14

Examining my Faith

We have arrived at the point in our investigation where we must begin to look into our own hearts and minds.  It is possible – alas! – to reduce even the most practical of topics into merely an intellectual or, cerebral exercise.  For example, there are courses in spirituality in theological colleges/seminaries where the students are examined in their proficiency in exactly the same way as in a course in sociology or history.  Whether or not the study has become food for their souls in relationship to God is of no importance as far as completing the course is concerned.

The same type of thing happens outside places of academic learning.  You or I can become an expert in spirituality without being wholeheartedly committed to communion with God.  We can devour books, discuss concepts and disciplines, and speak of prayer without our interior lives being touched by the grace of God.

Therefore, each of us must sincerely and earnestly ask: Is spirituality for me?

That is, is it for me who am God’s creature, sinful but yet still made in his image, after his likeness?  For me – a sinner for whom the incarnate Son of God suffered and died?

Before proceeding with this question it will perhaps sharpen the focus if we recall, as succinctly as possible, the substance of our exposition of spirituality in Parts One to Three.

WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?

Spirituality is following in the way of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ to those who believe.  Its motivation is simply expressed in the reaching for the Ideal and aiming for the Goal.  These are presented in Scripture terms of ‘Be perfect, be holy and be righteous’ as God himself is perfect, holy and righteous.  The way of the Spirit of Christ for Christians is to be perfect, holy and righteous to the fullest extent that forgiven creatures can possibly be so both in this life (in weak, mortal bodies) and in the resurrection life (in immortal, glorious bodies).  What is reached for, and aimed at, in this life can also be expressed as: ‘Be godly, pious, devoted and religious.’  In one phrase the aim is ‘to be like Jesus’.

Spirituality is also using the means supplied by, and doing the duties urged by, the Spirit of Christ, as the route into the Ideal and path to the Goal.  These include wholehearted participation in Christian fellowship and worship (the ministry of word and sacrament), along with daily trusting in the promises, readily submitting to the will, and happily obeying the commands of the Lord Jesus.

Spirituality is a personal response to the God of all grace: but, it is not to be individualistic.  It is a personal response within a community response: and the community is the Church of Christ.

But to what extent – if at all – is spirituality a political, economic and social programme?

In his God of Surprises Gerard Hughes SJ presents commitment to immediate nuclear disarmament as a necessary outcome of his spirituality.  Kenneth Leech in his True God.  An exploration in spiritual theology goes much further and advocates social and political involvement of a socialist kind as a necessary part of any true spirituality.

My response to these influential writers (and others who incorporate particular social, political and economic views in their definition of spirituality) is, in brief, the following.  I want to insist, first of all, that spirituality must include (or lead to) the loving of the neighbour as a person made in God’s image as well as the duty of witnessing always and everywhere for Christ.  But the precise ways in which this loving and witnessing are done takes us out of spirituality into other areas – ethics, evangelism, mission and so on.  Spirituality relates more to the preparation and motivation of the Church and individual Christian for active service with mind, heart, will and body than to the details of actual service for the kingdom.

As there are different types of spirituality so there are different ways of expressing the love of Christ in the spheres of evangelism, mission and ethics as well as politics.  Contexts in which people live are different (e.g. a Marxist, Islamic and secular Western State) and these demand different approaches.  Further, since politics relates to the art of the possible even the choicest of saints have had, do have and will have different views as to what is right, most effective for the kingdom of God and achievable in any given situation.  If we tie spirituality to a specific view of politics, economics and social theory then we go too far.

Having said this, I do think that we need to insist on two points: first, that a human being is to be seen as a unity of body and soul and ought therefore to experience harmony between the interior and exterior aspects of the one life.  Thus an interior spirituality of communion with God ought to be united to an exterior life of loving service of God and fellow human beings (which service can of course take many different forms).  And, secondly, that a human being must be seen within her/his life context and not as a soul without a body and without a life in community.  Thus spirituality has to become practical within the real life situation.

It seems to me that a right appreciation of the Christian life in terms of the imitatio Christi, the imitation of Jesus who loved God and his fellow human beings, helps to unite the interior and exterior aspects of the Christian life and to view the context in which that life has to be lived.  As the outcome of his communion with, and obedience of the Father, Jesus actually involved himself lovingly and unsparingly in the lives of those whom he helped.

The imitation of Jesus does not mean seeking to be a Messiah.  It relates to studying and copying him in terms of his faith, trust, love, obedience in relation to the Father, his humility and compassion in relation to humanity, and his practical readiness to put himself out and to go the extra mile on behalf of the needy.  Such a spirituality knows no dichotomy between soul and body and seeks to view a person or people in their real context.

Such imitation is the true following of Jesus and can only be generated in the heart through sincere and prayerful reading of the Gospels so that the example of Jesus, as well as his teaching, is imprinted in the mind and desired as the ideal by the heart.  Today much of our reading is to gain information and so we skim over the page and do not absorb the content.  Meditational reading, which is necessary to begin the life of imitating Jesus, has to be slow, prayerful and formational: it is a different method and approach to that which we normally use in everyday activity.

If, by the cultivation of this method, we are able to move towards the uniting of the interior and exterior aspects of spirituality, we ought not to make political, social and economic theories/positions a part of a definition of spirituality.  It is quite wrong to claim that to have a right relationship with God you must be an active socialist; and it is just as wrong to claim that God only approves of supporting capitalism. Spirituality may be compared to lighting a fire and keeping it alight and providing warmth – who and what it warms are important but we can separate them from the fire itself.  Or it may be compared to planting a garden and tending it – who come to see it and where the flowers from it are taken are important but we can separate these from the garden itself.  However, the fire is intended to give light and heat, and a garden is meant to produce beautiful sights and scents.  So spirituality is not merely the cultivation of a relationship with God: it is the loving of God and the neighbour in practical ways.

FAITH AND GROWTH

I recognise that the question, ‘Is spirituality for me?’ is rarely asked in this particular form.  Further, it is only asked when a person has been a Christian for a while and becomes aware that there is much more to ‘believing in Jesus’ than at first appeared; further it is asked when there is a longing in the heart to draw closer to God.  In fact true believing, real saving faith, is the key which unlocks a heavenly gate: rays of divine sunshine flood the soul and hearty desires to be more deeply immersed in the love of God are aroused.

From the human standpoint faith lies at the very centre of being a Christian: and faith is intended to grow and keep on growing, as the soul takes a more firm grip upon God’s promises of grace.  Paul told the church in Corinth that ‘our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand’ (2 Cor 10:15).  He wanted their cooperation so that he could preach the gospel in the regions beyond their city (v.16).  Writing to the church to the north of Corinth in Thessalonica he said: ‘We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more . . .’ (2 Thess 1:3).

Faith as the believing of certain facts which are entirely and wholly trustworthy – for example concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God, his ministry, suffering, death and exaltation – will certainly increase through the learning process within Christian fellowship and through personal reading and meditation upon the Scriptures.  I’ve been studying the Bible and theology for over twenty years and I learn something new each week to strengthen and buttress my believing in Jesus Christ.  There really is no limit to growth in understanding of God’s revelation to us, in and through Jesus Christ.

Faith as the trusting of God through Jesus Christ and embracing wholeheartedly his promises, precepts, counsels and commands as the Word of God, for me also grows as it is nourished through meditation, prayer, worship and practically doing the will of God day by day.

However, it would be misleading to suggest that faith is always a simple, steady growth.  It can be severely tested by temptation and periods of doubt and darkness.  Here faith clings on to the promises of God even as a person thrown overboard clings to a piece of floating timber.  Yet there are also moments of intense illumination of heart/mind when a profound experience of the presence of God makes everything seem so simple and overwhelmingly real.  Then to believe in heaven and its glories seems as natural as – in ordinary life – believing that as we travel on the road we walk on firm ground.  When the mind seems to descend into the heart and when intellect and feelings are simultaneously and firmly fixed upon Jesus then faith appears to be the most appropriate response of the soul to God.  ‘I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that [final] day’ (2 Tim 1:12).

