Becoming As God Intended: Revised

By Bruce E. Metzger

Christian spirituality transcends the belief about the concept to believe through faith which

provides the salvation experience. Such a spiritual experience must deepen itself with some

intellectual astute

• Language: English
• Publisher: Telepub LLC
• Release date: Dec 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781959379263

Bruce E. Metzger

Bruce Metzger, 65, is not a university teacher nor a minister. Metzger is involved in Bible studies at Coquitlam Presbyterian Church. Camille his wife, live in Coquitlam a suburb of Vancouver. Metzger has attended Bible College, 3 year program, associated with the Pentecostal denomination, and, 2 years of philosophy at university. Then practical life with irksome difficulties got in the way. He has continued to read further, to understand God and human nature. May contact at Facebook or Twitter.

Book preview

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For Camille, I miss you even when I am with you. At times, you overlooked when I was away from you, so I could write.

OPENING QUOTES

How old would you be if you did not know your age? . . . One of the advantages of growing up is that no one tells you anymore that you are too smart for your own good. The days when your intelligence used you get you into trouble are over. You among your peers at long last and everyone is at least as clever as you are. In such company, men can stop being dense and women don’t have to be coy any longer.

Véronique Vienna, The Art of Growing Up, Clarkson Potter Publishers, pp. 8, 36.

The soul is empty. It is a bucket, not a geyser. The soul is made to want. This is not due to sin. It is aggravated by sin. Our spiritual vulnerability, our spiritual neediness, our emptiness is built-in, hard-wired, standard circuitry. The essence of sin is the desire to live without God, to be subsistent, to be invulnerable.

David Hansen, A Little Handbook on Having A Soul, InterVarsity Press, p. 42.

Wisdom in its broadest and commonest sense denotes sound and serene judgment regarding the conduct of life. It may be accompanied by a broad range of knowledge, by intellectual acuteness, and by speculative depth, but it is not to be identified with any of these and may appear in their absence. It involves intellectual grasp or insight, but it is concerned not so much with the ascertainment of fact or the elaboration of theories as with ends of practical life.

Brand Blanshard, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy Macmillian Publishing Co, Vol 8, p. 324.

If you want your life not to stray too far from your soul, you need to make tiny adjustments so that from your line of action does not go off at a tangent from the circle of the soul. In these constant adjustments by which we try to keep soul and body in touch, we are much like the sailor with his hand on the tiller, correcting course, now this side, now that, all day long. The sailor knows he is never quite on course, always a little off, always in need of small adjustments.

Correcting course all day long: This is the beginning of wisdom. It is a practice, a quiet noticing of where you actually are, not being right on, but slightly off. The Greek word Sophia (philosophy, love of wisdom), originally means the skill in a craft such as the helmsman. The wisdom of the body keeps its alignment with the soul by noticing when they diverge.

James Hillman, The Force of Character, Random House, pp. 127-8.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

William James, editor E. P. Aldrich, As Willian James Said, Vanguard Press, p. 62.

Bruce has been passionate about philosophical theology all the time that I have known him – forty years – and what he has not learned by taking formal courses in the subject he has learned by reading, discussing, and by arguing points and issues. He has an indefatigable spirit, relentlessly looking at a problem or a question in every conceivable way. Everyone who knows him would say that he is as devoted to the pursuit of truth as time and opportunities have allowed. This book is a product of that indefatigability, and is to be admired on that count alone. His capacity for wry statement is also present here, and to read him is to enter into his unique space. Try him – most readers will enjoy the experience.

– Phillip H Wiebe, PhD, Professor of Philosophy

Trinity Western University, Canada

Vancouver Shroud Assoc. Director

Note: My dear friend Phillip died October 26, 2018, Langley, BC.

BECOMING AS GOD INTENDED: EXPANDED VERSION

Copyright © 2022 by Bruce E. Metzger

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by the copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator. at the address below.

ISBN for Paperback: 978-1-959379-24-9

ISBN for Hardback: 978-1-959379-25-6

ISBN for Ebook: 978-1-959379-26-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022923614

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, places are products of the author’s imagination.

Printing Edition of 2022.

TelePub LLC.

