"Spiritual Pathways"
(6th message in an 8-part series, "An Ordinary Day With Jesus")
Sermon Transcript for March 10, 2002
By Rev. Mike Beck
At the meeting of the Finance and Stewardship Committees this past Monday I asked them to share the things that they were celebrating that they sensed God is doing here at Grace Church. One of the first things that was said by a gentlemen at the table was, "I celebrate," he said, "the spiritual growth that I see taking place all around me." And I celebrate that also. That’s what this sermon series has been all about. To help us not compartmentalize our lives into the spiritual stuff we do on Sunday and then the rest of the week but that we learn how to experience God’s presence every hour of every day. And when it comes to this matter of growing spiritually and having our lives transformed, we need to recognize that God has made each of us very uniquely. God has given to Cindy ways of connecting with Him and growing spiritually that may be different than the pathways He’s given to me. And we’re going to use that term, "spiritual pathways". And here is a simple definition. A spiritual pathway is the way that we most naturally grow and connect with God. And each of us, each of you, has a preferred spiritual pathway. You have a way in which you naturally gravitate and connect with God. We may have several, but most people will favor one or two. We’re going to be looking at seven this morning. And as we look at those seven, there will be some of those that you do not connect with at all.
Here’s why exploring this topic is so important. You need to discover what your pathways are in order to accelerate your spiritual growth. Those are the things you want to do. And you want to learn to have great freedom and joy in using them. If you don’t know what your spiritual pathways are and you keep trying to use ones that are different than how God has wired you together, then you begin to feel frustrated in your spiritual journey. In Scripture, we find seven of these spiritual pathways. You can look at them there. You can begin to think which ones are yours. I’ll tell you right off the bat the two that are most natural for me are worship and the activist pathway. We’re going to move fast this morning. We’re going to look at some characteristics of each, we’re going to look at some people in Scripture and today who will exemplify that, and then we’re going to look at a couple of cautions for each one. And as I go through these I want you to constantly be asking yourself the question, "Is he talking about me? Is this how God has wired me together?"
INTELLECTUAL: The first is the intellectual pathway. If this is you, you draw close to God as you’re able to learn more about Him. You love Bible studies. When you go in to a Christian bookstore you’re not likely to come out until your picture ends up on a milk carton. You have little patience for the emotional stuff of faith. During worship, you’re just marking time until the sermon. And if there didn’t happen to be a sermon, you leave feeling really left out. In small groups you often feel that those relational types, you don’t say it, but you think they’re just really swapping ignorance with each other. You are a thinker. You are a left-brain person. When you face problems or spiritual challenges, you look for information. You go in to problem-solving mode.
In Scripture, the Apostle Paul is a good example of someone who had an intellectual pathway. And if you’re wired like Paul, the road to your heart always leads through your brain. When you’re deeply immersed in learning or books, you come to life. Your moments of repentance and discovery come out of the books you read. The Cambridge Professor and author, C.S. Lewis, who was an agnostic before he came to faith, but a deep thinker who wrote Mere Christianity, is a good example of that pathway. If you’re wired this way, you can’t put the book down. If you are not wired this way, you’re lost on page three and you go to sleep. Chuck Colson and Lee Strobel, who wrote The Case for Christ, are contemporary examples. Here at Grace Church, and I’m not going to use examples for each one of these, but Rich Gotshall is an example of this. My mom is an example of this. Dad has to pry her out of the Christian bookstore. She’d spend hours in there.
And look within and ask the question, is that how God has wired me? Now again, hear me carefully, if this is how God’s wired you, use it to the hilt. If you’re wired intellectually and not in a contemplative way, don’t waste much time going into your closet in secret. God’s not going to speak to you well in there. He’s going to speak to you through a book. But I want you to use them to the hilt but also for each one of these I’m going to give you some cautions. If you’re on the intellectual pathway, you need to guard against becoming "all head and no heart". Dallas Willard once observed, "One of the hardest things in the world is to be right and not hurt anybody with it." I want to repeat that; that’s a good quote. "One of the hardest things in the world is to be right but not hurt anybody with it." And another caution, don’t confuse being smart with being spiritually mature. Because going back to one of the earlier sermons, the right gauge of spiritual health is never in the intellect, it’s in love—love for God and love for others.
RELATIONAL: Next is the relational pathway. If this is your preferred pathway, spiritual growth comes best when you are involved in significant relationships. Small groups turn you on. Your life is an open book. You can’t understand why other people can’t freely share about themselves. Being alone drives you crazy if you’re the relational type. And at times of growth, God speaks to you in His word of guidance and conviction, through the words of other people with whom you are involved in relationships.
An example of someone in the Bible who experienced this spiritual pathway is Peter. All the defining moments took place when he was gathered with others – Peter, James, John. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, is a good example of this pathway. He had a passion for getting believers in to small groups, which is how Methodism started. In our day, Bill McCartney, former football coach at the University of Colorado and the founder of the Promise Keepers movement, is a relational type.
