Spiritual Practices at Home: The Practice of Sabbath

One of the essential spiritual practices of the Christian life in general and of living the faith at home, is the practice of Sabbath. This has its origins in the Old Testament “Where God rested on the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2-3, NRSV). This became one of the defining marks of faith in the one God, the keeping of this seventh day of rest, “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath…you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:8-10). That’s found in that top ten list, remember? 

Sunday became the Sabbath (versus Saturday) for Christians. Some of you will recall or recall relatives reminiscing about a time when, in North American anyway, things shut down on Sunday as a way of honoring the importance of Sabbath and communal worship. For the most part, that time is over; which means, it is even more important that we create times for Sabbath in our homes and our lives. If you don’t, the world will gladly eat up all your time with its noise, with its screens, and with its endless offerings and demands (Netflix anyone…). 

Sabbath is about rest and renewal. Sabbath is about creating space to be restored in one’s relationship with God, with others, and with all of creation. It is a time for joy. It’s a time for respite. It is a time for re-creating the life of God in you. The old meaning behind our word, recreation. It is a time for making expensive gifts to your pastor (Just making sure you were reading carefully). Sitting in front of a screen and being numbly entertained may be a welcome way of winding down, but does it restore us? Does it bring you together with those you love? 

It might, but it might also be a convenient way to ignore the real issues in our homes, hearts, and relationships (including with God). Yes, to a movie night, but what about a weekly unplugged night? No screens. Just people. Just a book. Just a walk. You could have a daily hour of reading where all in the home read. Resurrecting Sunday night family dinners is also a way of practicing Sabbath (as our date nights for couples). Maybe Sundays (after worship) you dedicate to family and friends. How are you doing with this or how might you begin? 

Spiritual Practices at Home: The Practice of Prayer

One of the essential spiritual practices of the Christian life in general and of living the faith at home, is the practice of prayer. A trait that should mark a “Christian home” is a home that is marked by regular prayer. Prayer is one of the chief means by which we pursue our relationship with God. Prayer is one of the chief means, perhaps the most fruitful and faithful, of inviting God into the nooks and crannies of our hurts and joys, pleasures and annoyances (Praying in traffic comes to mine). Prayer isn’t meant to be a pause from life, but part of life. 

Faithful discipleship involves the cultivation of faithful habits. We are creatures accustomed to and stubbornly inclined toward habituation. Creating routines of prayer in the home can help open ourselves to the often hidden, sometimes surprising, sparks of the Holy Spirit. One way of doing this is by praying in regular spots on a regular basis. Praying grace at meals or at least one meal, is a way of doing this. It’s also an easy way to start. Another is when you get up in the morning and when you go to sleep at night (or can’t sleep at night). 

After all, many people when trying to get up in the morning or prior to sleeping at night invoke the Lord’s name. (Often vigorously!). Expand it into a regular prayer. The great teachers of the spiritual life across the Christian Tradition recommend a daily time of prayer. For most people, this is probably best done at home. Maybe you have a prayer chair or family altar where you can have your “quiet time” with the Lord. It need not be long, being consistent for two minutes a day is better than occasionally praying for twenty minutes but then not again for a week. 

If you are praying with others, like a significant other, roommates, or the terrors of cuteness that we call children, you will need to adapt your prayer to what works for all. This may mean shorter and simpler types of prayer. That’s fine. Some families have a custom of Bible reading and prayer (“family devotions”) once a week or briefly at night, including some households that pray some form of the Daily Office or Compline. A home marked by prayer is a home opening itself to the love of God. How are you doing with this or how might you begin?

Spiritual Practices at Home: The Practice of Reminder

One of the essential spiritual practices of the Christian life in general and of living the faith at home, is the practice of reminder. “Out of sight, out of mind” is well-worn aphorism, because of its veracity. In our screen infested age, we might also say, “Screen in sight, no sight of mind.” This is due to the screen’s phenomenal power to capture our mind’s attention, obliterating the world around us. The practice of reminder is all about reminding ourselves of the reality of God and the reality of our commitment to the God of love revealed in Jesus Christ. 

This is more than simply a reminder, such as a post it-note on the refrigerator door or stapled to the dog’s tail (I apologize, the Cat Lovers of Canada requested I include that line). This is a symbolic reminder. We are symbol hungry and symbol making creatures. Nobody needs to tell us this. Nobody needs to tell people to decorate their homes with items that reflect who they are and what they value. Family pictures, movie posters, and so on. Yet, I ask, are there any symbols of the faith displayed in your home? (Red Sox pennants don’t count, close, but no!)

There is a long tradition of Eastern Christians displaying icons in their home, sometimes called an icon wall. In the West, there is the long and wonderful custom of a family altar. A small altar or devotional space that includes saints’ pictures, prayers, and is often changed to reflect the season of the Church year. In more Protestant circles, a prominently displayed family Bible and sometimes also, Bible verses. Among Anglican Christians, a visible Book of Common Prayer. Among Lutherans, a displayed casserole (Yes, that was joke. I prefer Lutefisk, anyway.)