Long Beach, California

USA

INTRODUCTION

On a subconscious level we know that ideas shape our spirituality and our intellectuality. Mostly though, from a conscious level we’re certain that ideas do shape our identity. With that in mind I have gleaned from the Bible with other philosophical and theological ideas, not so much in a technical sense, but with a slight dance around some psychologically associated ideas that have shaped my spiritual autobiography and my growth. My Christian spiritual experiences with various ideas are connected to that growing experience as real events, not something imaged as a flighty off the wall rigid literalism and/or fundamentalism. Those that do not have an immediate identification with the ideas presented, you are invited to discover viable ideas that are at home with Christian spirituality. These ideas are at home with human nature. Ideas shape who we can be as a person. Experience brings familiarity with our grasp of who we are. There is recognition, as much as possible, what is familiar can be trusted because of reasonable concepts conceived so life can be lived as God intended, as a person who knows themselves and what they are all about. This is why we can become as God intended. But that is not how we become just by experience and good ideas, rather, becoming as God intended involves repentance of sins and the salvation experience with its second order experience of the sanctification process. The why is just the beginning of deeper spiritual experiences, whereas the how digs deeper into personality and character with an identity to be identified as our own. This gets into soul-making, the expansion of the soul. The soul shows up improved in personality.

To exclude the psychological condition – if the claim is we cannot correctly analyse our spiritual life with reasonable philosophical perspectives, then that means spirituality itself can be considered with less accuracy; will be surface at best, underdeveloped if not immature. Christian spirituality is reliable and worthy because it works with human nature to bring out better aspects of who we can become. Nevertheless, religious or spiritual subjects and political leanings, do not help us entirely to understand people and life. Is that all there is to people and life – religion and politics with a mixed bag of psychological analysis? People are more than labels. As we experience life, the spiritual and the psychological labels with political views are considered through a philosophical lens. That is why all of us have meaning through spirituality, of some sort, and efficiency of it is better from the Judaeo-Christian point of view. Why is it better and more efficient? It works with human nature, not against it, so the Believer/Christian can become as God intended. This becoming is experienced in the arena of personal life and the reality where politics has a life of its own, brings some zigzag moments within personal existential existence. Such are loose ended influences upon our lives. Providentially, Christian spirituality has wisdom to give.

It must be noted that nearly anyone can change their life for the better simply with discipline, good positive ideas and, the refusal to be self-centered without God’s help and without a prayer. I believe that. Psychotherapy is evidence people change, but with a little insightful concepts. What I want to talk about is that such growing prospects are true, except with the salvation experience and with the sanctification process the effort to change involves impute from God to effect a spiritual and intellectual archetypal shift where we know changes are not from our doing as a therapeutic effect. This produces wisdom with deep spirituality that gives insight into the self and to cause the burdens of life not to be as heavy, as Jesus promised.¹

My intent is that some of the ideas will have the effect as seeds planted to grow some deeper meaning for the personal sense of self as the new self, generated from salvation through Jesus the Savior. Good probing ideas should cause anyone to experience God and their own new self, more profound than before. That experience with God and our own self is a direct connection to growth that reaches deep within the soul to have direct effect to allow hidden and positive aspects of personality and character to surface. All of us have that innate need to understand our spiritual way of being with the inclusion of intellectual satisfaction. If there is no intellectual satisfaction associated with spirituality and how we understand our spiritual way of being, then there’s an instinctive aversion to its effect since something is working against us. Usually, its ourselves. We experience spiritual growing pains however, slightly different from each other, yet always personal because we begin to grow from unique and with varying intellectual abilities but within our own style. Each of us has a philosophical temperament whether realized or not, a style that identifies who we are, as an identified aspect of the nature of human nature showing off the soul of who we are as a person.

As human beings, each one of us does not live simply as material objects. Is the corporeal body that much of a nuisance to be without an internal reality with a sense of spirituality? We experience reality through our material body, however. The sense of being spiritual is the means to look at reality as spiritually minded, but at peace with our material body. That seems reasonable and positive when there is intellectual substance to our spirituality, or else there is confusion with rigid rules to rule life. The Bible encourages the Believers/Christians and the wannabe Believer/Christian, to experience a depth of spirituality so that intellectually such a spirituality is a practice living an authentic life, not just ideas stuffed into the head. Such a practice requires some faith. What that experience and practice looks like is a satisfaction with our own personality which also pleases the Lord Jesus. We know we have become the person God has intended for us to be therefore.

