What Makes You Think You Can Race Against Horses?
I am posting this a bit early, don’t worry, you don’t actually have to have it read until February 21st!
All chapters but this one begin with a Psalm, here Peterson starts with Jeremiah 12:5a:
If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
Peterson also starts his chapters out with a poignant quote. He starts out the book with one from Friedrich Nietzsche, a quite influential philosopher and a man known for his attacks against Christianity who coined the phrase “God is Dead” (God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.). Here he offers us a starting point:
The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is… that there should be long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.
Wise words from someone who arrived at many wrong conclusions. We are a part of this faith for the long run, can we race with the horses?
Peterson talks about “one aspect of the world that is harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once.” I find that I’m a repeat offender of this assumption…if I want something why shouldn’t I have it right now…don’t I deserve it? That kind of attitude gets me into trouble, repeatedly, and in many different areas of my life…which is interesting to me. In the very recent past I have seen God working in my life to correct this assumption, to keep me on the right path. Through this study I want to spotlight my Spiritual Life so that I can “sustain interest, recognize this as The Journey, and thereby making my life one of a Long Obedience in the Same Direction.”
Thanks for getting us started Sal!
I like that Petersen uses the motif of Disciple and of Pilgrim. As Sally pointed out, this faith is a journey. I like that the Songs of Ascents will be used to help us on the journey.
And as cheesy as I sometimes find the “footprints” poetry, I appreciated Faulkner’s quote about the Songs of Ascents:
So lets keep moving!
So I’m SUPER pumped for this book now. I wanted to share a snippet of a journal entry from yesterday during some God time.
I wrote this without any real idea what this book was going to be about- I mean, there’s obviously the title, but I wasn’t even thinking of Lent or the book when I wrote this. I’ve just been stuck in a spot that I feel like I can’t get out of, but then comes this book that amazingly enough is like God saying “Here ya go! Try this!” Just the first page of the chapter in which Peterson says “the spiritual atmosphere in which we live erodes faith, dissapates hope and corrupts love, but is hard to put our finger on what is wrong.” That was exactly what I was feeling- talk about an eye-opener. I’m excited for the direction this book is going, for the commitment it requires of us as readers, and the focus of it’s journey. Mature discipleship and pilgrims who know where they are going. This could not come at a more perfect time. As Peterson said at the end of the chapter “we need direction when the way is unclear.” My way was unclear and here’s some direction. Thanks God!
In our adult Sunday School class, we have been studying Charles Swindoll’s “So You Want To Be Like Christ?” which covers some disciplines such as humility, self-control, sacrifice, surrender, in an effort to become more intimate with God. It’s been quite a convicting study, to say the least. We have had a very good turn-out; yet, it is always the same people who show up for these studies. In our staff meetings at church, we have been trying to figure out ways to include our “pew-sitters,” i.e., those who come on Sunday morning and do nothing else, to become more involved, to “mature up” their faith. I liked the quote from Long Obedience,
Patient acquisition is the key here. As soon as I start the chapter in Swindoll’s book on humility, I’ve forgotten the chapter on self control. We have to go back and continually remind ourselves of the virtues we need to practice, because in our world of “busyness” these things are so easily forgotten if not kept ever before us.
I’m excited about this family study. This is the third time I’ve read this book, yet I always find something new!
At the Ash Wednesday service I went to, we looked at Isaiah 55.1-7 which is our invitation to come to the LORD, verse 1 and 3a especially jumped out at me (but read the whole thing):
And as Jill pointed out, we are invited to something that takes time. The Long Obedience is a crucial part to our acceptance of God’s invitation.
Oh, I really like that passage from Isaiah. He talks about God, The Holy of Israel, making a commitment to me. TO ME! Who am I? But if I repent of my wicked ways and come back to Him, He will lavish me with forgiveness. I really like that part…lavish with forgiveness. We’re talking about taking a journey, being a pilgrim and a disciple to our Master, and just look at this Master of ours. He makes commitments to us, He pursues us and His love is unending. Think of all the other worldviews out there that people commit to, just the emptiness of it all, when there are such riches to be had.
In church today the Pastor talked about Jesus making this pilgrimage three times a year too. He sang the songs of ascent with everyone else. I just liked that. I never really thought about Jesus himself making the pilgrimage. Just a little side note
“We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently.” Eugene pg. 16
Our experience and time in Virginia has taught me/us many things. Since taking my fast-paced, time-consumptive teaching job, I have reflected a lot on what I have begun to call the spiritual discipline of slowness. I have decided that it is a branch of the spiritual dicipline of simplicity. A calling and way of life that focuses not just on simple-living as far as materially, but as in the pace of life that you live. I have been really excited about this calling and look forward to actually getting to practice it after June 6th (last day of teaching). Wooo!
Andy and I recently returned from a Youth Retreat on the Sabbath… “24/6 Even God Took a Break”. One of the things that the speaker encouarged us to do is to cultivate “sabbath moments” in the daily. So often we live the hyper-fast pace life as the world lives and justify it by claiming that we have sabbath rest on a certain day of the week. But are we at true spiritual, mental, physical and emotional health througout the week?
Sometimes the other teachers at the school seem offended when I tell them that I am leaving the profession for good, because I have hopes of a more well-balanced life. I always find myself assuring them that possibly their personality could do all of this at once, but that I am called to a slower life. They think I am crazy.
This wise, older woman at our church told me once that maybe Andy and I are called to live this way as a witness to our culture that eats meals out of a box and doesn’t have time for their kids. I remember feeling like she really thinks that this could be a very specific calling on us.
I had a very awkward conversation with a student of mine (who is labeled as a special ed kid) today. Picco is a beautiful person… introverted, kind, slow, patient, artistic and produces some of the most high quality work I have ever seen. His work is always with much labor. He refuses to move on unless he truly understands the concept. He stands out like a “sore thumb” against all of the wasted brain cells of the other students who hand in incomplete and poorly thought out work. He reminds of the opposite of the “fast-food” mentality that represents the quick and the cheap. So I tried to affirm him, but as I started I tried to explain all of this without mentioning faith and God…awkward. The last part of the conversation went like this, “I hope I didn’t freak you out.”
Sometimes I find myself praying, “God, make me more like Picco.”
So hold me to it, family! I want a life where we eat real food, where there is time for walks and listening to children, where there is time to become a disciple and a pilgrim.
“In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly…” Eugene, pg. 16
Dsiclaimer: I hope that this does not offend you.
There is a year round Christmas Shop in downtown Waynesboro. I hate it. I find myself wondering if Jesus does too.
I know that Eug is probably not talking about a literal “sold”, but a figurative “sold,” but I still hate the store.
I have just begun an Audio Correspondence Course from Regent College as I gear up for return to studies. The course is Christian History II — Reformation ’till Now. As I go through the reading and lectures I am also reviewing the first 1500 years as I have time.
As I read through the story I am challenged as a member of the same faith I am reading about. I begin to wonder how much I really am trapped in a cultural expression of this ancient faith. As good Protestants we rely on Scripture often at the expense of tradition, but hasn’t the Spirit been present and working in the Church throughout history? Are we really to ignore the “long obedience in the same direction” of 2000 years of belief and practice?
But there is a cost to this. As I read the history of Christianity some questions need to be answered. If Jesus prayed that we would be one (John 17) how do we justify our denominational dismemberment? And why are we so often so bad at preserving a historical faith expressed in a fresh and meaningful way?
This is just a way of making the individual questions we are asking in this blog more corporate. How is the church called to continue this long obedience? We could also ask the question for ourselves. What will “correcting this assumption” of getting what we need fast cost us? It’s going to cost us something isn’t it? I mean, we can’t slow down like we’ve been talking about without cutting some things out of our lives. What will those things be?
Indeed. How do we get the church at large to look at this? How do we get the modern church to respect and actually be influenced by the history of the church?
I would be all for learning more about the past in the church but it seems that the church at large doesn’t want to do that because it would seem to “boring” or something like that and they don’t want to push people away. What cost can we, and the church, afford? Is it worth pushing the “nominal” Christians away? Possibly, they might need a good kick anyway (and I am only partially kidding about that…) Is it worth keeping seekers away from the church? That is the harder one. We want them to be able to feel welcomed and free to find out more about the faith. So how do we allow the past to speak to the present without making that look trite or boring. I am sure it can be done, but I, personally, don’t know how.
Andy, your thoughts on the “denominational dismemberment” have been circling in my head for…well, it looks like about a week now. I’ve always thought that denominations were interchangeable. There are more similarities than differences and the differences are not salvational brickwalls. I wouldn’t have a great problem going to a Baptist Church or a Church of the Nazarene. I haven’t done any heavy lifting in the way of research into this but am I way off? Is there something more I’m missing? Protestant churches worship the Triune God, is this enough to make us one?
As for “correcting the assumption” of getting what I want when I want, it should definitely cost us something. God is asking me to deny myself the things I think I want so that He may step in and give me what my heart truly desires. It’s hard because I’m greedy and I think I know what I want…but I don’t. Only He knows what is truly good for me and what I truly want. The things I want usually fall short of their perceived glory if they don’t turn out to be downright bad for me. I need to “love the love in me that loves the good and hate the love in me that loves the evil”. It’s tricksy to differentiate and patience is not my strong suit…
Matt,
Yeah! Exactly! I think as pastors and discipled Christians it is our calling to know what we can of Christian History. As for seekers? Well, I think more and more there is an openness to the mystery of our faith (see Robert Webber). So much hesitation has centered around the so-called “primitiveness” of the pre-modern church. But they recognized in a way we often don’t that God cannot be contained in a box or an explanation. I think seekers today are ready for this refreshing insight to faith. The mystery of communion (often diminished by serving croutons with tiny juice cups in plastic) where God and human are sat down together at table is extremely attractive to many seeking spirituality with substance.
How cool is communion!!! How loud can it speak to our culture!!! How badly do we do it to make it as unattractive and meaningless as possible!!! Tragedy!!! Appreciating Christian history and the centrality of the Eucharist in worship can correct this!
Just an example that popped into my head. Of course, I am going Anglican on y’all.