It is not necessary to have a full chapel in your home (though some people have these, really), but it is wise to have some holy reminders, some symbols of the faith, to remind you of your Christian faith. In fact, the idea is for them to be less churchy and more-homey or less gathered church and more domestic church. Let it reflect your personality and any others in your household. Be as creative as you like. There are lots of resources out there. Start small. How are you doing with this or how might you begin?

Spiritual Practices at Home, intro

This Advent, I’ll be writing a three-part blog series, “Spiritual Practices at Home.” Advent is a wonderful season of the Church year for home observance with its Advent wreaths, calendars, and more. But here is the big secret…all the seasons of the Christian year are wonderful for home observance! Growth in discipleship, the pursuit of spirituality maturity, is an adventure of integrating faith in Christ with every aspect of our lives. Our homes, whether a humble room or grand house, influence us immensely and usually reflect ourselves in ways flattering and not so flattering (Really, it’s time to take down that M.C. Hammer poster.) 

Bringing your faith to bear visibly in the most intimate spaces of your life is an important step forward in the journey of Christian discipleship. Home observance of the faith is for all Christians. Certainly, there are practices that lend themselves to family life (in all the wonderful and weary forms it can take), but whether by yourself, with roommates, your significant other, your animal friend, or a house full of small people, the riches of our Christian heritage for daily life are immense. 

When observed faithfully, not perfectly, not dramatically, but regularly, over the months and years, they can serve as quiet shapers of our souls and steady channels of God’s grace, transforming us day by day into people of greater Spirit and Love. Are there particular aspects of home practice you are hoping I explore? (Perhaps the exorcism of that space filled with stuff you haven’t looked at in years?) Do you have recommendations or suggestions to make? They are always most welcome. Please share them as move through the series. 

A Serving Community

This Lent, I’m exploring Five Characteristics of Christian Community in series of sermons as well as reflecting upon these themes here. You can listen to the sermon on a Christian community being a serving community here. Service. Servanthood. Often people have a general sense that this is the sort of thing churches are doing or should be doing. The Church today has a mixed reputation on the street. Some bring only negative stereotypes, but others have a sense that even if churches are filled with old odd people or they believe in strange things, they do some good things. In fact, this is true! To some extent, every local church should be a center for community service.

However, the Church serves in Jesus name. The church serves as part of its faith commitment. The church serves and individual Christians serve, because of the Great Commandment of our Lord, “Love God, Love Neighbor” (Matthew 22:34-40). Churches and Christians can fall into two ditches along the serving highway. First, if we are not careful, we can give the impression that we are only helping people or doing good things in order to get people “saved” or to up attendance numbers at our Sunday services. Serving must be done in the spirit of Jesus which is a spirit that serves first and foremost for the sake of the person or the sake of the community’s betterment. No one enjoys being anyone’s project. If you are going to help, help because it’s what we should be doing as Christians and help because it’s the right thing to do.

Second, if we are not careful, we can give the impression that we are simply nice people who like to do nice things for others. In fact, we serve others in Christ’s name. In fact, what motivates our compassion and sustains us along the weary road of fighting poverty, reducing violence, empowering women, and a thousand other good causes, is our faith. There is an art to serving others in Christ’s name in a way that avoids the first ditch and the second. We don’t need to knock people over the head with our faith, but neither do we need to apologize for it by barely acknowledging why we do what we do. It takes trial and error, wisdom and grace, to avoid the first ditch of giving the impression that serving is only a means to an end and the second ditch of giving the impression that we are generic nice people doing nice generic things.

What did you hear in the sermon, in the text, or this reflection? What would you challenge, what would you add? What are you still wondering about? 

A Welcoming Community

This Lent, I’m exploring Five Characteristics of Christian Community in series of sermons as well as reflecting upon these themes here. You can listen to the sermon on a Christian community being a welcoming community here. Welcome. Hospitality. These are words that should be synonymous with the word church. Sadly, for many people, this has not been their experience. Of course, for many others, it has. Most church people would agree that a church should be a welcoming community. What exactly do we mean by welcoming? Friendly, kind, and gracious? Yes. These traits are reflective of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are the marks of growth in the Christian life as found in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness and self-control.” These traits should be reflective not only of individuals in a congregation, but of the parish family overall. Of course, people are in different places spiritually and a welcoming congregation accepts this and (wait for it) welcomes it.

