signposts

I recently drove by a car dealership that advertised "Audi, loaded, $650." I found myself thinking there's gotta be something seriously wrong with that car if it's loaded and it's only $650. Shouldn't you be looking for a car that actually drives whether it's loaded or not? After all what good is a loaded Audi sitting in the driveway because the engine's trashed. 'At least it looks good.'

But isn't that often how we inventory our own spiritual lives? I sit in the pew every Sunday, whether I actually engage or not. I read my Bible every morning, whether I actually learn anything or not. I spend my five minutes a day thinking about prayer requests, whether I actually connect with God or not. I fear that the church is full of fully loaded Christians that, when it all comes down to it, have nothing but rusty engine parts under the hood. They look great on the outside, but when it comes to a real relationship with God they're found lacking.

The tragedy is that many well meaning Christians don't even acknowledge the gaping hole at the center of their lives because they're too busy, as the adage goes, rearranging deck furniture on the Titanic. They exhaust all their energies working so hard at being a good Christian, keeping up with their spiritual disciplines to-do list, which ironically is never satisfied, and they don't even recognize that as a problem! They don't even comprehend what Jesus meant when He said His yoke was easy and His burden light. And we wonder why so many Christians are left feeling tired, overworked, and unfulfilled, doubting why they ever signed up for this in the first place.

Now I'll be the first to say this is just a symptom of many deeper issues, but toward a remedy I've been discovering some additional contemplative disciplines that we often forget. Somehow we've gotten the idea that silence, solitude, fasting, journaling, meditating, etc. were all gratefully buried in the dark ages with the ancient monks. But perhaps these long forgotten practices are the very thing we need to transform our spirituality from simply a necessary inconvenience into a meaningful relationship with the Almighty.

More on this later, but for now I'll suffice to say, take some time to slow down. Take a vacation from the exhausting efforts that keep us captive when we put our faith in the law, or better yet, take early retirement. Remember, Jesus didn't come to earth so we could spend a lifetime perfecting our spiritual duties; He came that we might "know the Father." May that be the cry of your life, and mine.