Course: Spiritual Life of the Leader

Lecture 17: Christian Anthropology (Part 1)

It's important for us to understand how our relationship with God is affected by being born at a certain period of time and in a certain society. The vital is the physical dimension of the human life. Vitalism is where your physical pleasures become the priority in your life. Functional is the roles, tasks and responsibilities we take on. It’s a problem when we allow our roles and responsibilities to define us, which is functionalism. Transcendent is the longing for the “more than.” Pneumatic/Ecclesial level is the capacity the Lord has given each of us to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit, God’s voice. When ambition gets separated from the leading of the Spirit, it can become self-promotion. Functional Transcendence is you using the things of God for self-gain.

I. Socio-historical

A. Formative Spirituality

I want to now discuss issues that are largely absent from the church today. It is important to understand who the Lord made us to be. We simply do not have a Christian anthropology. Yet, it is the Lord who has fearfully and wondrously made us. It is the Lord who has made us in his image, giving us all sorts of reflections in our own life of who he is and how he intended us to be. We just don’t give a whole lot of attention in the church today to understand what it means to be made in the image of God. This is the largest of God’s redemption in our lives that moves me to speak into this. I want to recommend a text called ‘Understanding Our Story’ by Adrian van Com in the field of Formative Spirituality. This was co-authored by Rebecca Letterman who teaches Spiritual Formation at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester. She is a Wesleyan scholar. It is also by Susan Muto who was one of my mentor’s and professors in graduate school. Susan is the head of the epiphany association in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

I think this is important and I want to share some quotes with you on this. First, I want to start out by looking at a basic outline that will help us to jump in to understanding some Christian Anthropology that all of us can grasp. We will look at van Com’s dimensions first, human life dimensions. In looking at the beauty of any person that has been created in the image of God, there are layers of depth to this. It is something that has all sorts of meanings in areas in which God works in our lives. We will not slice the human person into little areas in order to study one area or qualify or quantify any particular area. We are not going to do that. The human person is a whole. Just as you look at a diamond and see different reflections, the diamond still remains a whole. So let’s see how the Lord’s redemption seeks to work throughout the whole of who we are. Let’s start by looking at what it means to be a person who was born at a certain historical moment in redemption history and what it means to be born into a certain society. As an example, I was born in the western most part of the State of Texas. I was a 5th generation Methodist Christian which means that I come from that kind of influence and theological background. The area of that part of Texas is very dry and arid. This promotes a sense of rugged independence; where you are taught to be self-sufficient in order to live independently. These can be very good things, but it also promotes a false idea that you can control the elements as long as you work hard and depend on the best that you are. I was born into a family that happened to have very strong political opinions. Both of my grandfathers were military along with my father who fought in World War II. One grandfather fought in World War I while the other fought all through World War II. These things influence and shape you. I grew up in a time where there were good people and there were enemies of America. All of these things influenced our thinking and the values we held. I was given both formative and deformative values.

B. Deformative Spirituality

When I was growing up, sadly sociologically historically there promoted two sets of rest-rooms in the town. One set for white people only and another set for everybody else. When I was growing up, I went to an all-white integrated school. I was there when forced integration came in. In growing up you develop prejudice. I grew up with solid family values and some not so solid family values. There are good things that we are thankful for that are formative and there are some negative things that we are not thankful for that are deformative. This happens to all of us in our backgrounds. We were what would be called rabbit Dallas Cowboy fans. This is an American Football team. Our arch enemies were the Pittsburgh Steelers. When I went to graduate school, I went to Pittsburgh to study. I was actually an associate pastor in a church there where there were Pittsburgh Steelers players in the congregation. I performed a wedding and was given tickets to attend a football game there. Well, we really loved western Pennsylvania. There are friendly people everywhere, both in western Texas and in western Pennsylvania. This area left us with some good solid values, Christian values that were perhaps implanted early. But, this whole socio-historic thing can give us some non-Christian values as well. It can set people against people that the Lord never wanted to happen. It can fill us with prejudice. When we are dealing with people and leading and shepherding people, we must go beyond any kind of populace understanding, or ghetto understanding. Often, people are given values that are simply not right. They are wrong and end up oppressing others.

II. Vital

The vital is the whole physical dimension of the human life. The Lord created us as physical people; we are incarnated souls and given time in space and placed in a certain region. This is good and right; even the incarnation of Jesus who comes down as both fully God and fully human. He takes on human flesh incarnation. He is born to a virgin; he comes into the world with a real physical body and was in a real place and actual time. He steps into our world with all the limits that he was willing to take on; he descends into our world. The Lord is the creator of the body; so the body is good and a blessing to us. How else could we be about his work; how else could we enter into ministry for him without being an actual physical person? The physical dimension allows us to move and have our being. We have sense and perception and to be the hands and feet and voice of Christ. These are right and good. The problem is that the whole vital dimension can readily devolve or degenerate into what could be called vitalism. This is where I would make this part of my life preeminent. What really counts here are the physical experiences that I am able to accumulate or the pleasures and what can happen is that this thing can really degenerate into shear heathenism. This means that I began to live for physical pleasure. If you go in that direction, you will not want to consider restraining physical appetites. The end all and be all is not you having pleasure, though the Lord is the author of pleasure. It is when it comes primarily about pleasure; that is hedonistic. That is not what we were ultimately created for. Van Com holds that these dimensions are hierarchical.

III. Functional

Now, a key issue for us as we go to the next dimension which is functional; this is like the executive side of who we are. This is the roles we are called to take on; the tasks and responsibilities. The disciples were sent during the holy week and they were given a task to find the person with a donkey and then get the upper room. We are given roles and tasks to do. For those of you who are in pastoral leadership, you have been given a specific role, either as a pastor or a minister or whatever area you are called to function in. All of us have to have specific roles in which we are called to function. The real issue here in terms of where this can go; if we allow our roles and our tasks and our responsibilities to define us. When my value is defined by what I do, then we are lowered into functionalism. I am not saying that roles and responsibilities are bad; not at all as they are very important. It is when I am defined by what I produce or by the title I carry. What happens if that is taken away from me? What happens when this expands and begins to lead everything else? In other words, life begins to wrap around the specific job responsibility. All of life becomes oriented by what I produce or don’t produce or what I manage or don’t manage. My self-worth is shown by certain things and if they are not in place then I am not of much worth. So, functionalism today is a fairly serious issue. Why is it in not all parts of the world except in Asia and North America, people are working more and more hours, huge numbers of hours with a less and less sense of true fulfillment in life. The Lord has also put a longing in us for the more than. What is this more than? This is what we call prevenient grace; it is that longing and urgency that your life isn’t fulfilled. I sense vacancy and a lack of fulfillment. This can really go down quickly; this happens when there is a long for that more than is mistaken. I need more of this and that, etc. If I had a bigger house, I would feel fulfilled or whatever that is bigger.

IV. Transcendent

Even worse, the sense of longing will start playing itself, thinking that you need something different in your life, even thinking that you need a different husband or wife. Just because we have this longing for the more than, doesn’t take away the fact that this thing can be readily stopped. It can fall apart quickly. By trying to fill that vacuum with something that is never going to fulfill anything. What it is meant to move us to be in dynamic ongoing relationship with our Lord. That is the ultimate purpose of this. This is why when you are dealing with people who are board, restless and longing; this is what is happening. In considering the strong pressure that is inside of us to get more at a physical level or financial level; is that why it is idolatry? God has given us a strong desire of himself and so if that strong desire doesn’t’ go to him, is that what is pushing us so hard to get more. Yes, this is true. Once this path is taken, it will never bring ultimate satisfaction.

V. Pneumatic/Ecclesial

When we talk about the pneumatic ecclesial level; this is the capacity that the Lord has given each of us to both hear and respond to the Holy Spirit. I can hear the invitation of God; I can sense and understand on how God is seeking to build and work through his church, the body of Christ. Pneumatic is simply the realm where the Holy Spirit speaks to my spirit and it isn’t just a matter of hearing. I cannot only hear the word but I can obey the word. In Van Com’s understanding, he is simply talking about the Lord speaking in and through the church. This is classical Roman Catholic understanding of who we are. I’m okay with that because the Holy Spirit is the one doing the work and I believe that I can be obedient to the Holy Spirit and in the way that he wants to body of Christ to walk in. This is the body of Christ being obedient as a body to the Lord.