Herein also lies an important distinction, welcome does not mean full affirmation. That is, all Christian Churches, whether progressive or traditional, recognize that the Christian life involves repentance and growth. For example, a person struggling with an addiction should be welcomed graciously, but the congregation understands that God’s desire for that person is freedom from addiction. Therefore, they will support and encourage and once they have earned trust, challenge that person toward that end. The markers of what things are affirmed and what things are not in people’s lives differ depending on where a congregation is on a specific issue. However, every church will at times, if it is faithful, find itself calling out sin or saying no to certain elements in a person’s lifestyle or beliefs.

The critical element here is respect and kindness. So often people who have felt unwelcomed by the Church experienced petty judgment, mean spirited words, or hateful condemnation. All of this is to fail to be a welcoming community reflecting the teachings of Jesus Christ. A church can welcome people it does not agree with. A welcoming church can also graciously, respectfully, and appropriately be straight forward with people about its concerns. People may well still be offended, but at least the church did not add further offense by being mean spirited or cruel or rude. More broadly, a welcoming church goes out of its way to make it easy for people to find their building, get around the building, and to figure out what they are supposed to do once they are in the building. Many churches are intentionally very unwelcoming because they haven’t thought through how new comers and guests navigate their facility.

What did you hear in the sermon, in the text, or this reflection? What would you challenge, what would you add? What are you still wondering about?   

A Forgiving Community

This Lent, I’m exploring Five Characteristics of Christian Community in series of sermons as well as reflecting upon these themes here. You can listen to the sermon on a Christian community being a forgiving community here. A perennial topic of interest for human beings in all stages and states of life. The power of forgiveness and unforgiveness is immediately evident to everyone. There is a mystery to life and forgiveness. Some people are terribly wronged, mistreated, and abused, and yet; live, joyfully, gracefully, and fully. Others experience similar and sometimes much less tragedy and live in perpetual resentment and bitterness. Why? You can find professing Christians who have been able to forgive and those who have not. You can find those who profess no faith who have been able to forgive and those who have not. Forgiveness is a gift of God and something that Christians are supposed to be known for, but ironically, we are often known more for our unforgiveness and pettiness.

Forgiveness is central to the life and teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, forgiveness should be central to the Christian life. A good deal of the time forgiveness is tough going, but perhaps we stumble so much, not merely because we are human (that will do it every time!), because we fail to realize two major factors. First, forgiveness often requires God’s help. I may be able (depending on the day!) to shrug off, without resentment, the driver who cuts me off on the highway. But on other days, I may not be able to. This is minor, but minor bruises add up to a black and blue heart. Without even getting to major relational cuts and slashes, we find ourselves stuck in resentment over the minors. Forgiveness is very often out of our reach. We need divine assistance. Forgiveness will often fail when we ignore the God factor. Second, forgiveness is a practice. Prayer is a practice. Singing is a practice. In other words, you can develop your ability to forgive.

Most liturgical churches include a prayer of confession and a declaration of forgiveness in their services. This is an excellent time to flex your forgiveness muscles. That is, if you have given some thought to your past week and what you need to confess. That is, if the pastor or worship leader provides some silence in which you can confess to God in your heart your failings. Often, we simply go through the liturgy by rote and give very little attention to what we are saying or doing. The sacramental churches, particularly the Roman Church, are known for encouraging confession to God through the meditation of a priest. This is an ancient rite of the Church and one that God has used to bring much healing and mercy to countless individuals over the centuries. Of course, like with the prayer in the liturgy, many also experienced it as a requirement and went through the motions with little transformation. Perhaps, practical teaching, example, and testimony on forgiveness would help churches grow in this area?

What did you hear in the sermon, in the text, or this reflection? What would you challenge, what would you add? What are you still wondering about?   

A Discipling Community

This Lent, I’m exploring Five Characteristics of Christian Community in series of sermons as well as reflecting upon these themes here. You can listen to the sermon on a Christian community being a discipling community here. What is a disciple? In a general sense, a disciple is a student or apprentice. Not just a casual student, but a committed student. Someone who has devoted him or herself to a particular teacher. These sorts of student-mentor relationships have famous threads in many circles, but perhaps especially, in academic, artistic, and martial ones. The rising scholar whose mentor is a legend in their field. The renowned composer who studied with one of the greats. A martial artist who has devoted herself to her master and learning his art and passing it on to the next generation.

If you apply this understanding of disciple to Christianity, you are at once shaken and challenged. If the primary mission of the Christian Church is to make disciples, and if disciples are committed in the way that other disciples are to their teachers, then the work of the Church becomes both more challenging and exciting. We have often been pretty good at making church goers in our congregations. People who show up, sometimes regularly, and who sometimes also help out with other activities around the church. This is all fine as far as it goes. However, it doesn’t go far enough, according to the instruction of all the great spiritual teachers. Spiritual teachers aside, it falls short of THE Teacher’s example and instruction, “Go therefore, make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:16-20).

