The way that folks today talk about experiencing God is an interesting thing. It is far different in practice, but very similar in principle to what people have talked about through the ages. Some say that God only uses His word, others say that He has new things to say to His people today. Some people think that only Psalms, being Scripture, are effective for singing, others use hymns or praise choruses or even songs that give no mention to God. The five ways that we discussed the “being” side of leadership today included: experiencing (through nature), feeling, listening, reflecting, and waiting. These are interesting concepts and when viewed in totality they do not include Word or sacraments specifically, nor do they demand influence from the Church institutionally. This makes for an interesting argument between the Catholic and orthodox Lutheran camp on one side and the Evangelicals and Pentecostals on the other. In this unfortunate way, what began as a simple question for a blog assignment has raised a very old controversy which I am now obligated to explain.
The Catholic church has long held that God is primarily available to His people through the institutional Church. To draw nearer to God, they say, one must participate in the ceremonies and practices and sacraments of the church. Baptism and communion are the sacraments they share with Lutherans, to which they add five more, which are the primary means that God deals with His people, and all through the Church institution. The Lutheran church instead states that God deals primarily through His word, not primarily through the Church, and through the sacraments, which have their efficacy because of the Word. Thus, orthodox (or old line) Lutherans teach that what one needs to grow in grace is the Word, baptism, and communion. These are called means of grace, and apart from these three, they claim, no grace is available from God.
An interesting challenge to this type of thinking came after the Reformation in the form of a school of thought called Pietism. This type of thinking is what drives most of American Christianity, evangelicalism, and especially holiness teaching. The idea is that one needs a personal relationship with the Savior, Jesus, in order to be saved, and not necessarily the “means of grace,” through which their predecessors claimed the grace of God was channeled. Thus, they spoke of God’s grace as a purely spiritual thing, and not needing any sort of physical means to be imparted. The controversy involved far more than merely a quarrel about the nature of the sacraments. The whole of the Christian life, and thus according to some, the substance of the Gospel rested upon this argument. And so we come to today, at which time the Launch class is presented with a very Pietistic list of things which are, in effect, a new list of “means” by which God grants grace and growing in Him. The question is a very difficult one to answer, and indeed requires a deep look at what the Gospel is, the Old Testament system, and the example of Jesus. These things, of course, I have neither the time, nor the space, nor the knowledge to dive into at present, so let it suffice for me to answer the question as stated with such arguments suspended for the time being.
Of the five things listed above, I have certainly made use of reflecting the most. I have kept a journal at the very least inconsistently since I was eight years old, and for the past four years I have kept one also for my spiritual life particularly. I write down what the Lord Jesus has done for me, both so that it may be in words what my mind is thinking, and so that it may be remembered in the future. When I go back in my journal and read of what God has done for me in the past, I am encouraged that He shall never forsake me in the future, but shall love and provide for me in all my circumstances.
This week, to work on one (which incidentally sounds very much like doing) I need to wait. I have submitted several things to Him this week and I must needs be patient to wait for His answer. As to how I may become stronger, it will be by the grace of God. In the area of being, I am at best a very passive agent. This too is an extreme controversy, but I shall not enter that now. Bother with all the nonsense people come up with when they forget about the simplicity and mystery of the Scriptures and try to make controversies out of everything. Jesus preached, and He ministered, but His focus is not on preaching or on ministry. His focus is on the Father, now and forever. May ours be likewise.
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