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? 

Holy Week Challenge

Holy week is an opportunity for you to examine your spiritual life and make any necessary changes in anticipation of Easter.  First and foremost you should consider your relationship with God.

Most of us will find ourselves in one of five places:

1.      It is possible to attend church services for years and never enter into a relationship with God. God is more than a distant being who created the universe and established guidelines for moral living. Christians believe that in Christ we can have a friendship with God that is real and interactive.

2.      It is also possible to drift away from our relationship with God. We may have accepted Christ or followed Him more faithfully in an earlier season of life but we have sense drifted away from Him.

3.      Another possibility is that while we have accepted Christ and have been following Him we have not been making any progress in our faith. In other words, it may be that we have been coasting spiritually.

4.      Another possibility is that we have accepted Christ, have been following Him and have been experiencing growth in our spiritual life. If this is the case Holy Week is a time to give special thanks to God.

5.      One last possibility is that we are uncertain about God and about whether or not we want to be a Christian at all. We may have questions that need answering, difficult experiences we can’t reconcile with the concept of a loving God. If this is the case Holy Week is a time to ask God for guidance, to talk to someone about your questions, and to realize that doubts are part of the spiritual life.

Accepting or Re-Committing to Christ as Lord and Savior

If possible use your own words to admit your sin (you’ve messed up) and that you need God to save you from your sin and guide you in your life.  You can pray aloud or silently in your heart, if you’re not sure what to say you can use this prayer as a guide:

Heavenly Father, thank you that you love the world so much that you sent Jesus to bring us full and free forgiveness and a whole new life. Please forgive me all that I have done to offend you. Send your Holy Spirit into my life and lead me in your ways. Let me live in your forgiveness, purpose, and hope. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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? 

Christian Practices, Part 1 - Prayer

During Lent I will be exploring six basic practices of the Christian faith. These practices are indeed basic, one might say, fundamental to the Christian life. Lent is a good time to review the basics of Christian living and the whys and the hows of what we do and believe. Today I’ll be looking at prayer.  

Prayer is almost a universal language in the human race. Even those who do not profess to believe in any particular religion or spiritual system often pray. Prayer is at the heart of the Christian life because it is in prayer that we are able to develop our relationship with God. Prayer has often been described as conversation between God and humanity (sadly, many of us do most of the talking, giving God no room to say anything!).  

Prayer is more than speaking or thinking thoughts directed to God, however. The Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer defines prayer in this way, “Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.” I remember the first time I read this definition I was struck by two things. First, that prayer is always a response to God. We sometimes think we are the ones initiating prayers, starting the conversation, sending the spiritual e-mail if you will, yet, in fact, God is the one who is always trying to get our attention. Our prayers are always a response to something God has done, stirred in us, or gifted us with.

Second, I was struck by the idea that prayer might be offered by deeds and even without words! Choosing to respond to an angry comment with love and patience can be a prayer if we are mindful that we are responding to God’s invitation to “turn the other cheek” and to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Praying without words brings us into the realm of Christian meditation and contemplation. There are ways of praying with images (click here for more info on imagery and prayer), there are also ways of praying without words or active thoughts – simply enjoying the presence of God (click here for more information on Christian contemplation).  

Lent is a time to work on our spiritual fitness. There seems to be a general consensus among the great spiritual writers of the Christian tradition – Catholic and Protestant –about what a healthy prayer life should look like. Here it is, in my own short form:

1. A growing Christian should pray every day. 

    2. This daily prayer should have two major expressions.

A.    A daily, scheduled private time of prayer with the Lord. This could be five minutes in the morning where you pray over your day, for your loved ones, and read some Scripture to center yourself.

B.     Little prayers throughout the day. This would include things like praying grace at meals (silently is ok in public, aloud is important at home with friends or family), but would also include short prayers offered to God in the context of daily life, such as “Lord, the kids are going crazy today. Help me and them to calm down.” “God, Bill seems to be having a tough time at work today. Help him and help me to help him.”  “Jesus, help those in that car wreck and the medical personnel who are trying to save their lives.” “Father, what a beautiful day, sunny and mild. Thank you!”etc.  

Much more could be said about prayer (see here for example, or here), but the important thing is to be praying on a regular basis. If you aren’t, stretch yourself to pray more. If you are praying regularly, stretch yourself to learn to pray in new ways.

What else would you recommend in terms of developing a stronger prayer life?