What Is The Gospel? – Part 5
(What Is The Gospel? – Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4)
It has been quite some time since my last installment, so I wanted to continue with my series on “What Is The Gospel?” (Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4). While I would encourage you to read the former posts, let me give a brief summary to catch you up:
In Part 1, inspired by scot McKnight’s excellent book “Embracing Grace”, I proposed a very general understanding of the Gospel – “The Gospel is the glory of the Triune God made manifest in His work to reconcile every person to union with Himself, communion with others, to fullness of life, and to harmony with Creation, in the context of community for the good of all.” (I have since altered that definition slightly to “Gospel is the work of the Trinitarian God to reconcile every person to union with God, to communion with others, to fullness with self, and to harmony with Creation, in the context of community for the glory of God and the good of all”).
Part 2 explores the meaning of being created in God image, which is primarily Trinitarian. The perichoretic unity of the Godhead should be reflected in the restored and celebrated relationship of man with God, self, others and Creation. The work of Christ seeks to invite us, through the cross, to find restoration to His intentions for us by resurrecting as His Body.
Exploring the example of Saint Patrick, Part 3 looks to the pattern God calls us through- moving out of our “hidden nakedness” the masks and barriers that deny our brokenness and need for God, through the chaos and suffering of dying to self on the Cross; through the emptiness and release of the tomb; into the new life of the Resurrection into the share reality of His Body; filled and empower together by the Spirit to bring the message, promise and experience of restoration and transformation to a world in need of it.
In Part 4 we see how rooted our place in Creation is, as intended by God. Our commitment to Creation is not a mere stewardly environmentalism, but rather a sacramental ecology where we Creation as the medium in which our own relationship must take place. Further, rather than allowing our worldviews to be shaped by the mechanistic patterns of our “creations”, we see God’s intentional truth invested into the fabric of His Creation.
With that foundation set, I want to explore the statement “fullness with self” (earlier called “fullness of life”). It is here that I want to affirm the place and importance of the individual in this picture. In a world of rampant individualism in desperate need of true community, we can be at risk of over-reacting in the opposite extreme. One of the most fundamental contribution that the Judeo-Christian tradition brings to world is the value of the individual. When God covenanted with Abraham, for example, it was done in a time where human life had value in the eyes of god-kings and their ruthless armies. It was a monumental shift (see “The Gifts Of The Jews” by Thomas Cahill for an excellent development of these ideas).
Rick Warren said, “Spiritual maturity is becoming like Jesus in the way we think, feel and act.” In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is guided to the Emerald City by three companions- the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion. It was only in the last few years that I began to see the significance of each character, as they represented defining aspects of Dorothy’s own identity. The Scarecrow needed a brain- mind; the Tinman needed a heart- emotions; and the Lion lacked the courage to act- will. Though somewhat simplistic, the mind, will and the emotions can be seen as what are core to our souls. Based on this, I would define fullness with self (not to be mistaken with “full of yourself”) to be a God-centered harmony of the soul- that is the mind, will and emotions.
Gil Bailie once said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” While obviously needing qualification and balance, I believe it holds a core truth. Dying to self does not mean a denial of individuality or personal identity, but to the disintegrative nature of selfishness, etc. Fullness of life comes, in part, through that God-centered unity of the soul.
The following exercise is quite involved, but can help serve as a discipline of the imagination in exploring that fullness of life. I would encourage you to spend some time over the next week(s) to give it a shot. I call it a “Soul Audit”- a tool to help you engage with who you are, who you hope to be and imagining the possibilities of what could be. The follow is a list of very personal and specific questions that will serve as a reflective tool in your life and faith. Starting with the foundational question “If I were living my life to its greatest potential, what would it look like?”, the follow-up questions draw into greater detail.
You can do this exercise in many ways. You could answer the foundational question in the time frame of next year, 5 years or 10 years from now. You might even want to do this more than one time frame (which I think is helpful). The level of time, thought and energy you put into the answer will determine how much you get out of it. Be realistic with your answers, but also be hopeful and visionary. If you do the exercise, I’d love to hear what you thought of the results.
