Practical Spiritual Instruction

When I was in college, I dated a guy who was part of a fairly conservative Christian crowd. We would go to great worship services together--lots of energy and heartfelt prayer--but it seemed like he wasn't able to take that energy and use it to transform how he lived out his everyday life. Like that letter-writing Paul, he would want to do one thing, but then do the opposite.

Heather has just sent me an article by an evangelical, who is noticing the same thing on a larger scale--that what people say and what they actually do are often miles apart. Although this is couched in terms of evangelicals, I don't think it's a problem limited to them. I think with liberals we just don't have the same kinds of defined goals. We may not get so worked up over divorce, but on the other hand while we want to be diverse and talk about it all the time, somehow diversity eludes us.

So, what's the answer?

First off, relying on the grace of God--these are problems larger than a single person of a single community.

The next step is to place a real emphasis on practical religious instruction.

In the article, the author wants to get people back into orthodox belief, but I think belief only goes so far, and then you have to show people how to live. If I want to discourage divorce in my community, I need to teach people how to cherish their spouses, and how to communicate with each other. If I want to encourage diversity, I need to teach people how to listen to one another and pay attention to differing cultural cues.

Saying things should be a particular way doesn't give people the tools to make it so--only the (frustrated) motivation.