Staying!
If I’m towards right about ‘journey’ being a zombie category and it is no longer a useful idea for thinking about our ongoing relationship with Christ, then what is? Most of my thoughts here start with a comment from Brian McLaren at an Emergent conference in 2003 (I think). During a question time a very astute delegate asked Brian for a definition of ‘community’. It felt very much like Brian had been put on a spot, but his answer seemed well rehearsed. After a short story about a college lecturer and his family farm Brian’s simple definition of community was, and maybe still is, ‘staying’.
This was enormously encouraging and challenging. Encouraging because at the time that was exactly where I was; looking for a place to put down roots and stay. Challenging because it is! As it happens, too challenging for us at the time since we have moved twice since then and will almost certainly do so again in the next two years or so! Staying has challenge on a whole bunch of levels, some which I hope to explore in later posts. Here I would like to briefly consider the challenge it holds for our notions of discipleship personally and for us as a community [whoever 'us' are?].
There are readings set out in the Common Lectionary for everyday taking the diligent follower through a three year reading program. The whole Bible is not quite covered as there are a few chapters here and there that are missed out. As an Anglican priest I have essentially promised to follow this reading pattern since it sits hand in hand with Common Worship [the common prayer book for the Church of England since 2000]. There are other bible reading guides and notes of which I am sure most of my readers will at least be aware of if not experienced with. There are all kinds of great things about a continuous reading pattern that takes you through Scripture, but there is also something transient about it too. “I read this passage yesterday and the life changing thoughts and encounters I had were dealt with in 24 hours and now I am on to my next reading and encounter with the divine.” I have similar things to say about ‘powerful preaching’; how many life changing messages can a person deal with in a month?
Journeying, moving, going, forward, progress usually also means both leaving something behind and speed. For our personal spirituality this often means we don’t have time to engage, dig down, explore and harvest the wisdom and grace available from our engagement with spiritual disciplines: scripture, church going, prayer… Fear of the Lord might be the beginning of wisdom, but experience tells us that wisdom grows through attention and examination; neither of which can be done at speed and in fact almost insist on being still: staying.
The Christian life is not just about loving God though, because its twin challenge is to love neighbour. The bottom line here is the same as above, neither can be done at speed and in fact almost insist on being still: staying. Yet our cultural pattern is to move on, quiet literally. How long do you need to stay in one place, live there and be part of the community there, before you can experience and partake in ‘love neighbour’? Have we repackaged this notion of ‘love’ into episodic acts of kindness?
A common word-association with discipleship is growth, but I wonder whether maturity would be more helpful. Maturity is a staying word. When we think of mature things like trees, shrubs, cheese, meat, they all need to have been in the same place for a long time. ‘Long time’ is a relative term. A long time for an Oak tree does not compare well for a long time for hanging beef! Nevertheless, the point holds, maturity is about staying in the same place for a long time. We are called to maturity in Christ, in fact to present each other as mature in Christ. Such is the size of this call that maybe it trumps upgrading property, moving into school catchment, following a promotion. Whether such actions illustrate immaturity in Christ is a question that perhaps holds too much challenge for us to contemplate! It might be that staying too has become a zombie category, alive but dead. To say that I am ‘Staying here’ is usually, even if silently, qualified with a ‘until it is more convenient, cheaper, appealing or desirable to move to somewhere else. We are training to think in such a way as part of growing up in C21st western society. We are convinced that it is impossible to settle for something, because we are hooked on upgrades, thinking that these will give us better: experiences, feelings, tastes, efficiency, life-styles. So does maturity stand a chance? I think only if we are brave enough!
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