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| Church leadership & Spiritual Formation |
Resolutely a Christian!
“….there is an infinite
difference between the pastor whose heart is set on being a professional and
the pastor whose heart is set on being the aroma of Christ….”
John Piper
It’s more than
just a habit
How vast should be the
influence of ‘Christian-ism’ on the entire being of a person! If we combine the
personal, the religious and social life (throw in the academic part as well), we
pretty much have covered all the corners of ones life. Well, most aspects anyway.
In essence, the positive influence of the Christian ethical understanding and its
spirituality on these areas can and should be life transforming. The other side
of the coin naturally suggest that the misguided influence of ethics and
spirituality on these areas of life can be utterly destructive. The deduction
can therefore be made that true Christian-ism (Christian Ethics and
spirituality) – correctly applied – could be a powerful weapon against evil.
Too often I have had broken people sitting at my desk saying: “If these people call themselves Christians
then I do not want to be a Christian anymore!” Spirituality is most often
understood as “our experience of God”
and what transformation these experiences have on our personal lives. But
spirituality needs to be much more than just the private interaction we have
with our Lord. Christian Ethics and Spirituality
entails much more than the mere forming of the good ‘habits’ of faith. Weekly
Church attendance, the ability to sing most of the hymns by heart or the quotation
of vast passages from the Bible does not make one a ‘spiritual’ person. If this
was true our ‘good habits’ would not estrange people from our presence. Interesting
enough though the word ‘spiritual’ has the ability to conjure up some pretty
serious reactions! We as ‘traditional Christians’ tend to immediately slap on
some kind of New Age warning label on the word ‘spiritual’ for it is far too
often associated with the reading of cards and crystal balls. Bradley Holt very
prudently asks in his book Thirsty for God:
“Is Christian Spirituality an oxymoron?”
for he states that many people see spirituality as an alternative to
Christianity. How often we encounter people who would say: “I am not religious
- but I am spiritual!” This comment is 99% of the time simply a refusal to
wholly surrender to the Deity. People don’t want to be obedient to only one
God, connect to a faith community and become part of the complete body of
Christ. Therefore they refer to themselves as ‘spiritual and free’ in order to
avoid being ‘imprisoned’ by the Church!
Within the scriptures we find that those who lived their lives
connected to the Almighty God are regarded as the spiritual giants of faith. By
studying their lives we can come to only one conclusion: that being spiritual
simply means that you are living a life that is reflective of the beauty of
God’s character. Therefore ‘good Christian habits’ can be an upright starting
point. But the Christian realm is filled with people who have ‘good Christian
habits’ and yet the Church is still plagued with sin – grievous and appalling
sins! Are our Churches no longer vessels of the good news – a compass for the
lost? Have we missed the boat? Why are our churches beset with mean or even
unethical people? Or maybe the question should rather be why these unethical and spiritual bankrupt behaviour within the
church are tolerated? I was impressed by a quote of Ron Smith that was shared
with me some time ago: “There was a time
when people went to Church, listened to the truth and wept over their sins –
today people go to church, hear a motivational speech and ignore their sins.”
What a profound statement! Christianity (or as I love to refer to it as
Christian-ism) has to be much more than a habit. It must be a character
transforming mission – there has to be a decision to be resolutely a Christian!
So is your Jesus different
from my Jesus?
Could it be that our churches are failing in their part of the moral
formation of the individual? A book well worth reading is that of Louise
Kretzschmar entitled: What Is a Good
Life? In this publication she tackles the basic concept of ethics as the understanding
of what is right and what is good. Within this framework will then develop a character
that will be known for its ethical lifestyle and decision making. Eventually we
are to be regarded as individuals that became the moral pillars of society.
This all sound very good on paper and is definitely easier said than done. Maybe
the answer lies in the proper understanding of the entire process of moral
formation. The framework or source that
we gather our moral guidance from as Christians should ideally be the Word of
God – the Bible. Yet with the vast array of interpretations of the scriptures I
am starting to wonder if we are all reading the same book? Is your Jesus then
different from my Jesus? Is the moral and spiritual growth that is to take
place in every Christian then subject to an optional variety depending on
culture, generation or gender?
