My Ongoing Journey to Follow Jesus

April 3, 2016

My 2016 Ongoing Journey: Exploring Matthew to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like.

Matthew 12:43-45 ~ An exorcised demon will wander restlessly looking for a place to rest. Eventually it goes back to the person from which it was cast (which it calls, “my house”), and, finding it empty, goes and finds seven spirits more evil than itself, and they enter that person, who then is worse than before.

Jesus closes, “Thus it will be with this generation.”

I can count on one hand the times in my ministry when I’ve been confronted by people claiming to be possessed by a demon (although my mom frequently said I was demon possessed! Today I think they’d call me a hyperactive child).

I never approached those issues by trying to prove whether the “client” really had a demon or whether it was a psychological manifestation of fear or guilt or whatever. I’ve always believed in taking people seriously and starting where they are. Whether I believe in spirits and demons is irrelevant. I believe in God, and I believe God can heal the chaos of a troubled soul, whatever the cause. I also have to admit I’ve seen some things that defy my sense of logic and belief!

A friend of mine was an Orthodox priest, and one of his colleagues was an exorcist. I hadn’t realized there are official exorcists in some churches. With his help those who had approached me were able to find peace. But I remembered this text, and in every situation cautioned them not to leave empty the space that had been occupied by the spirit. Instead, I advised them to fill that space with prayer, meditation and the study of Scripture. My reasoning still is that a life filled with God-awareness has no room for demons.

But, what about Jesus’ caution regarding this generation?

Over the last 25 years virtually every religious survey indicates that 95%[1] of the North American population believes in God. But the largest and fastest growing spiritual population in North America is asking, “I believe. What’s next?” And church answers haven’t satisfied them; so they’re leaving and calling themselves, “Spiritual but not Religious”.

I do not know a more indicting issue facing the church today than this: people feel they have to go outside organized faith communities to fill the spiritual void in their lives.

The good news is that many of them are consciously and intentionally seeking relationships of mutual support in their quest; and a significant percentage of that population doesn’t want to jump through denominational hoops or recite canned prayers or confessions to “get saved”. They want to know how to follow Jesus (which is what “getting saved” is all about in the first place).

The bad news is that, while institutional traditions and practices can actually get in the way, without them the “spiritual but not religious” seeker has no standard by which to discern whether his or her chosen spiritual path is actually an experience of Christ’s presence or simply spiritual sounding froufrou that has no depth or substance—little more than taking one’s own pulse. “If it feels right” is simply not a dependable standard that produces lasting fulfillment--and the "Spiritual but not Religious" seeker is no better off than before.

In John's first epistle (verse 4 and following) he counsels, "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God..." because there are many false prophets. Where is the accountability in my spirituality? What test shall I apply? John continues, "every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God."

Does my spirituality pass the test?

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

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[1] Plus or minus a few percentage points, depending upon the survey.