The becoming part of who and what we are as a person has the effect to reach into every aspect of our personal life. How we live our Christian spirituality as Disciples and Followers of Jesus, gets us into the tall grass where discernment at times seems out of sight and nuances lurk around the intellectual corners. But faith isn’t that blind nor without an acceptance of the spiritual life with its historical context and reasonable ideas. Not one person, who claims to be a Believer/Christian/Disciple of Jesus, can experience the depth of Christian spirituality solely by intellectual acknowledgement by itself, alone, without some reasonable ideas from biblical concepts and by what other Believers/Christians have to think about such concepts. No doubt, even an uncomplicated belief in God, is not a blind gamble of chance, played like solitaire. Christians/Disciples have an identifiable relationship with other Christians/Disciples on a spiritual level and on a material level; connections are personal with depth of authenticity as experienced in daily life. If there is no depth of authenticity, then the Believer/Christian has yet to become more serious about what they believe or else are floating through life. Should there be any solitaire loners as Christians/Disciples? No. We Christians/Disciples are a family, even if we do not like to admit it. Not every Christian/Disciple within the spiritual family is up to speed on understanding the importance of what it means to become more than what they were before. In fact, I’m convinced some people never give any curious attention to depth of meaning regardless of whatever meager spiritual experience they may have. However, absolutely, this also indicates every one of us in this spiritual family, either grows at different grades, moreover each one has begun their spiritual life at different times. Spiritual growth may seek similar results of improvements in personality and how life is lived, therefore at its hub it is highly subjective, because we all grow from where we initially are, as an individual with our own particular personality. Our particular personality has its individualistic style. I don’t think that style should be snuffed out or pushed down hidden out of sight, unless it leads to sin. Wisdom and patience is required therefore.

Bible quotations applied are principally a base as a jumping off point. The primary biblical source is the New Century Version (NCV) and secondary source the English Standard Version (ESV). The words Believer and Christian and Disciple are interchangeable, as it seems natural. From here on I will use either one of these labels which suits, however will favor Disciple since a disciple is more a comprehensive definition for Follower or Apprentice of Jesus. The term Christian spirituality seems accurate description of the spirituality that signifies it as historically Christian and not New Age or Gnosticism or Zoroastrianism, anything that isn’t Christian. References to Jesus usually has the additional name Christ, which is not necessarily applied, although Jesus is meant to infer that, since Jesus is the Christ the Savior. The name Jesus in the Bible is identified as Jesus Christ, and other instances as Christ Jesus. Besides, the New Testament uses Jesus more often probably from social custom. Certain people, however, known by a single name, are a mononym. Besides, the name Jesus cuts to the nub. The accustomed mononyms for example are brainiacs as Socrates, Voltaire, and Nietzsche, with musicians Enya, Moby, and Sting. Such a short list, with a host of other luminaries and infamous tyrants are limitless.

What follows are numbered statements or paragraphs of conclusions and affirmations. These assertions satisfy my philosophical temperament where questions have been answered about personal spiritual longings. To refer the numbered statements or paragraphs as aphorisms might be a stretch, although some are short and pithy. Although Nietzsche with a few older writers used the numbered system, I borrow it because I like it. The numbered system allows for briefer reading and time to think without losing track. Within each chapter, the numbered statements of conclusions and affirmations are not necessarily built upon the pervious numbered section. As well, the preferred older English pronoun style such as they, them, their, is used instead the awkward his/her. The older method seems not infested with political correctness and prevents grammatical whiplash an excellent phrase lifted from the website grammergirl.com; see also, quickanddirty.com.

