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Right now, God is pouring out His Spirit among us. There are people having powerful spiritual experiences, often tied to spiritual gifts the Lord has given them. If we as the Church are not ready to meet and accompany these people, their hunger (or desperation) will drive them elsewhere to make sense of their experience and learn how to steward it — at great risk to them, and at the additional risk of our squandering the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps one of the most misunderstood gifts that the Holy Spirit has given the Church is the gift of prophecy. Its use has dwindled in our modern Church culture, and the mere mention of the word tends to create apprehension. Whether due to a misapplication of the word by popular culture, an (unfair) association with occult practices, a misrepresentation of its true meaning, or simply a shortage of its healthy expression within Christianity, this gift tends to spark controversy, and has thus fallen by the wayside – at great loss to the Body of Christ. In truth, though, prophecy is one of the most valuable gifts we have access to as followers of Jesus.
Having stripped Satan of all power through his death and resurrection, Jesus could have “called it” and ushered in the full manifestation of his Kingdom right then and there. Instead, he did something surprising: he commissioned his disciples to carry on his mission as his ambassadors, entrusting them with the authority to operate on his behalf. But what does that mean? How far does that authority go? And was it just given to the Twelve, or does it extend to every Christian?
In my previous post, I outlined the value of learning to maintain ongoing connectivity with the Lord throughout the day, and provided some simple how-to’s to grow in this practice. In addition to those things, there are some practical strategies I’ve discovered to help protect that awareness of God’s presence in the midst of busy and distracting surroundings.
Scripture tells us that we are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20). This is a lovely concept to reflect upon which certainly stirs the imagination, however, what can be easily overlooked is its practical application in our lives. Beyond beautiful sentiment, this statement from St. Paul contains some paradigm-shifting implications for us as Believers, so I’d like to unpack it a bit, to help paint a picture of how we might apprehend all that is available to us through Christ.
Pentecost makes me a bit… sad. Not because I don’t enjoy the day, but because it feels like once the day is over, the Holy Spirit is put back into a box and tucked away until Easter Season of next year. There’s an ache in me that wishes to see the Holy Spirit celebrated, honored, and the topic of conversation as a normal – even daily – part of our Catholic experience. And although our theology surely encourages this, there’s a strange discomfort in the Church with the topic of the Holy Spirit, especially when it comes to the matter of having an active relationship with Him.
“Pray prayers big enough that they require God to show up.” This was a challenge I heard years ago, which simultaneously rattled me and brought a hint of thrill and intrigue. It also ended up ruining my life in the best possible way.
“What do you do when you’re afraid?” Someone recently asked me this question, and while weighty, I think there's a universality to it that we can all connect with. It's no secret that times right now are stressful. Even apart from the unique events happening in our country and around the globe, I've found in my years of ministry that one of the largest adversaries we face as Christians is the spirit of fear. It comes in many forms, and its outgrowth bears various types of (bad) fruit. I also believe that freedom on every level — individual, collective, spiritual, emotional, relational, societal, etc. — is tied to the overcoming of it. So I'd like to honor the question by taking a moment to unpack some thoughts and strategies on overcoming fear.
The idea that God is good seems like a very uncontroversial statement up front. It is already a cornerstone of Christian belief, so why would this be worth mentioning as a significant aspect of carrying a Kingdom mindset? I think the answer comes from the fact that all Christians must grapple with the reality of the suffering we experience in this life. The way we attempt to reconcile this experience with a belief in the goodness of God can make a big difference in the shaping of our faith perspective.
Right now, we are stewarding an era in time commonly referred to as the “already but not yet” – the initiation of God’s Kingdom on this earth as a reality that is already here in some measure, but is not yet complete; it remains in-process until reached in its fullness. This means that we have the weighty responsibility – and trust of God – to hold in tension the “already” and the “not yet.” To hold in tension the truth that God right now is King, powerful and victorious over every force of darkness and has defeated death once and for all… and the fact that our lived experience does not always reflect this truth.
As with any good mystery, God hides Himself, but He does so not because He wishes to withhold Himself from us, but because He wishes to reveal – to give us the delight of the pursuit and the glory of the discovery. A kind and loving Father, God cloaks Himself in mystery with the strategic intent of being discovered. He hides Himself to be found.
As we embrace our Christian mission, it is an act of love to ready ourselves to respond in whatever way the situation in front of us demands, and not to concern ourselves so much with whether we have this or that charism. In other words, when we get focused on our mission of extending God’s love to others, it is only natural that we would seek the most powerful means of accomplishing that mission: an intimate partnership with the Holy Spirit through the full range of spiritual gifts that are available to us.