As the infant grows into the child and on into the adult, so the ‘new creation’ (Gal 6:15) implanted in the believing soul by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in regeneration/conversion is to grow within and through us.  Regrettably this growth can be prevented or stunted through the resistance we offer via our pride, selfishness and tendency to please the world rather than the living God.  As the sphere of influence of the Spirit of Christ within the believer increases so she/he grows in faith, as we have seen.

Closely related to the growth in believing and trusting is the growth in loving, for, as Paul taught, ‘faith expresses itself through love’ (Gal 5:6).  In fact Paul prayed that his converts would love one another: ‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you’ (1 Thess 3:12).  By the time he wrote his second Letter to Thessalonica the apostle could thank God for their loving one another: ‘We ought always to thank God . . . because the love every one of you has for each other is increasing’ (2 Thess 1:3).

Paul also prayed and looked for a growth in both good works (as the fruit of genuine faith) and in knowledge of God.  ‘We pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might . . .’ (Col 1:10).  Concerning the fruit of good works, Paul said this to the Corinthians: ‘Now God who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness’ (2 Cor 9:10).  And Peter connected growing in the grace of God with growing in knowledge of God – for knowledge is both communion with God as well as knowing what he is like, what he has done, what he does and what he will do.  ‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Pet 3:18).

So questions that I need to ask myself are such as these: Am I growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus?  Is my faith increasing in terms of trusting God and believing truths concerning him?  Do I produce a growing harvest of good deeds for my fellow human beings as I seek to love them?

We said earlier that spirituality is personal but not individualistic.  Growth is certainly personal but it is not individualistic.  For my growing in faith, love, knowledge and producing the harvest of righteousness can only continue in so far as I am part of a worshipping fellowship of believers who are also growing together.  If my hand grows faster than my arm then the result looks and feels odd.  If one leg grows faster than the other then I cannot walk straight.  Likewise true growth has not only to be in all the graces and virtues within the individual Christians but also as part of the general growth of Christian society.

Paul emphasises this growth in his Letters to Colossae and Ephesus.  He told the Colossians that Christ is the Head and Lifegiver of the Church and from him ‘the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow’ (Col 2:19).  Certainly the growth of the Church in true spirituality is caused by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit: but it only occurs where there is a fellowship of expectant, trusting and obedient Christians.  ‘In Christ Jesus the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’ he told the Ephesians (2:21–22).  And he also said that ‘speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ’ (Eph 4:15).

So, together with the personal examination of my faith, I need to ask questions as to whether the local church to which I belong is also growing into Christ, the Head, in faith, knowledge, love and fruit of righteousness.  Here, of course, I must be exceedingly careful not to judge my fellow believers but to ask these questions in such a way that they become part of my duty to love my fellow Christians.

Christian spirituality is, therefore, certainly for me if I have begun the Christian life and feel the need to grow in faith, knowledge and love towards maturity, in the fellowship of others who also want to grow.

The examination of my soul and my decision to act upon the results of that examination do not occur in a moral and spiritual vacuum.  God addresses me where I am and I hear him with my inward ears in my circumstances.

In the rest of Part Four we shall look at the contrasting religious contexts in which those, who want to draw near to God, hear and feel the call to examine themselves and choose to be like Jesus.  We shall also reflect a little on the differences in human personality which affect to some degree how we respond.  Finally I shall be very practical and urge a serious commitment through the entering into a personal covenant with the Lord.

15

Unity in Essentials

If you intend to travel by train or road from London to Scotland you must choose between an eastern route via Yorkshire or a western route via Lancashire.  Christianity spirituality, likewise, does not exist as one route and one route only: there are several, perhaps even many, valid expressions of it.

Travelling by road you need a motor vehicle.  Cars come in a variety of sizes, models and specifications; however, it is often the case that groups of outwardly different cars possess the same engine and gearbox, despite the variety of colours and styling and number of doors.  We may say that the differing expressions of authentic Christian spirituality are, likewise, powered by the same unit – the presence and power of the Spirit of Christ, producing holiness and righteousness; and they are all heading for the same goal, even if apparently by different routes.

BROAD TYPES

It is very obvious that there are definite differences between Roman Catholic and Protestant expressions of Christian spirituality.  Roman Catholics will pray not only to God the Father through Jesus Christ but also to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and to the saints.  They will confess their sins not only to God himself in the name of Jesus Christ but also to the priest whom they believe acts in God’s stead.  They will attempt to go to Mass several times a week, daily if possible, and will offer prayers both for the living and the dead.  And in examining their consciences they will make a distinction between venial and mortal sins.

In contrast, Protestants will go in search of a sound ministry of the Word, where the preacher faithfully expounds the teaching of Holy Scripture.  They will read their Bibles daily, exercising the right of private judgement, and praying only to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus.  They will see the need not only for public worship on the Lord’s Day but also for mid-week meetings for prayer and corporate bible-study.  And they will insist that we are saved by faith, and by faith alone, but this is to be expressed in good works.

Yet if we take long enough to compare the two systems which have been called sacramental and prophetic in nature, we shall find that they have more in common than in difference.  For example, take the content of the Creeds – Nicene and Apostles’.  The Roman Catholic and Protestant expressions of Christian spirituality are solidly based on these confessions of the one Faith.  They are trinitarian and teach that we come to God through, with and in the Incarnate Son of God.  Further, they share the same Ideal and Goal – the beatific vision of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in heaven.

Each system has produced ‘saints’ and yet each system can degenerate into both a mere nominal form of Christianity and a warped expression of religion.  From each side people, who are genuinely desirous of being holy and righteous, nevertheless feel that the other side teaches and supports erroneous and false views of God and his grace.  What most bothers the Protestant is the place of Mary and the saints in Roman Catholic devotion and what most bothers the Roman Catholic is the place of private judgement in Protestant Bible Study.

If we add for purposes of comparison the expression of spirituality in the Orthodox Churches of Greece and Russia we encounter yet further differences of emphasis, which are strange both to Roman Catholics as well as Protestants – for example the place of icons in worship and private prayers.

Not only are there broad types of spirituality within Christianity, there are also subdivisions within the broad types.  These differences relate to the means and methods of spirituality.  Within Roman Catholicism there are differences between the Cistercian, Franciscan, Carmelite, Jesuit and Dominican forms of spirituality as there are also differences between those who maintain old, well-tried methods and those who experiment with new methods of prayer, meditation, confession of sins and retreats.  Further there are differences between those who claim that spirituality is to be used of our response to God in heart, attitude and word (but leaving to subjects like ethics the wider circle of social and political involvement) and those who want to say that a spirituality, which does not lead a person to direct involvement in the search for justice and peace in God’s world, is a false spirituality.  Gerard W. Hughes SJ claims too much in saying that ‘any spirituality which cocoons us from the pain of this world, or which declares that the Church should keep out of politics and social justice questions, is a false spirituality and an idolatry’ (God of Surprises, epilogue).

What is true of Roman Catholicism is even more true of Protestantism.  Each basic tradition (and subdivision of a tradition) has its own particular emphases which produce a distinctive expression of spirituality.  Some expressions are confined within a denomination while others are inter-denominational and they come (especially in America) in a bewildering variety – as watching TV stations on Sunday mornings quickly reveals.  To examine them all would require not only a book but several books.  Here we shall describe in brief only three.  If you wish to look at others I commend Protestant Spiritual Traditions (ed. Frank C. Senn, Mahwah, NJ, 1986).

THE METHODIST WAY

First of all Methodism as it is portrayed in the writings of John and hymns of Charles Wesley as well as in the practice of the first fifty or so years of its existence.  I shall use the first person singular in my description.

Aim/Goal of spirituality.  The aim I have been taught is for my heart and soul to be filled with the love of God so that I maintain a state of perfect love to God and my neighbour.

O Love divine, how sweet thou art!

When shall I find my willing heart

All taken up by Thee?

I thirst, I faint, I die to prove

The greatness of redeeming love,

The love of Christ for me.

