1 Cor 12)?  God wants you not only to receive the gifts of the Spirit but also to feel their power and his love deep in your heart.  The Spirit of Christ will witness with your spirit that you are a child of God and there is no greater inner experience than this.’

Our reply is that spirituality most certainly includes the reception and use of the gifts of the Spirit from the ascended Lord Jesus.  However, it also involves self-discipline, mortification of the sinful self and asceticism.

9. Spirituality is the way to true self-fulfilment and wholeness.  ‘You are a unity.  While modern life usually makes adequate provision for body and mind, it bypasses the spirit.  If you are going to be an integrated personality God calls you as an individual to cultivate and nourish your spirit.  You must learn to pray, meditate and participate in acts of worship.’

Our response is that spirituality certainly involves the individual but the individual as a member of the body of Christ, and a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem.  Further, spirituality emphasises self-fulfilment within the purposes of God in the body of Christ since you are called to enjoy God and to glorify him forever.

10. Spirituality is only for pastors, leaders and elders in the churches.  ‘You are too busy to find time for Bible-study and prayer; you find talk about doctrines and ethics too difficult; and if you become super-holy no one will understand you or even listen to you.  Leave the search for spirituality to those who have time and who are our leaders.'

Our comment is that spirituality is for all.  However, the methods and expressions of it will differ according to personal circumstances.  God calls all to perfection and holiness but not by identical routes.

11. Spirituality only arises from the study of the Bible which is the Word of God.  ‘The Bible is the written Word of God.  You must read, study and learn it.  You must meditate upon it daily.  For through these means the spiritual life is nurtured.  There is no substitute for knowing the Word of God.’

Our view is that spirituality is certainly based on the Word; but it is also concerned with the right reception of the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.  Further, it is uniquely about a personal union within the body of Christ with the Lord Jesus: and we encounter him through both Word and sacraments.

12. Spirituality only truly begins when a person is baptised in or with the Holy Spirit – or when the second blessing is received.  ‘God has promised to fill us with his Spirit and until this event occurs you are walking on the lower not the higher road of holiness.  Only when you are lifted through the direct action of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus onto the higher road do you truly begin to be spiritual.’

We certainly hold that spirituality is increased by the direct action of the Spirit upon our souls.  However, alongside the heavenly intervention is to go our self-discipline and commitment to travel through the narrow gate along the hard and narrow way. (Matt 7:13–14).

To bring this chapter to a close it will be useful and helpful to make ourselves aware of some of the dangers which meet us at every turn in our western society.  They do not oppose spirituality as such: rather they manipulate it so that it becomes something other than what it ought to be.  The best is replaced by the good; or, worse still, by the inferior and unbalanced.

Here are three very common dangers.  Through reflection you will be able to expand them as well as add others.  They relate to some of the false views listed above.

a. The danger of individualism.  In western society it is generally assumed that I have rights, choices, preferences and views which must be taken into account by others.  In fact, my rights must be honoured.  We think of the individual first and society second (individuals making up society) rather than society first and the individual second (society composed of individuals).

Christian spirituality says with St Paul: ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’ (Gal 2:20).  And also: ‘In Christ you are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’ (Eph 2:22).  Here the ‘you’ is plural.  The pressure of individualism pushes us towards seeing spirituality as a means of self-fulfilment and self-realisation (see 2 and 9 above).

b. The danger of superficiality.  In today’s world, by reading newspapers and magazines and watching TV, we gain a minimal, lop-sided knowledge of a wide variety of subjects.  Because of the speed and mobility of society we meet many people but know very little about most of them.  We have gained much in breadth but lost out on depth.

Spirituality is concerned with depth and says with St Paul: ‘I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him . . .’ (Phil 3:8–9).  The pressure of superficiality causes us to count our union with Christ as only of general, not particular and unique, importance.  It is one amongst several important things in life.

c. The danger of doing or taking things up merely for their immediate advantage or usefulness.  We sometimes take a long term view of things.  However, drinking instant coffee and eating ready-made TV meals we usually look for immediate results from our activity and investments.  We do not save up to buy what we want: we buy it now on credit: we tend to value things in terms of their usefulness in the short term only.

The tests we apply to determine what is worthwhile are often merely pragmatic.  We do not ask, for example, whether worship, prayer, contemplation and meditation are right and good for their own sakes: but we ask about the practical benefits they produce in the short term.

Spirituality is committed to the long term – to life everlasting – and says with St Paul: ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus’ (Phil 3:14).  The pressure of wanting immediate results makes us think that we can and ought to be achieving Christian maturity very quickly.  When this does not occur we can become impatient, depressed and disillusioned.

Therefore, if we desire to engage in, and partake of, genuine spirituality we need to be aware of these dangers.

2

Defining Spirituality

Recently I had the pleasure – and the hard work – of editing a book entitled, Guidebook to the Spiritual Life (Basingstoke, 1988).  Of the twenty-five contributors I chose Joyce Huggett to write the first chapter entitled, ‘What is spirituality?’.  Her positive answer, enriched by moving stories, was in the following terms.

