It’s not uncommon to hear people speak of their individual “spiritual” walk in contradistinction to “church life.” This stems from a misunderstanding of what true Christian spirituality is as well as what the Church’s duty is. What results is a greater emphasis being placed on individual mystical activities (a me-and-God-only sort of religion) rather than on the preached word and the sacraments.
Despite the focus of this week’s WHI episode being on Willow Creek, most broadly evangelical Churches [conservative and liberal alike] suffer from the above mentioned failure to properly understand the job of the Church as well as the nature of true piety.
Some quotes from this week’s episode of the White Horse Inn:
[the assumption behind Willow Creek's understanding of sanctification is that]… a person’s level of sanctification depends on their fervor… and the goal is to increase that fervor and that means I need to be committed to increasing that fervor. In the New Testament sanctification is almost always worked out in real life, not in your private activities but in your public activities. Things like how you treat your wife, how you treat your kids, things like how you treat your fellow church members.. sanctification in the New Testament manifests itself in very concrete public ways not in private journaling…
What is spiritual growth? The scriptures define spiritual growth, and I don’t recall a single verse that talks about journaling or the importance of solitude. Spiritual growth is connected to what and who we are in Christ, being built up in the knowledge of Christ.
Listen here.
