Living In The 3rd Culture: The Pastor As Spiritual Director

The term “spiritual director” may be quite unfamiliar to many in the evangelical community. Nevertheless, there is a growing interest in it. A May 2012 headline in the Boston Globe read: “Growing demand for spiritual directors: Here, as across the nation, spiritual directors find more seeking counsel, solace outside church walls.” The article states, “Spiritual direction is a tradition of religious mentor-ship with roots in ancient Christianity. For centuries, monasteries and seminaries offered direction to clergy and members of religious orders. But the practice is increasingly going mainstream, as more people, Christian and otherwise, seek help exploring their relationship with the divine . . . Driving the growth are millennials like Weaver, who are more apt than previous generations to identify as ‘spiritual but not religious.’ . . What attracts people to spiritual direction, those familiar with the practice say, is the chance to talk one on one with a sympathetic and usually learned listener, without the clamor of a communal worship service or the isolation of praying alone. There is no pressure to join a group, make a weekly offertory pledge, or endorse a specific creed. . . So many religious traditions end up feeling quite divorced from your everyday life and experience, so it’s essentially irrelevant,’’ she said. “I think people are tired of that, and I think they hunger for a God they can experience, that is relevant, and close, and that can actually transform them’’.[1]

This article reminds us just how important this role is in the life of a pastor. In fact it every Beliecer should embrace this role. The best definition of a spiritual director that I found was on George Fox Evangelical Seminary’s website where they defined it this way, “Spiritual Directors are discerning and gifted persons trained to provide spiritual guidance and discipleship in the Christian tradition. The focus of Spiritual Direction is to develop awareness of the presence of God in one’s life in the context of a trusted relationship.”[2] They went on to clarify by giving the following helpful definitions:

Spiritual direction is a relationship between a person seeking a more Christ-like life and another who serves as guide to the process. The guide is trained as a spiritual director.
Spiritual formation focuses on the ordinary maturing of one's relationship with God.
Discipleship focuses on the maturing of one's faith in the context of the particular beliefs and values of a faith community. Disciplers are respected and spiritually mature mentors and leaders in a faith community.
Pastoral counseling focuses on relational and emotional maturity of an individual and/or family group. It is usually crisis-driven. Pastoral counselors are trained and certified.

We don’t talk much about the pastor’s role of “spiritual director” in my circles probably because of our emphasis on objective truth. Please understand that I am not criticizing that emphasis as I am convinced that the moment we no longer see the Word of God as objectively true, we lose everything! I both embrace and advocate the place of systematic theology for solid grounding in our faith. Nonetheless, God does move in “mysterious ways” and the Holy Spirit is in fact the believer’s guide and comfort. So helping people work through the subjective aspect of our faith is of utmost importance. In fact, I am convinced that a lot of heresy starts when someone pursues their subjective feelings and have no spiritual director to help them filter those feeling through the grid of the objective truth of Scripture.

The pastor’s role as spiritual director is essential for those in and outside the church. For those inside, he needs to help his parishioners to be more in tune with God’s leading and directing them in their daily routines and in larger family or career decisions. There are many decisions that must be made in life that Scripture does not speak directly too, but gives insight for. In a context where “God told me” is more common then I-phones, we must teach our people to be aware of God’s leading and directing in their lives.

I am also convinced that the pastor needs to be a spiritual director to those outside the church. As the Boston Globe pointed out there is new spiritual interest in the United States. The un-churched, de-churched and the non-Christian are all looking for a deeper meaning in life, or some more meaningful experience. This is a golden opportunity for winsome evangelism!

[1] Lisa Wangsness http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/05/growing-demand-for-spiritual-directors/caxImzYEdDDbI8lEJ9OqQO/story.html

[2] http://www.georgefox.edu/seminary/faculty/spiritual-directors.html

Third Culture Defined

The term “Third Culture” has been used in various ways. One “Third Culture” group “consists of those scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world who, through their work and expository writing, are taking the place of the traditional intellectuals in rendering visible the deeper meanings of our lives, redefining who and what we are.”Another common use of “Third Culture” in fact describes my personal experience. The term was first coined by sociologist Ruth Hill Useem, professor emeritus of sociology and education at Michigan State University. She used the term to describe children growing up outside their citizenship countries because of a parent’s work abroad. A “TCK or Third Culture Kid has since been defined as, “someone who as a child has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture" Though I am a TCK, it is my desire to use the term in referring to the people who make up the true Christian Church (Theologically defined as the “Invisible Church”). In other words, the Church is a Third Culture. Scripture teaches us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law and the punishment of Hell, and through faith in Him we become citizens of His Kingdom, receiving not only the full benefits of citizenship in His Kingdom, but indeed the right to become sons and daughters of God. The moment, we step into this Kingdome we experience a new and different culture. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but now live in the kingdom of light and that changes everything! At the same time we never went anywhere physically as we continue to work, live, and play with the same people as before, we see the world differently, we no longer truly fit – we are “in the world, but not of it” -- we have a new culture. For most of us this life changing experience occurs within our birth culture and our Christian experience is saturated by those influences. For those who grew up in non-Hispanic White North America, Christianity is uniquely different than those who grew up in an African American context. Our birth culture effects how we live out our faith in the Kingdom of Christ. Yet the Kingdom of Christ requires one more cultural shift and that is away from birth culture and into a culture made up of people of every ethnic and cultural group that has ever existed on the face of the earth. This Kingdom is no more North American than it is Tanzanian or Tibetan. It is a unique or shall we say a “Third Culture” that integrates elements of all cultures into one new and better one, where there is no Jew or Greek, slave nor free, male nor female“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:26-298). In fact Revelation 7:9-10 gives us a description what this will look like one day:“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." A Third Culture Perspective is one that understands and appreciates that God gathers people from every ethnic and cultural group and brings them into the new culture of His Son Jesus Christ. It is a perspective where birth cultures are appreciated and respected as coming from God, but none are superior. It seeks to have a deeper understanding of the Gospel, pays attention to culture, our own as well as others, and then attempts to bring them together. It is a perspective that “seeks first His Kingdom and His Righteousness” and lovingly and passionately enjoys and glorifies God in all we do. It is a perspective that welcomes immigrants….

The Pastor As Spiritual Director

No comments: