By Sean McDonough, PhD
Associate Professor of New Testament
My tub, like my mind, sometimes doesn’t work as quickly as it ought. So once a year or so, I need to tackle the dirty, but oddly satisfying, job of getting rid of the sludge that keeps the water from draining. I lay down some newspaper, get down on the floor, remove the massive cover of the drum trap, insert the coiled snake as far into the pipe as I can, and start to twist the snake. After a few minutes, I pull it back up to see what I have caught. The result, if I am lucky, is not pretty. [CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE CONTAINS MATERIAL OF A GRAPHIC NATURE.] If I have snaked successfully, I will pull up a tangled black mass of sludge and hair, like a hunk of muddy wild boar flesh – the bigger and badder the better, because it means more room for the water to flow out. I clean up my tools and myself, replace the cover, and walk away a more contented man.
Alert readers who have read the title of this piece, and have managed to weather the storm of disturbing imagery in the previous paragraph, may sense where this is headed. Dirty bath water is not the only thing we need drained from our lives. Day by day, week by week, we face temptations, insults, resentments, confusion – and if all is going well we slough it off and keep moving on. But as all those little things can begin to accumulate in our soul, we can find it harder to keep the debris moving downstream. “Why do I always get stuck with the worst committee assignments?” “Why do my babies have to scream on the plane when no one else's do?” “I can’t believe my roommate borrowed my iPod again without asking!”
It’s not the big things I am talking about here. Occasionally, we have had to extricate a Playmobil helmet or some such thing from the plumbing, and that requires bringing in the heavy hitters of the pipe cleaning world. But the real problem is the gradual build-up of hair and dirt that slip past the screen and set up their secret and growing fraternity somewhere beyond the drum trap. I suspect that for most of us, the same holds true for our spiritual lives: we might not commit egregious sins that block us up all at once; we just grow ever more sclerotic from trivial grudges and petty distractions.
Snaking your soul sludge could take any number of forms, and my main purpose here is to identify the problem rather than to detail the solutions. You might find deliverance by going on a weekend retreat, or joining a small group, or committing to a new prayer regimen. The key is to realize that even the best-intentioned believer can find his or her spiritual progress blocked by the detritus of everyday life, and to seek by God’s grace to get rid of the blockage.
And if your time of reflection dredges up some things that are a bit unpleasant to look at, don’t be discouraged. Awareness can lead to repentance, and repentance leads to a healthier relationship with God. However you do it, start snaking your soul sludge.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
A Wicked Experience in the Big Apple
By Roy Ciampa, PhD
Associate Professor of New Testament
I just passed through one of those milestone birthdays. Let’s just say I can no longer say I’m in my 40’s…. For this special birthday my wonderful wife, Marcelle, planned a trip to New York City with a couple of our best friends. I had been to NYC a couple times before but never as a tourist. We were there for three beautiful days and filled our time with interesting and perhaps life-shaping events (it’s a bit too soon to say for certain…). We stayed in a hotel just off of Times Square and we were able to walk to just about everything we saw. I confess I experienced some sensory overload, but the experience was one I will never forget and one for which I am extremely grateful. What a great weekend!
The highlights included two Broadway musicals. We saw Hairspray and Wicked. Although they are very different stories they both address issues of prejudice. Hairspray is the more conventional (less thought-provoking) of the two, with its black-and-white characters (n.b. the double entendre) and the happy-ever-after ending. It was full of fun, energy and terrific music. Wicked is more brooding. It calls into question the overly simplistic application of terms like good and evil in a revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz which shows that Elphaba (the Witch of the West) was not so evil after all, while those who demonized her were acting duplicitously either out of prejudice or self-interest.
Some of the first lyrics include:
Let us be glad, Let us be grateful,
Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue
The wicked workings of you know who!
Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer evil?
The truth we all believe'll by and by outlive a lie
This sounds very much like traditional Christian teaching (see, e.g. 1 Corinthians 15 on Christ’s victory over death, etc.), but it is subverted by the (about to be revealed) knowledge that the moral categories were being wrongly applied. The story would end up revealing that “the truth we all believe” would not outlive a lie, but rather was the lie!