Sal,
Isn’t there a problem though with not having some meaningful community between Baptist, Nazerene, Presbyterian, Anglican and so on and so forth? In what sense are we acting out our “oneness”? If charismatic expression is reserved for the Pentecostals and biblical devotion and memorization for the Baptists and inner sanctity and holiness for the Nazerenes and so on and so forth, shouldn’t we be challenging ourselves and each other to a fuller expression of our faith?
It’s well and good for me to say Presbyterians and Pentecostals are one but if I am not open to the workings of the Holy Spirit in he forms of prophecy and other things we may not be used to in the worship service (which much of Christianity has affirmed for most of its history by the way) then I think my growth is stunted.
And besides all this, what does it look like to the outsider? So many denominations! “By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It is easy to start a new denomination. It is hard to live in a community. It is important to note that Martin Luther did not wish to start a new denomination but to reform the existing establishment. If only we (the church) had more of that attitude! The early Protestant movement saw itself as a temporary and necessary evil until a resolution could be made with thr RC church. The Romanc Catholic council of Trent shut the door on that possibility.
It is interesting to note that attempts have been made in the last 25 years to unite the Anglican church with the Eastern Orthodox church and discussion has also been moving towards reuniting with the Roman Catholic church!!! How this would all work out is a mystery, and seems like a longshot, but is comforting to know at least someone is trying!
You know what would be cool? If we could get the different pastors to rotate to different churches (within a town, say) so we could learn a little more about each other and then we could have town-wide church get togethers to get to know our fellow Christians within a township. Then we could attend different churches to get a feel for what we are missing out on. I guess I just need real-world examples of what can be done, what something should look like, what we can do to change or “fix” what we’ve always taken for granted because it’s the way it’s “always” been. I think we’re all so focused on how to make our own churches more…whatever, that we don’t see how we look to a secular nation.
I just read “An Interview with Robert Webber, author of The Younger Evangelicals“ over at The Ooze and found his categories pretty interesting (more from Robert Webber here). In looking at his categories I seem to fall in both the “Traditional Evangelicals” and “Younger Evangelicals” categories and tend to find lots of problems with the “Pragmatic Evangelicals” (In which I supposedly fit). Aside from me being in the wrong category (which is probably more of a me thing than a problem with his categorization), I found his comments pretty helpful. He noted this about the “pragmatic church”:
Sounds pretty good so far. I think the pragmatic church does need to wake up to the reality of present culture. So what about the category that I most comfortably fit?
Damn. Heh, ok I (hopefully) am not so locked into the “Traditional” mode of things (and, in fact, am pretty sure I am not). I think the movement towards figuring out what it means to be a church in a postmodern culture is fairly crucial, and definitely difficult. Especially to someone who like to be rational.
I completely agree. Although I do wonder why it is often looked at as an “either/or” type thing. I agree that we have to have somewhat of a paradigm shift, but I am still pretty convinced that a large number of people do still appreciate rationality. Heck, the scientific community could not function if people didn’t have that mindset. John Stackhouse in his “Seminary: Who Needs It? defends that position to a degree in how he argues for people going to seminary.
I think the Bible was written in a rational AND life changing way. Therefore I think our churches need to present it as such. Personally I think it has to be a combination of the old and the new. I shouldn’t down-play it at all, the new “younger evangelical” needs to play a major role in the church to help bring the congregation into the reality of our culture, but I think the old “traditional” must remain to help with the foundation.
Andy you noted “But they [the pre-modern church] recognized in a way we often don’t that God cannot be contained in a box or an explanation.” I COMPLETELY agree. And I think that is something the modernist/traditionalist needs to keep in mind without necessarily losing their (my) passion for rationality. There just needs to be that addition of the relational to the rational. As you noted in another comment, this becomes very crucial to the “horizontal” relationship with at both the community and global scale.
This has become a VERY long comment, so I will leave it at that for now, but I definitely wanted to affirm your statements about communion! It is SUCH a huge thing that, I think, has become to entrenched in ritual that many have truly forgotten what it means.
Sal,
Yeah! That would be pretty powerful I think. A lot of work but hey, it’s important!
I think we more “conservative” folk (these labels are always tricky) tend not bother too much with regional, national and global issues within our denomination. This ends up being denominational suicide (as we may be witnessing with the PC(USA)) (The Anglican Global Communion is in an even bigger mess but might be making progress - don’t hold your breathe). Isn’t a part of discipleship taking responsibility and interest in the regional and global church as well as the local? Isn’t there great concern for the community of world churches in Acts?
Matt,
Right! Post-Modern is not Pre-Modern. We don’t want to go back to blood-letting and which hunts. As I understand it, it recognizes the limits of the rational without neglecting its necessity.
I think Webber would agree although I’m sure his emphasis is on the need to shift to the post-modern paradigm.
Also, so much of our tradition (in the true sense of the word — not merely the tradition of the early to mid 1900’s which I think many people mean when they say “tradition”) is open to the mystery and the unknowable aspects of God. Just as a relationship with a significant other is often, hopefully, filled with mystery, how much more our relationship with God?
I think that is a great classification (or whatever) and is good for me to keep that in mind.