Chapter 2: The Heart in the System of Human Life
The aim of this chapter is to explain the nature of the heart (spirit, or will) and its function in the person as a whole. Heart, spirit, and will are words that refer to one and the same thing. But they do so under different aspects. Will refers to that component’s power to initiate, to create, to bring about what did not exist before. Spirit refers to its fundamental nature as distinct and independent from physical reality. And heart refers to its position in the human being, as the center or core to which every other component of the self owes its proper functioning. But it is the same dimension of the human being that has all these features.
Now, when we take a closer look at the whole person, we find that there are six basic aspects in our lives as individual human beings. 1) Thought 2) Feelings 3) Choice 4) Body 5) Social Context 6) Soul. The ideal of the spiritual life in the Christian understanding is one where all of the essential parts of the human self are effectively organized around God, as they are restored and sustained by him. Spiritual formation in Christ is the process leading to that ideal end, and its result is love of God with all of the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and of the neighbor as oneself.
Thought is that which enables our will (or spirit) to range far beyond the immediate boundaries of our environment and the perceptions of our senses. Feeling inclines us toward or away from things that come before our minds in thought. Notice that feeling and thought always go together, they are interdependent and are never found apart. Choice is the exercise of will, the capacity of a person to originate things and events that would not otherwise be or occur. Without the inner “yes” there is no sin, for only that “yes” is just us. The thought of sin is not sin and is not even a temptation. Temptation is the thought plus the inclination to sin – possibly manifested by lingering over the thought or seeking it out.[1] But sin is when we inwardly say “yes” to the temptation, when we would do the deed, even though we do not actually do it.[2] There is no choice that does not involve both thought and feeling. On the other hand, what we feel and think is to a very large degree a matter of choice to those who will be very careful about what they allow their mind to dwell upon or what they allow themselves to feel. This is crucial and unfortunately not widely understood. We are in fact very active in inviting, allowing, and handling our passions; we are not at the mercy of our passions. A great part of the disaster of contemporary life lies in the fact that it is organized around feelings. People nearly always act on their feelings, and think it only right. The will is then left at the mercy of circumstances that evoke feelings. Christian spiritual formation today must squarely confront this fact and overcome it. Body is the focal point of our presence in the physical and social world. Our choices, as they settle into character are “farmed out” to our body in its social context without our having to think about what we are doing. Social Context refers to the fact that all are rooted in God, whether they want it or not and our ties to one another cannot be isolated from our shared relationship to him, nor our relationship to him from our ties to one another. Our rootedness in others is primarily an ontological matter, it is who we truly are. We only live as we should when we are in a right relation to God and to other human beings – thus the two greatest commandments. Being with others, our social dimension, is inseparable from our inner thoughts, feelings, choices, and actions. Rightly understood, it is true that “there is no salvation outside the church” – just not this “church” or that “church”. Soul is that dimension which interrelates all of the other dimensions so that they form one life. Soul is a term that refers to the whole person through its most profound dimension. It is the deepest part of the self in terms of overall operations; and like the body, it has the capacity to operate without conscious supervision. The soul can however be redirected or reformed by the spirit or will with God’s cooperation.
Our actions, how we live, always arise out of the interplay of the six factors mentioned above. What we do is not an outcome of deliberate choice and a mere act of the will, but it is more of a relenting to pressure on the will from one or more of the dimensions of the self. This is why spiritual formation is bound to fail if it focuses upon the will alone. “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Actions are not impositions on who we are, but are expressions of who we are. They come out of our heart and the inner realities it supervises and interacts with. It is the central point of this book that spiritual transformation only happens as each essential dimension of the human being is transformed into Christlikeness under the direction of a regenerate will interacting with constant overtures of grace from God. Such transformation is not the result of mere human effort and cannot be accomplished by putting pressure on the will alone.
Passivity was for the Israelites, and it is for us, one of the greatest dangers and difficulties of our spiritual experience. The Israelites were saved or delivered by grace just as surely as we are. But in both cases “grace” means we are to be, and are enabled to be, active to a degree we have never been before. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8)
[1] Consider what this tells us about the fact that Jesus was tempted in every way, but there was no sin found in Him.
[2] Again, consider Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Please RSVP, the world is waiting
God is calling us to something great. He has invited us to play a part in the amazing story that He is telling. How you respond to His voice can change the world. He has placed an amazing responsibility on you. He awaits your response...
