Holistic Christianity
Why is it that we never have enough time for "spiritual things?" It seems like I hear someone complaining about time almost everyday. Heck, I complain about it all the time. I used to say that if there were only 25 hours in a day I could get everyting done. So what happens to my spiritual life in a hectic, overly-scheduled, fast-paced world? Of course It gets ignored. But why? Why is it that the most inportant part of my life seems to get left behind? Probably because of
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Holistic - Not Just for Hippies
Christianity should be holisitc. This may seem like the "obvious statement of the year," but it is a fact that I think we often ignore. For too long we have looked at our lives from a Western Philosophical view. We have viewed our lives like a Roman Arch. Many pieces that are all working together and even need each other to bring about stability. But what if our lives are not like this at all but are more like a tree? A tree has many different parts; branches, leaves, sap, bark, roots, heartwood, etc. But the are not a bunch of individual parts that make up a greater thing...They are all interdependant and related. Symbiotic. Holistic.
Be the Tree
Let me explain. If you were to burn all the leaves off of a tree the whole tree would suffer because the whole tree needs the leaevs to survive. If you were to strip all of the bark off a tree it would eventually die. Why? Because it needs the bark. If you were to cut all of the roots off of a tree it would die. You get the picture. Our lives are like this. Neglect the emotional side and we will suffer. Neglect the physical and we will suffer. Neglect the spiritual and we will suffer.
If this is the case why would we simply try to treat one or the other. What if everything we did in one area of our lives affected all of the others? I mean what if every person we talked to had an impact in the invisible relm of the spirit. What if every time we prayed it actually did something in the physical? What if every time we cry out of grief or sorrow there is something going on in the other areas of our lives and maybe even the universe as a result? I know this sounds a little metaphysical but think about it: God is omnipresent right? That means he's everywhere. Closer to us than any person can be. What about this: Colossians 1:17 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. What if this means that EVERYTHING that happens in the universe is somehow effecting everything else? Let's make it a little more palatable...What if everything we do in life effects the rest of our lives? That means that every word we speak affects the spiritual. Every thought; every deed; every action; has an effect on the spiritual?
Teaching People
We must begin to teach people once again to look at their lives holisticly. We must teach them that the American Gospel has been nutered and become a man dying because I did some bad thigns. It is so much more than that and so much farther reaching than that. Which means that "becoming a Christian" is much bigger than that. I may mean that we have to stop people from becoming Christains, and start them "living life in the way of Jesus."
I could be wrong...but this is what I have been feeling lately.
posted by Chris Cochran @ 2/10/2005 03:55:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
The 'separateness' you are describing is the Greek philosophy of dualism, championed by philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, and in study of the early church formation, the infiltration of dualism into Christian doctrine has been both subtle and alarming. As the early church was forming and Scripture was being canonized, a variety of heresies crept in from Greek thought and many of them are linked to elements of dualism. As a result, instead of having a holistic view of Christianity, or even humanity, the Christian tradition apprehended dualism and taught its followers that the material realm and the spiritual realm are entirely separate--and that in pursuit of divine knowledge, one was required to deny their base human desires and needs. Joining this together with Manichaeism (the belief that matter is inherently evil while the mind is inherently good), is what ushered in the white martyrdom, or Monasticism during the Middle Ages. Even in the general population, there was little regard for the physical needs of people, and the concept of holistic anything seemed absurd to them, because creation, the human body, and things of any natural orientation were seen as a distraction from communing with God. They failed to realize Jesus' own example of holistic ministry, the duality of His own natures (that they were not separate, but coexisted together rather harmoniously--As the divine Son of God and as a fully human and perfect sacrifice) and as a result, the greater church has had difficulty over the centuries bringing any kind of gospel to the people. People do not need a gospel for their conscience--they need the Gospel that alone can breathe life into the weary human experience, and address the needs of their body, mind., and spirit and reunite them with God in a profound way.
In short, Chris, I think you’ve uncovered a treasure in this discovery, because you cannot hope to lead a church that can make this kind of difference in the lives of people unless you deliberately interrupt the philosophy of dualism (and there are many others, also) and consider the holistic need of individuals. In practice, I believe you already know this and live it out in your example, but in your leadership, you are in a position to make a serious difference in the way your congregation approaches ministry if you are directing their attentions to such pivotal considerations, and are challenging them to themselves be ‘more like Jesus’ in their daily lives. Excellent post.
Emily VH
I agree with my woman...we just learned that in class!
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