I feel I must pray like this:

O grant that nothing in my soul

May dwell, but thy pure love alone!

O may thy love possess me whole,

My joy, my treasure and my crown;

Strange fires far from my heart remove;

My every act, word, thought, be love!

To love God perfectly, as he deserves, is to be the very aim of all my existence.

Ways and Means of spirituality.  God has given me free-will to respond to his riches of grace offered me in the gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.  I freely and gladly choose Jesus: I turned from my sin and embraced Jesus my Saviour after I heard a powerful sermon from a Methodist evangelist.  With tears in my eyes I believed in the name of the Son of God, who has delivered me from the wrath to come and won for me the forgiveness of my sins.  And having made this turning to Christ I testified of it to my family and neighbours.

Then I joined the local society of Methodists who met one evening each week.  Here I learned what Christian fellowship really means.

All praise to our redeeming Lord,

Who joins us by His grace,

And bids us, each to each restored,

Together seek His face.

He bids us build each other up;

And, gathered into one.

To our high calling’s glorious hope,

We hand in hand go on.

Here I was taught how to read and meditate upon the Bible, pray to God in praise and petition, thanksgiving and intercession.  Here I was taught (and continue to be taught) how to witness for Jesus at home and work, and how to meet hostility and difficulty.  Here I am always encouraged to make full use of the means of grace available in public worship in church, in the administration of Holy Communion and the ministry of the preaching of the Word.

Each week I go to the society meeting (the class meeting) and with a dozen or so others I share how the Lord has been leading me during the past week and how I have responded.  We rejoice together, we help each other, we pray for one another, we sing together and exhort one another to be faithful to Jesus day by day.  Our leader helps me personally where I have specific questions or difficulties.

Each morning I seek to arise early from my bed and have time to read my Bible and pray before going off to work.  I want to go out as a servant of my Lord.

Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go,

My daily labour to pursue,

Thee, only Thee, resolved to know

In all I think, or speak, or do.

The task Thy wisdom hath assigned

O let me cheerfully fulfil,

In all my works Thy presence find,

And prove Thy acceptable will.

And at the end of the day I examine my conscience before the Lord, asking for forgiveness, giving thanks, praying for those with whom I have had contact and committing the night into his care and keeping.

I seek to live by faith each day, trusting in the merits of my Saviour; I look to him to give me the assurance of his Spirit in my heart so that I can feel the Spirit witnessing with my spirit that I am a child of God.  Every opportunity to do good for others or to tell them of the love of Jesus I hope to use for the glory of my God.  And in and through all this I pray God to fill my soul with his love so that I do not sin habitually any longer but freely and gladly love my Lord and my neighbour.

I find Methodist spirituality to be vital and dynamic, personal and corporate, practical and prayerful, biblical and full of the grace of God.

THE ANGLICAN WAY

In the second place, Anglicanism as it is expressed through the traditional Prayer-Book spirituality: that is, through the methodical use of the Book of Common Prayer as the basis for Sunday worship and daily devotions.  Again I use the first person singular.

Having been baptised as an infant I was prepared by my vicar for Confirmation by the Bishop when I was a teenager.  I had to learn the Catechism (in the Book of Common Prayer) and this gave me much insight into what is the Church, a sacrament, the apostles’ creed, the ten commandments and my duty towards God and my neighbour.  Of my duty to God I learned that:

My duty towards God is to believe in him, to fear him, and to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength; to worship him, to give him thanks, to put my whole trust in him, to call upon him, to honour his holy Name and his Word, and to serve him truly all the days of my life.

and of my duty to my fellow human beings I learned that:

My duty towards my neighbour is to love him as myself and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me: to love, honour and succour my father and mother, to honour and obey the King/Queen and all that are put in authority under him/her; to submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters: to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters: to hurt nobody by word or deed; to be true and just in all my dealing; to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart; to keep my hands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil-speaking, lying and slandering: to keep my body in temperance, soberness and chastity: not to covet nor desire other men’s goods; but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in that state of life, unto which it shall please God to call me.

It took some time for all this to become true and felt duty for me, as I attended public worship each Sunday and read several devotional books recommended to me by my priest.

Then I began to use the service of Morning Prayer as the basis for my own prayers each morning.  I honestly confessed my sins to God, carefully read the appointed lessons from Holy Scripture and meditated on a part of one of them (or from the appointed psalms).  And I used the collects (set prayers) to summarise the various petitions and intercessions that I had in my own heart for myself and people around me.  By this method I gradually found myself growing in appreciation of the contents of the Bible, of the basic doctrine of the Creed, of the path of prayer, and of the implications for Christian living.  Further, the Church Year took on a growing significance and, to my surprise, I even found that my soul was ready to engage in the self-examination and fasting associated with the right keeping of Lent.  Also I discovered a deep reverence and love of God in my heart.

Later, without letting go of the morning discipline of ‘The Order of Morning Prayer’, I also used, as often as I could, ‘The Order of Evening Prayer’.  Further, I resolved to receive Holy Communion not only each Lord’s Day but also on festival days (for example, Ascension Day) and Saints’ Days (for example, St Peter’s Day).  Doing this I find that my love of the Lord Jesus increases as I seek to come to the holy table in true faith to receive his sacramental body and blood.

Through the use of the old Prayer Book in a disciplined way I believe that I am drawing near to God – as he has drawn near to me in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  Further, I believe that I gain the resolution and strength and wisdom to seek to do each day my duties towards my God and my neighbour.  I am finding that the Prayer Book is a kind of instrument and channel used by the Holy Spirit to help me respond to God in a balanced and committed way, ever open to new experiences of his grace and power.

Further, I am finding that my increasing use of the set services of the Prayer Book (i.e. the use of Liturgy) helps me to recognise and be a participant in three liturgies – through the Spirit in the liturgy of heaven where the redeemed and angels together sing, ‘To him . . . be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever’ (Rev 5:13); in the liturgy of the people of God here and now ‘With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we laud and magnify thy glorious name’; and in the liturgy of the heart each day ‘My heart and soul praise Thee, O Lord’.

THE CHARISMATIC WAY

Finally, we look at the spirituality of the pentecostal/charismatic movement.  Here I shall not use the first person singular but rather offer a description as an onlooker.  Here we are to think of a twentieth-century movement in two phases.  First of all, at the beginning of the century there was a revivalist movement which led to the formation of what are called Pentecostal denominations – for example the Elim and Assemblies of God Churches.  Its distinctive characteristic was the claim that after being converted to God there was need for all believers to have a second experience of the grace of God – the being baptised in/by the Holy Spirit, followed by the speaking in tongues (as happened on the Day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2).

In the second place, since World War II there has been a ‘renewal’ movement within the older denominations, including the Roman Catholic.  Here the distinctive characteristic has been the insistence that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8–10) are available to the Church today through the sovereign distribution of the exalted Lord Jesus Christ.  The Greek for gifts is charisma and thus the expression ‘charismatic movement’.  Further, like the older Pentecostalism, this movement has insisted that every believer ought to be baptised in/by/with the Holy Spirit either at conversion or at a later time in order to experience to the full the presence and power of the Lord Jesus.  Thus apart from believing that the Son of God became man to provide salvation for us the charismatic believes that he is very active now in his world, working in and through the Holy Spirit, and the effects of his presence are to be expected, felt and seen in signs and wonders, changed lives, free ‘spiritual’ worship, and great joy.

Therefore the contribution of the charismatic movement to people within traditional denominations has been to make them appreciate in a deeper and more vital way the basic teaching and practice they have long known.  For Protestant evangelicals the Word of God is both He who and that which is brought to life in a contemporary encounter through the agency of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ who inspired the writers of Scripture.  For Roman Catholics the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ (Eucharist/Mass) is not only that which is the major service of the Church but also a personal encounter with the living Lord Jesus who presides at the Eucharist and freely gives himself to those who eat the bread and drink the sacramental wine.

Apart from giving new vitality, meaning and purpose to the traditional forms of worship, charismatic spirituality has certain distinctive expressions which are to be found whether it be inside the Roman Catholic or a major Protestant Church.  Here are several of them, which follow on from the primary experience of being baptised in/with/by the Holy Spirit.

(a) Freedom in worship.  Not only is worship seen as of central importance in the Christian life, but it is more active and physical – tapping of feet, clapping of hands, raising of arms, and dancing before the Lord.  Such worship may be additional to the traditional services or part of them.  Further, there is in use a great variety of songs (see, for example, the songbooks, Living Waters and Songs of Fellowship) which are mostly corporate rather than individual expressions of praise and prayer.

(b) Spiritual gifts in worship and personal prayer.  Alongside the freedom in the physical realm, there is the exercise of the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.  One will speak in tongues, another will interpret; and yet another will prophesy.  Then perhaps others will lay their hands upon a sick brother/sister and pray for healing, inner and physical.

In private prayer the charismatic Christian will exercise the gift of speaking in tongues by praying in the Spirit and even singing in the Spirit to the Lord.

Further, there is an emphasis upon every member ministry because of the belief that God has given to all at least one supernatural gift of the Spirit (as well as sanctifying and directing natural gifts).  Thus there is less emphasis upon the ‘ordained’ ministry and more emphasis upon the ministry of each and every person than in traditional western Christianity.

(c) Living in community.  With the increase in corporate thinking by charismatics, there have appeared a growing number of communities – small and large – bound by simple rules and seeking to live together to express true Christian family living.  They are often ‘covenant communities’ where members covenant with each other to help one another and as a group to serve the neighbourhood.  This means that participants enjoy both personal, private prayer along with community prayer and celebration each day.

So we see that for the individual charismatic there is the possibility that the basic aim/goal of spirituality and ways/means towards it as taught in her/his denomination can be given an extra dimension of depth and vitality through the experience of the renewing presence and power of the Spirit of Christ.  Or there is the possibility of creating a spirituality which is only that of the emphases within this renewal movement.  The former would seem to be preferable.

Recognising that there are several valid expressions of spirituality for a Christian today, what am I to do?  The fact is that God calls me to holiness and righteousness as a member of a specific local church, where I belong.  I need to discover the depth and width of the tradition of prayer and praise, meditation and contemplation, discipline and consecration from which my church is fed.  It may be a wide tradition (as say in a parish of the Church of England) or a more concentrated tradition (as say in a House or Calvinistic Baptist church).  I must see which aspects of the tradition of spirituality speak/appeal/minister to me now and make full use of them, recognising that others will seem to be ‘for me’ later.  Also I must realise how God is ready to minister to me through my fellow members as well as through others with whom my church has fraternal relations.  In other words, before I go off in search of something else (more exciting? more palatable?) I need to exhaust God’s supply through my own tradition (and I shall probably find that it is a rich supply!).

16

Variety in Personality

God calls everyone to perfection, holiness and righteousness; but no two of us are alike – similar perhaps in many ways but not the same.  Each of us has her/his own personality; further, individual, personal circumstances vary from person to person.  We may say that some differences between us are ordained by God (for example, racial types), and some are the result of a variety of historical, economic and social factors (for example, some live in fine houses in a good environment while others exist in slums).

Though we speak the same language, watch the same television programmes, buy the same packaged foods, wear the same ready-made clothing, use the same electrical, electronic and mechanical equipment, and drive the same basic types of car, we are not thereby changed into a vast army of identical persons.  It is true that people tend to do what the crowd does; but, each of us remains herself/himself.  However much I eat, drink, and live as others do, I remain myself.

SIMILAR BUT NOT IDENTICAL

Take the matter of human personality.  We know from observation and experience that there are various types of personality – for example, the shy and retiring, and the extrovert and ebullient.  Further, we know that while an individual may be slotted into one or another of the basic personality types described by psychologists she/he is not thereby identical with others who are placed in that type.  For there is variety within and across types and each individual is unique, having a personality which is only hers/his.

Further, we recognise that personality is psychosomatic – it is, we may say, the outward reflection of the total person, body and soul.  In fact the general shape or structure of personality is fixed by heredity and therefore it has to be accepted as part of God’s creation.  However, that shape or structure is moulded by the total environment in which a child is reared and educated.  Thus home, school, and general culture all affect the development of personality and temperament.

Therefore, when I am converted to Jesus Christ (be it as a teenager or later in life) and decide to take Christian spirituality seriously I have to accept who I am and from where I must begin.  My personality, of whatever kind it is, is mine and cannot be swopped for another this I must accept, as I also must accept God’s gracious forgiveness of all my sins.  But I must accept myself, my personality, in the knowledge that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus desires to renovate, renew and redirect it so that it becomes the vehicle for holiness and joy, love and righteousness.

As I respond to the grace of God my character will be changed from that of self-seeking to that of God-seeking and from that of self-love to that of love for the neighbour.  Yet it will be I, with my particular personality, whose character is being changed. And because it is a different personality from that of fellow Christians, the way I respond to God will be similar but not identical with their response.  They may find one form of meditation helpful while I may use another: they may prefer liturgical worship while I may prefer a more free type of worship: they may find the example of St Francis of Assisi a great encouragement while I may find that of William Carey more challenging; and they may find it possible to take alcoholic beverages while I feel I must never drink them.

Variety in personality requires variety in forms and aspects of Christian spirituality.  Pastors and spiritual directors need to bear this in mind when advising people: and each of us must recognise that what is good for another is not necessarily good for oneself.  There are many acceptable ways of responding to God in faith, obedience and love.

VARIED CONTEXTS

Not only have we different personalities we also have different personal circumstances.  And the latter also affect the type of spirituality we adopt.  Some circumstances can, of course, be changed (though that is easier said than done).  I can change my house – if there is another to occupy and buy; I can change my job – if another employer will offer me work; I can change my car – if I can afford to buy another.  But I cannot change the fact that I am a mother or father, son or daughter, brother or sister.

I must accept that God has placed me in particular circumstances and relationships, which he may not want me to attempt to change.  It is my duty to respond to his call to be holy within these circumstances, not despite them.  And the form of spirituality I choose, adopt and develop must take into account my real situation.  This context must not conquer me but I must master it for the sake of Jesus, my Lord.

Take, for example, Christians in the following circumstances:

1.  A retired lady, living alone, in good health and with adequate finances.  She is free to develop a spirituality which includes much participation in corporate worship, retreats, works of mercy and fellowship.  And this form may be the best for her.

2.  A young mother with two children under five.  Her husband is out from morning until evening at least five days a week and she is left at home.  She finds it difficult to make space and time for daily meditation and prayer and when the children are asleep she is too tired to pray.  She has to learn from other women who have been through her experiences what are the options and how she can keep intact her communion with the Lord.

3.  A businessman whose work takes him regularly far from home and family.  He is often staying in hotels and has a good expense account to cover food, drink and entertainment.  The temptations he faces can be quite powerful and thus as a priority he has to make space and time each day for his meditation and prayer in order to keep his vision clear and his commitment to Jesus firm.  How he actually goes about meditating and praying will depend to a great extent (as we have noted) on his personality and temperament.

4.  A student is away from home at college/university and finding a freedom never previously experienced.  Freedom requires responsibility to use it aright.  She/he will need to be much in prayer and often in Christian fellowship in order to have the determination and strength to walk with the Lord Jesus in the way of holiness.  It is so easy to go with the crowd and thereby to fall away from the following of Jesus.

Examples could be multiplied.  However, there are various principles to be borne in mind.  One is that my daily duty to meditate/pray/worship is not instead of my duty within a family, in my employment and in service of my neighbour (hood).  It is beneath, alongside and through these duties.  Another is that I ought to accept my circumstances on the understanding that ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Rom 8:28).  Thus, for example, making myself unsettled by thinking of other places I could be and other things I could do is working contrary to God’s grace.  And yet a further principle is that the priority which I must give to worship/prayer in my life (for I am God’s child and must keep in touch with him) is in essence and first of all offered in the heart and mind before it becomes a particular activity in a certain place and at a given time.  Thus if I cannot find the place and make the time (for example, my children will not leave me in peace) then I can still worship the Lord in my heart.  And I can utter a prayer over and over again such as the Lord s Prayer or what is called the Jesus Prayer – ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner’.