One more important crucial note to tress with more detail than what was said six paragraphs back. There are plenty of self-help books packed with some very wise advice by writers who may have sorted out the kicks between psychology and philosophy. Documentaries can be helpful, too. I also speak as someone who has not had psychotherapy. I think, however, I know what I’m talking about concerning becoming and Christian spirituality. Either from some self-help books and/or biblical and related ideas, the idea of knowing the self is bedrock for understanding the psychology and philosophy of being human and what that means to become a person. This is not a self-help book. All the same, I have taken what the Bible teaches and attempted to present the view that there is a self not to be ignored, except that the self needs to experience salvation as given by Jesus the Savior. By that experience the old sense of self becomes a new sense of self. Whatever psychology and philosophy has to teach us about being a person of worth through the effect of positive concepts is usually correct. However, good and positive ideas about a transformation of the self with wisdom and spiritual insights can remain just that – wisdom and spiritual insights. Except the salvation experience may have similar, if not familiar experiences for transformation – the effect is from God because of the Jesus effect. God wants the experience of transformation or salvation to be a gift, not something of our own accomplishment. God is like that. So, spirituality, I trust, there are good ideas for the discovery of a new self, which is a creative exploration, where fear of failure does not exist. Our new self is absolutely possible but it will take some faith and some serious thinking to trust God for the growing effect. The new self is also about soul-making, with God’s help, to deal with personality, character, and an identity to be identified as our own. The soul is made visible by who we are; first broken then healed as a new self.

I’m confident a reader either as a Disciple of Jesus or as a wannabe Disciple, can glean some positive ideas to help in their exploration into their deeper sense of self as it is connected to the salvation experience that leads into growing or knowing authentic spirituality. However, if such a reader will not first embrace the concept of repentance of sins unto salvation, they will absolutely overlook the entire benefits of a deeper self-discovery and a spiritual new life. As the Apostle Paul says it concisely with spiritual and philosophical certainty connected to deeper psychological insight, For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. ² This repentance is connected to the sense of sorrow, if not immediately then later on, insofar, the repentant person has no regret for their propensity to sin. Repentance deals with the core of personality and the soul for soul-making. This repentance leads to the experience of salvation with its forgiveness of Sin which is the beginning of a new self that leans into a new self. As for the estrangement from God, speaking for myself, I never really knew what that meant until after knowing more about God as a growing relationship can be experienced. We never know how far we were from God until we become closer to God. By the way, the new self cares less about how many selfies and likes you have on social media.

I am not an academic. I don’t even write like an academic. I do not pretend to be academic. We need academics and intellectuals, however. They do the thinking most of us would not attempt. In today’s intellectual bigotry namely from some in academe who are not intellectuals, I thank God I am not an academic, even though I’m attracted to their guild in intellectual craft. Too many academics have done harm to the world.

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¹ Matthew 11: 28-30

² ESV, 2 Corinthians 7: 10. Compare Proverbs 28: 13; Matthew 3: 8; Luke 13: 3, 5; Acts 3: 19; Romans 2: 4; 4: 7, 8 from Psalm 32: 1, 2 except Paul claims forgiveness is permanent ; 2 Peter

OPEN HERE

[soul-making: a good place to start]

1

To grow spiritually has its own problems. Spiritual growth pays attention to heartaches. These heartaches are either about knowing too little or knowing too much. Knowing too little is the cause for an ineffective practice on how to live, not living with less existential troubles seems like merely existing, stumbling through life, aimless without purposeful direction. However, for the person who knows too much, with the presumption enough understanding has been acquired so they could live too much in their head because choices are much broader on how to act; options are multiplied and frequently someone becomes an ideologue and theoretician, alone, seems like a safe retreat from the real world to exist and to live since these two functionally go together. Authentic spiritual growth should not be ineffectiveness nor bring paralysis. This anesthetises the soul into a daft slumber.

2

Disciples live simultaneously in two worlds, juxtaposed, dealing with what consists of evil destructions and good constructions. Meandering between these destructions and constructions are some questionable problem gray areas. Wisdom is called for.

3

Disciples of Jesus live with the expectation they can be spiritually minded. Not a bad idea. Disciples are able to think cogently with intelligence about the reality of spirituality. To be spiritually minded therefore means to consider the totality of reality on how to live, connect with the world without freaking out and losing a balanced perspective between what is destructive and constructive. Material reality is not everything of reality, on its surface. There’s more going on than meets the eye.

