Yesterday, we got to attend a Faith At Home seminar in Moncton with Brian Siewert who is the Canadian Director of Faith at Home Canada. It was a tremendous opportunity. It was also very interesting to see, during a discussion time, how quickly various leaders from numerous churches all came to a consensus identifying busyness as the number one obstacle they encounter preventing families from engaging in significant spiritual formation activities, either for home or church.
I was one of those leaders. There is no way I can disagree. It’s everywhere. Our entire culture is caught up in a lifestyle that leaves little room for spiritual priorities. It is the enemy we face; the spirit of the age in which we live.
“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry can destroy our souls. Hurry can keep us from living well. As Carl Jung wrote, 'Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.' Again and again, as we pursue spiritual life, we must do battle with hurry. For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.”
John Ortberg, "The Life You've Always Wanted (2002), page 77.
The only solution to this dire situation we find ourselves in is the radical realignment of our priorities according to the call of Jesus Christ upon our lives. We cannot follow Jesus and adhere to the cultural directives of our society at the same time. What we know to be of ultimate value has no perceived value to our culture. True, we do need to live missional lives and that does mean that we need to connect with the culture in order to relate the truth. But we must find a way to do so that doesn’t mean capitulating to society’s values. Otherwise, we will not only lose our message and our credibility, we will lose our way and end up living with the horrible harvest of futility that comes from sowing the seeds spiritual neglect. And you can read into that whatever you want.
And so, I repeat myself. The only solution to this dire situation we find ourselves in is the radical realignment of our priorities according to the call of Jesus Christ upon our lives. It will mean being different. It will mean being misunderstood. It will mean going against the flow, swimming upstream. But, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer pointed out, “The first call which every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.” Or, as someone else put it, "Any dead fish can float downstream".
HI STEVE
ReplyDeleteYes busyness is a great time robber however, it seems to me we can pick and choose what we want to be busy in
even young families have the 24 hours that all the rest of us have. i think that the problem comes from having way too many choices and not taking the time to think through the consequenses of what we choose. we can also take the time whether at a hockey game or standing in line at checkouts to say a word for the Lord. i encourage all out there to take every opportunity even when we are TIRED to take time to speak after all we can seem to talk and take time for everything else
peggy a
this is so true!!..this last week I have been homestayed due to a week long liscence suspension (speeding ticket..ooops) and all I can say is what a blessing it has been! ..I have had 3 full days at home to pray reflect laugh cry worship and just overall enjoy the simplicities of life again..i guess you can say I stopped to smell the roses.. lol. I know God was slowing me down with the ticket because my driving... like my crazy busy life was getting out of control.Not that I recommend a hefty ticket to everyone else to receive this blessing but it has bonded me even tighter to my friend Jesus and taught me to always make time like this . It has been a treasured week. I will be happy to remember this lesson God (and constable Scott) has taught me.Peace(real peace) to you all!
ReplyDeleteAndrea(aka..The road runner)
Sometimes we slow down. And sometimes God slows us down! And isn't it amazing how quickly our lives can get 'out of control'. Thank God for His gentleness. We ALL benefit from it. Thanks for sharing Andrea.
ReplyDeleteI have been slowed down myself by God. He gave me many signs from last June right to November when he literary put me in bed for almost a month. I can never remember being with out kids or work for that long. He took my health from me. He is still watching me making sure I am doing all that is necessary to make my life less of a "hurry" Although I am getting better if I extended myself he takes my health just a little to remind me he is serious and that I have to finish the plan that was set out for me. I have an incredibly stubborn streak to survive on my own. He is teaching me that I am not alone and don't have to be. We are working though this together but I am sure God is up there shaking his head saying man do I have a huge wall do knock down for this one. I thank him every day for not giving up!
ReplyDeleteTwyla
Twyla, you're definitely not the only one who tends to be a little stubborn. Where would any of us be without the graciousness of God? And what a promise we have that He will never give up on those who put their trust in Him! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete