Tuesday Morning: How Goes Your Walk With the Lord?
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Photo by Dolo Iglesias on Unsplash
When I was 11 or so, I started taking piano lessons. My first piano teacher was Mr. Jackson, the music director of a church just outside of Flint. To say that Mr. Jackson was strict was an extreme understatement. He demanded you practice the piano every day and woe to you who were slothful. He could tell if you didn't practice in between lessons. For Mr. Jackson, you couldn't be a good musician if you didn't spend time almost daily trying to practice the piano.
The hallmark of a good musician is someone who practices- a lot. There are only a few people that don't need to practice and still be a great musician. For the rest of us mere mortals, practice is necessary.
I recently had Bethel University professor Christopher Gehrz on my podcast to talk about pietism. Gehrz grew up in the Evangelical Covenant Church, a denomination founded by Swedish pietists. We spent nearly an hour talking about what pietism is all about. I took the opportunity to read the book Gehrz wrote along with Mark Patti about pietism called the Pietist Option. The book defines pietism and then makes the case on how it can reform the 21st-century church.
What is Pietism? Gehrz and Patti describe it by using three emphases:
A "living faith." Belief matters in the Christian faith, but it isn't enough. The Christian life is experienced "in, with, through, under, and for God." Pietist "founder" Philipp Spener describes pietism as “that it is by no means enough to have knowledge of the Christian faith, for Christianity consists rather of practice.”
Hope for the future. Because pietists (and most Christians) see the Resurrection as a hinge, we are exhorted to live in Christ's future. It is a hope for changed people and a changed world.
An irenic spirit. What it comes down to here is freedom. Beyond the basics such as confessing Christ as Lord and the Bible and the rule for "faith, doctrine and conduct."
Another way of looking at it is a phrase that was used in the Pietist Option and is a familiar phrase in some pietist traditions: "How goes your walk with the Lord?"
Pietism reminds us that faith is about a relationship with God and about action as much as belief. One way we do that is through spiritual practices, through activities like daily prayer, regular Bible Study and journalism. It's seeing our acts of mission as part of our walk with God.
So, how goes your walk with the Lord? How are you practicing the faith? How is your faith moving beyond belief alone? Is your faith warm-hearted towards God?
I'm not always perfect about it, but I have tried to have daily devotions, regular journaling. It is about practicing the faith each day and in doing that we draw closer to God.
How goes your walk with the Lord? Just like practicing the piano, we draw close to God through practice, practice, practice.
Dennis Sanders, Lead Pastor
If you have the time, please watch the interview with Chris Gehrz to learn more about pietism.
Tuesday Morning is a weekly column written by leaders of First Christian Church. You can receive it in your email inbox by sending an email to info@fccsaintpaul.org.