How do you talk about spirituality or sacramentality with Baptists? It is not an easy thing to do because so many Baptists were brought up understanding a spiritual moment as the climax in the sermon leading into the altar call, or that one private moment of conversion, or listing to the Gathers sing. It is a very narrow view of spirituality and spiritual moments. I would argue that we have a deeper spirituality that can be seen in many aspects worship, the Lord’s Supper, baptism, ordination, and other aspects of Christian life. Although we don’t like to use the word, “sacramentality” because it sounds to Catholic and we certainly don’t want to be seen as popish, it does look to a deeper, more developed view of an awareness of God’s presence in the world. Finally, thanks to Schleiermacher and his caustic liberal agenda, the topic itself tends to be so individualistic that it can be difficult to speak of spirituality on a communal level.
Rather than addressing spirituality directly it may be better to address it from different angles. Perhaps if one were to talk about spirituality as it is perceived in the sermon, the Lord’s Supper, ordination, etc., one would have various avenues to follow towards this central question. This is what I am going to try to do, to look at one part of Baptist life at a time and then to look at the spirituality of each part of life.
Not an easy task, not a short project, but one that should have solid depth.
So next I will look at William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience to get ideas on how one might articulate the spiritual experience in a Protestant/Baptist experience. Stay tuned, and keep singing, “Just as I Am” until you are ready to come forward and accept Jesus into your hear.
No comments:
Post a Comment