A disciple in the Christian sense is a follower of Jesus. A disciple in the Christian sense is someone seeking to allow their faith to anchor their life and their faith to flavor and saturate every aspect of their life. This doesn’t, necessarily, translate into being at the gathered church all the time. Disciples worship regularly, usually weekly, some more, but their particular sense of Christian call and responsibility may manifest through their profession, their volunteering, or in raising their family. There are many ways of following Jesus and many variations on the path of discipleship. Despite the disparate ways of being a disciple, disciples across the spectrum share many things in common, beginning with the one Lord. Disciples aren’t perfect by any means, but they understand they are on a journey. How is your discipleship going? Is discipleship something your local church talks about and more importantly, does?

What did you hear in the sermon, in the text, or this reflection? What would you challenge, what would you add? What are you still wondering about?   

A Worshipping Community

This Lent, I’m exploring Five Characteristics of Christian Community in series of sermons as well as reflecting upon these themes here. You can listen to the sermon on a Christian community being a worshipping community here. It might be obvious to state that a Christian community is a worshipping community. That worship of the Almighty is the primary purpose of its existence. However, like with common sense, the obvious isn’t so obvious a good deal of the time. For smaller churches, Sunday worship may be the only time the community gathers. In larger churches, there may be several worship services and dozens of activities, programs, and events held throughout the week. In either situation, worship should be the anchor of all that local congregation does. Why?

That’s actually a good question and a contested one. Community centers and agencies do many of the things churches do and often more efficiently and on a grander scale. But the church is more than a community agency or a social club. At least, it’s supposed to be more than (or perhaps different than) these organizations, which certainly have their place and which God uses to accomplish much good in people’s lives. A church should be a community in which individuals can encounter God. Christianity is a communal faith. Worship in the gathered sense cannot be done by yourself. The sacramental churches have always held onto to this truth with their emphasis on the Eucharist being the central act of Christian worship. You can’t celebrate the Eucharist yourself and yet in the Eucharist God can be encountered in a special way.

The evangelical churches have also held onto this truth with their emphasis that the Bible, as much as it should be read individually, should be encountered in community through preaching and shared study. The mainline churches have also held onto this truth with their emphasis on justice, which requires us to unite across all sorts of boundaries to cooperate with the Spirit for a better world. The charismatic churches have also held onto this truth with their emphasis on God’s presence, a presence that is best experienced and interpreted alongside other believers. Yet, for all the Body of Christ’s emphasis on gathered worship as the anchor of Christian life attendance by professing Christians at weekly services is on the whole, hardly overwhelming. But never mind attendance figures, but what about the spiritual figures of those attending?

What are people doing when they show up to worship? Are they just going through the motions? Are they encountering the divine? Are they opening themselves to the Spirit? Whether the service is High Mass, Rock and Roll, Quiet and Respectable, or whatever, are worshippers allowing the service to be a vehicle for God to transform their hearts and minds? Worship is an opportunity to step out of our constant fixation on ourselves and be opened to a greater reality that will point us to the mystery of life and to concrete service to life in all its forms. One of the great truths of the Christian faith that is visible by any quick survey of human behavior, is that we are by nature worshipping creatures. We are going to worship. It’s inevitable, but what or who are we worshipping?

What did you hear in the sermon, in the text, or this reflection? What would you challenge, what would you add? What are you still wondering about?   

Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, part 5

The Domestic Church is the Real Church

When we think about the basic unit of society, we inevitably think of the family. Of course, the nature of what defines a family is rapidly shifting and re-arranging itself in our society. I should add that the definition of family has been challenged and re-arranged several times over the centuries and even today takes on many different shapes depending on which culture and which individual family one is looking at. Yet, regardless of the definition we use or would prefer to use it can be agreed that family life has an incredible impact on individuals: their worldview, their future health, their future relationships, etc. etc. etc.

This is just as true when it comes to matters of faith. A great loss in many parts of North American Christianity is the loss of what I will call the domestic church, this meaning the vibrant union of Christian faith with ordinary family life. This means the development and practice of rituals, customs and family life patterns that intersect with Christian faith. Many evangelical Christians still practice family devotions, which would be one example of this.

But I’m thinking especially about the Christian calendar: the annual cycle of feasts and observances that is meant not only for worship gatherings but for Christians to observe at home as well. Many countries with Christian heritages have wonderful customs and traditions related to this calendar such as special cakes for Epiphany, eating by candlelight during Advent, the blessing of the home annually by the parish priest, etc.

We have forgotten in a real sense how to evangelize and socialize our children, grandchildren, godchildren, nieces and nephews into the faith. Somehow we’ve been led to believe that if we can take them to worship – a one hour event- once a week then they will somehow learn to live the Christian life. It takes more than weekly attendance at worship and participation in some educational program to introduce someone to the Christian life, the best way to do that is by experience living that life.