Look within – has God wired you together that way? If so, let me give you a couple of cautions. And again, all of these are good; use it to the hilt. Sign up for every small group you get an opportunity to sign up for because that’s how God works best in your life. But just always remember anything good taken to extremes becomes a negative. So guard against superficiality if this is your type. Make sure that in your relationships you have a few relationships that are very deep where people will hold you accountable and tell you what you don’t want to hear. And be careful if God has wired you with the relational pathway, that you don’t become overly dependent on others or slip in to unhealthy co-dependant kind of relationships.
SERVING: The next pathway is serving. If that’s you, God’s presence is never more real to you than when you are serving others. In fact, you’re uncomfortable if you don’t have a role. In fact, if you go to a meeting and there is a servant type in the room and they’ve come fifteen minutes early, don’t expect them to sit down in a conversation with you. They’ll be up asking the leader "Is there anything I can do to help?" That’s how God wired them together.
An example of someone in the Bible who was a serving type was Dorcas. In the Book of Acts it says that she was someone well known for a life of good deeds and care for the poor. I’ll bet you can already guess whom I’m going to use as a contemporary example. Mother Teresa is someone in our lifetime that exemplifies this pathway. She spent her whole life amongst the dying and the homeless in Calcutta, India. She saw the face of Christ in the people she served. Jimmy Carter, our former President, also demonstrates this pathway. His ongoing involvement with Habitat for Humanity, which I finally understand is coming to Johnson County this summer. Verne and Jane Johnson are out there this morning. They are back from their mission trip in Louisiana. That’s how God wired you, isn’t it? When you were down there serving the poor you were growing leaps and bounds spiritually. Jim and Lynn Ray are another example of this pathway.
Now, if this is our pathway here are a couple of cautions. Don’t get on people or resent others who aren’t as serving oriented as you are. And then secondly, remember that God loves you not just because you are faithful in serving but because you are His child. Don’t confuse serving with earning God’s love. But if that’s your pathway, go on those mission trips, tutor during the week as Lynn does. Because see, if that’s your pathway, when you’re doing that you’re growing spiritually because that’s how God wired you together.
WORSHIP: The next one is the worship pathway. If you have a worship pathway inside you, you love Psalm 122:1, which says, "I rejoiced with those who said to me…let us go to the house of the Lord." You’ve got a deep love of corporate praise. In difficult periods of life, worship is what you’ll turn to to get you through. If fact, if I’m going through a difficult period, when I’ve finished the days activities and I can get a hold of a 90 minute Gaither video and plug it in, God will speak to me. These folks never look at their watch during worship. Some of you say, "Yeah, Reverend Mike, that’s the problem. You need to look at it more often." While the intellectual types are waiting for the sermon to begin, the worship types are wishing we’d just sing one more verse or one more chorus. In fact, the worship types this morning were disappointed that we didn’t sing all four versus of "How Great Thou Art". Well, listen carefully, you may or may not be overly demonstrative or expressive in the worship time. There are some worship types that may never hold up their hand or say "Amen". But in worship their heart opens up to God.
King David is an example of somebody in the Bible who had a worship pathway. You know in Psalms it said that David danced before the Lord with all his heart. What if I got before the altar this morning and did a dance? Mickey’s saying, "Oh, you wouldn’t dare, would you?" But Psalms said David danced before the Lord. I tell you I know what would be the topic of conversation at the United Methodist Community lunch today if I did that. But David wrote psalms, he wrote poetry, he played the lyre, he expressed his love for God through music.
In our day Cliff Barrows who led worship at Billy Graham Crusades all these years, Bill Gaither, Jack Hayford out in California, are contemporary examples of worship types.
Now if God wired you this way, here are your words of caution. Be careful that you don’t judge others who aren’t turned on by hymns or praise choruses. In fact, if you’re a worship type you’ll look around and see someone that’s just barely singing or not singing at all and you’ll say, "Why aren’t they singing?" Well, if you heard them sing, maybe you’d be glad they weren’t singing. But be careful. Not everybody’s wired that way. And remember, there are persons who deeply love the Lord, but their personality would never allow them to lift up their hands or say "amen" out loud during a service. But that doesn’t mean that the people who have their hands up or those saying "amen" are more spiritual than those who aren’t, they are just wired differently. And then also, guard against, and hear this one carefully, guard against an experience-based spirituality that always has you looking for the next worship "high". As much as I love the Walk to Emmaus and recommend it highly, I’ve seen people who got involved in it that forgot that Emmaus was for the development of Christian leaders. They used Emmaus just as the next opportunity for another spiritual high with their friends. Meister Eckhart says it well when he says, "The danger in finding a way to God is that people begin to love the way more than they love God." And you need to hear that again. The danger of finding a way to God is that we begin to love the way more than we love God.
ACTIVIST: A fifth pathway is found in the personality of the activist. If you have an activist pathway, you have a strong sense of zeal and vision. You have a passion to build the church. You enjoy working for change and justice. Challenges don’t discourage you – they energize you. You do everything you can to bring out the potential in other people. You love a fast-paced, problem-filled, complex life. The activists are often Type-A personalities. They’d rather burn out than rust out.