It is a fact that we are subjected to the influences of our culture
groups and social environments. Can it be that we are compromising our Christian
moral values and spiritual growth because of prescribed behavior as dictated
by our pears, cultural history and social surroundings? If we make the decisive
decision to become resolutely Christian we will be forced to analyse our own moral
identity. I will have to determine what it is that motivates me to be moral. Am
I simply scared of punishment? Or do I hope to receive some award for good
behaviour? Will I be willing to take a stand for Biblical morality - or simply
put – do I have moral courage? As Christians we regard Jesus Christ as our
supreme example for He provided a model that guides us to pure living and His
teaching regarding moral values is found in abundance within His Word. If I as
a Christian choose to follow His example and teaching I will be able to shape a
Christ-like character as I allow the Holy Spirit to breach my own arrogance and
selfishness. Would you not agree that
this will make us valuable assets to society and even to our own cultures?
It will be good to note at this point that our efforts to become
sensible, moral human beings must not be compromised by the onset of moralism.
We cannot try to impress God by our behavior in order to buy His acceptance
and love with legalistic efforts. Hence the beautiful quote of John Piper in
his book Brothers, we are not Professionals,
where he stresses the urgency to seek the beauty of God’s character: “The world sets the agenda of the
professional man, God sets the agenda of the spiritual man…..there is an
infinite difference between the pastor who’s heart is set on being a
professional and the pastor who’s heart is set on being the aroma of Christ.”
Even though this quotation is referring to pastors or clergy we have to accept
that as Christians we are all shepherds of the flock of this world. In essence
we all have the same calling … “be the
salt of the earth!”
Facing
spiritual and moral failure: Bankrupt churches
The effects that the separation of spirituality and ethics has on
Church life are alarming. Spiritual leaders may be highly educated with regards
to subjects of Theology and doctrines and yet have little or no idea as how to
spiritually guide their flock. If Church leaders do not know how to direct and
facilitate their members through the moral formation process their ‘spiritual
children’ might never grow beyond adolescence. Religion will become nothing
more than a hobby. Something the members can pick up and play with when they
are in the mood for it and pack away and push aside when it becomes boring or
is no longer convenient.
These Churches are usually riddled with unrest and infighting.
People want to govern the Church like their businesses in the corporate world.
It becomes ‘my Church’ and no longer
‘God’s Church.’ When a congregation
is so focused on the selfishness of religious habits they usually have little
or no care for the society they form part off. The programs that are organized (as
so called outreach to the society) will usually form part of some kind of
propaganda or a lavish commercial overload in order to tap each other on the
shoulder for the ‘good deeds that the Church have done.’
Whenever we are transferred to a new Pastoral district my husband
will ask the leaders of the congregations: “When
was the last time you as a congregation did something for the community simply
because you love them? Without having the motive of ‘making new members’ or having
an ‘it’s time they hear the truth’ attitude!’” Loving, caring churches will
accomplish much more for the Kingdom of Heaven than the baptismal statistics we
so proudly parade at our meetings will ever do!
Even more dangerous is the fact that spiritual bankruptcy will lead
to moral failure and this will result in the sad truth that the impoverished
members of this church will never truly understand the meaning of ‘being the
salt of the Earth’. It is only when we are spiritually healthy and mature and
our moral values portray the beauty of God’s character that we will realize that
true evangelism is the unconditional spreading of God’s love by purposefully
‘being’ Jesus to someone who does not deserve it. The Church will be the safe
haven where humble people come to worship their Maker and form friendships that
will last an eternity! How sad that there are lonely people in our churches.
How sad that we are so busy ‘running’ the church that we do not have time to notice
the broken and the weak? We love slapping our members with Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but continually
be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to
determine what God's will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.” Morally
and spiritually our churches are just as bankrupt as the corporate world. This
serves as proof enough that we completely misunderstand this piece of
scripture. We only read the “Do not be
conformed to this world” part and connect it to ridiculous man-made labels,
rules and pharisaic prescriptions of what a good and proper Christian man and
women should look like, dress like, eat and not eat… and sadly we become a
stench of revolting arrogance rather than being the ‘aroma of God’… and God
church is left full of empty people – spiritually bankrupt.
Sanctification does not come with the baptismal certificate ...
Already as a child I heard the word ‘sanctification’ being preached, discussed and debated in the
Church. The entire concept and true meaning if this ‘big word’ escaped me for
far too long in my life. I understood the basic definition that it had something
to do with the ‘road to holiness’ but
as a young Christian I must admit that this also did not make much sense to me.
It was only when I grasped that sanctification is the spiritual formation (and
with this term I include ethical and moral formation) of the Christian, that
there was suddenly a light at the end of a still very long tunnel. Somehow we
have this idea that sanctification is supposed to come with the baptismal
certificate! It is in fact a practical learning process in which we as Christians
are brought to spiritual and ethical maturity to function in this world with
dignity, with integrity and with comfortable security in the knowledge that we
do not have to walk this road alone. Sanctification, or for that matter,
spiritual formation, is the positive growth process that has to take place in
every relational aspect of my life – my relationship with God, with myself,
with my fellow human being and even with creation. It is the process where I
become acutely aware of the presence of God and I longingly put in the effort
to attain the character of Christ. In order for me to reach this goal there is
a number of aspects I have to consider. And self-examination will become a
constant part of my daily life and spiritual journey.
Moral norms and values are the basic rules in society that we
conform to as it dictates acceptable behaviour. As Christians we look at the
Ten Commandments and passages like Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6 and we regard it
almost like as a compass that will steer us towards the perfect character of
God. For a Christian, moral norms and values are synonym to the label
‘Christianity’ and therefore we tend to be very disappointed in and also very
critical towards those that dare to use this title and live a life
contradictory. Yet the list of proper norms and values seem to be endless and
also differ as we go from different culture groups and even different
generations. So can there be a ‘set’ of norms and values that form the basic
foundation?
Albert Nolan gave four values that he regards as essential:
- 1. Sharing of money and possessions.
- 2. Honouring human dignity.
- 3. Loyalty to God above cultural demands.
- 4. A warning against the abuse of power.
In addition to these Nolan adds the following as list of Christian
values: goodness, gratitude, honesty, justice, peace, mercy, faith, humility,
love and hope. (Seems that Nolan spend
some time with Galatians 5!) Plato, the Greek philosopher, set aside four
cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. (A virtue is described as moral values and
norms that have been practised so fervently that it became not only a habit but
a character trait.) This is the evidence of a character that understood the
responsibility of actions.
We have already established that the social surroundings we grow up
in have a profound influence on who and what we become. As children we are
guided by the examples of our parents and later on by the schools we attend and
the churches we visit. This is a very important concept for especially parents
to understand. The idea that a child must do as I say and not do as I do is therefore
a ridiculous notion. We learn by example and our moral formation will be
greatly influenced by the examples of our peers.
Permit me to make a strong statement… A person who has good morals is
not necessarily spiritually healthy as well. But a person who is without good
morals can never be regarded as a spiritually strong disciple of Christ. Do we
understand this statement? We are often fooled by people who have ‘good
Christian habits’ (attend church regularly; sing in the choir; give children’s
classes…etc.). But their mouths are like acid pools and their eyes like
piercing knives. We as Christians lead by example and how can we be ambassadors
of the most High God if our lives are marred by unethical and immoral
behavior?
I was impressed by the contributions of the two authors, Dietrich
Bonhoeffer and Dallas Willard with regards to the concept of Christian
discipleship. The excellent publication “The cost of discipleship” (written by
Bonhoeffer) and the profound portrayal of the cost of non-discipleship (as
discussed by Willard in his book The
Great Omission) are both topics that have opened my mind towards the
reality of Christian accountability.
It is of utmost importance (and high time!) that we as Christians accept the
responsibility of guiding others to the character of God; to be a mentor to the
world by resolutely being a Christian! But this cannot be done if we as the
vessels are not accountable disciples ourselves. For it is very possible to be
in the work of the Lord and causing more harm than good…
I have personally made the mistake of trying to live a life for God
without first allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me through the inner growth to
discipleship. Without this inner growth we become very arrogant in our faith.
It is through the inner guidance that we become quite and humble enough to
acknowledge the fact we still need to grow spiritually and the realization that
we cannot accomplish this on our own. Within this personal expedition we
discover our weaknesses and we are forced to acknowledge the fact that we have
to move beyond the ‘annoyances’ of live in order to reach a level of maturity
that will make us assets to the work of God and a gift to His creation.
Taming the inner rebel – admitting there are some faulty
‘wiring’
The four most important tasks we have to aid us in the road to
balanced discipleship are the study of God’s word, prayer, meditation and
fasting. As Christians living in a sinful world we are also subject to the
temptations of live which is best described in Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the actions of the flesh are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, envy,
murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now,
as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.” This might be one of the most powerful
summaries of unethical and immoral conduct and the consequence thereof in the
Word of God.
