"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Friday, January 14, 2005
I am starting to weary of these time-limit self-improvement programs put out under the classification "Bible study." I've got nothing against self-improvement, really, provided the course breathes Scripture. We could all use some improvement.
No, aside from the vague psycho-babble-esque sheen on these things, I guess what I'm getting tired of hearing most is the fast-track restraints on these programs. 40 Days of Purpose. 40 Days of Excellence. 30 Days of Jabez!
The problem, from my perspective, is not so much that we want to be better Christians, to further develop our "spirituality;" every believer ought to be growing, I think. No, the problem as I see it is that we want to be better NOW.
Why don't we see spiritual growth programs like these?:
"A Lifetime of Discipleship"
"Everyday Following (for the Rest of Your Life)"
"40 Years of Worship and Obedience" (if we're dead-set on using a biblical number)
Those won't fly because . . . well, because they don't fly. They walk, steadily, sometimes stumbling, sometimes backwards, but ever on through the grueling yet occasionally exhilerating life of following Jesus. I'm reminded of Eugene Peterson's excellent little book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. I guess the prospect of that sort of journey seems just a tad harder than the Instant Spirituality of a McBetter You.
---
On a related note, while we were in Houston for the holidays, I happened to catch a television commercial for Lakewood Church. In it, Pastor Joel Osteen invited me to his church so that he could help me "Discover the Champion in You." The Bible's telling me to die to self; this guy's telling me to find my inner champion. Does not compute.
By the way, J-man, there is no champion in me. I've looked; ain't nothing there but a messed up dude growing awkwardly in Jesus.
Trackbacks:
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/1776.
Comments on "Speedtracking Spirituality":
2. theBard
- 01/14/2005 2:41 am CST
Why don't we see spiritual growth programs like these?:
"A Lifetime of Discipleship"
I started Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" about twelve years ago. Still haven't mastered the bit on fasting, but I can heartily recommend the book. I much preferred it to "every day with Selwyn" or "daily doubts for 15-25 year olds".
I read on bbc news that according to Amazon's best-selling list, five of the top 20 best-selling books are self-help related. Sales of self-help books grew by 38% in 2004. I wonder what the figures are for Christian booksellers.
By the way, J-man, there is no champion in me...
Like the Steve Taylor song, "Jesus is for Losers". I know exactly what you mean. (He's a Nashville dude too, methinks.)
4. Jared
- 01/14/2005 3:04 am CST
Yeah, that's a great song.
I've actually seen two movies with Steve Taylor. Okay, it was more like, I happened to be in the same movie theater seeing the same movie that he was twice. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Royal Tenenbaums.";"0
5. Jared
- 01/14/2005 3:05 am CST
Riffing off of your Foster recommendation, I'd recommend Dallas Willard's "Renovation of the Heart," as well.
7. Bill
- 01/14/2005 3:15 am CST
"Those won't fly because . . . well, because they don't fly. They walk, steadily, sometimes stumbling, sometimes backwards, but ever on through the grueling yet occasionally exhilerating life of following Jesus."
Man, that's a great paragraph.
8. John O.
- 01/14/2005 3:31 am CST
I'm reminded of a conversation I once had with a professor whose wife had died in the slow, cruel way of Multiple Sclerosis. He related how he was comforted during that time by the popular passage in Isaiah 40 - not by thought of soaring on eagles wings, but by the promise that by waiting on the Lord he could walk and not faint.
I heard a preacher talking about the church billboards that adorn our city's freeways - he was waiting to see one with the invitation 'Come, die with us.'
9. voice in the desert
- 01/14/2005 3:47 am CST
hi,
its great to know that i am not the only one blogging about the Man in my life:)) do drop by.and hey, can i link you???
10. Thor
- 01/14/2005 4:57 am CST
Jared,
The 40 days of something-or-another has crossed over the US/Mexican and infected Cozumel. You, as always, have described precisely my same concern for these fads. They may serve their purpose for small groups or home studies but the church mustn’t adopt them as doctrine. There is nothing new we are going to learn in PDL.