And one example of an activist in the Bible is Nehemiah. Do you remember when Nehemiah heard about the condition of Jerusalem – the capital city that had fallen in to disrepair – he immediately began to develop plans to rebuild the wall? In the 1800’s William and Catherine Booth, the founders of the Salvation Army, exemplified this pathway. In our day, Martin Luther King and Jim Wallis, the author of Sojourners, are other examples.
And, friends, God needs activist to get His work done. And if that’s your pathway, use it! But here are your cautions. And when I give this caution to activist, I’m looking right in the mirror at me. Be careful that you don’t run over other people as you get focused on achieving a noble goal. And also, if you’re an activist, guard against going too long without pausing for some quiet time to reflect on what you are doing.
CONTEMPLATIVE: The next pathway is the contemplative pathway. If this is you, you love uninterrupted time alone. Reflection comes easy for you. You like to keep a journal. The presence of God is most real when you get distractions out of the way. The contemplative could sit down and pray for two hours. If you are a contemplative and you get busy and spend a lot of time with other people you get drained. You feel a need to be alone for a while.
Someone in the Bible who fits this profile was Mary, Martha’s sister in Luke 10. Do you remember the story? Mary is sitting there at Jesus’ feet taking in all He had to say. Martha’s fixing dinner. Martha’s an activist. And Martha gets upset. "Lord, we’ve got work to do. Make Mary help me with lunch." But if you’re wired life Mary, you’d rather spend that quiet time alone with Jesus than you would doing stuff. Let me point out an interesting comparison here between the activist and the contemplative personalities. When an activist says, "I’ll call you back", they’ll probably call you on their cell phone within the next hour. They’ll definitely get back with you before the end of the day. But if a contemplative tells you, "I’ll call you back", you might hear from them next week. See, they’re wired differently. Henri Nouwen is a contemporary writer that reflects this. The Quakers, Elton Trueblood, the great teacher and writer over at Earlham, reflect the contemplative.
Now here are a few cautions. If God wired you this way, be careful that you don’t start avoiding the world. Don’t retreat when your family or friends or the world disappoint you. And then hear this--resist the temptation to consider your times of prayer and reflection less important to God than people who are serving in duty. Some of you need to hear that because in our core values, prayer is at the top. And those people who are wired to pray are at the foundation of what God is doing here. I remember a lady at the United Methodist Community that joined our church officially a few years ago. When I visited with her she very apologetically said, "I can’t do much. All I can do is give and pray." And I said, "Wait a minute, the last I checked those two things were pretty important." So don’t minimize the spiritual power of this pathway.
CREATION: The final pathway is the creation pathway. If this is you, you respond to God best through nature. Being outdoors replenishes you. It opens your soul; it strengthens your faith. You resonate with the word of the Psalmist, "The whole heavens declare the glory of God." You’re highly aware of your physical senses. You may, indeed, be a creative person because of your appreciation of creation.
And the Biblical example is none other than Jesus himself who although can be said to exemplify all the pathways, the Bible says He is especially drawn to nature. And look at His teachings. What’s He teach about? He says the kingdom of God is like these flowers, is like this seed. George Washington Carver is an example from the previous century of this type. He was an African-American chemist that discovered all those uses for the peanut. It is claimed that he prayed, "God, show me the secrets of the universe." To which God responded, "The universe is too big for you. Let me show you what’s in this peanut." Paul Brand’s book, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, where he talks about the marvels of the human body, is another contemporary example.
If this is your pathway, here are a few cautions for you. First, you may be tempted to use nature to escape from the real world. Remember that people will disappoint you. And you will need to guard against the temptation to avoid church because you rightly say, "I worship God best through nature." There are some persons who will draw closer to God sitting out there with their Bible watching a sunrise than listening to my sermon. But we need the fellowship of others.
As you leave this morning, in a variety of places—in a rack, on the tables—you’re invited to pick up one of these spiritual pathway assessments. There are 49 questions of which you will rate yourself with a 0 through 3 and then you’ll be able to total them and you’ll be able to see how God wired you to best connect with Him. Like I told you in the beginning, my best pathways are worship and activism. The more I know that, the more I want to use them because they draw me close to God. So as we close give yourself permission to be who you are, as God made you. Enjoy the pathways God gave you. Don’t feel that yours are the "right" ones. They are all valid. Don’t envy the spiritual pathways God gave others. And at times be willing to engage in activities that take you in to other pathways that are not natural to you. Solitude is not natural for me, but yet every year or two I’ll take a couple of days and go down to St. Bynum for a couple of days in a very unnatural discipline that helps me grow. So be willing to explore for all the pathways are valid means of connecting with God.
Let’s pray, "Lord, thank You for making us all different and thank You for giving us different ways to connect with You. Use this message, Lord, use this inventory to help these, your people here at Grace, to discover, "Oh, that’s why I feel close to God when I do this because that’s how God made me." And then help us to celebrate and use those as ways of deepening our walk with You through those gifts for we want to live 24-7, we want to live our ordinary days with Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen."
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn