Some of us have been listening to Brian McLaren this week at an Emergent-UK/Oasis conference in London talking about, among other things, the importance of spiritual formation in the process of developing emerging church. So we have been asking ourselves what constitutes an appropriate spirituality for the missional presence of church within contemporary urban culture.
People use the term ‘metro-sexuality’ to define the distinctive blend of sexual choices that are being made as part of an urban lifestyle. Analogous to that we see a distinctive blend of spiritual options emerging – if you like, a ‘metro-spirituality’. Metro-spirituality is not an exclusively Christian spirituality: it is simply the way of being ‘spiritual’ that becomes possible within a complex, creative, pluralistic (postmodern) urban environment. But there must be a set of pathways – spiritual practices – that will take us out as followers of Jesus into that spiritual landscape and allow us to journey alongside others there.
Modern Christian spirituality has been shaped largely by the inner life and ministry of the church – charismatic spirituality, for example, can hardly be said to have a strong missional orientation; Bible studies can be horribly claustrophobic affairs. We are looking for a spirituality that works in public, in open spaces, that connects believers and non-believers, that understands the human spirit. We know how to minister to one another; we do not know how to minister to the world. How do we learn to do that?
One step we have taken is to get involved on a regular basis in different forms of social action: we have been out picking up litter, we helped clear out a swamp in a central London natural park. We are beginning to realize that there is more to activities like this than ‘good deeds’ – there is potentially something ‘sacramental’ about them inasmuch as they allow us to become the presence of God in these places.
We are struggling to make sense of this. If there are people with similar experiences, I’d love to hear from you.
RE: Metro Spirituality
Interestingly enough, I have been thinking along very similar lines recently.
I think that many newer christians start out with a great deal of ground to cover. Emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. I wonder if perhaps the more introspective operational theologies that we see in the church today are a result of a desire to keep moving at the same exciting pace without really having anywhere to go. Thus, we end up become obsessed with getting a bigger and bigger high, or delve deeper and deeper into intellectual study, or we just go all flaky. Perhaps the answer is to recognise that we are now mature enough to start the real work of imitating christ.
An extroverted spirituality
Dan, I read your blog page and strongly agree with your argument – there is something unhealthy about a spirituality that is so thoroughly self-absorbed. One way I have tried to address this problem is by recognizing that there are two dominant modes of discipleship or spirituality in the Bible.
i) There is a form of discipleship appropriate to situations of crisis or transition. This is apparent supremely (but not exclusively) in the New Testament when Jesus calls people to follow him into a frightening and uncertain future. At the centre of life is a precarious journey, undertaken in trust that the God did not abandon Jesus will also not abandon those who leave behind security and prosperity in order to follow Jesus.
ii) But the life of the people of God is not always disrupted by crisis. There is also a mode of discipleship appropriate to more settled conditions – the ‘discipleship’ of Israel, for example, during periods of peace and stability. At the centre of life under these circumstances are family, community, work, creativity; there is economic and social stability; there is the expectation that God will ‘prosper’, bless, those who act righteously; there is the routine of worship and celebration.
It seems to me that many of our problems arise because we confuse these two modes of discipleship and the forms of spiritual life that accompany them. In particular, we try to impose the first mode of discipleship, which belongs properly to circumstances of eschatological crisis, on the largely routine and predictable life of the people of God in the West today. We talk (or sing) quite inappropriately of taking up our cross and following Jesus when all we are really doing is getting on with life and turning up at church once a week.
One response, therefore, to the problem that you identify would be to develop a more holistic spirituality that is not confined to introspective and isolationist experiences of worship but which embraces our communal and creative lives. A second response would be to refocus on mission – the calling of God to go out from where we are and be a blessing to others. These tasks will strain traditional evangelical forms of spirituality to breaking point – and in doing so will rescue us from that complacent introspection. But we urgently need to develop an extroverted spirituality that will lead us back out into the world, in order both to affirm our natural existence in community as a gift of God and to be an authentic light to the nations.
