Below is a short thread on Evangelicals and the spiritual discipline of detachment. A proposal:
1/ I wonder if Matthew 8 offers some potentials for evangelicals and healing from cultural idolatry.
Jesus demands at least some level of "detachment" to follow him:
"the Son of Man has no where to lay his head"
"let the dead bury the dead"
2/ I'm not saying Christians can't be involved in politics and we ought not to labor for justice with sacrificial involvement.
But somewhere along the way, evangelicals went whole hog into cultural idolatries of power.
3/ When I was in seminary, there was an assumption that we'd moved past the errors of the Moral Majority.
But 2016-2020 proved that the beast was just taking different forms and identities and Trump just exposed how tightly we'll hold on to our idols.
4/ We've proven that we'll cover up sex abuse, contradict historical moral standards that we've held other presidents/leaders accountable to, depend on powers of persuasion more than truth & be willing to burn bridges with black/brown communities of faith all to hold on to power.
5/ I just wonder if the spiritual practice of "detachment" might be the path that some of us make it out with our souls still attached through.
Jesus of course wasn't indifferent. But he seemed to have a level of detachment that kept him resisting cultural idols.
6/ Whether we'd like to admit it or not, many evangelical leaders have lost their spiritual authority in these past few years. That's not a small thing. And we ought not assume that these public displays of sin and idolatry hasn't gotten into the water and infected all of us.
7/ "All of us" meaning evangelicals. I'm not saying we've all turned into Metaxas and D'souza but they ought to be a witness and a warning that you really do become what you love.
8/ Detachment (whatever form that might take), might be the spiritually and emotionally healthy way to follow Jesus out of this. Maybe we've gotten too attached to how cultural and political power fixes the evil and defeats our enemies in the world. Lord help us.
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1/ One big lesson I've learned in the past 10-15 years is that I'm most spiritually vibrant when I feel at home in my theological tradition and travel widely in my reading.
2/ I am within an orthodox, historical Protestant, Reformed tradition. I feel at home here. I share my theological convictions and beliefs here.
But I often times feel a commonality with the "sensibilities" of other writers from other traditions. For example:
3/ Henri Nouwen or Ronald Rolheiser, who are Catholic Vatican II types, have a kind of gentle, loving sensitivity to our relationship/identity with Christ that is concerned with consciously feeling comfortable in our skin, that I feel is often lacking in my tradition.
Quick reflection on Peter's reconciliation with Jesus in John 21, where Jesus asks Do you love me a 3rd time and Peter responds, "Lord you know everything; you know that I love you.”
He couldn't appeal to his own energy & passion: "When everyone leaves, I will die with you!" 1/
It's important to let Peter give witness to the spiritual bankruptcy of being carried by the power of your convictions, eagerness, and zeal.
At some point, after failure, humiliations, experiencing limitations, weariness, those things won't sustain you. 2/
I find it instructive that after failure/humiliation, he doesn't appeal to his own fervency. He doesn't double down. He appeals to Jesus. "Lord, you know."
Personally, that's an important lesson for a few reasons: 3/
Here's the honest truth: Good pastors put themselves in the way of potential criticism and regularly within the realm and reach of other people's pain.
It should not then surprise you, pastor, that you may experience depression even though you've never experienced it before.
Carrying the consistent emotional weight of the various pains, fears, criticisms, suffering, and transitions of a congregation (big or small) is a challenging vocation. What it can do to your inner life can/will surprise you.
But while it can surprise you, know that it's not abnormal. Apart from the pastoral weight, sadness is a normal Christian experience.
“The Road to sorrow has been well trodden, it is the regular sheep track to heaven, and all the flock of God have had to pass along it.” Spurgeon