She began with the statement: ‘Christian spirituality starts with God.  He yearns to flood the life of everyone with his own holy life and love.’  And she added that the Holy Spirit creates within us ‘that capacity for God without which we cannot be filled with the divine life and love because we are so full of self.’  Therefore, she continued by explaining that ‘it is hardly surprising that the language of. . . spirituality seems punctuated by words like desire, thirst, hunger, pining, panting, homesickness, languishing, sighing, seeking, restlessness, and yearning’.

Spirituality is the response of ‘love to Love’ and thus is practical in everyday situations.  ‘God’s life is drawn from us so that we may become the channel through which his life flows out to others to bring them refreshment, cleansing, food, healing or the opportunity for growth or mere survival.’

I welcome this approach and the comment that ‘spirituality is the means through which God continually tops up our own supplies and develops the landscape of our lives’.  But I recognise – as you do – that many people today do not have the confidence of Joyce Huggett and are confused as to what is spirituality.  So let us investigate!  And let us be honest.  To attempt to define spirituality is not easy: even using a prestigious dictionary is not as helpful as we might think it ought to be.

If you turn to the Oxford English Dictionary (1971) and look up ‘spirituality’ you will find the following information.  The first meaning and one much used several centuries ago, is ‘the body of spiritual or ecclesiastical persons’.  This refers to the clergy as a group or body, e.g. meeting in a synod.

The second meaning, and one again much used a few centuries ago, is ‘that which has a spiritual character: ecclesiastical property or revenue held or received in return for spiritual services’.  An example of this is the legal freehold of a parish and the tithes due to the rector, who ministers to the parish.

Passing by the third meaning we note that the fourth, fifth and sixth meanings all point to ‘the fact or state of being immaterial, incorporeal and/or pure spirit’.  Thus God’s spirituality is his existence as eternal, pure Spirit and human spirituality refers to acts of the soul which are totally independent of the body.  These usages are rare today.

THE SPHERE OF THE SPIRIT

The third meaning is much nearer to our concern in this book.  It is ‘the quality or condition of being spiritual: attachment to or regard for things of the spirit as opposed to material or worldly interests’.  When I read the examples of usage cited beneath this definition I was quite excited.  One of them was from the writings of a theologian of the seventeenth century, whose biography I have written.  He is John Owen (1616–1683), a Puritan and for a time the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

In his book, The Nature, Power, Deceit and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers (1668), Owen wrote these words: ‘The more of spirituality and holiness is in any thing, the greater is its [i.e. sin’s] enmity.  That which hath most of God hath most of [sin’s] opposition’ (chapter four).  He was saying that sin becomes a real and powerful enemy in those souls which are under the influence of the gospel and the Spirit of Christ.  By spirituality he understood ‘the sphere in and over which the Holy Spirit has direct influence’.  This meaning is confirmed by his usage in other writings.  For example in his Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved (published posthumously in 1721) he wrote that those who felt they were failing in the performance of their duties to Christ were ‘to labour to bring spirituality into their duties’ (fourth address).  He meant that they were to be open to the grace of God, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, in order that such duties as prayer and caring for the poor could be done in a way pleasing to God.  He added: ‘So that if we would bring spirituality into duty, it is to exercise the graces that are required by the rule to the performance of that duty.’

The addition of the suffix ‘ity’ to a word usually has the effect of causing that word to express a state or condition.  Thus spirituality is the state/condition of being spiritual, that is of being indwelt and guided by the Holy Spirit.  We find this meaning in a book by one of the leading English Nonconformist pastors and theologians of the eighteenth century, Philip Doddridge.  In The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745) he included these words as part of a prayer at the end of chapter xxvi: ‘May I grow in patience and fortitude of soul, in humility and zeal, in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of mind and in a concern that whether present or absent I may be accepted of the Lord that whether I live or die it may be for his glory.’

Over a century later there appeared a book by Henry Drummond, the Scottish evangelist, with the title Natural Law in the Spiritual World (1883).  It was a bestseller and in chapter four we find he writes: ‘No spiritual man ever claims that his spirituality is his own.’  Why?  Because it is the result of the indwelling and influence of the Holy Spirit.

Some twenty years after the appearance of Drummond’s book there appeared a Commentary on 1 Corinthians by the Anglican Dr H.L. Goudge, Principal of Wells Theological College.  He used the word ‘spirituality’ in the same way as Drummond, Doddridge and Owen (and of course many more English priests, pastors and theologians).  He wrote: ‘But the Spirit of God can deal with a man as a whole and in the highest devotion the whole man – body, soul and spirit – is yielded to his influence.  The right use of the mind no more interferes with the spirituality of our devotion than the right use of the body does’ (p.128).

This meaning, of the sphere in which the Spirit dwells and works, has continued into the second half of the twentieth century.  I had a phone call the other day from someone who asked: ‘Is spirituality the same as sanctification?’  I said, ‘It can be!’  However, as we shall soon see, it has been eclipsed by another meaning.  This is perhaps to be regretted as the older meaning can rightly claim a sound basis in the New Testament.