I believe Church leaders, lay and ordained, need to bend over backwards to find ways to encourage the observance of the faith at home. This will usually mean having to teach adults first, who will then teach their children. Some good resources on these topics can be found here from an Evangelical perspective, here from a Catholic perspective, and here from a Protestant perspective.

How can we begin this mammoth task?

(I want to add a disclaimer here: my statements are not meant to be accusatory toward parents. In fact, I think it is people like me who are in large part to blame for this situation, as we --Christian pastors and teachers -- have so often failed to equip families with the tools they need to observe the faith at home).

Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, part 4

Killing the Minister

One of the reasons that North American Christians have so frequently limited Christian commitment and faith to church gatherings is because of a concept, a concept I will refer to as “the minister.” In many Christian traditions there is in fact an individual who is referred to as “the minister.” This concept is deadly to a lifestyle sense of Christianity. I am not against the concept of ministers or even a concept of ordained ministers who have a special -- but not better -- role in the Body of Christ (i.e. that is a sacramental role).

What I am against is the concept that the essential ministry and mission of the Church is carried out principally, almost entirely, by one man (Though lately, thankfully, in many mainline denominations we could also say by one woman). Of course, we know this doesn’t literally (usually!) mean one man or woman, but that one person does the significant work while others assist. The rise of specialization in our society in the modern era has not helped this perception either. In age of certifications, advance degrees and specialized training courses, people are often led to believe that they can’t even breathe without having the proper credentials, certifying they have been trained by the experts (whose own breathing status is, in many peoples’ opinion, quite questionable).

Every Christian is called to “minister” in the sense of serving others in Christ’s name; in the sense of advancing the Kingdom of God by how they live and how they refuse to live; in the sense of passing on the faith to the next generation (their kids, but others as well); and so on. Yes, some are called to a particular role that supports this general calling of all Christians, that supports the gathered life of the Church, but the gathering ministers (bishops, priests, pastors, church staff, etc.) must always remember they are in the business of equipping and supporting other Christians for discipleship, ministry and mission in their daily lives. No one person or even special group of persons can accomplish the work of the Body of Christ all by themselves; it’s a team effort, through and through.

Growing up I had an interim pastor who was a strong proponent of the ministry of all Christians, especially the laity. Her notice in the bulletin (more typical now) “Ministers: The People of Saint Peters” was not met with universal acclaim.  Not only is this shift from a ministerial person to a ministerial congregation often difficult for the laity to make, it is also often very difficult for clergy to make (most of us were trained to be lone rangers, see here for example). Both groups of people (and of course many protest at this division to begin with) have been trained to understand the Church’s life in a particular way, but we must ask, is this the Jesus way?

I am not an advocate for the removal of ordained ministry and my reasons are not entirely self-serving, so much as sacramental and Biblical (the priestly people of God need ministerial priests to remind them of who they are, priests are more symbols than mere functionaries, but I digress…for more of that click here, then click on May 22 "A priestly people").

How can we kill the minister and in the process bring life to a ministerial people of God? 

Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, part 3

From Services to Service

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we need to shift the principal focus and locus of Christian commitment away from Sunday morning to every morning, to every day, to life itself.  One way of breaking ground in this tough transition from event-based Christianity to lifestyle Christianity is to emphasize that attendance at worship services should lead to personal and familial acts of service. In other words, our worship of our God should lead to living for our God by “loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

 In fact, the basic shape of liturgical worship is organized around this premise.  The congregation – mostly scattered from each other during the week – gathers together to remember who they are,  to acknowledge the divine Other, and to be strengthened for service by Word and sacrament. Traditionally, it is the deacon, who is an icon of servant hood (more on that here), who dismisses with the congregation with a charge to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”  Unfortunately, we could, to fit popular attitudes, change the dismissal to something like “Thank God it’s over!” or “See you next Sunday” or “Religious obligation done for this week” etc. 

Communal worship is where God’s people are gathered together and then sent out as individual and familial “lights of the world” into their neighborhoods, schools, and jobs, as well as their family and friendship circles. After a week of living for Christ most of us have had some failures, have taken a hit or two or experienced some amazing moments of grace. It is then high time to return from our scattered lives to be gathered once again as the people of God. This cycle of being gathered and being sent can be found in the life of Jesus and in many the great renewal movements of Church history (As an aside, Dominican spirituality is particularly modeled after this pattern of gathering and sending, contemplation and proclamation).  

What can we do in our worship services to highlight this reality?

-          You will find in some churches the following sign above their exit-ways, “You are now entering the mission field (see here).”  I imagine the effect of this sign depends in large part on the frequency of that congregation’s teaching, witness, and preaching regarding the call to Christian service.

-          There are some congregations that are canceling their regular services one or more times a year to engage in volunteerism and service in their community (see here). I think this is on the right track, though there are some subtle dangers in the cancelling of worship services for other (more?) "worthy causes.”