Extroverted? - Sounds like a relational word
It seems to me that both brands of spirituality/discipleship described by andrew are present in Acts. It stands out to me that in Acts, relationship is the constant in both. It is my interpretation that the first church, and its mission, was founded almost entirely on the basis of relationship in the Spirit.
Personally, I have had trouble sorting out relationship on the basis of institution and relationship on the basis of the Spirit. I’ve been taught, in my church up-bringing, to think on almost purely institutional terms. The commonality, which is the glue of relationship, has always been institution — whether this has been my connection to God, fellow believers, or those outside. God has been the founder and justifier of the institution. Believers are fellow members who are present to recieve the benefits of institution. Non-believers are outsiders to the institution who need to be recruited (largely by enticing them with benefits of insitutional membership).
So how does this relate to the problem of our self-absorbed spirituality and the development of a metro-spirituality?
The church and each believer must move from the discipleship of peace to the discipleship of crisis and vice versa. This is just as necessary to spiritual development as it is biological growth. The discipleship of peace has been institutionalized in many ways to prevent movement into crisis (and therefore its form of discipleship). Once this institutionalization occurs, relationship becomes subordinate. Ex: there is no crisis which requires deeper friendships so friendships can remain superficial. God has used crisis in the past to create deeper relationships (to him and to others) and to motivate and equip his kingdom to take new ground (persecution after Stephen’s murder). Our resistance to crisis prevents our movement in mission. Crisis is necessary to enter the urban world and postmodernism. To the extent that evangelicalism has failed in this, the culprit may be resistance to crisis. Ex: Security is a suburban god. It is interesting that rural-frontier peoples often grew in faith and numbers, but as the population shifted to the suburbs and towns, little new ground was covered. What then does the crisis generating frontier of the cities hold for us, and will we pull down the god of security and risk crisis to grow? When we think about metro-spirituality, perhaps we should think in terms of equipping relationships rather than institutional elements such as programs. Urbanites are presented with many institutional opportunities which they accept largely on credibility provided by relationships. This suggests that relationships are what they seek and value. Ex: two friends encouraged by a minister to clean a highway together may be more beneficial than a group of minister-organized church “members” cleaning a larger section of highway. Only in the context of relationships can the fuel for creativity and experimentation be found while the bond to the common purpose and destiny is maintained. The commonality should be the fuel for creative and expressive diversity, thus metro-spirituality becomes possible. Without true relationship in the Spirit, metro-spirituality becomes a religious hobby or institutional innovation soon to become yesterday’s fad. Ministers wishing to help metro-spirituals develop must discard any portion of institution that prevents relationship or movement into a God-generated/allowed crisis, no matter what insecurity is generated within themselves.These are just some thoughts into why I am not more spiritually extroverted and why those whom I minister to are not more spiritually extroverted. To the extent that I promote institution rather than relationship, it seems we all struggle in our evangelism and spiritual growth. I realize my resistance to crisis and suffering is at fault. May God remove it from me.
I have just posted up some th
I have just posted up some thoughts on metro-spirituality on my blog:www.sijohnston.info Some of it is in line with what is being discussed here. Would be interested in your feedback.
Response to Si Johnstone
Si, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on ‘metro-spirituality and the emerging church’ (though you have a lot of special characters in it which get chewed up in both IE and Mozilla). Here are some comments in response – I wasn’t sure whether you wanted to pursue the discussion here or there.
1. I agree that there is a lot that can be gained from the Old Testament. A metro-spirituality will need its icons and symbols, whether imagistic or verbal. It will be important to ensure, though, that these signs are not merely token translations of commonplace beliefs and sentiments: they will need to share in the struggle to understand and express this new emerging mode of faith, they will need the same ambiguity, the same complexity, the same confusion of the sacred and the secular; they should capture ancient truths but also take shape at the point at which new understanding arises.