In other words, spirituality is not merely and only the cultivation of good ideas and feelings in the soul: it is the whole person responding to God’s grace and call with a particular personality and within specific circumstances.  And wherever I am, be it in the inner city or isolated countryside, in a Christian community house or a student’s hostel, the call to be perfect, holy and righteous becomes constant.

PSYCHOSPIRITUAL MATURITY

God calls each of us wherever we are and whatever our vocation to both psychological and spiritual maturity.  In fact there cannot be one without the other for it is clear (if we reflect on the matter) that we relate to God through the same structure and mechanisms of personality as we actually relate to fellow human beings.  This means, for example, the maturity of the teenager will be that appropriate to her/his stage of human and spiritual development.  We recall that our Lord Jesus did not begin his public ministry until he was around thirty years of age, and had by that time achieved both psychological as well as spiritual maturity (see Luke 2:52).

Much of this book has been about spiritual and moral maturity and so what is needed here is an account of psychological maturity.  For this we turn to Adrian van Kaam who writes:

A mature person is one who has begun to care for the wholeness of his life.  He tries to grow beyond the volatility of childish sentiment and youthful excitements.  His life becomes less impulsive or compulsive.  He begins to live by wise reflections, by basic inner conviction and lasting commitment.  He accepts responsibility for the life direction he has discovered to be his, no matter how pedestrian and prosaic this life may seem to others.  He is no longer obsessed by the extraordinary and the spectacular.  His need to be noticed, to be popular and liked is diminished.  He grows in generous solidarity with others in society and community.  He accepts and copes wisely with the sufferings and limitations everyday life imposes on all human beings.  He is at home with his own failures, limits and imperfections.  Without excessive guilt feelings he tries to make the best of his life in a relaxed and gentle way.  No longer does he drift off in dreams, idle fantasies, floating idealism.  He forbids himself the debilitating pleasures of playing fantasy games with the harsh reality of today and tomorrow.  He probes the facts and tries to improve the human situation a little every day, leaving the rest in the hands of God.  (‘Am I on the road to psychological and spiritual maturity?’, National Catholic News Service Series, 1979)

When such maturity is fused with the growth towards spiritual maturity then of course the latter sets the tone of the psychological maturity.  For true psychological maturity from a Christian perspective can only be reached when the whole person is totally and lovingly submitted to the Lord Jesus – in thoughts, feelings, intentions, and actions.  All aspects of the personality need to be orientated towards God who becomes the integrating focus of all maturity.  In fact Christ is both the Goal and the Energiser of the growth to maturity.

In his very helpful Psychotherapy and the Spiritual Quest (1988), David Benner speaks of psychospiritual maturity.  This involves maturity of both the basic psychological and spiritual aspects of personality.  The psychological (or as he calls it the structural) development is through five stages (from the symbiotic dependency of the infant on the mother, through differentiation of self, relatedness, individuation, self-transcendence to the integration of personality): he calls these structural milestones.  The maturity or wholeness, he explains, ‘is not to be found apart from meaningful engagement with others, significant integration of conscious and unconscious aspects of personality, and a self-transcendence that involves surrender to and service of a larger cause or being’ (p.130).

The spiritual or directional milestones are based on what Protestant theologians have called the ordo salutis (the order of salvation – that is how experienced by the repentant, believing sinner).  He lists eight milestones – development of basic trust; awareness of call to self-transcendence; recognition of call as from God; awareness of insufficiency of self (sinfulness); receipt of divine forgiveness; progressive freedom from sin; progressive evidence of the fruit of the Spirit and deepening intimacy with God.

Dr Benner insists that the model should not be interpreted as being strictly linear for the stages in each sphere of functioning are not absolutely fixed.  The real message of this model is that growth in the two spheres is interdependent.  Problems of one sphere become also problems for the other.  And spiritual growth requires at least a certain degree of psychological maturity.  Thus, in some cases, psychotherapy can actually help some people to grow spiritually because it helps them towards psychological maturity and thereby releases in them the possibility (led by the Spirit) of growth in holiness.

In summarising his model of psychospirituality Dr Benner writes: ‘Psychospiritual maturity is characterized by integration of personality, which occurs within a context of significant interpersonal relationships and surrender to God.  In this surrender we discover our true selves.  The integrated self, which is the endpoint of this process, is both an achievement and a gift.  In intimate union with God we find the selves he gives us: we become the selves we are intended to be from eternity’ (p.133).

God has made us all in his image and after his likeness: but we are all different.  When we reach spiritual and psychological maturity we remain different and through the variety of personalities the creative work of God in nature and in grace is reflected.

17

For me if.

When my context and personality-type have been analysed, I remain.  I exist as myself.  But I do not remain alone or in isolation.  The Lord God, my Creator and my Saviour, is always with me: I cannot escape from him even if I wish to do so.  He loves me with an everlasting love and he persistently and graciously invites me to walk in his way and be his friend.  He calls me to be the kind of trusting, loving, obedient creature he intended should exist when he made the human race.  And he offers me every help to be such a person.

Yet I know that to respond to his call is not like responding to an invitation to join a society which will take only a small part of my time, energy and money.  It is to answer the call of the Creator and Judge of the whole universe, the almighty God, who is all-knowing and utterly pure in essence and righteous in all his ways.

So, as a mere creature addressed by her/his Creator, I must take time to consider the call of God and carefully reflect upon what he both promises and demands of me.  I need to allow the full force of who it is who speaks to me to be impressed upon my heart and mind: I need to be truly aware of what in real terms the situation in which I find myself truly is.  Perhaps I ought to ask myself the following questions.

1.  Do I wish – indeed ought I – to embrace as the primary aim of my life the call of God to be perfect, holy and righteous, in the imitation of Jesus?  To say ‘yes’ is to reject all the possible primary aims in life which contemporary western society – explicitly or implicitly – commends.  These include financial and personal success in business and profession, owning a fine home filled with attractive furniture and every modern convenience, owning two cars, taking several overseas holidays each year, being a member of the ‘right’ clubs or societies and so on.  In the words of Jesus it is to say ‘yes’ to seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, in the knowledge that God will supply all our needs according to his grace in Jesus Christ.

Because I put the imitation of the Lord Jesus first does not mean that I shall fail in business, or live in a hovel, or have no friends in business, or engage in leisure activities.  God can make the one who seeks after his righteousness to have plenty of this world’s success and riches: yet such a person can never love these and prize them.  For in his heart he knows that the love of riches is not only the root of evil but also it is so much inferior to the love of God, the supreme excellence and beauty.  Success and riches are to be used to serve the kingdom of God.

I need to be fully aware that to be committed to the imitation of Jesus in his character and virtues is to be committed to that which the world will generally regard as either odd or mad, stupid or weird!  Indeed, the world may well exert all kinds of pressure on me to make me conform to one or another of its standards and these pressures may be a kind of persecution.  Thus to be called to perfection and holiness may mean to be involved in suffering with and for Jesus Christ: to be called to righteousness and godliness may mean to be involved in deprivation both of goods and reputation.

But am I prepared for the commitment of spending much time with my God in meditation and prayer to get to know him, to admire him, to love him, to worship him and to see his virtues and graces (that I may imitate him)?  Do I realise that I shall have to give a high priority to seeking the Lord in private each and every day?

2.  Do I wish – ought I desire – to be filled with the Spirit of Christ?  The world in which I live pressurises me to fill my soul with all kinds of substitutes for the living God, who made me in order to place his Spirit within me.  Ambition, pride of place or position, doubts and fears, self-fulfilment, self-satisfaction, sexual passions and the good feelings created by drugs are all out there competing for the centre of my soul.