-          Perhaps a series of testimonies/faith stories from individual congregants that highlight the connection between worship and their service to others throughout the week

What ideas do you have?

Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, part 2

From Churchainity to Christianity

Faith is to be principally lived, witnessed to and developed in the context of everyday living. We have made the heretical mistake at times of implying that the heart of Christianity is the gathered Church, and more specifically, worship services. I believe that one of the reasons we see so many people falling away from the Church as they grow older is that for most, church was by and large, just a worship service, with maybe some additional activities added on: Sunday school, youth group, confirmation, and so on.

If a young woman or man grew up with the idea that the extent of their Christian life was attending church on Sunday, it will be relatively easy for them to drop that one hour a week. If they grew up in a nurturing, holistic Christian way of life, it will be harder (though certainly not impossible) for them to part with their faith so easily, because in this case, they are not dropping a Sunday, but a whole way of life.

This sort of talk is often interpreted as blaming parents for the failure of the Church, but that is not (in the vast majority of cases) what I am saying. The fault lies with Church leaders (yes, I include myself here) who have essentially allowed this view of churchainity to continue unchallenged. As church leaders we need to be sounding the bell that the primary domain for faith is life -  principally that part of life that takes place outside of the gathered Church: in the neighborhood, at school, at work, on vacation, whenever and wherever.

Part of this situation is largely no one’s fault, but is a result of a society that has moved beyond Christianity and no longer, as it once did to varying degrees, supported general Christian morals and values (for more on this see here). Christians will not find their faith commended or affirmed by prayers in schools, or Bible readings at public events, or by the morals of popular culture at large. This means we will be a minority and will have to grow more comfortable in being different from other people.  

To be faithful we need to spend far more time wrestling with the implications of Christian faith for living, living in practical and concrete situations by pondering questions like:

“What does it mean for me to be a Christian and a plumber?”
“I’ve got two job offers. Should my faith factor into my decision in anyway?”
“This divorce is a mess, how can I, should I, witness to my faith in the midst of all this?”

“We’re building a new house, how, if at all, should our Christian faith impact this project?”

“Should the home life of a Christian family look any different than the home life of a non-Christian family?”
“There is a controversy in the community over a new city ordinance, how should Christians respond, what if we disagree with each other?”
“What does our faith – Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition – have to say about this topic?”

Are these and similar questions being discussed and explored in depth in our churches? Do we even think such questions are integral parts of Christian discipleship?  

How can we begin to encourage a holistic Christian lifestyle again? 

Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, part 1

The Sunday Morning God

Most Christians understand that God has interests that extend beyond Sunday morning. Daily, millions of people around the world invoke the name of God, sometimes in prayer, sometimes on other “sacred” occasions such as after stubbing one’s toe, losing a bet or being pulled over on the highway. Yet, if you were to ask many people what defines or determines Christian commitment they would reply going to church.

As a priest I regularly meet people who seem to believe that Christianity is principally about Sunday. I say this because of the comments I typically hear from folks, “I don’t go to church” , “I know I should start attending church,” “we don’t do the church thing anymore,” “I’m sorry I missed church on Sunday, my dog ate my alarm clock,” etc. Of course, going to church, being the Church, at worship, is very much an important part of the Christian life – but it is not the entirety of that life.

A God who can only be encountered in the gathered community is a God who is absent to the ordinary believer during the rest of the week. Yes, people pray, but often people struggle to find real, deep and meaningful connections to God during their week. Is this because God is limited to gathered times of worship or because we – here meaning generations of Church leaders – have failed to teach people about how to encounter God during the remaining 6 days and 23 hours a week? God is eternally present. God is always seeking to get our attention. So yes, God “attends” church, but God is also available to believers as they jog along the side-walk, or sit at the board room meeting, or argue with a loved one.

How can we as Christians be aware of God’s presence beyond Sunday? How can the gathered church (worship services, Bible studies, social gatherings, etc.) help prepare or encourage Christians to encounter God when they are not together? 

Does God Attend Church?: Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived, intro

Today I am beginning a new blog series entitled, “Does God Attend Church? Re-Thinking Where Faith Should Be Lived.” I believe this topic to be immensely important for all North American Christians to be discussing and thinking about during this in-between time as we shift from being a modern culture to a post-modern culture, from being a Christian society (so-called) to being a post-Christian society. If ordinary Christian folk don’t start talking about this stuff, we’re going to find ourselves in real trouble as a Church within the next decade.

Actually, talking won’t be enough. We’re also going to have to start doing some things, and stop doing some things, and also learn to just be. If you think I’m being dramatic and everything is going to be peachy-keen (thank you Alan for that turn of phrase) you have not been watching the landscape around you carefully.

While it is indeed possible that the Holy Spirit could rustle up a revival out of no-where it is also possible that unless we prepare ourselves for reformation and renewal the North American Church will continue to decline, and I’m not just talking about the institutions related to the North American Church, but the actual Church – people, souls, communities of disciples, and related to all that, the witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our society.

This series isn’t meant to be an alarmist sort of thing, but rather an opportunity to engage in some real dialogue about what is the Church, who is the Church, where should the Church be or it to say it differently – who is God, where is God,  what does God ask of His people?

Looking forward to your input, our disagreements, and some fun along the way! 

Christian Practices, Part 6 – Giving Generously

The last practice I want to talk about this Lent is the Christian practice of giving. I saved this practice for last for a couple of reasons. First, to understand giving from a Christian perspective requires you look at it through a discipleship grid which includes the five other practices we’ve already talked about (worship, prayer, Bible reading, serving, and spiritual friendships). Second, I have found that for many Christians the handling and use of money is one of the last areas to fall under the Lordship of Christ in their daily lives.

Many non-profit organizations approach giving as a thankful response for a service that one enjoys. Here giving is “doing your part” and is mostly about making an annual membership pledge (churches should be careful not to equate Christian stewardship with this kind of non-profit perspective on giving). Giving from a Christian perspective rests on the reality that everything in creation, including our own lives, are gifts given to us by God. The question of Christian stewardship is not how much will we give, but how much will we keep.

In a broad sense, the practice of giving is about ownership and control. Am I in control of my stuff or is God in control of my stuff? While discussions about tithing and proportional giving are important (see here for a funny video on this subject) Christian giving cannot be reduced to the idea of making a pledge to your church. Giving generously also involves how lightly we hold our possessions, how much stuff we think we need to live well, and how willing are we to respond to need (whether a beggar on the street or a disaster across the world.)

Would you describe yourself as a person who gives generously? What small step toward more generously giving can you take this week? 

Christian Practices, Part 5 -- Spiritual Friendships

Jesus did not work with individuals per se, that is, He always worked with individuals in the context of a community or within a network of friendships. When an individual was isolated from other people of faith Jesus always sought to bring them back into relationship with God’s people. We need each other not only to worship in the corporate sense or to serve together to do good things in the world, but we need each other for Christian, or as I will call it here, spiritual friendship.

Growth into true humanness, which is another way of referring to spiritual development, is largely impossible without spiritual friendships. Friendships, even in the general sense, are one of the great gifts of life. The absence of meaningful friendships is a problem that many people suffer from everyday.

Spiritual friendship includes all of the components of a regular friendship with the additional element of a shared commitment to Jesus Christ. All Christians should have at least two or three believing friends. These spiritual friendships are incredibly important because these friendships will able to support and encourage your faith as it relates to every aspect of your life: family, work, relationships, hobbies, everything. Strong spiritual friendships will hold up your faith when it is weak, will challenge you to think about God in new ways, and will speak truth into your life when you’re getting out of line.

Some people have formal spiritual friends (click here) others simply break new ground in an existing friendship by including Christ in the conversation. Spiritual friendship has been written about extensively throughout Christian history (see here for one perspective), but finds its origins in the concept that as followers of Jesus Christ we are family to one another, brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you don’t have any spiritual friends start looking for some, take your time, go slowly, and ask God to guide you to the right people.

In what ways have your spiritual friends sustained and challenged your faith?

Christian Practices, Part 4 -- Service to Others

Christian life can never be reduced to a “me and Jesus” sort of spirituality because Jesus never gave us such an individualistic and self-centered option. His summary of the Old Testament Law forces us to reckon with the reality that our love for God will be demonstrated in our love for our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). This can sound quite respectable until we realize we must love the neighbors we like as well as those we do not. In addition, if our life of corporate worship is to have any integrity we have to live out the songs we sing on Sunday in our actions throughout the week. For most Christians, serving others in Jesus name takes place in two primary environments.  

The first environment being the gathered Church, here every Christian should have some sort of ministry or regular opportunity for service. This could range from ushering, to leading a men’s group, to serving on a parish council, preaching, fixing the toilet, making cupcakes for the youth group, monitoring the church’s investment account, etc. whatever, as long as it is done for others in Christ’s name. For most Christians the gathered Church should NOT be their primary area of service to others.

The second environment for service, and for most Christians the primary environment for service to others, will take place outside of the gathered church, in other words in everyday life, outside of the church building. This means at work, in the neighborhood, in politics, in recreational groups, in every aspect of life outside of the gathered Church. Doing this is not easy and involves learning to make connections between one’s faith and every other aspect of one’s life. Serving beyond the confines of our local church challenges our faith in a number of ways:

1. It challenges us to realize that Christian faith, if it is going to matter, has to impact our daily living.

2. It challenges us to realize that being involved in every activity at Church could actually be a problem, as it prevents one from serving out in the community.