Yeah, I'm with you on Osteen. My brother recently received his new book as a gift. Instead of tossing it, over the phone this week, he read a few chapters from the book. Wow (not wow, like awesome, but wow, like yikes!) J-O is out there. The content in this book speaks for itself and confirms every concern critics have had regarding his theology.
11. Alan
- 01/14/2005 5:54 am CST
I hear you, Jared. But we don't have many models of longevity at work in evangelicalism. We have paperback books, easy divorce, and even church buildings that aren't meant to be around a century from now.
But don't be too harsh on the 40 days thing. It's totally biblical, e.g. Jonah. Of course, "40 Days to Repent or Face the Judgment of God" probably just didn't focus-group well.
12. Jared
- 01/14/2005 6:30 am CST
VITD: Of course.
---
Thor:
I hear ya. Yesterday I was wondering how and why this razzle-dazzle-ing of Christian growth came about. I'm sure it's the obvious reasons -- consumer culture, Americanism, selfishness, shallow theology, etc. But we really have embraced what I'll call the "cult of application." If it doesn't apply TO ME, it's not useful or worth knowing. Eventually, the basic "stuff" of Christian growth -- Bible study, regular prayer, regular worship, loving our neighbor -- seems too ordinary or too hard or too "old," so we have to dress it up in the garment of some new, fancy schmancy program.
I've got nothing against programs, btw. Classes, courses, what-have-you. They are valid and necessary ways to do Christian education. I don't really have an informed beef with the Purpose-Driven Life stuff, either. I've never read any of it, and I don't intend to. I know people that I respect very much that have told me it is great and helpful and harmless, and I've had people I respect very much tell me it is New-Agey, feel-good, shallow, Gospel-less, borderline heresy.
I guess it's the marketing and the facades we put on stuff. Basic point: Since I started teaching at my church, I've had some pretty un-creative ideas for class titles. I wanted to call basic theology class "Basic Theology" or "Intro to Theology." That didn't cut it for the small group sign-up guide, so the powers that be named it "Foundations of Real Faith." Sounds cool, I guess, but there were people who showed up and were surprised to find me doing more interpretation than application.
Ditto my Jesus class, which I just wanted to call "Jesus and the Gospels." I forget what the church re-named it, but it belied what I had actually had planned for the class.
I am sad that we have to snazz the old stuff up to make it sound new, I guess. I'm growing tired of the cult of application (not that application is wrong or never called for -- just that it shouldn't be our chief concern when handling the Word).
---
Alan:
You're right. We have no models of longevity. I'd add to your examples that of the average tenure of pastors, which is, what?, like five years in a church? When our shepherds treat ministry positions like rungs on the career ladder, it's no wonder the sheep lose taste for the long haul.
Re: your focus-group remark. What I said to Thor. ;-)
---
Btw, those of you pastors out there who have shuffled around, I'm not necessarily speaking to you. I know there are a number of factors involved in ministers moving on besides the one I was criticizing. I know full well that sometimes the decision to move on is not made by the minister himself.
Just trying to avoid an unnecessary flame. ;-)
13. Kenny
- 01/14/2005 8:45 am CST
Jared,
It's a really great post. I think that it speaks a little to the culture, or at least the perception of the culture. That being, people have no attention span for anything, much less church. So while 40 days may be Biblical, by that I mean not a bad thing, in people's minds it gives them an end line to shoot for. "We don't want to keep you forever, just 40 days." There was a church here in St. Louis that advertised a 30-minute service. If the service, including preaching, was longer than thirty minutes, they rewarded some type of gift. It made me cringe.
I operate under the belief that if people are in church, they want to be challenged. I am giving society the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, my preaching reflects that(the challenging part that is.)
14. Manders
- 01/14/2005 9:00 am CST
1. I'm always kind of wary about these kind of things because the gospel isn't a big formula, lol.
2. The funny thing about how churches try to make things new and different is that usually new and different means "a really bad idea" as far as Christianity's concerned. As long as we're doing the whole Jesus thing like it's supposed to be done, we're not doing anything original--people have been doing the same thing for over 2,000 years. :)
15. Feeble Knees
- 01/14/2005 10:45 am CST
As the Preacher said, there is nothing new under the sun. Once you reach a certain age, you actually start to like that concept ;-)
Perhaps I err to much on the side of being cynical, but anything titled "(N) days to ______(fill in the blank)" immediately turn me off. Give me meat, not milk!
17. Ellen from MI
- 01/14/2005 12:18 pm CST
"No, the problem as I see it is that we want to be better NOW."
A long time ago my kids had a cassette tape (see how long?) that was titled "Rappin' Rabbit's Christian Habits" and the song that stuck with me was about patience - one of the lines was, "I can wait a lifetime, that's ok with me...as long as I can be a patient rabbit *instantly*!" Another was, "I have waited long enough...give me some of that patience stuff!"
;-)
18. Shrode
- 01/15/2005 1:27 am CST
Fantastic post, Jared. We miss you when you're gone.
We have no models of longevity. I'd add to your examples that of the average tenure of pastors, which is, what?, like five years in a church? When our shepherds treat ministry positions like rungs on the career ladder, it's no wonder the sheep lose taste for the long haul.
Amen, Jared. You are right. Oh, and that figure, at least the last one I saw for Baptist pastors, was more like 18 months. Sigh. (Of course, as you add, some of the reason for that also lie with churches.) But I agree that Pastors need to ditch the "career ladder" approach. (And churches need to ditch the employee/employer approach too, but I better quit now, before I start preaching. :)
19. dave
- 01/15/2005 3:06 am CST
i actually found a book subtitled "how to Put New Wine in Old Wineskins"!!
20. jen
- 01/15/2005 4:35 am CST
But we really have embraced what I'll call the "cult of application." If it doesn't apply TO ME, it's not useful or worth knowing. Eventually, the basic "stuff" of Christian growth -- Bible study, regular prayer, regular worship, loving our neighbor -- seems too ordinary or too hard or too "old," so we have to dress it up in the garment of some new, fancy schmancy program.
This is the final reason I left my former church - the leadership decided to do the 40 Days of Purpose as an entire body last semester. After several of us had been begging for pure Bible studies for our small groups and/or Sunday school classes. Instead, for the past several years we've done nothing but book studies (with the exception of a class my father taught on 1 Thessalonians, which was excellent and never repeated). I don't want to study books about the Bible. I want to study the Bible. And as a small group leader of teen girls, I didn't want to teach them books about how to make the Bible relevant in their 21st century lives, but to teach them the Bible and what it means to die to self and be a true disciple of Christ.
21. jimmmaaa
- 01/15/2005 11:49 am CST
Last year around this time a wrote a mini devotional on this topic for a devotional booklet on this exact topic:
"Slow Cooking in a Microwave World
Philippians 1:6
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
We live in the Microwave generation. We want everything quickly: Instant credit, fast food, instant news. We’ve been raised on 30 to 60 second commercials. We often don't have attention for anything that takes a long time. Discipleship is a long endeavor, not a quick fix. Character growth with God is like an oak tree that takes years to mature. Eugene Peterson in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, speaks to this: "Everyone is in a hurry. The persons whom I lead in worship, among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach and teach, want shortcuts. They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity). They are impatient for results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points." And Peterson goes on to say, "There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness" There is no free pass back to start to collect your $200, as in Monopoly, but in the game of life you must walk each step to maturity. Growth, or discipleship, is more like cooking with a crock pot, instead of a microwave. It can be slow, long, and difficult, but is always the best way. "
It is so true that we want everything quickly with out hard work. Jared, great post. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, is one of my favorite books.
22. Marla
- 01/15/2005 7:49 pm CST
Awesome post, Jared. I hadn't even thought of it that way. But being the very slow person that I am, I really appreciate the truth of your words =)
24. World of Sven
- 04/24/2005 1:28 pm CDT
Many moons ago, Jared over at the Thinklings Weblog wrote an article in which he criticised the theology of people such as Kay Arthur for their uncritical political and financial support for the nation of Israel. There is a prevalent theology (mostly...
Like the classic prayer, "God, I want patience, and I want it right now!";"0