Only as I am continually filled with the Spirit who indwelt and rested upon the Lord Jesus can I be the person whom God created me to be.  Only by his presence in my heart and mind can I know who I really am – a child of God, loved by him and destined by him to be truly fulfilled in his service both in this age and the age to come.  Only by his Spirit can I resist those powerful forces that would take me over to make me their servant and slave.  For I am not a whole person; I am not really myself; I am not truly and wholly human unless the Spirit of my Creator/Saviour is present in and with me.  I am made in the image, after the likeness, of my God and I can only function as such if the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is there to cause my soul to reflect the divine virtues.

Am I prepared to put myself in the position where I can truly be continually filled with the Spirit of the Lord?  Am I willing to wait upon the Lord so that my soul can become a reservoir and channel which he can always fill with his loving Spirit?

3.  Am I ready – ought I – to embrace the necessary commitment, discipline, consecration and self-mortification involved in authentic Christian spirituality?  I recall that Jesus had much to say about the readiness to be wholehearted and single-minded in commitment and loyalty to the kingdom of God.  You cannot serve two masters and you cannot go in two directions at the same time!  To choose to be with Jesus on God’s side is to choose to oppose sin, evil, and the devil, as these appear both around me and in me.

I do not know what God will send to me or allow to happen to me: all I know is that he loves me with an everlasting and infinite love and I cannot fail to reach his Goal if I look to him and trust him.  However, I am aware that if I am to trust God wholeheartedly there is much in my soul which will have to be put to death or cast out – my pride, self-sufficiency, self-justification and self-satisfaction.  In fact I do not really know what God will want me to abandon, give up, mortify or exclude for his sake and my true good!  Yet I know that anything I give up will be like losing a penny to gain a massive fortune, if in giving up selfishness I gain the glory of God.  But to say this, and to set off on a course which will involve putting it to the test, are two different things!  Am I willing to set course for the annihilation of my sinful self and the receiving of the presence of the living Christ to create a new self?

4.  Do I desire – ought I to want to desire – to be with Jesus, the Lord, and to share his love and glory for ever?  This is a strange – even an odd – question!  Living in such an affluent society and in such a beautiful world (despite the effects of pollution) why should I want to be elsewhere?  But let me think about it more.

Where does a lover want to be?  With her/his beloved.  Anyone who is a genuine disciple of Jesus and knows the partial joy of his presence (via the Holy Spirit) will surely want to be with him in a more engaging and fulfilling way – face to face.  To love Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to believe that to serve him is the greatest privilege of all is surely to want to be as near to him as it is possible to be.  And that means to be with him where he is.  Is such a desire in my heart?  Would it thrill me beyond words to be lifted instantaneously into his presence?

Of course I realise that he may want me to stay on earth for a long time to serve him in the vocation he has given me.  And if he does then I ought to be willing and ready to serve him fully and faithfully every new day.  Yet, at the same time, if I do not also each day heartily desire to be with him and to know the power of his love more intensely, then I cannot see how I can really serve him adequately day by day.  In fact I suspect – indeed I believe I know – that in proportion as I desire to be with him in glory so shall I faithfully and lovingly serve him in my vocation here.

5.  Do I wish – indeed ought I – to give myself wholeheartedly and unreservedly in the serving of others?  To say ‘yes’ is to be prepared to serve the deprived, poor, awkward, dirty, smelly and depraved as readily and extensively as the nice, acceptable, decent, appreciative and responsible.  It is to be no respecter of persons in the giving of love, time and commitment.  It is to do everything gladly for Christ’s sake, expecting no reward or even thanks.  The life of service is to give, as a true disciple of Jesus, love where there is hatred, pardon where there is injury, hope where there is despair, joy where there is sadness and light in all darkness.  It is to give and not count the cost, to fight and not heed the wounds, to toil and seek no rest, to labour and not ask for any reward, except that of knowing that God’s will is being done.

Am I prepared for a way of life from which all concern for self-fulfilment and self-justification must be removed?  For I cannot truly serve others freely and gladly if I am thinking of my own needs and ambitions.

Further, this life of serving others for Jesus’ sake will have to be done primarily through the vocation that God has given to me.  This means in the family as a father or mother, a brother or sister, cousin or uncle: and also in the church as a member of the family of God and household of faith, loving my fellow members in practical services and ways. But while ‘charity begins at home’ it does not end there.  People whom I meet in the work that God has given me – be it in the office, classroom, factory or subway ticket-office – are those from whom God may be choosing some to be the recipients of his grace through me.  So I am not only to do what I have to do in my work as unto the Lord – as if I were doing it directly for him: I also have to treat people whom I meet as he treated people wherever he met them – as the One who came to serve.

If you wish to intensify the probing of your soul and its inner desires/motivations, you could go on and engage in such exercises as the following:

a.  Read through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1–11, consider carefully what type of character they describe, and then ask yourself if this is what you want to be like.  (You could do the same exercise also for 1 Corinthians 13.)

b.  Read very carefully through the descriptions Paul gives of what serving the Lord Jesus and the church of God meant in real terms for him in the Roman Empire (2 Cor 4:8–11; 6:4–10); and ask yourself whether or not you are prepared for such service and suffering?

c.  Read one or more of the best poems/hymns which speak of utter and ready dedication to the Lord Jesus and ask yourself if you are prepared to make such commitment.  Here is one by Bishop T. Ken (1637–1711) originally written for boys to use each morning at Winchester College:

1  Awake my soul, and with the sun

Thy daily stage of duty run;

Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise

To pay thy morning sacrifice

 

2  Redeem thy mis-spent time that’s past

Live this day as if ‘twere thy last:

Improve thy talent with due care;

For the great Day thyself prepare.

 

3  Let all thy converse be sincere,

Thy conscience as the noon-day clear;

Think how all-seeing God thy ways

And all thy secret thoughts surveys.

 

4  By influence of the light Divine

Let thy own light in good works shine;

Reflect all heaven’s propitious ways

In ardent love and cheerful praise.

Part 2

5  Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,

And with the Angels bear thy part,

Who all night long unwearied sing

High praise to the eternal King.

 

6  Awake, awake, ye heavenly choir,

May your devotion me inspire,

That I like you my age may spend,

Like you may on my God attend.

Part 3

7  Glory to thee, who safe has kept

And hast refreshed me whilst I slept;

Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake

I may of endless light partake.

 

8  Heaven is, dear Lord, where’er thou art,

O never then from me depart;

For to my soul ‘tis hell to be

But for one moment void of thee.

 

9  Lord, I my vows to thee renew;

Scatter my sins as morning dew;

Guard my first springs of thought and will,

And with thyself my spirit fill.

10  Direct, control, suggest, this day

All I design, or do, or say;

That all my powers, with all their might,

In thy sole glory may unite.

 

11  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow,

Praise him, all creatures here below,

Praise him above, ye heavenly host,

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

Other hymns you could use could include ‘Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go’ by Charles Wesley, ‘O Jesus I have promised’ by John E. Bode, and ‘Fill thou my life, O Lord my God’ by Horatius Bonar.

Soul searching in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is very demanding.  However, the eyes that behold you are filled with love and encouragement.  The pain of letting go all that hinders the receiving of his love will soon be forgotten in the joy of experiencing that same love.

18

Personal Covenant

The time has come for a decision to be made – or heartily confirmed.  You will surely have decided that you want both to stand with Jesus and to walk in and with him in the path of holiness and righteousness, service and ministry.

What I urge you to do is to make a solemn covenant with the Lord, your God – or, rather bind yourself to the covenant which he in Christ Jesus has made with you.  The initiative has already been taken: I urge you to respond with all your soul.

To do this you need to allow space and time in order to make it a memorable occasion.  You must not be rushed but be able to think and pray calmly and reverently in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed.  I suggest that you proceed in this manner:

1.  Commit the place and time to God, asking him to bless you as you come before him.  And recall that he is with you in this very place at this specific time.

2.  Read Joshua 24 and meditate upon verses 21–22, ‘We will serve the Lord’.

3.  Read Hebrews 8 and 10:11–25 and meditate upon 10:22, ‘Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith ...’

4.  Recall the great facts of the gospel of God concerning Jesus – that God loves us, Christ suffered and died for us, that Christ rose from the dead and was exalted in heaven for us, that he sent the Holy Spirit to us to act on his behalf, that he will come again to judge the living and the dead, and that there will be a new age in the kingdom of God in which the righteous will dwell everlastingly.

Persuade your soul that God offers you his full salvation in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

5.  Make your response by a solemn covenant.  (I advise you to write it out so that you can recall it monthly or annually or whenever the occasion or need arises.)

The following may serve as a guide to the kind of covenant and engagement you will make.  Do not repeat it verbatim but adapt it to your own needs or reject it in favour of one you write wholly by yourself.  You may feel the need for a shorter or a longer form of commitment.  And, from time to time, you may feel guided by the Holy Spirit to amend your covenant in the direction of an even more explicit consecration of your whole self – body, mind and spirit – to the Lord Jesus.

O eternal and ever-blessed God.  I desire to present myself before you.  I fully recognise that I have been, and remain to this day, your sinful and disobedient creature.  There is no merit in me which brings me into your holy presence.  Indeed, who am I that I dare come before the King of all kings in order to make a covenant with him?  I am a mere mortal but I declare that the covenant I come to make is really yours and the invitation to make it is also yours.  You have offered it to me in and through your Son: and you have inclined my heart gratefully to accept it.

So I come as did the tax-collector who would only cry out, ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner’.  I come pleading nothing but the sacrificial blood of Jesus and his perfect righteousness.  For his sake I ask that you be merciful to me, now and always, O Lord God, sinner that I am.  For I am convinced of your absolute right to own me and I desire nothing so much as that you will claim me and make me wholly your own.  Make me, I pray, a worthy partner in your covenant of grace.

Today, the . . . . . . day of . . . . . .in the year . . . . . . being in a solemn and serious mood, I surrender myself to you.  I renounce all former lords and powers who have had dominion over me.  I reject Satan, evil and sin, and I consecrate all that I am and all that I have to you. I desire that I be used entirely for your glory and resolutely employed in obedience to your commands, as long as you give me life here on earth.  And I determine to hold myself always in an attentive posture to observe the first intimations of your will, and to be ready to spring forward, with zeal and joy, to the immediate execution of it.

I leave, O Lord, to your management and direction all I possess and all I wish; and I set every enjoyment and every interest before you to be disposed of as you please.  Continue or remove what you have given to me; bestow or refuse what I imagine I want as you, O Lord, shall see good.  And though I dare not say I will never complain; yet I truly hope I may venture to say that I will endeavour not only to submit but to acquiesce; not only to bear whatever you send or place upon me but also to consent to it and praise you for it; and always contentedly fusing my will with yours looking upon myself as nothing and upon you, O Lord, as the great eternal All.

I resolve, O my God, to be a faithful member of your Church, loving my brothers and sisters in Christ, serving them in whatever ways are appropriate for your kingdom, and submitting myself to their ministry, advice and direction.  I want all my human relationships to be sweetened by the love of Jesus.

Use me, O Lord, I beseech you as an instrument for your glory and in your service.  May I, through doing and suffering what you shall appoint, bring some revenue of praise to you and be of benefit to the world in which I dwell.  Let me be sanctified by your Spirit.  Transform me more and more into the image of your Son.  Impart to me through him all the needful influence of your purifying and comforting Spirit.  And let my life be spent under these influences and in the light of your gracious favour, as my Father and my God.

Dispose my affairs, O my God, in a manner which may be most subservient to your glory and my own true and genuine happiness.  And when I have done and borne your will on earth, call me, I pray, at what time and in what way you please into life beyond mortal death.

When the solemn hour of death comes may I remember this covenant – as I know you will remember it, O God, for Jesus Christ’s sake.  Embrace me at that sacred moment in your everlasting arms.  Put strength and confidence into my departing spirit.  And receive it into the abode of all those who rest in Jesus, peacefully and joyfully to await the accomplishment of your great promise to all your people – even that of a glorious resurrection and of eternal happiness in your heavenly presence.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now,

and shall be for ever.  Amen.

Signed . . . . . .

6.  Having solemnly repeated it before God and signed it in his holy presence, it is appropriate to spend time praising the name of the Lord.  For this purpose there is nothing better than the psalms of praise (145–50) which end the Psalter.

7.  Make a note in your diary to keep an anniversary of the signing of this covenant as a day of praise, prayer and fasting, in order to renew it in God’s presence.

8.  You may find it helpful to take it with you, say each month, to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (the meal of God’s covenant of grace), and there renew your commitment to the Lord’s covenant, sealed by his blood.

Epilogue

Since the third century of the Christian era the sisters Martha and Mary have been interpreted as symbols of two different but complementary aspects or dimensions of spirituality.  Let us read Luke 10:38–42 and then meditate upon the descriptions given there of the two sisters as they related to Jesus, the Messiah.

Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.  She came to him and asked, ‘Lord don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?  Tell her to help me!’

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’

Here to lead you in reflection is my own brief meditation.

A MEDITATION

Lord Jesus, I think I understand Martha.  For her your visit to her home was a rare and special occasion.  Nothing less than the best would do.  The house must be spotless, the table laid with the best crockery, the meal rich and varied, and the service first-class.  So she rushed and fussed and cooked.  There was much to do and she got herself all hot and bothered: and she felt worse because Mary did not share her passionate concern to make everything to be the very best whatever the cost.

Lord Jesus, I think I appreciate what you were looking for.  You were on your way to Jerusalem.  As God’s Messiah, called to fulfil the ministry of the Suffering Servant (Is 52–53) you knew you had to go up to Jerusalem and face the authorities there: you expected to be misunderstood, maltreated and executed.  There was much on your mind and much in your heart.  You did not want special food or an over-tidy house.  You desired a peaceful home, friendly appreciation, loving understanding and simple sustenance.  You looked for an oasis of calm where you could relax amongst sympathetic friends.

Lord Jesus, I think I understand Mary.  She realised that you were an extraordinary Rabbi, a very special teacher and master.  She knew that you had much to say and do for the Lord God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  She felt that great matters weighed upon your mind and heart and you wanted rest, peace and quiet.  And if you cared to talk then she wanted to be on hand to catch every word and treasure it.  So she decided that the best way to serve you was to sit at your feet, ready both to hear you and to do your bidding.

Lord Jesus, I think I appreciate what you said to Martha.  I must first of all, though, confess that I initially thought that you were rather rough with her when you said, ‘Mary has chosen what is better . . .’.  However, I now see that you did not want a sumptuous spread but a simple meal, not a lot of feverish activity but quiet sympathy and service, and not a spotless home, but attentive hearts.  You wanted love expressed according to your need and position (which Mary recognised) not according to Martha’s sincere but ill-conceived view.  You did not want one sister complaining about the other but two sisters truly waiting upon you as their Master.

Lord Jesus, I appreciate the symbolic truth expressed by each of the sisters.  Martha is so obviously the symbol of activity – getting up and getting on with it.  She represents the effort to love God in action.  In contrast, Mary is the symbol of loving attention – meditation, prayer, contemplation, worship, loving God with heart, soul and mind.

Further, I can see why the symbol of Mary has always been taken as having a priority over that of Martha (Mary having chosen the better role).  Before we engage in serving you we need to find out how you need to be served: we must sit at your feet before we can go off to do what you command.  We must hear from you before we can speak for you.

Lord Jesus, help me to get my priority right.  We live in a busy world where success implies always being active and mobile.  In fact there is a tendency to make activity an end in itself and thus to see time spent in contemplation of your glory as a pleasant but unnecessary diversion.  Help me, I pray, to get the balance right, to learn to contemplate you and hear from you before dashing off to do what I think you want to be done.  I need to learn of you and from you, for you are my Example and Saviour and Master. If in the guidance of your Spirit I imitate you then I shall happily combine the contemplative and active dimensions of spirituality.  Help me to do so, I pray.  Amen.

Appendix 1

The Literature of Christian Spirituality

Spirituality is all about living in Christ to the glory of God.  The literature generated by this response to God’s call to perfection, holiness and righteousness may be usefully divided into three basic kinds.

1.  Instruction and Exhortation.  The most famous books include The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Introduction to the Devout Life by Francis de Sales and William Law’s A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.  To these can be added many hundreds more.  My own contribution to this area is to edit the Guidebook to the Spiritual Life (1988) and write Meditating upon God’s Word (1988).  Great care is needed in using modern books for they often combine what may be called ‘Eastern’ methods with Christian insights and, thereby, sometimes remove themselves from the stream of basic Christian orthodoxy.

2.  Records of Christian experiences of and the response to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These can either be biographical or autobiographical; also they can take the form of journals or diaries.  The most famous book in this category is the Confessions of Augustine.  From the pen of a lady perhaps the most widely read is the Life by Teresa of Avila.  Others that are much treasured include the Journals of the two Wesley brothers, John and Charles, and of their contemporary, George Whitfield, as well as the Grace abounding to the chief of sinners by John Bunyan (from whom we also have, of course, Pilgrim's Progress).

To these can be added hundreds more of varying quality, both in their content and the style. It is wise to read the ‘classics’ first.

3.  Scientific/theological studies of spirituality.  From the Protestant side there is The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards and Das Gebet (= Prayer) by Friedrich Heiler, to name two well known ones.  From the Roman Catholic side there is a much richer supply of studies, the most recent in English by Jordan Aumann on Spiritual Theology.  The latter points to the important studies of John Arintero, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Auguste Poulain and Adolphe Tanquerey, most of which are available in English translations.  To these books need to be added the Dictionaries of Spirituality (for example, from G. Wakefield and C. Cary-Elwes) and the Study of Spirituality (ed. C. Jones, G. Wainwright and E. Yarnold).

Obviously this type of book is only for the student, pastor and theologically educated laity. It is rarely intended to inspire – merely to provide information and analysis.

Appendix 2

Perfectionism

There is a reluctance within classical Protestantism (Lutheranism, Presbyterianism and Anglicanism) to speak of Christian perfection.  This hesitancy has two sources.  First, the deep consciousness that as long as we remain in our mortal bodies in this world we can never be free from sin; and, secondly, opposition to the common claim made in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries that perfection comes through the taking of the monastic vows of chastity, celibacy and obedience.  Both these themes appear in the first great Protestant Confession of Faith, the Augsburg Confession (1530), which is primarily the work of Martin Luther.

Article 27 is entitled ‘Monastic Vows’.  In it we read this about Christian perfection:

The commands of God and true and proper service of God are obscured when people are told that monks alone are in a state of perfection.  For this is Christian perfection: that we fear God honestly with our whole hearts, and yet have sincere confidence, faith and trust that for Christ’s sake we have a gracious, merciful God: that we may and should ask and pray God for those things of which we have need, and confidently expect help from him in every affliction connected with our particular calling and station in life; and that meanwhile we do good works for others and diligently attend to our calling.  True perfection and right service of God consist of these things and not of medicancy or wearing a black or gray cowl . .

There are several important themes here.  For example, the emphasis that each is to serve God in her/his calling (as parent, butcher, farmer, peasant, teacher and so on) by doing it as unto the Lord, in a state of justification by faith, is fundamental to the whole Protestant teaching on vocation.  To be called by God to be a farmer is as important as being called to be an ordained minister and in each vocation the aim is the same – to serve God faithfully.  ‘It is perfection for each of us with true faith to obey his own calling’; and ‘All men, whatever their calling, ought to seek perfection; that is, growth in the fear of God, in faith, in the love of their neighbour, and similar spiritual virtues’.

From this definition of Christian perfection there developed no particular tradition in Lutheranism of speaking of Christian perfection – and the same is true both of Calvinism (Presbyterianism) and the Church of England in its Protestant expression.  It was too open to misunderstanding both from a Catholic and a radical Protestant position.  The Augsburg Confessions not only condemns Catholic teaching on monastic vows but also Anabaptist (= radical, sectarian Protestantism of the 16th century) on perfectionism.  ‘Our churches condemn the Anabaptists who deny that those who have once been justified can lose the Holy Spirit, and also those who contend that some may attain such perfection in this life that they cannot sin’ (Article 12).  Similar teaching on the second point can be found in the Calvinist Confessions of Faith.

However, alongside this popular expression of the Christian ideal there is within Protestantism a more firmly and historically grounded doctrine of Christian perfection.  This may be traced back to the great medieval theologian, Thomas Aquinas, and his treatise De Perfectione.  In this he teaches that Christian perfection, to which Christ calls his disciples, is nothing less than the perfect loving of God and the neighbour.  He also teaches that the best way to this goal is through taking the monastic vows.  The emphasis on perfect love was taken up by the Anglican, William Law, in his book Treatise on Christian Perfection (1726) and other publications.  These were most carefully read by John and Charles Wesley (along with such other books as The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis) and together they sent forth into Britain and the whole world an evangelical doctrine of Christian Perfection, with strong roots in the medieval, Catholic tradition.  Naturally, they abandoned the idea of monastic vows and they also added the significant teaching that the way to Christian Perfection is normally via a second experience of God’s grace, when the heart is purified and filled with the love of God.

John’s teaching is set out in his A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777) and Charles’ is found in many of his hymns.  For example, in the last verse of ‘O for a heart to praise my God’ we read:

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;

Come quickly from above,

Write Thy new name upon my heart,

Thy new best name of love.

It is not absolute perfection and it is not sinlessness.  It is a state of no habitual sin and of a positive loving of God and the neighbour without hesitation and with joy.  This teaching is still officially that of the Methodist Church and it has been adopted by modern denominations which have sprung from Methodist connexions or roots.  Mainline Protestants who reject the Wesleyan doctrine usually do so because they hold that it tends to view sin as a cancer that can be ‘cut out’ of the heart, whereas, they would argue, sin is more like a poison than is in the very blood and bone-marrow and can only be reduced and neutralised, never removed.

The impact of the charismatic movement has been felt in virtually all denominations.  However, it has not added anything significant in terms of the call of Christ to be perfect.  This is perhaps because the being baptised in/with/by the Holy Spirit is seen primarily in terms of a baptism and infilling of the Spirit who brings spiritual gifts as well as power to witness for Christ. The call to perfection and holiness is recognised (especially by charismatics in the mainline Protestant denominations) as being a call to a continuing commitment and consecration and to a gradual growth in the Christian virtues.  But this call is given new urgency and relevance by the baptism in/with/by the Spirit.

However, where the charismatic movement has affected groups and denominations who already had an emphasis upon a second work of grace (‘the second blessing’) then the baptism in/with/by the Spirit has fused with this to be the ‘appointed’ way of entry both into the exercise of spiritual gifts and the life of perfect love.  (For those who wish to delve deeper in this matter I recommend M. J. Dieter, The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century, 1980; V. Synan, The HolinessPentecostalist Movement in the United States, 1971; H. Lindström , Wesley and Sanctification , 1946; and B . B. Warfield, Perfectionism, 1920.)

As a postscript the reader may be interested in my own resolution of this question of, What is perfection?  First of all, it is necessary that we have a right view of sin and see it as affecting every part of our soul (mind, heart, will) and body; further, it affects those parts of the mind and heart of which I am not conscious.  So it is hardly like a cancer in one place that can by painful surgery be removed.  In the second place, a person who, through the help of the indwelling Spirit, is actually loving God more positively and joyfully and delighting to serve the neighbour in loving action will also continue to know and feel her/his sinfulness – and to feel it more intensely.  This is because the Spirit is revealing how deeply ingrained in the human personality is sin: thus ‘saints’ see themselves as the worst of sinners.  However, thirdly, it is possible to reach the state of not habitually sinning (this is taught in 1 John – those who are truly born of God do not commit sin).  Yet as the mind is enlarged in spiritual understanding, and the conscience through the illumination of the Spirit becomes more tender, the scope of what is seen as sin will increase and so the habit of not sinning will cover a wider spectrum of thinking, feeling and doing.  There is no limit to this enlargement of understanding and resolve.