welcome to the story.

I've really been doing alot of reading and thinking on the topic of spiritual formation lately. I've been doing some writing on the subject over the last couple of days and I'll be posting some of those thoughts over the next few days. I've been noticing this really sick trend in my online class at Luther Rice. Whenever we're discussing a topic, it seems like the topic always reverts toward the "world's" relation to the topic. For example, when we were discussing Christ's preeminence in our life, the conversation drifted to why the "world" wasn't putting Christ first. Or on our recent topic discussing counterfeit spirituality, the conversation by everyone in the class was on the New Age movement and the counterfeit spirituality that existed in that movement. All of these conversations progressed to a blaming of other people, and in specific "the world". But for some reason I find this extremely disturbing. I don't understand why we are always running other people and groups through this "righteous" grid when these people and groups are only naturally doing what they do. They are of the world so they will think and act like the world. And maybe I'm just weird or a bad Christian, but for some reason, that does not bother me that much. Because they are only doing what is natural to them. What bothers me more than the counterfeit spirituality of the New Age movement, is the counterfeit spirituality in the church and in our lives. And I get the feeling that most Christians are running the world through this grid and not themselves or the church. I get this picture of them sitting there and when a verse or topic is discussed saying: "AHA! We got them on another one! They're wrong again! Look at them! They need Jesus!" Maybe I'm wrong in this assessment, but from the conversations I've had this semester in class, no one seems to think of themselves first or the church first. Maybe I'm the only one who sees this or feels this and maybe I'm the one who is wrong. Who knows? I think one of the signs that spiritual maturity or spiritual formation is taking place in our lives is when we look inward before we look outward. That is to say when we read a verse or hear something, we think first of how it applies to us before we think of someone else who needs to hear it. And after we examine ourselves, we then apply it to the local church (visible church) and universal church (the invisible church made up of individuals). The world and the lost should be the last group to run through the grid in my opinion. I could be wrong though. I'm really not sure. I'm just going on what I'm thinking. We're so ingrown though. We hear a verse or something and immediately we turn outward to the world before we turn inward to ourselves and the church. I think this is a sign of spiritual immaturity. But then again, by me writing this very email and looking outward at the others who are doing this, I'm doing the very same thing that I'm writing about. So it comes full circle. It's not "Aha! We tripped us another one!" But . . . "Crap! I'm a screw up and our churches are messed up." At least thats what I say or want to say. I think we need to look at our own lives and the state of our churches before we start expecting the world to listen. I'm not implying that the world doesn't need to change. I just think we better have some integrity in what we expect of them. If we think counterfeit spirituality is wrong of the New Age movement, then it needs to be wrong for us to practice it in our churches and in our own lives. I'm sick and tired of listening to people rail against the world and why they are wrong when their lives and churches are poor examples of right. But like I said, I could be wrong.