The adjective ‘spiritual’ is used in the New Testament for that which is the result of the Holy Spirit’s action – as in his giving, inspiring, illuminating, guiding and blessing.  There are spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:1; 14:1), truths (1 Cor 2:13, 9:11; Col 1:9), songs (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16), blessings (Eph 1:3), sacrifices (1 Pet 2:5) and baptised believers (1 Cor 2:15; 3:1; 12:1; 14:37).  Thus, from this foundation, with the addition of ‘ity’ we gain the sphere or state or condition in which the Holy Spirit is operating as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in the Church.  There is, therefore, (on this approach) spirituality where there are spiritual gifts, truths, worship, service and spiritually-minded believers.

From a possible biblical usage we now turn to the popular usage today, which has more reference to human spirit than to Holy Spirit.

A VAGUE WORD?

The common meaning or popular definition today comes within the third category of the Oxford English Dictionary (1971).  However, the sphere is of the human spirit, not of the Holy Spirit.  So we learn that ‘spirituality means a search for meaning and significance by contemplation and reflection on the totality of human experiences in relation to the whole world which is experienced, and also to the life which is lived, and may mature as that search proceeds’ (Spirituality for Today, ed. Eric James, London 1968 p.61).  Spirituality is all about the human search for identity, meaning, purpose, God, self-transcendence, mystical experience, integration and inner harmony.  Thus there are spiritualities related to all religions and to many human pursuits which arise in the human spirit.

A Roman Catholic theologian offers this definition: ‘In its widest sense spirituality refers to any religious or ethical value that is concretized as an attitude or spirit from which one’s actions flow.  This concept of spirituality is not restricted to any particular religion; it applies to any person who has a belief in the divine or transcendent and fashions a life-style according to one’s religious convictions’ (Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology, London 1980, p.17).

The three editors of The Study of Spirituality (London, 1986) who were concerned primarily (but not exclusively) with Christianity expressed themselves in their preface in these words: ‘"Spirituality", we confess, is a vague word, often used with no clear meaning, or with a wide and vague significance; but we can think of no better single word to describe our subject.  We are concerned with individual prayer and communion with God, both of the ‘ordinary Christian’ and of those with special spiritual gifts, and the outer life which supports and flows from this devotion.’

Gordon S. Wakefield, editor of the Dictionary of Spirituality (London, 1983), tells us that spirituality has come ‘much into vogue to describe those attitudes, beliefs, practices which animate people’s lives and help them to reach out towards super-sensible realities’ (p.361).

What appears to have happened this century (and to have been accelerated in the last two or three decades) is that the basic understanding of spirit/Spirit is no longer controlled by the general doctrines of the Christian religion.  Any activity of the human spirit is eligible for being described as spirituality.  And the fact that we live in a pluralistic and secularist society gives a certain validity to this comprehensive and vague definition.  This situation certainly means that if anyone is to use the word today then she/he must be clear what particular meaning is being offered or developed.

NATURAL SPIRITUALITY

Thus I must say how I understand and intend to use the word, spirituality.  First of all I accept the approach of David Benner, editor of the Encyclopedia of Psychology (Grand Rapids, 1985).  In his Psychotherapy and the Spiritual Quest (Grand Rapids, 1988) he makes a distinction between natural and religious spirituality, and sees Christian spirituality as a special form or type of religious spirituality.

From his own studies and research as a psychologist he offers the following definition of natural spirituality:

Spirituality is the response to a deep and mysterious human yearning for self-transcendence and surrender.  This yearning results from having been created in such a fashion that we are incomplete when we are self-encapsulated.  As important as relationships with other people are, we need something more than involvement with others; something within us yearns for surrender to the service of some person or cause bigger than ourselves.  When we experience this self-transcendent surrender, we suddenly realize that we have found our place.  It may be that we never before recognized that our restlessness was our search for our place.  However, when we find it we immediately know that this is where we belong.  Again spirituality is our response to these longings. (p.104)

This definition allows for both a variety of natural and religious spirituality as well as for wholehearted commitment to absorbing causes and personalities.  The need for self-transcendence and surrender can either be directed towards the living God or to one of numerous ‘gods’.  And what distinguishes a natural from a religious spirituality is that the latter involves a relationship with a supernatural power or being who serves as the focus of the self-transcendence and the meaning of life.  Further, in Christian spirituality the probings and responses to deep spiritual longings occur within the Christian faith and fellowship of believers.

CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

In the second place, I combine the general approach of Dr Benner with the particular meaning of spirituality as response to God which has been developed, especially by Roman Catholic writers.  This meaning underlies the still incomplete Dictionnaire de la Spiritualité (Paris, 1932– ) and the histories of spirituality by Pierre Pourrat and Louis Bouyer.

The Spanish abbot, Gabriel M. Braso, states that ‘spirituality is the particular way of conceiving and of realising the ideal of the Christian life’ (Liturgy and Spirituality, Collegeville, Minn., 1971, p.3).  And Columba Cary-Elwes tells us that spirituality is all about ‘the ways in which Christians at different times and in different situations have followed the guidance of the Spirit of Christ in their lives.  It can be said, therefore, to be in the life and history of the Church at its deepest level’ (Experiences with God. A Dictionary of Spirituality and Prayer, London, 1986, p.201).

So I work with the following definition of Christian spirituality.  It is the particular way (which as a baptised believer I choose) of conceiving the goal and aim of the Christian life; and, also, the particular way (I choose) of practically working and moving towards this goal and aim.  Therefore, I am thinking of the human response (guided by the Holy Spirit) to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and his call to draw near to him as he has drawn near to me, and to do so in the fellowship of Christ’s body.  And because I am thinking in this way I am able to incorporate the older meaning of spirituality which we noticed in the quotations from John Owen and Philip Doddridge, but to do so in a modern setting.

That is, I believe that I come to see the goal and aim of the Christian life through the illumination of the Holy Spirit: and I rely on the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to offer a right response to God’s revelation and grace.  However, it is truly my (and your) response: it is what I think, feel and do for Christ’s sake.  Yet there in the background, hidden from view, is the constant presence and operation of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.  Spirituality is the way in which I respond to his action upon my spirit.

LOOKING TO THE LORD

I want also to suggest that any genuine Christian spirituality will include what may be described as a fourfold look or gaze upon the Lord and his revelation.  That is, the dynamic local church and true disciple will have spiritual eyes which look in four directions simultaneously.  However, the gaze will not be of equal intensity in each direction.

The gaze which must be considered first, and which is the source and inspiration of the other three, is the looking up to God in faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith’ (Heb 12:2).  Faith looks to God in and through Jesus Christ in meditation, prayer and contemplation.  (I have developed this theme in my Longing for the Heavenly Realm, Hodder and Stoughton, 1987, MacMillan USA, 1988, and I think it is far more important that much western contemporary Christian teaching appears to allow.)

To look up in faith requires that we look back as we read the records of God’s revelation in the Old and New Testaments.  We see God at work in human history.  Not only do we look back we also look forward in hope to the seeing of God in the perfection of heaven – ‘blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God’.  Finally, to look up to God in faith implies that we look around and see his revelation through nature and his providence in history: for God is always present in and through his creation.

We extend the looking back to the events and teaching recorded in Holy Scripture to include the experience of God enjoyed by the Church over the centuries.  So spirituality includes both the necessary meditating upon Scripture and the (recommended) reading of spiritual classics (e.g. Augustine s Confessions and Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress).

We expand the looking forward to include not only the glorious vision of and enjoyment of God in the age to come but also the second coming of Jesus Christ to close the history of this age, to raise the dead, to judge the world and to inaugurate the new order of the kingdom of God.

And we intensify the looking around both to see God revealed in his creation and to see human beings, made in his image, calling for our love, respect and care.  To love the neighbour is a natural outcome of gazing upon God in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is perhaps necessary to add a comment here upon the nature of the looking upon God as he is revealed in the created order and in human events.  This is a positive gaze even though the world as we know it is seriously affected by sin and suffering (see further chapters three and four).  The character of it has been well expressed by my former professor, Eric Mascall, in his moving book, Grace and Glory (1975).  He asks the question: ‘What is our attitude to the world to be?’  And his reply is as follows:

Treat it as if it is all there is and as if all that you need is to be found in it, and it will dangle its gifts before your eyes, decoy you, tantalize you, and finally mock and desert you, leaving you empty handed and with ashes in your mouth.  But treat it as the creation of God, as truly good because it is God’s handiwork and yet not the highest good because it is not God himself; live in this world as one who knows that his true home is not here but in eternity and the world itself will yield up to you its joys and splendours of whose very existence the mere worldling is utterly ignorant.  Then you will see the world’s transience and fragility, its finitude and its powerlessness to satisfy, not as signs that life is a bad joke with man as the helpless victim, but as pale and splintered reflections of the splendour and beauty of the eternal God in whom alone man can find lasting peace and joy.

Here natural spirituality is converted by God’s grace into an important part of everyday Christian spirituality.

Before we move on in Part Two to look at the goal/aim of the Christian life and in Parts Three and Four at the ways and means of reaching the goal and fulfilling the aim, we need to set the general context in which we can appreciate the nature of Christian spirituality.  Therefore, in the rest of Part One we shall examine the possibility for spirituality in the make-up of human beings as creatures made by the Lord God to have communion with him and to serve him everlastingly.

3

In the Image of God

In the first chapter of the Bible the special status of human beings in God’s creation is expressed by God himself in these words: ‘Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness’ (Gen 1:26).  The words ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ reinforce each other for (in the Hebrew) there is no ‘and’ between them.

IN GOD’S LIKENESS

As a living creature who thinks, feels and acts in and through a physical body, the human person is made in the image, after the likeness of the Creator of the universe.  Thus men and women are not only ‘above the animals’ because they are thinking and moral beings; they also possess a relationship (or at least the possibility of one) with God.  This begins in this mortal life and can last everlastingly into the age to come.  We are like God because we are spiritual beings.  We have a God-given capacity to have fellowship with the eternal Spirit, through our human spirits.

