There will be 3 times this semester when our student council, along with staff, interns and other student leaders will meet to learn and grow together. The first of these meetings happened last Monday night. Through the next few posts I want to share a little bit of what these times are about and invite you to be a part of those gatherings in October and November.
Our particular Wesleyan tradition tells us that the fullness of our Christian faith has two deeply related and yet different aspects to it. And there are lots of ways to name these two aspects. What they have in common is that they are about the ways that we encounter God and God's grace and are transformed, more and more into the image and likeness of Jesus.
One aspect focuses on our inner life. John Wesley called the practices of our faith that focus on this "works of piety". Things like reading, studying, reflecting on Scripture. Prayer of all kinds. Receiving communion. He thought that these things were about what we could call "personal holiness". I like to talk about it using the language of "cultivating an inner life with God".
The other aspect that forms the fullness of our faith is about our outer life. Our life with and among others. John Wesley called the practices aimed at this "works of mercy". And he said it's about all the different ways that we can do good to the bodies and souls of people. If cultivating an inner life with God is about personal holiness. These practices and postures are about what Wesley called "social holiness". And he taught that Jesus made it clear that real holiness can't remain "personal" but that it very quickly has to get "social". That is the inner life is MEANT to be played out and lived in the web of relationships and the very real social contexts we live in every day.
These two aspects of our faith are the focus of our Christian leadership and formation gatherings this semester.
Our September meeting focused on cultivating our inner lives with God. We shared some of what that has looked like for us. We practiced one way of praying with Scripture, called Lectio Divina. And then we spent time naming one way that we feel called to grow in our inner lives with God.
We're treating it like an experiment that we're running with God for the rest of this semester. How will God meet us in these places? What will God teach us about our selves? When we fail or when it doesn't go like we hoped - even there - what are we learning? How is God giving us grace and a clearer vision of how best to grow in our lives with God?
And we're checking in on each other to see how it's going. Asking some of these kinds of questions to one another.
If you weren't able to be a part of that gathering, but this is something you'd want to explore or be a part of, mention that to me or Paige and we'd love to help you get an experiment going and support you along the way!
(Next post I'll share about what we'll be doing in October and share some of how you can be a part of it)
Grace + Peace,
Tony Jeck
Campus Minister
