Another obstacle to spiritual growth is a preoccupation with the past, more specifically actively remembering evils done to us. This is a bit complicated, however, since some of what we experience at the hands of others is indeed wrong, unjust, if not an outright moral outrage. As such, we think that these events demand a specific response or an accounting of some kind. This reaction to the offense seems reasonable not only…
Having stated why I consider individual spiritual growth critical to the overall health of the Church, let me turn back to the obstacles to that spiritual growth. Next up is the problem of pride. Simply put, pride is at work when we place our own needs above everything else—including God. It is, in essence, an exaggerated fascination with and fixation on one’s own being and interests. It leads, even for the believer,…
Of the four obstacles to growth I mentioned a few posts ago, we have now looked at two of them. Before we go on to the other two let me remind you that the purpose of this blog is to consider the overall growth of the Church. What, you might ask, do these individual struggles with the spiritual life have to do with Church growth? By way of answer note that Scripture…
Every one of us has, on occasion, had times of prayer, worship, or meditation disrupted by unwanted thoughts. Having uncontrolled, dark thoughts disrupting and impeding one’s spiritual growth seems to be a universal human problem. Even the early mystics who fled to the desert for solitude found that they could not escape the distraction of their own thoughts. So, if these thoughts have such a negative impact, what can be done? How…
It is beyond dispute that we live in a very noisy world, a world characterized by constant drumming distraction. But, is this just harmless background annoyance, white noise? Or does it represent a real danger? Do select elements of all this “noise” coalesce into a an almost irresistible force that can cripple the spiritual senses, blind us to the light of God’s truth, and lead us to ruin? Are all these daily…
As I explore the themes of spiritual light and darkness I have been wondering if we can consider the words we think, speak (hear), or write (read) to be sources of darkness-dispelling light. While we don’t usually associate these concepts, the Scriptures do indeed connect them. Depending on their origin and use, word/thoughts are said to have the power to bring either light or darkness. In Psalm (119:105) we are told that…
As we saw last time non-participation is a most effective way of avoiding or preventing the Light of Christ from entering our lives. But, non-participation is very often a combination of obstacles and is sometimes even a consequent of those other obstructions to the Light and thus to the spiritual life in general. For that reason, the spiritual life is best seen as an active struggle against everything that prevents us from…