VI. Dynamics and Expressions

I now want to refer to a chart that says that every level of this dimension has both dynamics and also expressions. For example, take a radio and go through the different channels or TV channels, you have people speaking into your life. Sometimes, this is something you need to hear and many times it is something you want to hear. There are people who are trying to sell us something or trying to pressure us into a certain way of living. A classic example for me; there is a certain program that I run on my computer that tries to correct grammar within my written documents. Of course, that program isn’t always correct. It is set up to follow certain standards that don’t necessarily fit to what I want. There is continual pressure to follow that programming. In thinking about dynamics; it is the directive that are coming out and when you think about expressions, it is how it would be played out.

A. Socio-Historical

In terms of dynamic, there are pulsations coming from society. It is saying that this is how you need to live and act and think. For example, I didn’t have a cell phone until 1999 and life was good without it. I didn’t worry about it. When I became the pastor of a certain church, I was handed a cell phone. It is a good tool that can be used effectively but the pulsation that comes out; if you are really cool, you are going to have a cell-phone. Now, you see small kids with cell-phones. It works itself into the society that this is what everybody does. This is what everybody thinks and is the proper way of moving. This can be both good and also very negative. This business with nationalism can work its way in to where the selfish interest of one group of people trumps the whole human rights of anybody else. Pulsations might include the way you wear your hair or the type of clothes you wear and even colors of clothes you wear. This is culture seeking to set trends. It then works itself out into pressuring people within that culture to conform.

B. Vital

The vital puts out physical pulsations. I am hungry and I need to eat. Is there anything wrong with that? No, of course not, unless I allow that hunger to become my focal point in my life; my eating becomes more important than anything else in my life. This works itself out through impulses and compulsions that we experience from our physical body. Impulses can put a priority on eating immediately. The compulsion is being an additive to something. I have to have this much at this time; it has to be on demand and then chains starts setting in.

C. Ambitions

How does the functional work itself out? It changes into ambitions of which I don’t think is wrong. It is probably a neutral term; the Lord puts desires into our heart to serve him in certain ways and to see. He puts dreams and visions into our hearts. So an ambition, in or of itself is not necessarily wrong. An ambition will work itself out into projects. This is how I am going to work this out. One ambition that I have always had is to learn Biblical Greek. You might have the ambition to serve the Lord as a pastor if that is a true vocational calling. You might have the ambition to organize a mission group or to take on a big mission outreach. All of this can be good, except when it gets disconnected from the directives of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. So, ambitions can be all about self-promotion; that is when it degenerates. It is all about self-promotion and projects can then be all about bringing in the kingdom according to me. In other words, I am building life around my project and my vision without reference to God. This is when this whole functional aspect of things collapses. There are a lot of projects coming from a lot of ambitious people. It is all cloaked under mercy and religious garb. What I am doing; is it for God’s kingdom or my kingdom?

D. Transcendent

We have both aspirations and a longing for a transcendent ideal in your life, often resulting in a vision for a way to relate to others. But, the Lord does give us visions; he does call us to the more than and enables us to see needs in his body. He gives us this deep aspiring move, this urge to see this thing addressed in whatever it is.

E. Pneumatic/Ecclesial

Finally, when you look upon the pneumatic/ecclesial level, what does the Holy Spirit do? He is always going to point to Christ. He is always going to send inspirations that are going to work itself out into an expression of an invitation. I lot of time in dealing with my students, I try to move them away from this driving sense of thinking that they have to do this or that, particularly when they are trying to get disciplines in place and when they feel that they have been defeated by a number of things. When you talk or think this way, you return to the functional level. In the Christian life we have to realize that our running and willing are never enough. I can’t fulfill the law! Then, what is enough? What is coming is an invitation from the Holy Spirit. What is the Living Word who is Christ? How is he inviting you now to respond in faith, hope and love? It changes the subject; it is not what I must do but it is what he is inviting in me to respond to do. It takes it away from others trying to impose on someone making them to consider what the actual discernment is; how is the Holy Spirit inspiring you and what is he saying to you? What is the invitation in terms of solid intent of following Christ?

