“Christ Plays in 10,000 Places” Chapter 1

in 2006 I read Eugene Peterson’s Eat This Book, the second volume in his theology series.  It was fantastic.  A few days ago, I waded into the first volume in the series called Christ Plays in 10,000 Places and quickly found myself up to my neck and loving every second of it.

I have decided to take one post per week and briefly explore this excellent book chapter by chapter.

In the book’s first chapter; Clearing the Playing Field, Peterson seeks to make sure that all of his readers are “on the same page” regarding the kind of life he is talking about when he refers to Christianity and exactly what it means to be “spiritual.”  The term is used so often it can mean a plethora of things and we have to be very cautious when using that term in reference to Christian discipleship.  His writing in this chapter has much to say about the problematic practice heresy of “syncretism,” which I wrote about here.

Let’s look at some quotes that best seem to sum up the content of the chapter and what Peterson seems to be communicating to his readers when he refers to “spiritual theology.”

“spirituality is not a body of secert lore.  spirituality has nothing to do with aptitude or temperment, spirituality is not primarily about you or me; it is not about personal power or enrichment.  It is about God.”  (pg. 19)

Spirituality is not improved by fantasies.  The Christian life is not a field in which to indulge pious dreams.  By accepting Jesus as the final and definitive revelation of God, the Christian Church makes it impossible for us to make up our own customized versions of the spiritual life and get away with it, not that we don’t try.  But we can’t get around him or away from him:  Jesus is the incarnation of God, God among us and with us.  (pg. 33)

“…In our current culture, ’soul’ has given way to ’self’ as the term of choice to designate who and what we are.  Self is the soul minus God.  Self is what is left of soul with all the trancendence and intimacy squeezed out, the self with little or no reference to God or others.”  (pg. 37)

“…There is also something about the sacred that makes us uneasy.  We don’t like being in the dark, not knowing what to do.  And so we attempt to domesticate the mystery, explain it, probe it, name and use it.  ‘Blasphemy’ is the term we use for these verbal transgressions of the sacred, these violations of the holy:  taking God’s name in vain, dishonoring sacred time and place, reducing God to gossip and chatter.  Uncomfortable with the mystery, we try to banish it with cliches.”  (pg. 42)

There is immense peer pressure to fit immediate needs and expectations.  But God is never a commodity to use.  In a functionalized world in which we are all trained to understand ourselves in terms of what we can do, we are faced with a reality that we cannot control.  And so we cultivate reverence.  We are in the presence of One who is both before and beyond us.  We listen and wait.  Presumption–God on demand on our terms–is exposed as simply silly.  Defining God down to the level of our emotions, and thinking and then demanding that God work by the terms of our agenda, is set aside in favor of a life of worship and prayer, obedience and love–a way of life open and responsive to what God is doing rather than one in which we plot strategies to get God involved in what we are doing… (pg. 46)

Although he puts it much more eloquently than I, there are several points I take away from this 1st chapter:

1.  My relationship with God is not about me, it is about Him.  I don’t set the terms, make the demands, or let Him know what He needs to do.  I submit.  I obey.  I serve.  I love.  I trust.

2.  God is wholly “other” and yet understands everything I go through in this life.  He is God and therefore so far beyond me that I could never possibly hope to fully comprehend all that He is and He is also the God who became man and Who is very aware of all my temptations, my sufferings and my struggles.

3.  True spirituality begins when God breathes life into me and I am reborn.  Apart from God I have nothing.  I am nothing.  There is no spirituality without the Spirit of the living God.

Next week, Chapter 2:  Exploring the Neighborhood of Creation.