2. Your references to location (Peckham, Cyprus) suggest that a metro-spirituality should be responsive to variations of place – even within the same city – in a way that is rather foreign to a standardized generic evangelical spirituality. (Perhaps that wasn’t quite the point you were making, but it got me thinking along those lines!) A metro-spirituality should be developed and applied locally, taking into account the immediate social and spiritual environment. It should be contextualized. Again, there may be clues to this in the Old Testament: perhaps we need to recover something of the sense that God reveals himself within the urban landscape. Part of the thinking behind the open source theology idea is that our theology should arise dynamically as a conversation with the context in which we have been placed (see point 1 under ‘Rules of engagement’).
3. I like your emphasis on mission and I certainly agree that there is much to be learned from the monastic disciplines, though I think we will need to be rather creative in developing metro-spiritual habits, customs, practices, etc., that are genuinely appropriate for a contemporary urban environment and not merely artificial, romanticized attempts to replicate ancient forms. I’m also not entirely persuaded that a metro-spirituality requires static communities: I think that such communities may prove rather hard to develop and sustain, and I hope people will find that they can participate in many of these structures and activities on a less formal basis, in the spaces between solid communities, as part of a more liquid church. But that remains to be seen.
Maturity yes but maybe a new starting point.
I want to jump into this discussion to share a few thoughts that have been going around my head for quite some time. They started when I was riding the south London rail on an unseasonably warm day reading an article on metro-sexuality. I remember reading a side-bar which bullet pointed characteristics of a metro-sexual person. So I want to add to the discussion by giving a short list of qualities of a metrospiritual person. Metro-Spirituality for me gives a larger frame work for following Christ and seeking to bring God’s presence or maybe just be present as a Christ follower in the world today.
By the way this term is starting to get more use check out http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/385228.cms
A metro-spiritual person…
- Recognizes that Stuff is only Stuff A person who is metro spiritual has discovered that happiness does not consist in the accumulation of things. I am not saying that to be a metrospiritual person you have to renounce all your possessions although that would not preclude you either. But what I am saying is that one no longer looks to things to bring happiness. Metrospiritual people try to be open handed people they keep a loose grasp on the things of life. They basically have discovered that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
- Realizes this life and world matters. A metro spiritual person wants to make a difference in the world today. There is a real conviction that spiritual life or as Christ calls it, eternal life can start today and expresses itself in very down to earth practical ways. These expressions might be working with the poor or picking up litter, protesting national aggression or speaking against an injustice or volunteering at a nature centre or a youth centre. For some these acts of kindness or good deeds are a way to connect with God or at least another expression of worship. What we are talking about is really a lifestyle, a lifestyle that seeks to integrate faith a concern for the world. A metro spiritual person is on a journey to continuously adapt their life style to their convictions.
- Pursues an inner life. A metrospiritual person will find ways to nurture their soul. There is a desire with a metrospiritual person to organize their life from the inside out. They might tell you about the spiritual retreat they just went on, or their practice of daily meditation, and/or sacred reading. Maybe you would hear them mention the name of a spiritual mentors or director that helps them navigate the road less travelled.
- Loves laughter, parties and having a good time. I’m not sure why it is but I have a tendency to see a truly spiritual person as a sombre, somewhat stoic, acetic sage. Yet that is opposite in my mind to what is meant by a metro-spiritual person. A person who is metrospiritual enjoys people and parties in fact they feels just at home in a pub as in a church. Moreover, she or he discovers, enjoys, and even celebrates community wherever it is found. For a Christ follower who is metro-spiritual there is recognition that real community in some way reflects God’s three in oneness, so therefore can be celebrated, embraced, and encouraged when it is found.
Sacramental?
Andrew I enjoyed your article and found it very helpful. Particularly the practical, ordinariness of the spirituality you describe.
I was however struck by the final sentence in your penultimate paragraph. I have felt more comfortable not thinking that it is us that ‘become the presence of God’ but rather that God is realised, becomes present to us in the event (which includes us). This then loses the notion that I am ‘taking God somewhere’, as if I could! It also allows both ‘giver’ and ‘receiver’ be a part of that event.
