What is “Liturgical Gangstas Redux”?

In 2009, Michael Spencer asked some of us across denominational lines to come together as “The Liturgical Gangstas.”  The intent was for Michael to throw a question to Christians of different traditions to see how we would approach the questions and, ostensibly, to help ourselves and the readers to think through spiritual issues more deeply.  We did this over the following year.  I bowed out after Michael’s passing, though I think the Liturgical Gangstas continue on over at the Internet Monk site.  Anyway, in looking through the older content at Internet Monk, I thought I might post my answers to those questions over here, in case they are of use to anybody. (I don’t feel comfortable lifting the entire Gangsta posts from the site, but, in time, I’ll move the questions and my responses here.)

“A person comes to you and says “I want to grow significantly as a Christian in the next year. Using the resources we all share and the specific resources of your tradition, what kind of guidance would you give this person? Be as specific as possible.”

To begin with, I’d likely ask the person to make sure he/she understands what he/she means by the word “significantly.” I think we oftentimes set ourselves up for spiritual frustration and disillusionment by trying, in one fell swoop, to be the next Saint Francis, or, for Baptists, to achieve William Carey status in a week! Now, the questioner isn’t necessarily implying such a thing, but I’d just want to make sure. I think I’d want to point out that, in the economy of God, “significant” is often small in the eyes of the world. So I’d encourage the person to relish the small victories and not get frustrated when, 2 days into 2009, you’re not seeing the progress you want to see.

Secondly, I increasingly find in my own life that loving my neighbor as myself is ground-zero for my relationship with Jesus. I’d encourage the questioner to make a deliberate, intentional plan for being Christlike to his or her “neighbor,” whoever that might be. By Christlike, I mean acts of service and the giving of time.

Third, I’d encourage the person to break what Calvin Miller called “the sensual thrall.” This is the obsession with creature comforts. Here’s where a little St. Francis might help, by the way! We don’t talk enough in Baptist circles about the devastating effects our consumer culture has on our walk with Christ. So, I’d encourage the person to give something that they have and that they value away…possibly each month and maybe even preferably to a complete stranger.

And finally, as a Baptist, I’d like to take the opportunity of this question to strike at the root of what C.S. Lewis called “the heresy of Jesus and me” (Letters to Malcolm). I want to challenge, a bit, that first word in the question: “I”. I’d want to encourage the brother or sister in Christ certainly to strive for advancement in his/her personal pilgrimage with Christ. That’s essential. But I’d like to also encourage him/her to work hard to make that “I” a “we,” especially in a Baptist culture that seems to have a diminishing ecclesiology.