Other lyrics almost sound as though they were taken from the book of Proverbs or other Old Testament wisdom literature. For instance:
No one mourns the wicked!
No one cries they won't return!
No one lays a lily on their grave!
The good man scorns the wicked!
Through their lives our children learn! What we miss when we misbehave!
Again, this traditional moral teaching is undermined by the knowledge that the terms good and wicked were being wrongly and simplistically applied thanks to the manipulation of perceptions by those who held power and influence in Ozian society.
I’ll share just one final bit of lyrics. This one ends with a paraphrase of Galatians 6:7:
Goodness knows
The wicked cry alone
Nothing grows for the wicked
They reap only what they've sown
I’m sure some will see all of this as merely an attempt to undermine traditional Christian moral categories but there is no real moral relativism here. We see both good and evil in the main characters and are shocked by the hypocrisy and wicked manipulation of society’s application of the categories of good and evil. Such a manipulation has been an often observed part of the modern and postmodern experience and not just something prevalent in story books or ancient times. Like the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, Wicked warns against the simplistic, naïve or socially convenient application of powerful terms like good and evil in a world filled with complex characters, mixed motives, deceitful hearts, hypocrisy and politics marked by self-interest. There is a certain shocking, Nathan-confronts-David nature to the message (see 2 Samuel 12:1-7) which is a healthy and important challenge for us to hear.
One of the other highlights of the weekend was an audio tour of Ground Zero. What a moving and highly recommended experience! A place marked by both human wickedness and human goodness and an event which has also been manipulated at times to advance simplistic views of good and evil in the world…. As the American presidential campaign approaches its end the American population finds itself occasionally being fed a diet of rhetoric in which the opposing candidates (all well-respected people before the campaigns began) are demonized for the sake of the advantage gained by the candidacy of the other. Sometimes this is done to the applause of those most clearly identified as “Christians.” We all know “The good man scorns the wicked!” Sometimes people are all too eager to let a strong voice tell them which is “the good” man and which “the wicked” so they can pour their scorn on the right one. May God give us all greater wisdom than that, for the sake of this nation and those affected by its leadership.
Back to our trip to NYC. Did I make any special contribution to the betterment of society while visiting the Big Apple? Well, we visited the Hard Rock Café and I bought a cap that says “Save the Planet” on the front and “Love all, serve all” on the back. I rejoicify (sic) in the knowledge that with a simple $20 purchase I have advanced such a wonderful agenda, promoting good and the overthrow of evil through one little act of consumerism. What a comfort it would be, I suppose, if we actually lived in such a morally simple universe…. My birthday trip is now over, however, and I hope that in remaining years that God gives me I might, by his grace and mercy, make a greater difference in this complex, broken and hurting world than I have in the years I have lived so far. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV).
Associate Professor of New Testament
I just passed through one of those milestone birthdays. Let’s just say I can no longer say I’m in my 40’s…. For this special birthday my wonderful wife, Marcelle, planned a trip to New York City with a couple of our best friends. I had been to NYC a couple times before but never as a tourist. We were there for three beautiful days and filled our time with interesting and perhaps life-shaping events (it’s a bit too soon to say for certain…). We stayed in a hotel just off of Times Square and we were able to walk to just about everything we saw. I confess I experienced some sensory overload, but the experience was one I will never forget and one for which I am extremely grateful. What a great weekend!
The highlights included two Broadway musicals. We saw Hairspray and Wicked. Although they are very different stories they both address issues of prejudice. Hairspray is the more conventional (less thought-provoking) of the two, with its black-and-white characters (n.b. the double entendre) and the happy-ever-after ending. It was full of fun, energy and terrific music. Wicked is more brooding. It calls into question the overly simplistic application of terms like good and evil in a revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz which shows that Elphaba (the Witch of the West) was not so evil after all, while those who demonized her were acting duplicitously either out of prejudice or self-interest.
Some of the first lyrics include:
Let us be glad, Let us be grateful,
Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue
The wicked workings of you know who!
Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer evil?
