I recently had a chance to catch up with Brian Profitt, director of Preaching Unleashed, and talk about the width versus depth issues of faith.
Brian asked: Margaret, It’s not just the media’s favorite twist on Christianity—my conversations with churches indicate that we really are spending much of our time and energy on issues like gay marriage, emerging vs. traditional, which Bible translation we consider trustworthy, and even which exercise programs are appropriate. In the midst of our attention on so many external things, whatever happened to the spiritual disciplines?
I agree that much time and energy is being spent on issues like the ones you’re discussing (except for the exercise program—not enough time on that one!—just kidding). It would be nice to dismiss such concerns or expend energy elsewhere, but I think many of the hottest topics among Christians today including universalism, gay marriage, and expressions of worship are exposing something deeper—namely, the fault lines among people of faith. These issues not only expose the increasing amount of disunity among the body of Christ, but also something about our hearts in the ways we tackle such issues. No matter what the topic or the stance, we need to learn to be people who exemplify Christ-likeness and good old fashioned manners. No matter how divisive the issue, we need to learn to discuss topics with grace, humor, gentleness, thoughtfulness, and a genuine willingness to engage with others and not simply dismiss their views.
In the midst of a million-mile-a-minute culture, I think spiritual disciplines—practices that bring us closer to Christ—are becoming even more meaningful and impacting. Spiritual disciplines that help us slow down, embrace silence, and listen for God to speak through the Scriptures (among many others) are counter-cultural and often awaken our hearts to spiritual hungers we didn’t even realize we had!
So frankly, I think a lot of Christians avoid conversations about the intimate, internal things of Christianity because it’s awkward. It puts us on the spot. It forces us to explain things that we’re not very articulate in talking about, so we end up just moving the other direction and having nice chats about the weather and how the local sports team is doing.
That’s a lot of my mission in life, and in writing this book I’m trying to deepen the understanding of Christians so that we’re more ready to do what 1 Peter 3:15 says—to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks for the reason for the hope that we have.