At some point, we need to believe that we’ve become spiritual adults who have moved beyond self-improvement and are strong and developed enough to engage powerfully in the world. We have to start believing that grace actually works, and that our continual journeying with Christ over time has actually been effective in purifying and sanctifying us, readying us to do the world-changing activities that Jesus commissioned us to do.
Aside from wildly underestimating God’s goodness, grace, and sovereignty, the trouble with perfectionism is that it’s unattainable. There is always something that is falling short, always some area of failure, so there will never be a time in which shame stops speaking and we can truly rest. It’s a never-ending plight that will keep us busy until the day we die. We can re-brand that plight as “noble” or “holy” if we’d like, but in the end, it’s a form of bondage — and specifically, a bondage that Jesus came to deliver us from.
In Christ, we are citizens of God’s heavenly Kingdom and are invited to begin living heaven’s culture of honor here and now. We do this by learning to see people the way God sees them, by being eager to praise the good we see in them, by leveraging the favor we have to create opportunities for people to develop into their full potential, and so on. But because of the fallen state of this world, there are certain challenges to living a culture of honor that we have to contend with now that we won't in heaven. So what does honor look like in the midst of the brokenness of this world?
We, as believers, have received access to the supernatural power of the Almighty God. We are tapped into something that goes beyond the restrictions of this natural world. What we bring to the table ought to look different than that which comes from limited human strength. It ought to look extravagant, other-worldly, impossible.
As I look around the landscape of Christianity today, I notice that many of the churches having the greatest impact tend to have this in common: there is a strong family dynamic present at their core. This has been a point of intrigue for me, and I’ve been exploring the value of a family-based model in the overall health and effectiveness of the church. In our Catholic parishes, we often use the language of family, but if we look at the specifics, I think it’s more accurate to say we function much more like franchises than families.
While Jesus was an excellent teacher and admirable role model, the fruit of His life should do more for us than provide teachings, principles, and guideposts for life. That fruit is valuable, but it’s the kind of fruit that mere men leave behind, not Saviors. Not the Son of God. Not the One who defeated death once and for all.
We should not allow ourselves to give in to a doom-and-gloom perspective of where things stand today, nor should we embrace hyperbolic slogans that claim this to be the worst period in history. Not all churches are dying; many are thriving and growing. Once we cast off the narrative of inevitable decline, there is every reason to believe that we may be standing on the edge of the next great awakening.
Innovation is part of our birthright. We are designed for the here-and-now relationship with the Lord, and He has things to say to us TODAY — about today, about tomorrow, about the coming generations, and about how it is we are to shape the world for them. Whether it’s from a platform or within our local communities and families, God’s Kingdom is meant to advance through us. And advancement, like all growth, involves new things.
The life that we are offered in Jesus is a transformed life. Sometimes this transformation looks like moving from darkness to light, at other times it looks like moving from glory to glory, but continual growth, progress, and increase is the constant dynamic of the Christian life. And the greatest transformation doesn't come about through an analysis of our shortcomings, but through a vision of the nature and character of God.
If our experience of the Gospel requires us to redefine “good” or to invent excuses for God’s seeming heartlessness, perhaps it’s time to revisit some things.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he demonstrated to them a way of praying that was to paradigmatic of all Christian prayer - what we know as "The Lord's Prayer" or the "Our Father." Right in the middle of this prayer we find the words, "On earth as it is in heaven,” words which would serve as a measuring stick and guide for what his disciples were called to pursue.
Lunch with a friend changed everything for me. Ever since, the Kingdom has become the singular focus of attention for me. It has shifted the way I think about my relationship with God, the way I pray, the way I make decisions, and the way I approach ministry. If you are at all plugged in with the broader currents of Christianity in the U.S. (even if it's just the latest worship music) you have likely noticed an up-tick in how frequently the word "Kingdom" shows up. It's not a fad, it's what Jesus proclaimed. It's a big deal.
In my last post, I talked about developing a covenant mentality towards all, one where we more and more reflect the nature of a God who has the unique capacity to maintain actual covenant with an unlimited number of beings. But it's difficult to get a handle on what a covenant mentality really looks like in practice. If it's not going to be a vague, general sense of well-wishing for others we have to put a little more definition to it.
The heart of covenant is commitment to a person. It means favoring one person over another in a way that is perfectly acceptable and good. A father favors his own children over others' children in the investment of his time, attention, and resources. A husband likewise favors the relationship with his wife over other, secondary commitments. This favoring is necessary because of the limitations of our humanity.
One of the key features of Christian faith is the fact that God invites us into a covenant relationship with himself. What is a covenant? In short, a covenant is a radical commitment to a person, not to a set of behaviors.
Guest post: Fr. Anthony Co. I often think about how I don’t know what I don’t know. And this concerns me. So I pray: “Jesus, I know you are filled with surprises…surprise me with more of you.” Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a little time with Darren Wilson, a man who urgently prays the same thing.