The whole world awaits Mary's reply. The whole world awaits your reply!
You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us. The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race. Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word. Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.
God, the immaculate Virgin heard the message of your angel. She consented to receive your eternal Word and became filled with the light of the Holy Spirit. We ask that her example may make us humble obeyers of your will. God, open our ears to hear your desire. We accept the call. Amen and Amen!
The whole world awaits Mary's reply. The whole world awaits your reply!
The whole world awaits Mary's reply. The whole world awaits your reply!
You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us. The price of our salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent. In the eternal Word of God we all came to be, and behold, we die. In your brief response we are to be remade in order to be recalled to life. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race. Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word. Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.
God, the immaculate Virgin heard the message of your angel. She consented to receive your eternal Word and became filled with the light of the Holy Spirit. We ask that her example may make us humble obeyers of your will. God, open our ears to hear your desire. We accept the call. Amen and Amen!
The whole world awaits Mary's reply. The whole world awaits your reply!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Chapter 1 Summary: Renovation of the Heart
Chapter 1: Introducing Spiritual Formation
The Beyond Within and the Way of Jesus
We live from the heart. The part of us that drives and organizes our life is not the physical. Our life and how we find the world now and in the future is, almost totally, a simple result of what we have become in the depths of our being- in our spirit, will, or heart. However, the situations in which we find ourselves are never as important as our responses to them, which come from our “spiritual” side. A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying “Why?” Accordingly, the greatest need you and I have…is renovation of the heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. As our spiritual dimension has been formed, so it also can be transformed. But what in our spirit needs to be changed and how can that change be brought about. Enter Jesus.
The revolution of Jesus is in the first place and continuously a revolution of the human heart or spirit. His is a revolution of character, which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship to God in Christ and to one another. It is one that changes their ideas, beliefs, feelings, and habits of choice, as well as their bodily tendencies and social relations. It penetrates to the deepest layers of their soul. The impotence of “systems” is a main reason why Jesus did not send his students out to start governments or even churches as we know them today; they were instead, to establish beachheads of his person, word, and power in the midst of a failing and futile humanity. They were to bring the presence of the kingdom and it’s King into every corner of human life simply by fully living in the kingdom with him. Through the presence of his kingdom, Jesus answers the deepest needs of human personality for righteousness, provision, and purpose.
What matters most for how life goes and ought to go is what we are on the “inside”, but unfortunately for all our fine advances in scientific knowledge, they can tell us nothing about the inner life of the human being. Though the “spiritual” side of us is not perceivable by the senses and though we can never fully grasp it in any way, it always stands in the margin of our consciousness. This is because “Man shall not live by bread alone.” These are Jesus’ words and his way is truly the way of the heart, or spirit. If we would walk with him, we must walk with him at that interior level. The heart thus renovated and inhabited is the only real hope of humanity on earth.
The formation and, later, transformation of the inner life of man, from which our outer existence flows, is an inescapable human problem. Spiritual formation…is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite “form” or character. Some points in human history have shown more success in the elevation of the human spirit than others. But the low points far exceed the high points, and the average is discouragingly low.
So spiritual transformation, or the renovation of the human heart, is an inescapable human problem with no human solution. What is needed is genuine transformation of the whole person into the goodness and power seen in Jesus and his “Abba” Father. The reality of this is currently veiled from view by the very low level of spiritual life seen in Christianity as now placed before the general public. Christianity has not been imparting effectual answers to the vital questions of human existence. Our hearts cry out, “Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.” And the answer to the question, “Am I a Christian?” can only be answered by what we are in our heart – before God, in the depths of our being, always the focal point of Christian spiritual formation.
We must understand that spiritual formation is not only formation of the spirit, thought that is both the process and the outcome. It is also formation by the Spirit of God. The primary learning here is not about how to act but rather taking love itself into the depths of our being through spiritual formation. This is not an occasion to keep on doing the same things Christians have been doing in the recent past – except now “really meaning it.” God has provided a methodical path of recovery. Grace does not rule out method, nor method grace. Grace thrives on method and method on grace.
