Authentic Christianity?
I’ve just been reading an article in the Catholic e-zine Eureka Street with the title “In bed with the secular spirit” ( go to article here). It begins with a quote from a Catholic college teacher bemoaning “Some of my students turn to Madonna for spiritual inspiration … and they’re not thinking of the mother of Jesus”. In response to this, the author explores what it means to be on a spiritual search in a secular age which has developed a culture of authenticity. You need to read it for yourself. I was stimulated to make two responses, one more surface response to the teacher quoted, but the other arising from a deeper place within.
The immediate response was to say to the teacher, “How are you exploring this issue with your students?”. The underlying tone of her comment suggested to me that deep down the teacher wanted to say to her students that they were on the wrong path. But I want to say that rather than becoming exasperated with those who seem to be seeking spiritual guidance or nurture in what we might (falsely) claim to be secular places, we need to be exploring with them both their questions and the answers they seem to be getting from such sources. What hope, what meaning, what insight about life, what understanding of God are they discovering in Madonna? Let’s join them on that journey and we all may learn from each other about deeper things.
But my other response, coming from my own search, is to say that alongside this journeying with people, we need to be able to say what we have discovered that is authentic for us. For me, that is the search to discover what is uniquely Christian. What is it about the life of Jesus that, if lived out in my life or the communities of faith in which I belong, would make a difference – a difference that would not otherwise be present? This came into focus last Sunday as my wife and I led worship with minister Leanne at Blackwood Uniting. The gospel reading for the day was a series of images that Jesus gave us about the kingdom of heaven (with apologies to those who find “kingdom” language unhelpful – but that’s what Matthew has Jesus call it in his gospel). As we explored those images in worship, we were challenged to find one key word that encapsulated our understanding of God’s kingdom. I listened to all the responses that came from congregation members and wondered which of them was unique i.e. do we Christians have an exclusive handle on love, compassion, justice, etc.? For the record, the word I offered was “hope” but I’m still exploring in my mind why I thought that was the critical answer.
Journeying with others on the spiritual quest is vital, no matter how we would judge their sources. But even more vital is that we carry with us, and share appropriately the sources, questions, and answers that are leading us towards what we hope is an authentic following of Jesus.
Posted by Rob
Mission Resourcing Network said,
July 31, 2008 at 3:51 am
Thanks for your thoughts on this Rob. It got me thinking about the Willow Creek research (published in a book titled Reveal) looking at how people grow spiritually and how, after surveying 11,000 people, finding that coming to church was not, on it’s own, very likely to help people grow spiritually. They came to the conclusion that the church needs to be more of a “spiritual coach” rather than a “spiritual parent” – which fits with what you’ve said (I think) about journeying with people and being prepared to explore with them what it is that is engaging them.
Louise
Mission Resourcing Network said,
July 31, 2008 at 7:24 am
Apparently the Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton once said to a group of monks, “before you can have a spiritual life, you have to have a life!”
I dont think he was meaning before you can come and be a monk you need to go out and live it up in the real world. i think he was saying that we find our spiritual lives in the “secular” one, the one we live in, in the world we live in.
LJ