A Balanced Approach to Christian SpiritualityHouston Graduate School of TheologyCS 850

Philosophy of Christian SpiritualityBecky Towne

Christian spirituality is a way of connecting the finite with the eternal through interactions and intersections of

relationship as a follower of Christ Jesus

Relationship with God – study,

responsiveness, attentiveness,

spiritual practices

Relationship with others –biblical

love, community-building, corporate spirituality

Relationship with self – spiritual

balance, removal of barriers, rest,

reflection, integrity

Connecting

Being

Doing

Relational

Transformational

Vocational

With Us

In Us

Through Us

Christ

RelationalTransformationa

l

Vocational

Community

Christian Spirituality• The Christian life involves living a life in balance, individually

and corporately• Connecting (Christ with us - relational)

• Contemplative – the Prayer-filled life• Social Justice – the Compassionate life

• Becoming (Christ in us - transformational)• Charismatic – the Spirit-empowered life• Holiness – the Virtuous life

• Doing (Christ through us - vocational)• Evangelical – the Word-centered life• Incarnational – the Sacramental life

• Christ wants to live with us, dwell in us, and work through us.• Christian spirituality is missional.

Connecting (Relational)• Contemplative • A life of loving attention to God• A holy habit of love that leads to partnership with God in God’s

creative and redeeming work• Social Justice• A life committed to compassion and justice for all peoples• A life that receives all peoples: enemies and friends, poor and

rich, illiterate and educated…

Community Groups – 1 question per group• What are some aspects of the character of God that especially

draw you Godward? What draws your community Godward?• Describe a time when you have felt like you have not belonged

or that you were not wanted. How is “belonging” a horizontal as well as a vertical response to God?

• What insights did you gain from the story of Benedict (chapter 3)?

• How do you understand the triune God after reading Scorgie’s description in chapter 3? How does this understanding help you verbalize the concept of community?

Becoming (Transformational)• Charismatic• A life immersed in, empowered by, and under the direction of the

Spirit of God• A life transformed by the empowering charisms and the nurturing

fruit of the Spirit• Holiness• A life that is empowered to live whole, functional lives in a

dysfunctional world• A life of partnership with God in heart and life

Community Groups – 3 questions for each group• What does transformation require individually? Corporately?• Describe something about your own woundedness and where

you are on the journey toward healing.• How do you think the journey toward wholeness could benefit

a congregation? Your congregation?

Doing (Vocational)• Evangelical• A life founded upon the living Word of God, the written word of

God, and the proclaimed word of God• A life of discipleship to Christ

• Incarnational• A life that makes present and visible the realm of the invisible

Spirit• A life which becomes the habitation of the Holy—a tabernacle—

where we learn through daily activity to function in cooperation with and in dependence upon God.

Community Groups – 3 questions for each group• How are disciples to contribute to the advancing of God’s

kingdom—the “doing” of the missional task? • What might this mean for you and your local community?• How does your vocation demonstrate your passion and

intersect with the world’s compelling need?

Authentic Christian spirituality follows the pattern of the incarnation—it becomes flesh. Vocation is following the heart of God into the world.

Knowing God in the fullest sense requires a heart that beats in sync with God’s own and a

willingness to follow it into the world

Christian spirituality finds its completion when we incorporate the element of self-denying participation in God’s purposes in the world.

Vocation• From the Latin vocare – to call.• Historically, having a vocation meant that one had been called

—divinely called and appointed—to a particular line of work and way of life.

• We each have a calling upon our lives to participate in the purposes of God—to play a role in his grand designs• To care for creation• To restore people to himself through Christ• To participate with Jesus in the building of his kingdom

The Invitation

To contribute to something that matters,

to something bigger than our individual selves

The Invitation

To contribute to something that matters,

to something bigger than our individual selves

Not a duty imposed but an incredible gift

The challenge is to be responsive to God wherever God places you!

Vocational burnout?

Victor Frankl - Burnout is seldom the result of an

excessive workload. Rather, it is caused by the loss of a

sense of meaning in what we are doing

Vocational burnout?

Victor Frankl - Burnout is seldom the result of an

excessive workload. Rather, it is caused by the loss of a

sense of meaning in what we are doing

Henry Scougal – Every human being craves a cause worth

exchanging his or her life for

Frederick Buechner

“The place God calls you to is the place where your

deep gladness and the world’s deep

hunger meet”

Missing God’s best

What if we miss God’s best vocational

design?

Missing God’s best

What if we miss God’s best

vocational design?

God is the best webmaster—the

return loops are coded into the software…

The dynamics of Christian

Spirituality are…

Linked together

Dependent on one another

Equally important to

spiritual health

Hoist the Sails

• Hilary of Poitiers (4th century)• “If I am actually to do it, I must ask for your help and mercy,

ask you to fill with wind the sails I have hoisted for you and to carry me forward on my course—to breathe, that is, your Spirit into my faith . . . And to enable me to continue.”

Mission Possible

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discover a

balanced approach to Christian spirituality as you work and pray on the journey toward godliness

and gladness as disciples of Jesus.