Foundational Thought:
All of the problems we see in the world are a direct result of the fallen state of our hearts, who we are on the inside. The only hope of making things better or the way they were meant to be, is to focus on renovating the heart. Everyone has had their hearts formed, or in other words have developed the character they currently have, and it is possible to re-form or renovate the heart into what it was meant to be. Man throughout history has made attempts at this, consider the work of Aristotle and Plato and their focus on being Good, True, and Beautiful. However, this will always fail without the assistance of God. Remember, God in us is the hope of Glory and the hope of Glorious life. This is not to say that simply by having God in us we become who we were meant to be, there is still a requirement on our part to become that person. We must now, with the Divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, begin the process of renovating our hearts and becoming who He created us to be. Without Him, we can’t. Without us, He won’t.
The Beyond Within and the Way of Jesus
We live from the heart. The part of us that drives and organizes our life is not the physical. Our life and how we find the world now and in the future is, almost totally, a simple result of what we have become in the depths of our being- in our spirit, will, or heart. However, the situations in which we find ourselves are never as important as our responses to them, which come from our “spiritual” side. A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying “Why?” Accordingly, the greatest need you and I have…is renovation of the heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. As our spiritual dimension has been formed, so it also can be transformed. But what in our spirit needs to be changed and how can that change be brought about. Enter Jesus.
The revolution of Jesus is in the first place and continuously a revolution of the human heart or spirit. His is a revolution of character, which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship to God in Christ and to one another. It is one that changes their ideas, beliefs, feelings, and habits of choice, as well as their bodily tendencies and social relations. It penetrates to the deepest layers of their soul. The impotence of “systems” is a main reason why Jesus did not send his students out to start governments or even churches as we know them today; they were instead, to establish beachheads of his person, word, and power in the midst of a failing and futile humanity. They were to bring the presence of the kingdom and it’s King into every corner of human life simply by fully living in the kingdom with him. Through the presence of his kingdom, Jesus answers the deepest needs of human personality for righteousness, provision, and purpose.
What matters most for how life goes and ought to go is what we are on the “inside”, but unfortunately for all our fine advances in scientific knowledge, they can tell us nothing about the inner life of the human being. Though the “spiritual” side of us is not perceivable by the senses and though we can never fully grasp it in any way, it always stands in the margin of our consciousness. This is because “Man shall not live by bread alone.” These are Jesus’ words and his way is truly the way of the heart, or spirit. If we would walk with him, we must walk with him at that interior level. The heart thus renovated and inhabited is the only real hope of humanity on earth.
The formation and, later, transformation of the inner life of man, from which our outer existence flows, is an inescapable human problem. Spiritual formation…is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite “form” or character. Some points in human history have shown more success in the elevation of the human spirit than others. But the low points far exceed the high points, and the average is discouragingly low.
So spiritual transformation, or the renovation of the human heart, is an inescapable human problem with no human solution. What is needed is genuine transformation of the whole person into the goodness and power seen in Jesus and his “Abba” Father. The reality of this is currently veiled from view by the very low level of spiritual life seen in Christianity as now placed before the general public. Christianity has not been imparting effectual answers to the vital questions of human existence. Our hearts cry out, “Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.” And the answer to the question, “Am I a Christian?” can only be answered by what we are in our heart – before God, in the depths of our being, always the focal point of Christian spiritual formation.
We must understand that spiritual formation is not only formation of the spirit, thought that is both the process and the outcome. It is also formation by the Spirit of God. The primary learning here is not about how to act but rather taking love itself into the depths of our being through spiritual formation. This is not an occasion to keep on doing the same things Christians have been doing in the recent past – except now “really meaning it.” God has provided a methodical path of recovery. Grace does not rule out method, nor method grace. Grace thrives on method and method on grace.
Foundational Thought:
All of the problems we see in the world are a direct result of the fallen state of our hearts, who we are on the inside. The only hope of making things better or the way they were meant to be, is to focus on renovating the heart. Everyone has had their hearts formed, or in other words have developed the character they currently have, and it is possible to re-form or renovate the heart into what it was meant to be. Man throughout history has made attempts at this, consider the work of Aristotle and Plato and their focus on being Good, True, and Beautiful. However, this will always fail without the assistance of God. Remember, God in us is the hope of Glory and the hope of Glorious life. This is not to say that simply by having God in us we become who we were meant to be, there is still a requirement on our part to become that person. We must now, with the Divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, begin the process of renovating our hearts and becoming who He created us to be. Without Him, we can’t. Without us, He won’t.
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