Pilgrimage

–thoughts from a read of Working the Angles by Eugene Peterson

The Angle of Scripture

The primacy of God’s Word in the personal disciplines cannot be understated. It is here that we get our bearing for life. The study and meditation upon the Scriptures becomes the lifeblood for the true spiritual leader. Philippians 4: 8 states “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” It is here that scripture fills all these qualities. The Apostle Paul plainly understood that the Word of God must be primary in the life of the believer. He also knew that there were many Christians who were giving their lives for the sake of the God’s Word; this made knowledge of the Scriptures in the daily life of the believer all the more important.

As the centuries have passed since the initial writing of God’s Word, the Christian community has continually looked to it for purpose and guidance through the mire of secularism and heresy. Continually God has breathed His Word afresh on generation after generation. It is this communing with His Spirit through the Holy Scriptures that we find strength for today and that bright hope for tomorrow. Two hundred years before the Reformation, John Wycliffe helped hand Europe its first translation of the Scriptures in over one thousand years. It was this zeal for the Word of God being in the hands of every man that led to Wycliffe’s persecution by the Catholic Church…the pope ordering his bones exhumed and burned forty-four years after his death. Wycliffe was a man who realized the importance of the truth of God’s Word speaking to the hearts of men in a meaningful way.

Peterson echoes these same thoughts. To encounter the Scriptures on a regular basis provides a person with fodder to combat existence in a secular world. The enemy of our soul can easily become spiritual tinnitus that at first is bothersome and unnerving but if left to run its course deafens us to still voice of the Lord. He seeks to enchant us by the news of the day or the hurriedness of work and life that draw us away from the discipline of scripture. Richard Foster in the Celebration of Discipline speaks of the Word of God as “replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving habits.” Romans 12: 2 speaks particularly to this point. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (NASB).” Transformation only happens through reading, understanding, applying and listening to the Scriptures as they touch our hearts for the Glory of God.

The Angle of Spiritual Direction

Christian leadership and ministry is a calling that is regularly scrutinized by many in society. The morally bankrupt minister who publically fails becomes the poster-child for all those who have a chip on their shoulders with regards to professional ministry. Each case provides new coals with which to burn the fire of rebellion and secularism. Scores of ministers find themselves felling alone and without close camaraderie in ministry. They are left without a community of faith to undergird them and to help them find direction when they have lost their way. As even the Trinity exists in community, so should the Christian believer and particularly those who are placed in leadership in the Kingdom of God. A well balanced walk in Christian leadership is monitored by spiritual directors who are able to challenge, rebuke and encourage the man or woman of God.

Peterson places a very high value upon acquiring a Spiritual Director. He states “Being a spiritual director means a readiness to clear space and arrange time to look at these elements of our life that are not at all peripheral but are central –unobtrusive signals of transcendence.” This concept is foreign to many in ministry. John Wesley’s General Rules for Methodist Fellowships released in 1743 included, “Watch over one another in love.” This was the key to his success in retaining those who were converted through revivals. In class meetings and one-to-one, they cared for one another. Wesley, the great holiness preacher, understood that to maintain and live in holiness one must consistently subject oneself to the watchful eye of another believer who consistently acted in love.

Other professions and groups consistently provide for peer interaction and evaluation. In the Medical profession there is time and again feedback from peers in the field. New doctors are regularly assigned seasoned physicians as coaches and mentors to help them navigate the challenges of their vocation. Clinical counselors also commonly meet with those in the field to make sure that there is healthy interaction between counselor and counselee. It does seem that often those in professional ministry are either threatened or indifferent to the need of giving and receiving spiritual direction. Nonetheless, it is spiritual direction and spiritual directors that lend integrity to the minister. Without accountability, the Christian leader is finds him or herself in a dismal cavern alone and useless.