4

The feeling of being weak and inadequate, the futility that nothing can be done to stand against evil, against the discrepancies and oddball contradictions that seem to pour out from evil and from troubled people, these appear as well from ordinary events. It causes the good to be obscured, as if we were oblivious to what is going on before the eyeballs, not believing what is seen. So far, that is normal to doubt discrepancies and oddball contradictions of reality. We feel it. There is an instinctive reaction that something is off the mark. That contrast jolts every time the thought floats to the surface of consciousness, whether evil is present. To become desensitised to evil weakens the soul and numbs intellectual astuteness. Indifference is evil about the differences between evil (bad, vile, destruction ) and the good (right, decent, honorable, value).

5

It’s not an exaggeration when the Apostle Paul opines for the spiritually minded Christian Disciple, Our fight is not against people on earth but against rulers and authorities and powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.³ That is conditional however, since he tells us in verse 11, that the spiritually minded are those who have protection (armor) from God to deal with the devil’s evil tricks. Spiritually minded people appreciate they deal with what is behind what is facing them. There’s more going on than meets the eye.

Where does the good come from? Does the good come from anything, of its own accord? According to James, the good comes from God. Initially that seems naive. Undoubtedly a good can generate another good. Maybe that doesn’t matter in an ultimate definition. What matters to James is, Every good action and every perfect gift is from God.⁴ However, previously, James informs that, Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone.⁵ God neither, I’d also posit, cannot be tempted by the good. We can be tempted, as humans, by inordinate and/or meaningful good desires. James however says, But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them. This desire leads to sin, and then the sin leads to death.⁶ Evil usually shows up where the good is constantly absent. Although when we want something that is also good when we should not bother with it, we humans are as well tempted. However, we can know what the good is by its opposite, namely by what is destructive as an evil force. Do not suppose therefore that evil is not a creative force to destroy any amount of our freedom. Freedom is the good about human nature. This is the reason often the good generates another good. The spiritually minded appreciate they deal with spiritual powers of evil because they’re more attuned to the spiritual and also are one-with the Spirit of God. The spiritually minded have an awareness the fight is against evil that requires tools and protective devices from God. As Paul carries on in verse 14 those who are brave and have their heads, while others are freaking out; the spiritually minded have finished the whole fight, you will be still standing. What a powerful image: Standing tall against evil. Indifference to evil is a skillful ability to embrace ignorance as a bliss with the mindset of not caring, the problems are not in our personal sphere. Who cares how many people are gassed an ocean away? This ignorance and careless mindset is an aversion, a repulsion of the serious person who is spiritually minded. The spiritual person connects the dots concerning macro world events right down to their connections with local people. Whether they can do anything to make a difference, is another concern.

6

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³ NCV, Ephesians 6: 12, then verse 1

⁴ NCV, James 1: 17

⁵ NCV, James 1: 13

⁶ NCV, James 1: 14, 15

The person who has been made new through the salvation experience brings with it a newness to complement change, an improved version of the original individual to be noticeably different from a somebody to a someone. The individual becomes someone with a sense of their own person. This person cannot be noted as just another individual because they have become a person doing their best to improve their character and personality. Such a person as a Believer/Christian or better a Disciple is more advanced from being a mere individual somebody, just like everyone else. Such a person has become authentic and is viewed as a new someone for whom God has intended for them to be. An everyday somebody to become an awestruck someone with a new sense of self has a sense of calling for what God wants them to become. The new spiritual self comes with a new identity experienced in the newness of being alive spiritually and is not bound, not held captive to the shame of past sins of the old self with its identity. Disciples today as Followers of Jesus live with an innocent blush.

We can agree with Apostle Paul when he says, I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love so that they may be rich in their understanding. This leads to their knowing fully God’s perfect secret, that is, Christ himself. In him all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safely kept.⁷ God may keep treasures of wisdom and knowledge but it is for our interest which is designed to our advantage to find them and bring out from their depths insights to fully know God, and the most important component of that knowing is to have the wisdom to live by such insights as a new self. God is not going to spoon-feed us with spiritual insights. We have to dig for it, explore depths of insights. Spiritual growth is not a privileged ready-made rite of passage from ancestry – we put on our own armor provided by God and choosing to learn and have faith in The Spirit. Learning and reading opens the soul to God’s ideas for deep wrenching soul-making. This means removing the encrusted layers stacked that cause soul to be, from our daily events, those known and unknown experiences. Becoming is like a geological dig, except here the old becomes new as the old dies with less power and less significance.

