Hmmmm...I have wanted to spill out some words regarding things for a bit now. Today's walk in the rain seemed to unlock a door and I heard myself describing some positional/philosophical points that are in my present orbit. I am thinking of Paul Newman in The Hustler when he wanted to play some games of pool "fast and loose". So do I Paul...here, now. Seeking some flow-age, low in editing, ready-fire-aim kind of writing attitude. Certainly not for the erudite. One caveat: could be some edges with a lack of velvet sheathing. The glint of sharp metal in the sun. Attitude-wise, I have been walking on some pretty constrained paths recently and am aware of a certain "pent-up" posture that I seek to provide some pressure relief in the fast and looseness of 500' Flyby!
So let us commence...
In this free age of self-identification with just about anything, I identify as an ordinary Christian mystic. You might as well give my address to the doctrinal gestapo because they are not going to be too pleased. I sit here writing as an exile from the protestant, evangelical expression of Western Christianity. For decades, I fed from their troughs of the weak gruel of mere belief in the right things. I was part of several strong 'teaching' bodies. They got part of it right but stopped woefully short of daring to preach the essence of the whole gospel truth.
Belief was paramount...belief in the right things as determined by whichever of the 3000+ denominations I may have been a part of at the time. Belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nothing wrong with that...it is absolutely true and I bow before him. But what else? Perhaps a small group, a bit of service, some expeditions to 2 week missions, maybe a stint at Feed My Starving Children. Nothing is wrong with any of it. However, it is just not sufficient to significantly change peoples lives, to bring about interior transformation. To make them more Christ like. Barna has done the measurements... Christians are unidentifiable from the unbelieving population except for having a slightly higher divorce rate! The Western church of today has just not delivered the disciples of Christ that Jesus indicated he was looking for before he returned to his heavenly home.
But mere belief has never been a winning strategy. Why even the demons believe. What has it done for them? What do they do with their belief? They "shudder". Why? Because they believe Jesus is who he said he was and did what he said he was going to do. And yet, they have absolutely no intention of changing their lives in light of those beliefs. So, they shudder at the coming conclusion of their life's work. They expect it will be less than pleasant.
Jesus never merely said come believe in me. He said come, follow me. He had 12 inner-circle disciples who he did life with 24-7 for three years. He taught them by both teaching and by the example of how he lived his life. And oh my, he taught and preached some very radical things! Things that are just not something one would hear preached in the majority of today's post-modern churches. Take up your cross, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on Jesus' account, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart, in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, judge not that you may not be judged.
But Jesus was a realist. He knew that man could never successfully undertake such directives through mere assent and willpower . He made it clear that we are the branches and he is the vine. He said to abide in him for "apart from me (him) you can do nothing". In Genesis we read that we were created in his image. But being transformed into that image cannot be accomplished by the mere willpower of man, by mere belief. It must be done by surrender to Jesus as our vine and trust in his Spirit within us to transform us each from the inside out.
It is common today to find hungry churches who offer an attractive serving of programs in the effort to build a congregation that is strong in number. The mega churches of today, with their multiple campuses throughout a metro area, have huge budgets and depend on massive numbers of giving congregants in order to keep the growth fires burning.
Marketing 101 dictates that a teaching program that includes frequent references to the inconvenient truth of 'come and die' is never going to play well to the masses. Thus, a tamed-down emphasis on just believing, participating and serving is considered sufficient content for the Sunday-centric gatherings. If, as the clock ticks down to the start of the exactly 60 minute service, the first words of the pastor were "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" the seeker-sensitive crowd would most likely not be inspired to return the next week.
Ok, ok, this might all be fine and good but what does it have to do with the title of this blog, 'ordinary mystic'? Well, let me take a breath or two and I will come back to just that.....
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