The power of prayer, fasting,
study and meditation on God’s Word must not be unknown to the Christian. The taming
if the inner rebel that hides within each and every one of us can only be
accomplished by drawing from this power. We will learn to listen to the heart
of God. The silent whisper of the Holy Spirit will become part of our lives and
we will never even contemplate starting or ending a day without acknowledging
and honoring the presence of the Savior in our midst. Spiritual, moral and
ethical formation is an ongoing process of growth and it requires a commitment
to listen to the guiding voice of God though His Holy Spirit. The greatest
challenge is to admit the ‘faulty wiring’ in one’s behavior and to be mature
and responsible enough to make the changes. This will result in a life that
will be remembered by it unselfishness, its kindness and its high moral values.
A person of integrity and wisdom is of great value to society, to the church
and to their own family. There is not a greater legacy to leave behind than
that of a good example. May this be our prayer and may this be our
accomplishment through the power of Christ.
Resolutely a Christian!
So what shall we end off with? How does this declaration fall on
your ears – to be resolutely a Christian? I made the comment about people
sitting at my desk proclaiming the fact that there are individuals who wear the
label of ‘Christian’ but bear the character of Satan and thus the world is
constantly pointing to the tarnished reputation of Christianity and the rest of
us, who are desperately clinging to the robe of Christ with all that we have,
are inadvertently lumped in with the culprits! Do you also feel that way?
Or do we all, who shadow ourselves beneath the wings of Christendom,
in a way stand guilty before the One Whose Name we so negligently carry? For we
make the mistake to think that it is the reputation of ‘Christianity’ that is
smeared – referring to the human element of this movement. When in fact, with
every unethical or immoral action we as Christians are found guilty of we are
offending, dishonoring and utterly ruining the image of the Almighty God on
this earth. And when our church leaders fail to act upon such grievous actions
and our churches become nothing more than weekly entertainment centers, we
should not be surprised if God withdraws His Holy Spirit from such a place. For
we then have become useless to our commission: Mathew 28:19-20: “Go ye
therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you:
and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”.
We like to refer to our churches as hospitals for the sick but the
question must be asked: “Are the
spiritually sick actually healing in our midst or are we just cultivating worse
illnesses?” It’s a horrific question to ask but as leaders I believe is
imperative that we regularly analyse the spiritual, ethical and moral health of
our churches. As leader in God’s church I beseech you to surrender wholly to
the One that died in order that we might live. Seek once again you ‘first love’
(Revelation 2:4). Toil in the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let
Him guide you as leader in the role you have to fulfil in the spiritual
formation of His children. Leadership in our communities, in our families and
in our churches requires us to grow beyond adolescence that are marked by silly
selfishness and ridiculous temper tantrums. Surrender completely and take time for
prayer, fasting, studying and contemplating of the word of God. Seek wisdom
like never before! For the day I fear most will be the day Jesus shows me how a
soul was lost because of my negligence, my arrogance or maybe my stubborn
refusal to took time to guide this person (or persons!) through the spiritual
formation (sanctification) process. Being the hands of Jesus to them. Being the
encouraging voice of Christ to them. But most of all – teaching them to be
accountable to their faith when they so willingly PIN the title of CHRISTIAN on
their lapel.
In closing I echo the words of John Piper once again: “Brothers we are not professionals.... The world sets the agenda of the
professional man, God sets the agenda of the spiritual man…..there is an
infinite difference between the pastor who’s heart is set on being a
professional and the pastor who’s heart is set on being the aroma of Christ”. What
will you chose today? If you want to be a ‘professional’ – find a career in the
corporate or political world! If you chose to be the aroma of Christ...
surrender all ambition in the realization that being a Christian means you are
a follower, a disciple of the Most High God. Therefore, making the choice to be
resolutely a Christian will remove you from the spotlights, take you from the
stages and confiscate all your titles. But it will provide you with an Armour
through which no attack from Satan can penetrate! It will season you with the
love of Christ that will empower you to be the SALT of the earth! And your example,
your spiritual transformation, your high ethical and moral standards will serve
as a personal written letter from God to a bankrupt world desperately in need
of guidance. Wouldn’t you surrender today and become resolutely a Christian?
Bibliography (Take some time and read
these books!)
Holt, Bradley, P. 1993. Thirsty
for God. Minneapolis: Augsburg: 1-13
Piper, J. 2013. Brothers, we are
not professionals. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group.
Nolan, A. 1982. Biblical
Spirituality. Springs: The Order of Preachers of Southern Africa.
Bonhoeffer, D. 1998. The Cost of
Discipleship. Simon and Schuster. USA.
Willard, D. 2014. The Great
Omission. Lion Hudson. PLC
Kretzschmar, L. & van Niekerk, A. (2009). What is a good life? AcadSA Publishing
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