7

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⁷ NCV, Colossians 2: 2, 3.

Becoming the person God wants each of us to be, is an ongoing forward process achieved by learning and growing, becoming, as it is pointed out, by a new way of thinking.⁸ Acquiring a new way of thinking and understanding about reality and our own self, especially as a new redeemed self in relationship with God, it takes patience and time with a whole lot of forgiveness towards our own new sense of who we are as a Believer and now as a person God has intended for us to be.

8

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⁸ NCV, Romans 12: 2

Paul reveals the skinny on what is going on within Christianity. Directly affirmed that for those who have grown spiritually: Then you can be filled with the fullness of God,⁹ Paul adds, apparently, not all Believers have that fullness. This idea makes sense. It takes some intellectual nudging now and then to grow spiritually, towards a sense of completion, fully seeking truth and the interests of God. There could be a tendency to sit back and not read the Bible or extra biblical study. To all appearances what does not mix well with Christian spirituality is intellectual laziness. This means the Disciple has some say or input on how they are to be growing spiritually. Christian spirituality seeks completion, depth that feels full of a peace that satisfies. There’s a fullness to indicate completeness that affirms the Disciple is able to get over their past since God already has. To be full of God is an experience of finally being complete, all the corners of personal life begin to make sense and are put in their place. As Paul puts it, you can make the fullness happen with faith, and God can complete the effects for spiritual maturation. It is not that complicated because this is faith in action.

9

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⁹ NCV, Ephesians 3: 19, context verses 14-19. See 4: 13, ESV, fullness of Christ.

The Christian life can be lived reasonably and in a practical manner. Simply put, it must be lived reasonably and in a practical manner. However, often along the way, the Disciple can become unreasonable or excessively irksome and vain. What that looks like is they become too neatly packaged and tiresome. They have an answer for everything. Such a Disciple becomes a boring pedantic and not practical. What is, moreover, unreasonable is that the boring pedantic has the stench of self-righteousness. What is self-righteousness really like? Sometimes it is difficult to give it a proper name because it is discovered to be concealed in many forms. But when it’s encountered and you get a whiff of its stench you instinctively recognise it. Those who insist that rules rule will certainly be overly righteous by how they present themselves so that they are better than others; the boring pedantic with all the answers is such an example. The boring pedantic knows enough however with little practical life applications and understanding, but certainly lacks wisdom. They are able to describe Christian spirituality, but not capable to explain the nuances that are embedded in spiritual growth, particularly since each Disciple comes from a unique experience. Therefore, rules rule. The practical is lost on the boring pedantic. Every Disciple should become long in the tooth, which means they can be reasonable and practical and wise.

10

Those that are spiritually enlightened can frequently give off the stench of self-righteousness. All of us have given off that odour, when we are honest.

11

Is it possible for the Disciple as a person to never feel inferior? Perhaps not. They should understand with certainty not to be inferior is because of the salvation experience. To literally see themselves as less than what God has begun to accomplish in their personal life, deep in the soul or self is connected to any positive effects of the salvation experience, such as feeling brand new as though a new beginning has begun – not will begin but has begun. This however does not infer a situation could never cause the experience of feeling inferior, mediocre and low-grade. This feeling of inferiority must be seen as unnecessary since God hasn’t given up on that Disciple. Regardless of the degree of spiritual growth, the Disciple as a Christian has matured spiritually knowing they are not a mediocre inferior person. Likewise has the outcome for the development in intellectual astuteness; it is the Disciple’s condition of being for it’s impossible to grow spiritually without some intellectual advancement with respect to have a better view of one’s own self. There should never be a situation that allows criticisms or negative use of words to belittle the extent of the Disciple’s advancements in their spiritual growth. Every Disciple should think seriously of themselves as more spiritually mature than what they were before. The only measure to determine maturity is by an intellectual ascertainment: what is known now and to what extent has it changed their life’s trajectory. The opposite of inferiority is confidence first, then humility since this is because of the salvation experience, but both confidence and humility are required for spiritual maturity.

12

When we are in the presence of a mature Christian person, we can sense their spiritual depth. It simply feels good. It is a feel with a known familiarity, as though we are exactly where we should be. Such a spiritual person crosses our path either as an author as we read their books or more often in personal contact. What we learn from them is trustworthy for our own spiritual growth. This presence is part from who the mature Christian is, but also sense with depth that goes further, that is, there is the encounter of the power of the Spirit of God connected with that person’s power of authenticity. Both of these powers work in concert, it is a performance that never works against what each can accomplish for the glory of God. Such power emanates, springs from the mature Christian’s personality but has its origin in the salvation experience and is an exemplification of the consequences of the sanctification process. Spiritual maturity cannot be covered up, deeply hidden effects only for personal advancement. Spiritual maturity brings out better aspects of personality which is the sanctifying work from the salvation experience so that the mature Christians can become exemplars.

13

We need the theoretical as much as the practical. The theoretical provides working knowledge, so that we are not high and dry, not knowing how to think or how to act with prudence, wisdom, judgement, and what and who to be as a person. Theoretical ideas give speculation to cogitate and determine if ideas can be practically lived as a pleasing life, which also pleases ourselves and God. The sort of theoretical person on the other side of this ideologue is possibly the boring pedantic. Theoretical ideas for a working knowledge often come out of dirty messed up ideological workshops, that eventually produce something practical. Working ideas always, always, are useful since they transcend the theoretical ether. Theoretical ideas are used, spent, on the practical because ideas eventually can be practiced in the real world. Ideas arrive for a reason, if not for any other reason than to validate how impractical an idea could be.

14

The spiritual life involves a learning curve. Initially, simply believing is a form of unthinking acceptance of the experience of spirituality. You may have believed with all of your ducks in a row – idea B follows A – but most usually have a general overview to what makes common sense to be believed as true. All those who want to believe, insofar, with further depth and authenticity must acquire intelligible ideas concerning what they believe to be true or at least reasonably acceptable. Simply believing is not enough, however a good place to begin. Such a tactic to understand spiritual growth is effective; another way to put it is to claim such a tactic is useful for it remains open to acknowledge the initial believing experience to be authentically true, not made up as a philosophical trip. It is useful for the Disciple to have tactical military mindset to recognise the difference from their then (previous) experiences by knowing what experiences is now (current), so that they can know where they are going spiritually and intellectually, from where they came from in their philosophical temperament. This prevents wrong-headed ideas that can blunt a good spiritual growth experience. Sometimes wrong-head ideas doesn’t show up until into the future. Usually, this revealing of wrong-headed ideas are exposed because of biblical study: God’s ideas.

What is a bad wrong-headed idea about Christian spirituality? Pelagian theology posits the Believer contributes to salvation, along with its close relatives, the Hebrew Roots Movement and Progressive Christianity. These are not far from Christian Gnosticism which has a form of spirituality without the Spirit but a substance of shallow wisdom. Another strong dysfunctional idea is present by hard core Calvinists with their inclusive ill-conceived notion that they are the chosen, at the expense that God excludes others. Maybe that’s an exclusive or inclusive, idea? I mention these since they’re more prominent. Christian spirituality, therefore, is not about soft, fluffy, easy ideas that abandons experiences nor blindly follows groupthink which is nothing more than peer pressure. That would be spiritual death, or an intellectually lazy means to avoid difficult issues. This is a bit crazy in an off sort of way to live life, not wanting to deal with deeper meanings. The learning curve connected with Christian spirituality is always curving to think about what is believed.

15

Recall the banter and drama surrounding¹⁰ washed Jesus feet? She is a nameless person. She does not wash with water from the owner’s house, but with her own tears. How many teardrops does it take to wash feet? Does it matter? She also has a bottle of perfume. The owner of the residence is a Pharisee teacher, named Simon. The woman dries the feet of Jesus with her long sexy hair. Not to stop there, she kisses his feet, then sprinkles perfume on the feet of Jesus. According to the storyline, her reputation is the local loose sinful woman (verse