“If I were living my life to its greatest potential, what would it look like?”
Hands (Your Will)
-”What would I be doing? Where? With whom?”
-”How would others perceive me? How would they describe my life?”
-”How would what I’d be going be most different from now?
Heart (Your Emotions)
-”How would I feel about myself? How would I feel differently than now?”
-”How would I feel about the what, where and who in my life then?”
-”What would I be most passionate about?”
Head (Your Mind)
-”How would my think about myself be different?”
-”What lies or fears would not longer be keeping me back?
Hands/Heart/Head
-”What negative or unhealthy actions, feelings & thoughts would be gone that are here now?”
-”What positive and healthy actions, feelings & thoughts would be here that aren’t here now?”
-What would your family say the driving force of your life is?
-Your friends? Your pastor or spiritual leaders say?
-What would you say it is? What would you WANT it to be?
Jamie, perhaps this is a given for Christians who would do this exercise, but I am curious about tweaking all of this to make it God focused. In other words, I can see going through this exercise and how it would be very helpful to understanding God’s call in our lives, but I see the questions as more of a prayer to God asking how He has designed us to be.
Bryan,
It could be edited differently, but given the larger context of the 5 part series, I am not sure it is necessary. As a stand alone (which it is not intended to be) it would need more clarity. At the very least the definition of fullness of life in this post define the rest of the questions accordingly.
Peace,
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
I’m liking your thoughts here. I’m not sure what is to come in the next installment of this series…but you’re beginning to touch on an area of “the Gospel” that I’ve been marinating on for a few months now…
I see part of the gospel, perhaps this “fullness of self” as being just that…the idea that God’s intention is that we be full in all aspects of our “self”. Knowing that part of our journey isn’t just waiting for heaven, but rather living out a tangible transformation as we shine glimmers of heaven (God’s perfect love and intent) to the world around us.
One of the things I fear (through observation and listening to stories) is that, especially with ministry workers, we carry Truth and Love to those in need, but we so often fail with the unity of our soul. We tend to focus on either the mind, or the hands/actions, or the emotions, or the spirit but rarely on keeping balance with each.
so…with all that rambling said…I want to toss this out there. With the questions you challenged above, how do we achieve this “fullness”. What are we missing that is making the questions above read “would” instead of “is”. How is that “audit of our soul” made into a reality?
Amy,
Excellent comment and questions. In the introduction to my first book “Looking Forward: Facing The Future of Christian Leadership” I go into a little more detail about this. Part of it is looking at the consequences of an imbalance of emphasis on any one (or two) aspect(s) of the soul at the expense of the other(s). For example, the right understanding and the right action without the right heart is empty of the love at the very center of God’s nature. The right heart and the right actions without the right understanding creates potential for well-intentioned failures that can do more harm than good. And right heart and right understanding without right action is dead, useless, self-serving.
Part of this process is being intentional in all things, both as individuals and communities, to ask ourselves about each aspect- head, heart and hands. As for the audit, part of what it serves to do is stir the imagination about what AND why we are moving towards something.
For example, I often ask people “If you could be doing anything in your life, what would it be?”. They answer with some idea or vision. I then ask, “How would feel specifically- about life, yourself, etc.- differently than you do now, should you achieve this?” They answer with various very specific answers, for example stability, fulfillment, etc. I then help them see that, beyond the goal itself, which may or may not happen, the resulting change of heart is ultimately where their hearts desire is. I then ask, putting aside that vision for a moment, what can you do today to achieve those feelings that you described. Does that help?
In the end, though, all this must take place in the context of genuine missional community. Trying to achieve this fullness of life outside of that context will only fall short. I recently commented to someone that even the spiritual discipline and practice of solitude should be pursued only out of community. It is only in, through and out of community that the value of solitude can be realized.
Hope that helps!
Peace,
Jamie