Jason's Blog

Yesterday, I read an “evolving thought” at evotional.com on spiritual growth.  The idea was that to grow spiritually we need at least 2 kinds of people in our lives:  1) a mentor that is closer to God than we are and 2) “a relationship with someone far away from God.”

This may sound strange at first, but there is some truth in it.  We often find out what we really believe as we encounter those who don’t hold our values.  This darkness should drive us to the flame – to the light of God’s love.

Robert Wilken has rightly observed that the first three or four generations of Christians came to know what they truly believed as they shared their faith with the Roman world.

[The early conversations between Christians and pagans] helped Christian thinkers to see the difficulties of the positions they adopted, to grasp the implications of Christian belief earlier than would have been possible if they had talked only among themselves- in short, to understand the very tradition they were defending. That Christianity became the object of criticism by the best philosophical minds of the day at the same time when Christians were forging an intellectual tradition of their own was a powerful factor in setting Christian thought on a sound course. Christian theology took shape in dialogue and discussion with alternative points of view (The Christians as the Romans Saw Them, 2nd Edition, Yale University Press, 2003): 200.

I know what you’re thinking.  Are you crazy Jason? Are you suggesting that we might benefit from being around the world? Haven’t you read the invitations of wisdom and folly? Aren’t you the least bit concerned that listening to the world might drag you into the darkness?

The answer is of course, yes. I recognize that spiritual growth in the darkness is impossible. That’s why every strong Christian needs a mentor in the faith.  But the conversation with the world should drive us deeper into Truth – into Growth – into Life.

What do you think?

A friend of mine, James Nored, recently asked a class about the spiritual value of bible class.   The group almost unanimously agreed that Bible classes don’t change behavior.  Why is this?  Is God’s Word less effective today?  Of course not!

The reason that lives don’t change is because we don’t let the truth really shape our habits and tendencies.  We permit our experience of God (and the Holy Spirit) to penetrate only the surface our lives.

If we have made a commitment to change, one of the next key steps is knowing ourselves.  How well do I really want to know what is going on in me.

Our action in any given moment are controlled by habits that we have developed.  These tendencies and dispositions “double back” on themselves and become self reinforcing.  In simple terms, our prejudices run the show.

We will only change if these deeper habits and beliefs are addressed.  Sounds easy right?  Hardly.

Too often, we fail to confront what is really going on deep down in our minds and souls.

This is especially true in Bible classes (and other public settings) where we don’t really condition ourselves to be open to change.  I find that adults are pretty guarded in public– they put up their defenses so that they don’t look foolish or out of place.

What do you think about these issues?