3. It challenges us to get comfortable with serving with non-Christians and with good causes that may be purely secular but are doing good things in our community none the less.

4. It challenges us to realize that ministry and service is not just for the Mother Teresa’s or the preachers of the world, but for all of us.

5. It challenges us to remember that the real work of being a Christian usually takes place outside of official church gatherings and meetings.

So remember to serve at your local church, but also remember to serve beyond your local church.

How has your spiritual life grown as a result of serving others, both at church, and beyond?

Christian Practices, Part 3 – Bible Reading

Often Christians question what God wants them to do, who God wants them to become, and how they should live. I understand this dilemma and the desire to have a “word from the Lord” for one’s life. I’ve felt painfully in need of direction from God many times in my life.

But of course, we do have a Word from the Lord, we do have guidance from God about what to do, who we should become, and how we should live – it’s called the Bible. At this suggestion many Christian balk, roll their eyes, or state with complete honesty, “yeah but I don’t read the Bible” or “I’m not sure about the Bible.” Despite the struggles of some believers with Holy Scripture, it has been the experience and witness of Christians for over 2000 years that God speaks and guides through the pages of the Bible.  

That’s why Christian teachers and pastors, especially in the Protestant Tradition, have so emphasized personal, daily Bible reading. When we refuse to study or read Scripture we are in essence refusing to listen to the voice of God. Yes, learning to read the Bible well takes some effort and practice. Yes, God does not always leap out of the pages of the Bible and speak to us, whether audibly or in our hearts, but none the less God still speaks.

The Bible makes it clear that we are to “Love God” and “love our neighbors” that we are to “go make disciples” and that we are to give “cheerfully” and that we are to talk with our children about the ways of God when we are at “home” and “on the way.”

In other words, the Bible provides us with plenty of guidance about how we should live and the kind of people we should be becoming by the grace of God.

As you seek to become a better student of the Bible here are some things to keep in mind:

1. The difference between academic and spiritual study. Yes, these two forms of study can go together, but for Christians we are primarily seeking to hear from the Spirit of God through the pages of the Bible for our life and the life of others. There are countless stories of men and women going to college and taking an academic course on the Bible which instead of building up their faith actually weakens it. So seek out Bible study opportunities and Bible study materials that have a spiritual focus.

2. If you’re just starting, focus on reading smaller sections a day. There are no bonus points for reading through several chapters a day. The point is engage with the section of the Bible you are reading and to prayerfully consider what God may be saying to you.

3. Don’t only study the Bible by yourself. The Bible is a book meant for a particular people, God’s people. Find a Bible study group to participate in.

4. Get an understanding of the big picture of the Bible, once you understand the major storyline and movements of the Bible understanding smaller sections is much easier (shameless plug here). 

Wherever you are in relation to daily Bible reading don’t give up, keep at it, and dive deeper into the mystery of God’s Word.

Christian Practices, Part 2 – Corporate Worship

Worship is more than an event, a church activity or collection of songs. As human beings it is in our spiritual DNA to worship. We were created to worship and to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ in particular.  We miss out on a large part of what it means to be human when we do not worship, or when we worship wrongly, or when we worship in shallow and superficial ways (see here for example).

There is much talk in the Church today about being “purpose-driven” or “missional” or “evangelistic” or “cool” or “civic minded” or “whatever” but first and foremost the purpose of the Church (meaning you and me, we are the Church as Christians) is to glorify God. Glorifying God involves more than worship, at least worship in the corporate sense that I am discussing here, but it certainly must included it.

According to the Book of Common Prayer , “in corporate worship, we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God’s Word, and to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments.” Worship in this sense cannot be done alone. Yes, we can worship “privately” as it were with prayer and praise on the golf course, out in the woods, or wherever, but we cannot worship in the corporate sense by ourselves. If we fail to worship with others, we fail to worship as God intends.

Sometimes there is talk of making worship more entertaining or relevant or useful, but while there is a pinch of a point to be made from these suggestions worship is not meant in any primary sense to be entertaining or relevant or useful. The point of worship is to adjust our focus from ourselves, our joys and concerns, and to focus on the life of Almighty God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is to unplug from “me” and to connect with “we” while focusing on “thee.”  

The regularity of corporate worship is extremely important as well. Weekly corporate worship is important not only because of its implications for the development of relationships in a congregational family, but because we as fallen human beings need to be regularly reminded of who we are as God’s people. In the Anglican tradition there is an emphasis on more frequent corporate worship, even daily worship, which some are still striving to live out today (see here). 

If you aren’t worshipping in community now make a first step and starting searching for a parish home. If you aren’t worshipping weekly strive to make that commitment in your Christian life. If you are worshipping regularly, dive deeper into the act of worship itself and protect yourself from the dangers of just going through the motions.

What else is important about corporate worship?

What dimensions are missing from my comments above?