Another weekend, another conference. I almost didn’t want to go but I made the commitment months in advance and glad I stuck to it.
The retreat was the 3rd annual ‘Soul Restoration Project‘ held by Vineyard Anaheim. How I heard about this conference itself is another story. For now I’d like to share about what I learned before I forget.
I originally signed up for SRP because J.P. Moreland was speaking at the first session. Though I was seeking more than intellectual stimulation, having read Moreland’s books and listened to his teachings, the fact that I’ll be able to see him in person really did it for me.
Surprisingly, the crowd was a bit small. Regardless, I learned a lot in those 45 minutes. Moreland talked about series of shifts that happened in the past century: Truth to Desire; Happiness as virtue to Happiness as pleasure; Freewill as Power to Freewill as Right; and Classical Tolerance to Contemporary Tolerance. Some of these shifts are review for me but some are new concepts.
The one shift that convicted me was the shift from Truth to Desire. Though I’ve known that absolute Truth existed, I felt as if my day-to-day decisions have been based upon my desires and not on truth. After hearing what ‘desires’ looked like in a more practical sense, I realized how oblivious I was or have been to my actions. The mentality of servant hood, and discipline shed a new light on me. (I love hearing Moreland explain things. I think we have the same thinking pattern –of course not on the same level of intelligence.)
At the end of that session I realized that I needed to be more self-aware, of everything! –my words before they fall off my tongue, my thoughts before I treat certain concepts as truth, and my actions before I perform the natural old habits. Dang…I have a lot to work on.
That following night we had session with Cathy Morrill. She was amazing. She didn’t talk like Moreland, but her concepts challenged my old ways of looking at the Christian walk. Formulas and assumptions, Morrill explained, is what keeps many Christians from experiencing the authenticity of a Christian life.
“Where is your ‘good news’ in unanswered prayers?” “What do you do with the anger from unanswered prayers?” Morrill was trying to make the point that many people enter into Christianity thinking life should be easy after accepting Jesus, that all life’s difficulties and lessons will be solved and completed. An example she used was maturity. Many people, like me, think that once I follow Jesus, I’ll automatically be disciplined and mature. But the picture Morrill was trying to pose was that once I follow Jesus, what’s to say He won’t lead me through a period of hardship and struggle in order to develop a maturity in me.
I know this prosperity-like gospel might seem obvious, but I think after being a Christian for so long, in the process, I’ve started to develop certain ‘formulas’ that have been keeping me from experiencing the real deal. And when I mean ‘formulas’ I mean that I tend to rationalize situations, and in the end come up with reasons as to why the way things are the way they are. It was a nice reminder that I shouldn’t have expectations of an awesome life, free from suffering just bc I’m a C. Suffering, if anything should be expected. As unattractive as that might seem, suffering is inevitable. If we choose this Life, we must acknowledge our sinful nature and with that our response will be to enter the process of sanctification. The process of sanctification is not smooth sailing if we are people of addictions, selfishness, bitterness, immaturity, imperfection.
As sad as suffering sounds, there’s hope. Morrill makes the point of Christ’s body being a place where suffering is dignified and accounted for and redeemed. Is this our escape from suffering in this life? No. This only means that we must remember what else is referred to as ‘Christ’ body,’ and that is the church of Christ. Our fellow brothers and sisters, our community of faithful members are the ones who help absorb some of those sufferings.
We must not think of suffering or difficulties as something that should end or be solved (I’m not talking about ignorance of the causes of certain pains). But we should remember that it may only end now in part and later in full. The understanding of how suffering plays in our C life leads to our understanding of how the community of believers should function. We must look up but not forget those next to us. And to offer a shoulder or a hand is what I think Christ would be glad to see.
This revelation of the meaning of suffering along with community is making me realize how big Christ is and how small we are individually. But even in our smallness we carry a huge responsibility. We have a duty of looking out for one another. We have the obligation of tending to our fellow brothers and sisters.
It’s a beautiful sight, to see the whole body function as one. We can get more Work done working like this.