Further, as unique creatures in God’s creation, we have a special duty to be stewards and priests of this created order. What this means is well brought out by the rabbinic story based on Genesis 1.  It goes like this.

At the end of the fifth day of creation God surveyed the universe he had made out of nothing and was well pleased with what he saw of its shape and living contents.  So the Creator asked one of his attendant archangels whether there was anything missing.  In reply the archangel first complimented God on his marvellous creation which was so grand and beautiful and perfect.  Then he suggested, with some hesitation, that perhaps there was one thing missing.  ‘And what is that?’ asked the Lord God.  ‘It is speech to make what is already perfect more perfect; speech to praise its perfection’ came the reply.

‘What a wonderful idea’, God responded.  Then he went ahead and made the human creature, intending that in him the whole creation should find, and be expressed through, a voice; and that in him the whole inarticulate creation should become articulate.  The speaking God intended that he should be heard by and replied to by a speaking animal.

So human beings only are truly fulfilled as they both enjoy communion with their God and as they praise him on behalf of all his creatures.  We have been made both to respond to our Creator and to serve him as his stewards in the created order.  We have been given the capacity to hear what he says, feel his presence, power and glory and to address him in prayer and praise.  And we have been called to imitate him in all his ways.

David, the shepherd, is the writer of Psalm 8.  We can picture him sleeping out in the fields and looking up to the sky before composing this moving poem.  It includes these lines:

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place

what is man that you are mindful of him

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honour.

Living as we do in the days of advanced cosmology and astrophysics, we know far more than David did about the vastness of the universe.  As we contemplate it we must also say, ‘What is the human being?’  He/she is so tiny, so fragile, and so frail, set in such a massive universe with so many galaxies.

Yet, while it is true that the human being – you or I – is so little and insignificant in comparison with the totality of God’s creation, it is also true that, from the perspective of the Creator, the human being is actually great.  ‘You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings (archangels and angels) and crowned him with glory and honour.’  If you compare the human being with the whole creation then she/he shrinks into nothingness.  If you compare the human being with her/his Creator then a marvellous thing occurs: instead of becoming more insignificant she/he becomes special – in fact unique.  This is because the human being is made in the image of God, after his likeness.  Psalm 8 is at least in part a meditation upon Genesis 1.

The human animal has been given rational powers – she/he is an original thinker and can look at herself/himself and make an evaluation.  Also the human animal has a moral sense, a knowledge of right and wrong, as well as an artistic gift, a sense of beauty and creativity.  Then she/he has a capacity and a need to love and be loved.  Therefore the human being is capable of rising to great heights of intellectual discovery, heroism and care for others.  All this and more is what it means to be made in the image of God.

Regrettably, as we shall note in the next chapter, the human being is also capable of great selfishness and cruelty, of inventing hydrogen bombs and using them, of building concentration camps and filling them with defenceless people.  This is because the image of God is defaced, diseased and distorted.  The human being who is made a little lower than the angels in heaven is in need of salvation from sin and reconciliation with his/her Creator and Judge (see further Chapter 4 on ‘inner cleansing’).

Christians confess and celebrate the fact that Jesus of Nazareth did think, will and do all that being in the image, after the likeness of God requires.  He lived in perfect communion with God and nothing marred this harmonious relationship.  Thus he is described as being the true image of God by the apostle Paul (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15).

INNER YEARNING

All human creatures are made to live fruitfully in the physical and relate harmoniously to the spiritual realm.  The fact of what we call sin has not removed but has distorted or diseased the image of God upon our souls.  There is within all of us a yearning to be at one with creation and our Creator.  This yearning is felt more strongly by some people than others.

The universality of religion and religious spirituality testifies to this inner desire to be in a right relationship with God and his world.  Wherever you go in the world from Peking to Hawaii and from Leningrad to Capetown you find that people have been, and often still are, consciously religious and very much aware of the spiritual realm.  Of course, there are many different descriptions of the spiritual realm/God and a great variety of rituals/practices to gain and maintain communion with the divine.  Yet the fact remains that a large part of the population of the world still searches for communion with deity through traditional religious worship and ascetic practices.  Tourists from the developed world often find this surprising – especially when they see the holy men of the Indian sub-continent and their apparently excessive devotion to self-denial in order to find, and be at one with, the spiritual realm.

The apparent lack of sustained religious practices and ascetic life-styles among the affluent and in the westernised part of the world does not mean that the image of God has been totally lost in these people.  The yearning for God (often very weak because of the mighty pressure of secularism) expresses itself however weakly in a variety of ways.  For example, at one extreme there is the great interest in adaptions of traditional Eastern yoga, meditating and dieting in order to gain inner harmony, reduce the blood pressure, sleep better and live more humanly.  At the other is the growth of fundamentalism of various kinds and its appeal to people as a ‘simple’ way of relating to the world in all its complexity and to deity in all his demands.  And in-between there is the movement which attempts to find harmony by ‘communing with nature’ be it through nudist colonies, camping, rambling, bird-watching or other pursuits in the outdoors.  To this we must add a host of other pursuits through and by which people seek to make sense of their inner desire and yearning to affirm the spiritual as well as the material aspects of existence.

If you were to question people on the streets of London or New York as to whether or not they feel a longing for God you would probably find that the majority who replied would answer in the negative.  Yet, if pressed, they would surely confess to having certain quests which originate deep within their inner selves – as polls taken by newspapers continually illustrate.

Here are a few such quests.  There is the quest for identity (Who am I?  Where do I fit in?  What do I believe and what are my values?); for happiness (Where and when shall I find fullness of life and of personhood?); for success (How shall I get status, quality of life and be all I can be?); for beauty (Where is the art, music, dance or other area of human creativity in which I can be deeply moved and satisfied?); and for stimulation (How can I be fully alive and experience all there is to be experienced?).

Because we are made in the image of God, after his likeness, there is a yearning for God in all these and similar quests.  The quest for identity is a search for membership of the family of God, to be a brother of the Lord Jesus; the quest for happiness is a search for the life of trust, love and obedience, whose direct fruit is happiness; the quest for success is a search to be fulfilled in doing the will of God; the quest for beauty is a search for a sight of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; and the quest for stimulation is the search for being filled with the Holy Spirit.

The quest for identity, happiness, success, beauty, stimulation (and we may add for truth and justice) is, at best, a natural spirituality unless the quest is transformed by the Holy Spirit into a Christian quest and spirituality.  And, let us freely admit, much of what may be called natural spirituality is good and wholesome.  The inspiration, insight and illumination claimed by the painter and poet, artist and musician, writer and sculptor, craftsman and theoretical physicist, visionary and pure mathematician, are to be attributed to the Holy Spirit acting upon human spirit.  But this action is as the creator Spirit, in the way of nature, not of grace.

The Holy Spirit acting in the way of grace is when he is acting as the Paraclete of Jesus (John 14:15) coming in his name in order to continue and complete his work on earth.  He comes upon the human spirit and into the human soul so that we become alive to God’s call and word, power and presence, in order that our natural striving and questing might be purified and given new direction and power.  In other words, as the Spirit of grace, he comes to recreate the soul in the image, after the likeness of God, according to the pattern revealed in Jesus.

INNER SEARCHING

From the psychological perspective we may point to what may be described as the deep and mysterious longing/yearning for self-transcendence and surrender in human souls.  This can be interpreted as an unconscious searching for our ‘roots’ as human creatures.  That is, we have forgotten who we really are and to where we actually belong.  However, we seem to have a vague memory of the original place where we belong and the original model which we are to imitate; and the place/model seems to be something other than self – a reality transcendent to self.  Further, we feel that we ought to be (and need to be) in the service of a cause greater than ourselves.  This searching for self-transcendence and surrender to that which is higher than ourselves constantly occurs – even when we do not wish it to do so – because we are still creatures made in God’s image, in his likeness.

Connected with this searching/longing/yearning for that which is ‘above’ our normal experience, are the further and related quests for the integration of our being and the discovery of our true selves.  We seek vital harmony and the bringing together of our internal and external lives, our thoughts and actions, and our soul and body – not to mention our thoughts and feelings, unconscious and conscious minds, and our self and ego.  And as long as we seek this integration within ourselves we seem never finally to succeed or be satisfied; for we need a self-transcendent reference point outside or bigger than ourselves in order to find both the true self and integration of the self.

This search for self-discovery can easily become or be turned into a quest for self-satisfaction and self-fulfilment.  And much of what in these days is called spirituality is in fact a kind of psychological spirituality which supplies a temporary form of inner harmony and fulfilment.  Only when this ‘natural’ spirituality is guided towards the living God, who is transcendent yet always present to help, can it reach its goal and be truly satisfied.  For to discover our true self, we must first die to our old self, that is to our ego.  Dying to this idolatrous self-as-God we then discover the identity of our true self, our self-in-God.  Christians believe that this process is only truly possible through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So religious spirituality is to be distinguished from natural or psychological spirituality.  But the religion in question need not be Christianity.  It can be Judaism or Islam, for example.  Religious spirituality involves the cultivation of a relationship with a divine Spirit/Power/Being through meditation, prayer and discipline.  And we see what may be called a religious spirituality being advocated by a lot of the modern self-help groups in society (especially in the USA).  Such a group as Alcoholics Anonymous encourages those seeking release from the bondage of slavery to the demon of alcohol to pray to the Higher Power and seek a positive relationship with this Power/God/deity.  It is said that it does not matter what you call the transcendent Reality/Being but to help yourself you must develop a relationship with it/him/her.

A final comment concerning the psychological perspective is necessary.  It appears that people are most open to feeling and responding to the search for self-transcendence and the integration of being when they pass through a time of crisis or transition.  This may be adolescence, the break-up of a love-affair or marriage, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one or movement from one place/culture to another.  Of course the spiritual movement is not necessarily towards the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: so much depends on what influences come to bear upon the person when in the period of crisis or transition.