The truth we all believe'll by and by outlive a lie
This sounds very much like traditional Christian teaching (see, e.g. 1 Corinthians 15 on Christ’s victory over death, etc.), but it is subverted by the (about to be revealed) knowledge that the moral categories were being wrongly applied. The story would end up revealing that “the truth we all believe” would not outlive a lie, but rather was the lie!
Other lyrics almost sound as though they were taken from the book of Proverbs or other Old Testament wisdom literature. For instance:
No one mourns the wicked!
No one cries they won't return!
No one lays a lily on their grave!
The good man scorns the wicked!
Through their lives our children learn! What we miss when we misbehave!
Again, this traditional moral teaching is undermined by the knowledge that the terms good and wicked were being wrongly and simplistically applied thanks to the manipulation of perceptions by those who held power and influence in Ozian society.
I’ll share just one final bit of lyrics. This one ends with a paraphrase of Galatians 6:7:
Goodness knows
The wicked cry alone
Nothing grows for the wicked
They reap only what they've sown
I’m sure some will see all of this as merely an attempt to undermine traditional Christian moral categories but there is no real moral relativism here. We see both good and evil in the main characters and are shocked by the hypocrisy and wicked manipulation of society’s application of the categories of good and evil. Such a manipulation has been an often observed part of the modern and postmodern experience and not just something prevalent in story books or ancient times. Like the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, Wicked warns against the simplistic, naïve or socially convenient application of powerful terms like good and evil in a world filled with complex characters, mixed motives, deceitful hearts, hypocrisy and politics marked by self-interest. There is a certain shocking, Nathan-confronts-David nature to the message (see 2 Samuel 12:1-7) which is a healthy and important challenge for us to hear.
One of the other highlights of the weekend was an audio tour of Ground Zero. What a moving and highly recommended experience! A place marked by both human wickedness and human goodness and an event which has also been manipulated at times to advance simplistic views of good and evil in the world…. As the American presidential campaign approaches its end the American population finds itself occasionally being fed a diet of rhetoric in which the opposing candidates (all well-respected people before the campaigns began) are demonized for the sake of the advantage gained by the candidacy of the other. Sometimes this is done to the applause of those most clearly identified as “Christians.” We all know “The good man scorns the wicked!” Sometimes people are all too eager to let a strong voice tell them which is “the good” man and which “the wicked” so they can pour their scorn on the right one. May God give us all greater wisdom than that, for the sake of this nation and those affected by its leadership.
Back to our trip to NYC. Did I make any special contribution to the betterment of society while visiting the Big Apple? Well, we visited the Hard Rock Café and I bought a cap that says “Save the Planet” on the front and “Love all, serve all” on the back. I rejoicify (sic) in the knowledge that with a simple $20 purchase I have advanced such a wonderful agenda, promoting good and the overthrow of evil through one little act of consumerism. What a comfort it would be, I suppose, if we actually lived in such a morally simple universe…. My birthday trip is now over, however, and I hope that in remaining years that God gives me I might, by his grace and mercy, make a greater difference in this complex, broken and hurting world than I have in the years I have lived so far. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV).
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Hope and Suffering
By Maria Boccia, PhD
Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Psychology and
Director of Graduate Programs in Counseling at the Charlotte campus
When I used to think of Hannah, I used to think of God’s blessing in her life, the provision of the son, Samuel, for whom she had begged God. I used to think of the other sons and daughters he gave her to give her joy in her life. But I have a new perspective.