Fair comment, but
Stephen, that is an entirely valid point and I accept that these nuances, though subtle, may both point to flaws in our thinking and help to perpetuate them. However, on reflection (I’m not sure I was aware of this at the time), I think that there are still good reasons for the more active form (‘become the presence of God’).
First, it retains a missional dynamic: we become the presence of God not for ourselves (though this is obviously important) but for others. Secondly, it seems to me that the church needs consciously to accept the responsibility of being the presence of God for others. We do not make God turn up in the way that we can make static electricity happen by rubbing a balloon against a sleeve and sticking it to a wall. But we have been given the Spirit of God, and I’m not sure it’s so wrong to suggest that by deliberately going somewhere as the community of believers (‘where two or three are gathered in my name…’) we actively bring the presence of God into that place.
I suppose also that this particular way of putting it highlights the fact that we are struggling to understand how to be the effective presence of God in the space outside the church - it reflects an awareness that we know how to be spiritual in private but not in public places. The more active form of expression arises because we are in learning mode, though I fully accept that as soon as we reduce it to a learned technique, we have lost the real presence of God.
Proactivity with expectation?
Thanks Andrew. I think your more proactive proposal is helpful. I suppose I am still struggling with the thought that we ‘take the presence of God’. It can imply that God is not present in the places we go to. If God is everywhere, including within us, then I think that the role of our spirituality is to support the process of discovering that presence. The importance of the ‘two or three’ to me is that it is often in interactions that God’s presence is realised; in the giving and receiving. It is then the expectation of receiving that povides an important balance to our proactivity and hence needs to be a part of our spirituality.
Inside and outside the covenant community
Stephen, I think that we need to make a theological distinction between the presence of God in the world (as a matter of natural theology, if you like) and the presence of the Spirit of Jesus in the covenant community. So perhaps we would then say that it is part of the work of the Spirit of Jesus to help people discover the ‘natural’ presence of God in the world. The ‘giving and receiving’ dynamic is at work both inside and outside the covenant community and I wouldn’t want to downplay it. But to have the Spirit of Jesus surely makes us answerable as disciples: we are called, driven by the Spirit, to do the work of Jesus in the world.
The big question that we are wrestling with in a postmodern, post-Christian context is: what is that work? what have we been called to do? The answer, I suspect, has a lot to do with (in your words) the process of discovering the presence of God in the world. But I think we need to be aware of the fact that as followers of Jesus we already have the Spirit of God and that this entails a certain responsibility.
Too modern? Moi!
Andrew, sorry, did I go a bit too modern there? Also I didn’t mean to get us lost in a discussion on the qualatative differentiation of the ways that we experience the presence of God (well not in this section any how). Rather I’ve been wanting to reinforce the experience you described in your opening piece (which is my expereince too) that practical, purposeful tasks can and do focus the presence of God for us. I think developing a spirituality for now is assisted if we redress what I think is a ‘modern’ imbalance of emphasising the presence of God within us over against an implied absence everywhere else. Such an emphasis often discourages the indicators you described as helpful in a metro-spirituality ie. it works in public, open spaces, with non-believers etc..
Urban spirituality
hey Andrew, I think this is a great question and one that I’ve been thinking about over the last five years as a pastor in the city. I have a regular rhythm of pilgrimage and retreat to a Benedictine monastery. It’s a rural context and that rhythm is one I could not survive without. But there is a need for an articulated urban spirituality and I think it must be communal in focus. We’ve talked about practices that might inform a way of life for our community as well as different vows that might form us (proximity, stablility, hospitality, rest). A couple of years ago I read a pretty good article in Sojourners dealing with this subject. you might want to check it out. The article is called City Lights
Re: Metro-spirituality?
I am doing my own exploration of this into the idea of two kinds; the Christian-Metrospiritual and the Organic-Metrospiritual. Check into it at More Than Cake.