Guest Article:
Spirituality Between The Lines
by Heath Davis
In every sport there are boundary markers representing the field of play. As a kid who grew up playing baseball, something magical that transpired each time fresh white chalk graces the presence of the field. those fresh white lines down first an third meant only one thing. It was game day. I may have practiced on that same field a hundred times, but those white lines now transformed that field into something more than dirt and grass. It became the place where everything practiced was put on the line. You see even the novice athlete realizes that the game is not won during practice sessions. What matters most is what happens between the white lines on game day. As followers of Christ, we are encouraged in the Scriptures to train ourselves in godliness, join together with our teammates and receive coaching from those who can help us move forward. But, ultimately the proof of our discipleship, the test of Christian spirituality, is fleshed out in between the white lines of our everyday lives. Today, we live in a world that's inundated with talk about spirituality. The plethora of beliefs on spirituality that swim around our culture has led many to simply misunderstand Christian spirituality. Many who come to our churches hungry and searching have wrongly categorized Christianity as some esoteric feeling that comes over me when I have a "God-moment". Others are tempted to define spirituality as a tranquil state of consciousness or even good "vibe" that one gets when worshiping in church. These misconceptions of Christian spirituality ultimately reduce God to some feeling of emotional ecstasy. This view of God both depersonalizes His character and reduces His ability to transform our everyday experiences. True Christian spirituality at its heart is the surrender of my entire life for God's kind of life. Hence, spirituality for the Christian can never be divorced from the intentions, choices and behaviors that are fleshed out within those white lines we call "everyday life". Christian spirituality is the stuff of loving our spouse even when they are less than lovely on a given day. It is found in practicing patience at Wal-Mart when your unmotivated teenage cashier seems to be more busy scanning cute guys than the products in her line. It's discovered in releasing my emotional emptiness to God at the end of the day instead of turning to artificial substitutes to fill the void (junk food, shopping, Facebook, etc.). Jesus believed that all of life was spiritual. Therefore, every single moment of my waking life is the raw material God wants to use to transform my character into the character of Christ...even the seemingly mundane things like changing dirty diapers or flat tires. As spiritual leaders and guides, it is essential that we help those under our direction really get this. The Church must come to see that ll of life is spiritual. And, that starts with us as leaders. We must continue to nurture and encourage our church to assess itself by whether or not Christ is located between the white lines of everyday life. God has provided a field. It's called everyday life. Our objective is simple. Each day we are to strive in between the lines to be formed into the likeness of His Son little more than we were yesterday. Sure, God graces us with refreshing time-outs, much needed huddles, and refreshing sideline breaks along the way (and hopefully the church provides such necessities). But it's not long before our Father nudges us back towards the ominous field, the field of life, and waits for us to put to the test what we've worked on in practice. So what are we waiting for? Let's get in the game!
Adult Ministries E-News-Department of Spiritual Formtion-www.wesleyan.org