 |
Theology don presents guide to spirituality |
|
|
Theology don presents guide to spirituality |
By GEORGE MARTZEN
THERE is a great renewal
today in the topic of spirituality. For that reason it is well
to find someone who can cut through the many variations and provide
a central guiding metaphor.
The Rev Dr M. Robert Mulholland,
the keynote speaker for the 2006 Aldersgate Convention, does this
with his "biblical spirituality".
The focal point of biblical spirituality is the powerful New Testament
affirmation that "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14),
the belief that the very mind of God became a human being and
lived among ordinary humans.
From that starting point the Rev Dr Mulholland, Professor of New
Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, breaks trail through
two more amazing affirmations: first, that the Word has also become
text, that is, in the Bible; and second, "that the Word is
to become flesh in us".
The latter is the goal of biblical spirituality, that Jesus Christ,
God's very nature in the flesh, should become manifest in our
lives. This is not simply for one's own personal good, but for
the benefit of the world.
"The world will not know that God sent Christ simply because
we pronounce it to be so," he said, "but when they
see Christ-likeness lived out in their midst in our lives in the
world."
The New Testament assertion that God was in Jesus fulfils the
prevailing Old Testament hope that God would somehow be present
with humanity. While there have been debates over the centuries
on details regarding the incarnation, this assertion remains the
heart of the Gospel which the Church has proclaimed for 2,000
years.
The belief that the Word has become text is a companion to the
Word become flesh. While there have also been disagreements on
the exact nature of Scripture, its authority, inspiration and
canonical status, the Bible remains the central book of the Church,
through which God reveals the way of salvation. "The Word
becomes text in order to provide a transforming encounter with
God," said the Rev Dr Mulholland.
The power of biblical spirituality is not simply that we declare
the deity of Christ or that we can read the Bible. Rather the
point is "that the Word is to become flesh in us".
The Rev Dr Mulholland examines two parallel Pauline texts in Colossians
and Ephesians. "In him all the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell" (Colossians 1:19) is similar to "… that
you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians
3:19). The way in which Jesus is full of the presence of God is
a pattern for our lives. The goal for us is to be just like Jesus,
which involves a process of growing "into him who is the
head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15).
This process involves a death and resurrection that identifies
with Christ. "You have died, and your life has been hidden
with Christ in God. Whenever Christ, who is your life, should
become manifest, then you also will be manifest with him in glory"
(Colossians 3:3-4, the Rev Dr Mulholland's translation). This
life, according to him, is not something we generate, but is "grounded
with Christ in God".
Through the cross of Jesus, "God has entered into the entirety
of our self-referenced structure of being and confirmed it as
dead," he said, adding that God goes on, in the core of that
deadness, to plant Christ "as the seed of a true life in
loving union with God". This idea is paralleled in Galatians
2:19-20, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer
I who live but Christ who lives in me."
This involves a "mystical union with Christ," by which
we enter into the "life that has been hidden with Christ
in God." The manifestation of this new life in Christ is
not just for the end of time, as some translations of Colossians
3:4 imply. Rather the new life can make a difference today.
Paul "is talking about an essential dimension of daily life,"
according to the Rev Dr Mulholland, such that "whenever we
allow Christ truly to indwell us, allow the Holy Spirit to transformingly
empower us, allow the fullness of God to be the context and content
our life in the world, then who we truly are becomes manifest
in its Christ-likeness".
There is a tension here between our "self-referenced life"
and the "Christ-referenced life". We try to possess
and control our identity, he said, even though we are completely
out of control. That is why our only response is "to be completely
abandoned to God in love and fully available to God for others,"
he said. In so doing, every situation offers new "opportunities
for God to actualize our true self or identity".
Jesus himself prayed for this loving union. "As you, Father,
are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the
world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21). This
is not some arcane idea for scholars or monastics.
Biblical spirituality is about what Christ calls all of us to
be in the world. For "the world will not believe in Christ
because of our sound theology, our correct creed, our well defined
dogma, our rigorous religiosity", said the Rev Dr Mulholland.
"It will believe when it sees Christ-likeness manifested
in our life, when it sees the Word become flesh in us."
The Rev George Martzen is Minister Attached to The Bishop's Office.