4

Through, with and in Jesus

Jesus taught that God acts both invisibly and graciously as life-giving power.  To the woman of Samaria with whom he talked by the well he said: ‘God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:24).  It is doubtful whether Jesus intended this as a definition of God’s being: rather it is a metaphor of God’s mode of action – just as ‘God is light’ is a metaphor of his radiant purity.  God is the source of all life, yet to the human eye he is invisible, to the human ear he is silent and by the human hands he is untouchable.

We use ‘spirit’ of the invisible point of contact in our inner selves with our Creator and Saviour who is eternal Being.  We also use the word ‘soul’ of our inner selves: my soul is my inner life and activity of thinking, feeling, deciding, determining and desiring.  It includes the heart, mind and will.  So to say with the Virgin Mary, ‘My soul praises the Lord’ (Luke 1:46) or with the psalmist, ‘Praise the Lord, O my soul’, is to glorify God with intellect, desires, feelings and intentions.  Not that these aspects of the soul can be separated for we are unified creatures and the one self is active in thinking, feeling, desiring and deciding.  And not that there is a separate part of the soul which is called spirit.  The openness of the soul to God is spirit.

Therefore spirituality is very much the activity of the whole soul.  Here, in openness to God, ideas as to what is the goal and aim of the Christian life are formed; here desire grows to reach for that goal and here intentions arise which result in actions to do the will of God.  And the secret activity of God here is aimed at restoring his own image and likeness which has been defaced and marred by sin.  To do this God requires the willing cooperation of the forgiven sinner as he seeks fellowship with his Saviour.

INNER CLEANSING

We must stop now in our tracks and take a look at the moral and spiritual condition of human beings – the state of our own souls.  The word ‘sin’ has been used several times in Part One.  It describes (a) the state of impurity and imperfection of the human soul, and (b) the fact of human rebellion against the will of God, with the tendency to find fulfilment in selfish, rather than unselfish, acts and ends.

One thing is clear: human beings are not either as a whole or as individuals behaving as if they were created in the image of God, after his likeness.  We ought to mirror God’s character but we don’t.  Instead of reflecting love, joy, peace, justice, righteousness and mercy all of the time, we often reflect selfishness, pride, discord, bitterness, tension, injustice and disorder.  Even the noblest of our race – in their honest moments – know that they fall short of the standard to which we all ought to rise.

Instead of caring for the created order on behalf of its Creator as stewards, we have been notorious in misusing, maltreating and disordering natural resources and habitats.  Instead of offering the praise of the whole creation to its Creator we have thought of ourselves as self-sufficient and worthy of self-congratulation.

In other words we are sinners, living in a sinful world.  Now sin is a theological word and refers both to offences against the Lord directly and indirectly (through maltreatment of his creation, animate and inanimate).  If we were not sinners then we would be at peace within ourselves, with each other and with the created order of nature.

We would also find constant joy and fulfilment in doing the will of the Lord in and for his world.

However, most of us are happy for part, even much, of the time, and only a few of us are permanently unhappy.  The world is not in total disarray: the creation is not wholly polluted and human beings are not entirely selfish and unjust.  Indeed there is a lot of down-to-earth goodness around much of the time.  This is because, despite the disease of the soul we call sin, we remain, in some degree, creatures made in the image of God, after his likeness.

What sin does – amongst other things – is to cause the human spirit to cease to be totally open to the eternal Being (the Lord) and to cause the soul to function not to the glory of God and the true good of humanity but to the promotion of self-fulfilment.  So we find that, while we possess a God-given capacity for communion with our Creator and Father, we are unable rightly to exercise or use it: and while we are designed to love God with the whole of our beings and our neighbours as ourselves we cannot rise to this level of love, since we have too much self-love.

So what each of us does – as God’s creatures, accountable to him as our Maker and Judge – is to build up in his accounts a great mountain of debt.  We accumulate this moral debt (sin) through our failure to pay our way – that is to live as God requires us to live and to do what he commands us to do.  We add to this debt every day that we live and have no hopes whatsoever (out of our own resources) of settling it or paying it off.

Thus all human beings stand before their Creator and their Judge as debtors. But we also stand before him in need of inner cleansing and spiritual renewal.  The pollution and stain of sin upon spirit and soul needs to be washed away: the spirit needs a breath of new life and the soul’s powers (faculties) need to be morally and spiritually renewed.

There are no exceptions to this state of affairs.  The kindliest of human beings is a debtor in God’s accounts: and the most charming of human beings is in need of inner cleansing by the Holy Spirit.

This is the reason why in the Old Testament there is so great an emphasis upon the right administration and participation in the sacrificial system of the Temple: for that was God’s way of dealing with the problem of moral debt and spiritual pollution.  And this is why in the New Testament there is so great an emphasis upon the death of Jesus as an expiation and atonement for sin.  Only by death of the sinless, incarnate Son of God could our debts be cancelled by God the Father and our sins cleansed and forgiven.

While spirituality leaves to systematic theology the full exposition of the saving, atoning, reconciling work of Jesus, the Redeemer, it cannot neglect to take seriously the need for the confession of sin, repentance, forgiveness and power to overcome sin and temptation.  For spirituality is for the imperfect, unclean, impure, and unworthy in order to direct them towards the perfect, the clean, the pure, and the worthy.

