ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

What is Christian mysticism Author
Andrew Louth, in The Origins of
the Christian Mystical Tradition,
defines it as “the search for and
experience of immediacy with God.”
Early church mystics were those
who refused to be content with
just knowing “about” God. They
would not rest without relationship
with Him.
Why is mysticism re-emerging
today The emerging culture is less
dependent upon a scientific and
rationalistic way of thinking. The
emerging culture has moved to a
time when people crave experiencing
God for themselves.
The Church needs to be sure that
the Christian faith is accessible to
outsiders as it seeks to be a place
of spirituality and mystery. The
Church must also fight against an
individualistic form of spirituality.
In an attempt to guard against these
failures, churches are returning to
the “old” and using guided meditative
prayer, prayer walks, incense,
candles, chanting and other
historical Christian rituals.
The mystical nature of the emerging
culture is leading many churches to
focus on three areas:
an acknowledgement
of people’s
spirituality
“The issue facing many
pastors today is how to
lead already spiritual
people to become
followers of Christ.”
We are entering an era when society as
a whole is more spiritual in nature and
yet less Christian. To begin a spiritual
dialogue today, one must ask someone
about their spiritual journey. Respecting
an unbeliever’s “spirituality” is the necessary
beginning point of the conversation.
Some who come to church seeking
a spiritual experience with God
would be disappointed to only hear
information about God.
an appreciation
of mystery and
wonder
Christians are recovering a sense
of the mystery and awe of God.
Karen, a college student and
Forum participant, described her
experience of being reared in
a typical conservative evangelical
church but finding herself increasingly
discontent.
“In the church I grew
up in there was no
imagination, no mystery,
no beauty. It was all
preaching and books
and application.”
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Then she and a group of friends
visited a more liturgical church that
valued the mystery of the faith. It
added a whole rich new dimension
to her spiritual life. “I truly worship
there. It’s the wonder, the beauty I
love,” said Karen.
a return to the
creative
arts
When Martin Luther nailed his
theses to the door, they inadvertently
inspired Reformers to correct the
church’s “ills” by destroying many
statues and paintings. Throughout
the Reformation, Christian knowledge
increased while interest in the
arts dwindled. By the nineteenth
century, pious Christians abandoned
the arts and deemed them “worldly.”
“The arts and faith were
torn apart.”
Today, leaders of churches in the
emerging culture welcome the arts
as part of their worship, recognizing
that creativity always points to, and
glorifies, the Creator.
“What’s been missing in all our
modern churches is beauty,”
observed a senior pastor at the
forum. “Maybe, like the woman who
stole into the Pharisee’s house with
a box of costly perfume, we need to
return beauty to our worship. We
are a sensate people and worship
involves more than just song.”
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