It started with revisiting the book of Ruth and seeing Naomi. She had many years of grief and suffering before she saw the blessing of God. She and her family were devastated by a famine. So devastated that her husband uprooted the family and moved them to a foreign country outside Israel who worshiped false gods. She must have been devastated watching her husband try to survive the drought, planting only to see it shrivel up and die. Finally, to move, to leave all her family and friends, her home and neighbors, and move to a country where she would be a stranger and would be surrounded by those who do not know the God of Israel. After uprooting her and moving her and her sons to Moab, he dies, leaving her alone. Her only resource was her two sons. While there, her sons married Moabite women. Did this bring her joy? Unlikely - they married women from outside Israel who did not worship God. They would be a temptation to her sons to lead them away from the one true God. In the ten years they were married to these women, they did not produce children. Both sons were childless! Then both her sons died. She felt worse than abandoned by God. She felt that God had dealt with her bitterly. When she returned to Israel, she urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families and not stay with her. Naomi had lost all hope. "Don’t come with me. You can expect nothing from me. My life is pretty much over and I have nothing left to offer." Orpah left. Ruth refused to leave her. She had become a believer in the God of Israel - how? Naomi? Her sons? When she returns to Israel, she is still impoverished. Her only means of survival is the grain that Ruth was able to glean in the fields - was Naomi so old at this point that she couldn’t even glean? It is at this low point that God turns things around. Boaz comes into the picture, marries Ruth and produces the grandson for Naomi that her own sons did not. And, she and Ruth are a part of the story of the coming of Jesus.
What did Naomi gain from all the misery in her life, before God turned it around? Naomi was so focused on what she lost that she failed to see what she had: God had blessed her and provided for her in Ruth, who loved her and cared for her so that she did not die nor have to beg to survive.
When I used to read Hannah’s story, I read either about how she dealt with her depression by having faith in God’s promise, or I saw the promise of God in that he blessed her with a child in her old age. But, I looked again after reading about Naomi and seeing her story in a new way. Hannah suffered unbearably for many years before she received God’s blessing. She was childless, so her husband took a second wife to produce heirs. She produced "sons and daughters." Hannah was more beloved of Elkanah than Peninnah, but this served only to embitter Peninnah against Hannah. Peninnah tormented Hannah - probably over her childlessness. This had to go on for years: If Peninnah had only 2 boys and 2 girls, and weaned them at 3 years old, she would have had to been Elkanah’s second wife for at least 12 years! It was in all likelihood much more than that. All the while tormenting Hannah. No wonder she was depressed!
She was depressed because her expectations for marriage had failed - she had not had the children her culture had taught her were a blessing to women. She believed the lie that barrenness was a sign from God of judgement. She had not been able to fulfill her responsibility to produce heirs for her husband, who loved her. She experienced the bitterness of the disruption of her marriage by the addition of a second wife, which she probably blamed on herself for being childless. Peninnah’s fruitfulness made her believe that it was "her fault" that she was childless. Something was wrong with her . . . God had closed her womb because of something in her.
To add insult to injury, Eli accused her of being drunk when she was in the Tabernacle praying to God for deliverance from this tormented life through provision of a son.
When Eli offered a blessing, however vague his understanding was, something changed in Hannah - she was no longer depressed by the circumstances of her life. She had not yet conceived, Peninnah still tormented her, but she was no longer depressed.
What happened? What did Hannah learn?
In her prayer she expressed the following truths:
The Lord God is holy and He is the only God
She learned to rely on God alone
God is the one who gives or takes away anything we have in life
God is the one who gives children
God’s favor is what brings joy, not the things of this life that society tells us we must have
God has the power of life and death, to give wealth and poverty, children and barrenness
Those who oppose God will be overthrown and judged
What had she learned before she conceived that enabled to overcome her depression, even before God gave her the son? Were these truths expressed in her song the things she learned? God brought Hannah to the place where she was able to give her son to God. If she had had children in the normal course of life, she would probably have not given Samuel to God. But she became willing to do so.
Did God give these difficult years to these two women to build character? What kind of women did they become? They were dependent on God for their comfort and sense of worth. They developed patience, no doubt. They became the kind of women who could raise sons like Obed, the grandfather of David, and Samuel, the prophet of God. They became Chayil women.
Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Psychology and
Director of Graduate Programs in Counseling at the Charlotte campus
When I used to think of Hannah, I used to think of God’s blessing in her life, the provision of the son, Samuel, for whom she had begged God. I used to think of the other sons and daughters he gave her to give her joy in her life. But I have a new perspective.
It started with revisiting the book of Ruth and seeing Naomi. She had many years of grief and suffering before she saw the blessing of God. She and her family were devastated by a famine. So devastated that her husband uprooted the family and moved them to a foreign country outside Israel who worshiped false gods. She must have been devastated watching her husband try to survive the drought, planting only to see it shrivel up and die. Finally, to move, to leave all her family and friends, her home and neighbors, and move to a country where she would be a stranger and would be surrounded by those who do not know the God of Israel. After uprooting her and moving her and her sons to Moab, he dies, leaving her alone. Her only resource was her two sons. While there, her sons married Moabite women. Did this bring her joy? Unlikely - they married women from outside Israel who did not worship God. They would be a temptation to her sons to lead them away from the one true God. In the ten years they were married to these women, they did not produce children. Both sons were childless! Then both her sons died. She felt worse than abandoned by God. She felt that God had dealt with her bitterly. When she returned to Israel, she urged her daughters-in-law to return to their families and not stay with her. Naomi had lost all hope. "Don’t come with me. You can expect nothing from me. My life is pretty much over and I have nothing left to offer." Orpah left. Ruth refused to leave her. She had become a believer in the God of Israel - how? Naomi? Her sons? When she returns to Israel, she is still impoverished. Her only means of survival is the grain that Ruth was able to glean in the fields - was Naomi so old at this point that she couldn’t even glean? It is at this low point that God turns things around. Boaz comes into the picture, marries Ruth and produces the grandson for Naomi that her own sons did not. And, she and Ruth are a part of the story of the coming of Jesus.
What did Naomi gain from all the misery in her life, before God turned it around? Naomi was so focused on what she lost that she failed to see what she had: God had blessed her and provided for her in Ruth, who loved her and cared for her so that she did not die nor have to beg to survive.
When I used to read Hannah’s story, I read either about how she dealt with her depression by having faith in God’s promise, or I saw the promise of God in that he blessed her with a child in her old age. But, I looked again after reading about Naomi and seeing her story in a new way. Hannah suffered unbearably for many years before she received God’s blessing. She was childless, so her husband took a second wife to produce heirs. She produced "sons and daughters." Hannah was more beloved of Elkanah than Peninnah, but this served only to embitter Peninnah against Hannah. Peninnah tormented Hannah - probably over her childlessness. This had to go on for years: If Peninnah had only 2 boys and 2 girls, and weaned them at 3 years old, she would have had to been Elkanah’s second wife for at least 12 years! It was in all likelihood much more than that. All the while tormenting Hannah. No wonder she was depressed!
She was depressed because her expectations for marriage had failed - she had not had the children her culture had taught her were a blessing to women. She believed the lie that barrenness was a sign from God of judgement. She had not been able to fulfill her responsibility to produce heirs for her husband, who loved her. She experienced the bitterness of the disruption of her marriage by the addition of a second wife, which she probably blamed on herself for being childless. Peninnah’s fruitfulness made her believe that it was "her fault" that she was childless. Something was wrong with her . . . God had closed her womb because of something in her.
To add insult to injury, Eli accused her of being drunk when she was in the Tabernacle praying to God for deliverance from this tormented life through provision of a son.
When Eli offered a blessing, however vague his understanding was, something changed in Hannah - she was no longer depressed by the circumstances of her life. She had not yet conceived, Peninnah still tormented her, but she was no longer depressed.
What happened? What did Hannah learn?
In her prayer she expressed the following truths:
The Lord God is holy and He is the only God
She learned to rely on God alone
God is the one who gives or takes away anything we have in life
God is the one who gives children
God’s favor is what brings joy, not the things of this life that society tells us we must have
God has the power of life and death, to give wealth and poverty, children and barrenness
Those who oppose God will be overthrown and judged
What had she learned before she conceived that enabled to overcome her depression, even before God gave her the son? Were these truths expressed in her song the things she learned? God brought Hannah to the place where she was able to give her son to God. If she had had children in the normal course of life, she would probably have not given Samuel to God. But she became willing to do so.
Did God give these difficult years to these two women to build character? What kind of women did they become? They were dependent on God for their comfort and sense of worth. They developed patience, no doubt. They became the kind of women who could raise sons like Obed, the grandfather of David, and Samuel, the prophet of God. They became Chayil women.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Spiritual Formation
By John Jefferson Davis
Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics
At a recent coffee hour in the seminary cafeteria our new president, Dr. Dennis Hollinger, gave an update on current happenings at the school and responded to student questions. The final question came from a student who asked, “Can you share with us some of your own experiences as a seminary student? What were some of the ‘highlights’ and ‘lowlights’?”
Dr. Hollinger paused for a moment, and then said the big highlights were the mind-stretching new studies and insights from scripture, theology, apologetics and other theological topics, and secondly, the friendships that he formed in seminary that have continued down to the present day. In terms of ‘lowlights’ or less than satisfactory aspects of his seminary days, he pointed to spiritual formation as an area that was not what it could or should have been: the “head” far outstripped the “heart” as a focus of growth during those years (though, he noted, the school in question has since tried to address this area in its curriculum).
The president’s remarks caught my attention, because I know that as a point of faculty discussion and concern spiritual formation is a topic that we need to address – and hear from you about. As a current student, or alum, are there observations that you can share with us as faculty that can help us to do a better job of training future leaders in the church in this area? How did you or do you find that classroom teaching, the chapel program, campus Bible studies, the Pierce Center, local churches, and other campus activities contributed to your spiritual growth? We need to hear from you and learn from your experience at Gordon-Conwell.
I am currently trying to integrate more fully into my theology courses practical applications that relate to spirituality, prayer, meditation, and worship. My current book manuscript, The Ontology of Worship, addresses the connection between worship as the high priority of the church and the spiritual formation of its members.
I would also like to make available to you, if you are interested in these matters, two annotated bibliographies that may help your own study and reading in the areas of spiritual formation and Christian spirituality: “Devotional Classics,” my list of all-time favorites in the history of Christian devotional writings; and “Testing the Spirits,” a resource for spiritual discernment and testing the phenomena of revival movements, based on principles gleaned from the early church, the Great Awakening, and the history of spiritual direction. You can access these bibliographies by clicking on the "Download File" link below.
May God continue to bless you as you seek to grow in Christ.
Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics
At a recent coffee hour in the seminary cafeteria our new president, Dr. Dennis Hollinger, gave an update on current happenings at the school and responded to student questions. The final question came from a student who asked, “Can you share with us some of your own experiences as a seminary student? What were some of the ‘highlights’ and ‘lowlights’?”
Dr. Hollinger paused for a moment, and then said the big highlights were the mind-stretching new studies and insights from scripture, theology, apologetics and other theological topics, and secondly, the friendships that he formed in seminary that have continued down to the present day. In terms of ‘lowlights’ or less than satisfactory aspects of his seminary days, he pointed to spiritual formation as an area that was not what it could or should have been: the “head” far outstripped the “heart” as a focus of growth during those years (though, he noted, the school in question has since tried to address this area in its curriculum).
The president’s remarks caught my attention, because I know that as a point of faculty discussion and concern spiritual formation is a topic that we need to address – and hear from you about. As a current student, or alum, are there observations that you can share with us as faculty that can help us to do a better job of training future leaders in the church in this area? How did you or do you find that classroom teaching, the chapel program, campus Bible studies, the Pierce Center, local churches, and other campus activities contributed to your spiritual growth? We need to hear from you and learn from your experience at Gordon-Conwell.
I am currently trying to integrate more fully into my theology courses practical applications that relate to spirituality, prayer, meditation, and worship. My current book manuscript, The Ontology of Worship, addresses the connection between worship as the high priority of the church and the spiritual formation of its members.
I would also like to make available to you, if you are interested in these matters, two annotated bibliographies that may help your own study and reading in the areas of spiritual formation and Christian spirituality: “Devotional Classics,” my list of all-time favorites in the history of Christian devotional writings; and “Testing the Spirits,” a resource for spiritual discernment and testing the phenomena of revival movements, based on principles gleaned from the early church, the Great Awakening, and the history of spiritual direction. You can access these bibliographies by clicking on the "Download File" link below.
May God continue to bless you as you seek to grow in Christ.
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