Nowhere is this given clearer expression than in Psalm 51, composed originally by David, but much used in Christian prayer and worship since apostolic times.  The prayer (psalm) begins:

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin. (vv 1–2)

and continues:

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will turn back to you. (vv 10–13)

In this prayer we find the following ingredients of true Jewish and (as interpreted through Christ) true Christian spirituality.

There is a desire for a vital, spiritual relationship with God our Saviour, for inner cleansing and wholeness, for a pure heart (mind, imagination, feelings and will), for the presence of the Holy Spirit, for inner joy, for readiness to do God’s will by a willing spirit, and a determination to serve God by making known his mercy and ways to others.  In fact the whole psalm deserves our closest study and meditation before we pray it as our prayer.

CENTRED ON JESUS

What makes Christian spirituality distinctive is not that it is Christians cultivating their inner lives.  Christian spirituality is unique because it is through, with, and in the Lord Jesus. A brief explanation is necessary, for all three prepositions are important.

Through.  As sinners we come to God for forgiveness, acceptance, justification and eternal life through Jesus.  As the Son of God made Man he is the one and only Mediator between God and his creatures.  As the Lamb of God who offered himself as a pure sacrifice to expiate the sins of the world, he has taken away the barriers which prevent true fellowship between God and mankind.  By his atoning death and glorious resurrection he has opened a new and living way out of sin into the presence of the Father.

We respond to God’s call in the gospel and we come to him through Jesus: and this means coming to the Father not only forgiven and cleansed but also robed in the righteousness of Christ.  For Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification.  This is why traditional Christian prayer has often ended with the important words ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord’.  We approach our Father and are heard through Jesus and for the sake of Jesus.

With.  The first disciples of Jesus lived with him, physically following him in order to learn by his example and teaching.  Our discipleship is also with him for he said, ‘I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matt 28:20).  We obey his word and walk/travel with him because he is with us by the presence of the Holy Spirit (who is his Paraclete and Representative – John 14:25–26; 15:26–27).  We walk with him in meditation, prayer and worship and into testing/temptation, ministry (service), opposition and suffering.  We know that he has not only gone before us as the Way but that he is with us now in and on that very way.  And being with us he brings us comfort and strength, hope and love, faith and fortitude.

In.  When we come to the Father through Jesus, the Mediator, the Father accepts us and sees us in him, enclosed within his perfected human nature.  This teaching is central to the theology of Paul for whom a favourite expression is ‘in Christ’ (Greek – en Christ).  A simple and rewarding task is to count how many times the expression ‘in Christ’ (or ‘in him’) occurs in Ephesians 1.  Here are a few of his statements:

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:11)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)

Praise be to god the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)

So then, just as you received Jesus Christ as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him. (Col 2:6)

Since the Son of God took our flesh and nature we are united to him (through the Holy Spirit’s action and by our faith) in his life, death and exaltation.  We are enclosed within his ‘body’ and God the Father lavishes his grace upon us because he sees us in his beloved Son.  Paul urges that this knowledge of God’s glorious grace ought to cause all believers to think, speak and act as Christ himself did.

The inclusion of believers within the Lord Jesus is also a major theme of the Gospel of John.  ‘I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit’ (15:5).  While the words of Jesus point to the responsibility of the disciple to remain within the vine, those of Paul emphasise the complementary truth that God has placed us by his grace in the Lord Jesus.

To summarise.  Christian spirituality is centred on Jesus, the Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).  He is the Goal at whom we aim, the Beauty we desire, the Ideal we imitate, the Lord we obey, the Way in whom we walk, the Teacher we follow, the Truth we believe and the Life we receive.  Thus the more we know of Jesus the deeper ought to be our commitment to him.

TRINITARIAN IN STRUCTURE

Certainly what makes Christian spirituality unique is that it is through, with and in Jesus, the Christ. But rightly to appreciate the centrality of Christ, Christian spirituality must exist as a response to God, the Lord, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The name which the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob revealed as his own to Moses was ‘I am who I am’ (= the Lord, Yahweh or Jehovah): and the name which Yahweh, the Lord, further revealed as the inner content of his name was ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’ (see Ex 3:14 and Matt 28:19).  The Godhead is One – the Lord our God is one Lord – but exists as Three Persons or Modes of Being.

As believers we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son and indwelt/sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  We pray to the Father, through/with/in the Son, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  We follow Jesus, Incarnate Son in trusting and obeying the Father in the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit.  Our communion is with the Father and the Son by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

We need to think, meditate and pray trinitarianly: the doctrine of God, the Lord, as Holy Trinity, ought to be firmly embedded in our minds as the very structure through which our Christianity originates and operates.  Only in this way shall we rightly interpret and understand the inner meaning of Holy Scripture, preserve our spirituality from excess, imbalance and distortion, keep ourselves from falling into error and heresy, and truly honour and glorify God, our Lord.

Within this understanding of God – three Persons in one Godhead – in mind and heart, we shall then truly respond to the Lord, through, with and in Jesus (who is Incarnate Son).