Tag: Christian

3 Theologies of Christianity

This is one of the handouts I got at my weekend graduate residency. It’s a spreadsheet summary of the book by Justo Gonzalez. Christian Thought Revisited: Three Types of Theology. Nashville: Abington Press, 1989.

The first one listed won out in most Christian cultures historically: Transactional (TYPE A). We might even take this approach for granted, but there are reasons this flavor of Christianity took hold the most in Western culture. Power is the big reason. The other theologies haven’t been lost completely and are important to recognize. We see a reemergence worldwide of TYPE C (Incarnational), the oldest approach to Christian theology and the one geographically closest to Jerusalem. TYPE B (Transcendent) is most often seen in Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions.

After you read through it, share something.

The Three Theologies

Discernment Series: Defining “Consolation” and “Desolation”

This is the 2nd week of the Discernment Series.

This time it’ll be good to know about the terms Consolation and Desolation as described by Ignatius of Loyola in his work Spiritual Exercises.

BUT FIRST…some of you who know me know I’m not a Catholic. I’ve been trained at a decidedly Evangelical Seminary, called…not-so-creatively “Evangelical Seminary“. So why am I going on about a 500 year old book from a counter-reformation Catholic?

In short, because your soul will be blessed.

Because the tensions from that time (1491-1556 CE) aren’t here in force now so we can learn some very useful things that align with basic Christian theology. The major hostilities at the time made listening to what God was saying “on the opposing side” quite difficult. (Things were hostile to the point of murder on both sides, no less….how Jesus of them?!ugh.) So, from the point of my tradition, Protestants rejected both grimy bath water and baby.

In general, Catholics rejected what they considered a heretical and a rebellious front to the unquestionable authority of the Church, and didn’t see what was coming from Reformers as helpful or biblical ideas for doing church differently. (It took about 500 years at Vatican II to incorporate many of those needed Reformation era ideas, but a surprising number of them went through and were accepted. Masses conducted in a language understood by the people listening being just one of them. Then, it takes 50 years or so, so I’m told by Catholics, to see them flesh out at the parish (local church) level.)

SO Now-
We’re at a point (I’m generalizing here) where we don’t have to fear reading other streams of Christianity from that time. No one will be tied to a stake and torched, not literally anyway. I think we’re okay accepting that God has much truth to impart from devoted believers with various backgrounds, and this willingness to hear can aid our spiritual growth.

Ignatius was convicted and motivated to “find God in all things”.
 I like that about him. This is the way we live incarnational lives. This is how our worldview and our true selves get put right by the love and dominion of our Savior and Creator, and his Son, the enfleshed God, Jesus Christ. While I find some of the ideas, concepts, doctrine, and long-ago language of Ignatius foreign to me, I don’t let it unsettle me. Instead, I let the Holy Spirit speak to my heart and guide me while I read. I pray with the ideas and ask for guidance. I admit I have a lot to learn. I leave some things behind and take in what is transformative and what will make me more like Jesus, the Christ.

Not every but of it will help me or you, but enough will that I bother to write about it and include those outside of my tradition and experience in my blog to open our eyes to some great advice and sage wisdom for understanding how to discern God’s will in transformative ways.

So now for “consolation” and “desolation”

Ignatian teaching has it that these are two terms that help us decipher what is from God, and what is not. At first blush, we may assume that consolation is “happy…yeah God…feelings” and so forth. Desolated might be unhappy ones. But, hang on while we dig a little deeper.

For Ignatius, Consolation is a word to describe interior stirrings that are aroused in the soul that has been inflamed with love for God as Creator and Lord, and too every creature made by the Creator. It’s marked in every increase in faith, hope, love, and interior joy that bring a filling of peace and quiet. A drawing closer to God. A soul in consolation may weep too at the recognition and repentance of sins, and also the relief of the abiding grace of God. A godly grief may be a Consolation, though a difficult patch to get through. Most importantly Consolation is a gift. We don’t arrive there by techniques or things we do. God graces us with consolation.

Desolation is indeed the opposite of consolation, but note how Ignatius writes about it,

“I call desolation what is entirely the opposite (of  consolation), as darkness of soul, torment of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love.  [In desolation] the soul is wholly slothful, tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord.”

Desolation then is all the stuff that stirs our souls and draw us away from God, regardless of the subjective feelings. Some in desolation will not recognize it as that. They will be oblivious. And plenty more will not associate what feelings they have with interior stirrings of the soul. Maybe they’ll blame the government, the economy, circumstances, or other things instead.

So, now that you know which is which, listen and tune in to your interior stirrings. Consolation and Desolation are not mere feelings. They have to do with a conflation of responses and influences that are the movings at the soul level (our core).

Note when you are in consolation. Note when you sense desolation. Get a feel for the movements and workings of God. Begin to distinguish them from the ungodly ones that come from the Enemy or the ungodly parts of yourself.

Next time I’ll talk about the uses and aims of both consolation and desolation in God’s work on us.

To read the (English) PDF of Ignatian’s “Spiritual Exercises” click here.

(Don’t miss the next installation of the series. Use the sidebar to get the next update.)

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Learning Leadership…the Adventure Begins!

For those of you who’ve been reading for a while, I’ll update you on the last few months.

• I’ve been blogging, with a focus on helping those who lead, create, and communicate.

• I became a Communications Consultant which then lead to a Director of Communications position.

• I enrolled in a graduate Leadership program which starts in January (yes, Masters Degree # 2. I’m a 100% Certified NERD!)

So, what does the last part mean for this blog?

As some of you know grad school is very demanding. Well, I’ll rephrase that: My graduate school is REALLY demanding. I got my first Masters Degree two years ago and I’ve never worked harder in my life. I read about 2,700-3,000 pages of text per course. At 3 credits a pop I logged on 57 credits to finish. My eye glass prescription showed it too! But, I love to learn (informally and formally) and I’m at it again!

I considered a 1-2 year blog writing hiatus. Trust me. I really did. 

However, I got to thinking, “Can I merge the blog and my education somehow, and maybe bring along some readers and friends for the ride? Probably.” We could all learn a lot and have some fun this way, I think. I’ll be developing a  CADRE to test out ideas and put some learning into practice with a group of committed online cohort. I hope we’ll even get to have a vacation retreat together…but more on that later!

I’ll be starting my reading early, and when classes run for 9 weeks, they will be primarily conducted online. About every 9 weeks I’ll be on-campus for a weekend learning residency. I’ll be excited to share what I’m learning.

So, as soon as I get my books, I’ll be posting on those topics and my thoughts as I work through them, and asking you to come along with me as much as you possibly can.

If you’d like to upgrade this experience (for both of us), buy/download or borrow some of the books on the list (below) for yourself and we’ll do this together.
The first book I’ll be reading is by Henri Nouwen,
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership (click title for book link)

We’ll start there soon.

(my) Required Course Materials for SF665:

 

  1. Barton, Ruth Haley. Sacred Rhythms: Arranging our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2006. ISBN: 978-0830833337
  2. Benner, David G. Soulful Spirituality: Becoming Fully Alive and Deeply Human. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2011. ISBN: 978-1587432972
  3. Calhoun, Adele Ahlberg, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005. ISBN: 978-0830833306
  4. Hagberg, Janet and Robert Guelich. The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith. 2nd ed. Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishing, 2005. ISBN: 978-1879215498
  5. May, Gerald. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2005. ISBN: 978-0060750558
  6. Nouwen, Henri. The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom. Reprint ed. (New York: Image Books, 1999). ISBN: 978-0385483483
  7. Rollheiser, Ronald. The Shattered Lantern: Discovering a Felt Presence of God. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2005. ISBN: 978-0824522759

Below is the link to syllabus for the first class.
A second class runs at the same time for a one year period.
To read/download them click the class (link) and scroll to the bottom of the page. Then, click download.

first class
SF665 Christian Devotional Classics
Download (411 KB)

year-long class
SF549 Spiritual Formation and Leadership I
Download (366 KB)

Required Course Materials SF549

 

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. San Francisco: HarperOne. ISBN 978-0060608521.

(Other editions are acceptable).

Holder, Arthur, ed. Christian Spirituality: The Classics. London: Routledge, 2010. ISBN 978

0415776028

Nouwen, Henri. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership

Longman and Todd, 1989. ISBN 978-0232518290

Sheldrake, Philip. A Brief History of Spirituality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2007.

ISBN 978-1405117715.

“Whoops!” Leading a Charge…but leaving a dust cloud

Ever think you’re leading a visionary charge forward only to look back and find a bewildered crowd who isn’t follow you?

I have, and it ain’t pretty. But, I learned a few things!

I’m contributing to this week’s new Deeper Leader Blog topic

“Whoops!” How Have You Grown From Your Mistakes in Leadership?

 

The Deeper Leader SyncrhoBlog sponsored by Evangelical Seminary is running October 7-12th. (A new topic will be offered up for contributions once or twice per month. It’s a great place to read fresh ideas, get inspiration, learn some things, or join in anytime.)

Remember, you too are invited and encouraged to add your voice to this dialogue by commenting here, or over there, or linking up your related article if you get a chance to write one. Go to this page for more details to get started.

You’ve probably learned some things through mistakes, please share your wisdom, I’d love to learn from you.

My “Whoops!” moment happened just when I thought I had some momentum.

(I’m limiting myself to just one, but I have hundreds of thousands to choose from.)

I was leading a class of adults on the topic of spiritual formation (discipleship). I was excited and shared my knowledge about Christian historical practices of prayer and meditation and silence and sabbath and a bunch of other things. When it came time for the practical part where we engaged in one of the practiced introduced, I saw something I wasn’t prepared for: CONFUSION. A wide-eyed look of paralysis. This wasn’t going to work!

I had gone too fast and charged ahead. While my class was interested in growing spiritually most of the concepts I was teaching were unfamiliar to them. Too unfamiliar. My graduate level education on the topic had sort of given me a blind spot I wasn’t taking into account. I had too quickly and assumed we were on the same page, but we weren’t. In some ways we were miles apart.

I had to slow down.

My exuberance had clouded my perceptions too. I thought that a change or some experimentation with a new prayer form would be excited not overwhelming. I realized that I was way ahead of my group, leading a charge for spiritual growth and revitalization but leaving my followers in my dust.

I was failing to walk alongside–as long as needed–until everyone was familiar with the new ground and ready to venture out.

Sometimes we forget about our potential blind spots. Mine was my over-familiarity with my niche. FAIL!

Sometimes we’ve seen it from our view for so long that we lose touch and thereby fail to lead effectively.

When others don’t seem ready or willing to follow you, it might not be a problem with your vision. It could be that those you want to lead aren’t at the same place that you are just yet. Don’t be discouraged, like I have been.

Go back to the dust cloud you left behind…and if you can’t see your followers, listen for some coughing! Then, regroup, and make a much slower start. Probably far slower than you feel is necessary. That was my lesson.

The results may vary, but you may find that with a slower pace, fewer learning points, and plenty of grace for the journey that many will continue with you. Leaders really aren’t leaders until and unless they have followers, right?

Do you remember a time when you left followers in your dust? How did it resolve?