F. Functional Transcendence

I want to add a couple of more dynamics here that are going to speak to our culture. There is a great danger in when we lapse into an area called functional transcendence. Adrian Van Com spoke to me in the 1980’s saying that the greatest danger before the church is when God becomes subservient to us because we view his purpose as making us more successful. We have an explosion of knowledge taking place in all of the human life sciences. We have this in the medical sciences of keeping people alive and well over a longer period of time. We thank the Lord for every genuine discovery. But the danger is that we are pulled down in this longing that we have for God and even we will pull down some of the real insights that God gives us about what it means to be a human being. But we will keep it mainly on the functional level so that we will function better. What is wrong with functioning better and well? Nothing! You pray that people are competent in whatever they do. In terms of competence, you are called to handle well the things of God. If God has given you a chore, a ministry, a teaching, being an administrator; whatever job he has given you, God wants you to be competent in that work. There is nothing wrong with fulfilling the functional tasks and responsibilities that we have been given. When we do that, people will be blessed. Why is this dangerous to the church? It is because God becomes subservient to us. God is there to make me a more successful person. It is the wrong hierarchy. It puts me at the top and me using the things of God for self-gain. I am not talking about being incompetent. It is not about me having the whole world and increasing my influence. It is not about me increasing my level of wealth. It is not about me. I have to pull me out of the subject of the sentence. A lot of people are getting this wrong these days. So, what are we after then or what is the way that Christ would have us to go?

G. Transcendent Functional Life

It cannot be functional transcendence where I am using God to get ahead in life. Instead, I am called to live a transcendent functional life. It is when the values of Christ as revealed in the Bible determine how you function in your life. It is where it is lived out in the blessedness of the body of Christ. The values of Christ determine and set the values of my functional life and world. It is a matter of who is the subject of the sentence; it is who sets the agenda and who leads the whole movement of my life. We don’t need more people moving into ambitious ego projects in the church. Eventually, all of that ends up doing is imploding; it just collapses and people get wiped out in ministry. Normally when you get wiped out in ministry, it is like a train wreck and it takes a lot of people along with it; a lot of people can be injured. We need women and men who are filled with God’s spirit and who are subservient to God’s Word and who truly loves God’s church and place themselves as servants within that church. They listen and hear in order to fulfill whatever role and responsibilities and tasks the Lord gives them. This is a huge issue for the body of Christ. All of this is talking about is how we concretize life in the Holy Spirit? What does real life look like for us today? What does it look like as a member of society? How do I function as a responsible member of society and what does that look like in my own physical life?

H. What Should Your Life Look like today

How do I reflect the glory of God and avoid using God in a selfish way. How do I let the longing of my own heart be grounded in the true plan that God has for my own life. It all has to be subservient to the Word of God. That is part of the reason we have to stay in the Word. The Word can’t be casual; it is not a matter of one hour on Sunday morning. How are we listening and responding to those invitations by the Holy Spirit? I recommend this text for you which is very readable.

I think on how this is going to think about in my pastoring. From my own experience, you spend so much time focusing on the functional and almost pay lip service to the transcendent; to the urgent, to the weeping person on the phone and in the board meetings. There is so much in a pastor’s life that says function. What then happens, we stop being fed by the transcendent. It is like we draw a dotted line across it and say if I can get above to those top categories is good. But most of my time is down below. What I understand from this discussion; we function in these five different levels but we have to start at the top. From there, it slowly goes down and then realizes that each of these lines in your chart is affecting us at different times in our lives. But it has to transcend first; it has to be our inner life, our spiritual life. I remember a talk I heard John Piper give once; he was asking about priorities and what is important and pastors were listed those out. He commented and asked where God was in all this? That was taken for granted, but God doesn’t like to be taken for granted. So many of us are in the middle of that chart and we are supposed to start at the top. It all starts in the life of God and in his purpose for his church. My field research along with others reveal that a huge amount is being taken for granted, but is in fact just absent. We have got to recover first things first. All of this has to bow in submission.