QUESTIONS & CONCERNS ABOUT CHRISTIAN MEDITATION (PT 2)
In our last post we discussed that there is a common pattern in the way we learn to read and understand the Bible. We also talked about how there is a need to balance this approach to reading and understanding the bible in order to gain INFORMATION and APPLICATION with a way of approaching the bible that facilitates COMMUNICATION and RELATIONSHIP. It was described as learning to read the bible not just like of the newspaper or a textbook but also like a love letter. This way of meditation is called lectio divina.
ADDRESSING A FEW MISCONCEPTIONS AND QUESTIONS
Before moving to the practicals of how to engage in lectio divina, I feel like it's important to address a few things. For those of us who have grown up in backgrounds that did not practice this kind of meditation on scripture, there are a few hesitations we might find ourselves having. So let me attempt to answer a few of those questions that I initially had and you may as well.
HOW IS CHRISTIAN MEDITATION DIFFERENT THAN EASTERN RELIGIONS OR NEW AGE MEDITATION?
We want to be careful that we are actually seeking and hearing from the true God as revealed in Jesus and through the Holy Spirit and scripture and not opening ourselves up to demonic powers. It's true that Jesus tells us“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24-26) Jesus is telling us that when we are empty of God's Spirit we can allow unclean Spirits to come in and take over. When we seek to empty ourselves even of God we can unknowingly become containers for evil. However, when we have given our lives to Jesus, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Evil cannot live within us. Can we be deceived if we are seeking to empty our minds of everything? Yes! This is where Christian meditation is different than other forms of meditation because it involves BOTH EMPTYING AND FILLING.
I love the way that Richard Foster describes it in his book Celebration of Discipline. One of the first ways he says Christian meditation is different than eastern religions is that, "Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind. The two ideas are quite different. Eastern forms of meditation stress the need to become detached from the world. There is an emphasis upon losing personhood and individuality and merging with the Cosmic Mind. There is a longing to be freed from the burdens and pains of this life and to be released into the impersonality of Nirvana. Personal identity is lost and, in fact, personality is seen as the ultimate illusion. There is an escaping from the miserable wheel of existence. There is no God to be attached to or to hear from. Detachment is the final goal of Eastern religion. Christian meditation goes far beyond the notion of detachment... No, detachment is not enough; we must go on to attachment. The detachment from the confusion all around us is in order to have a richer attachment to God. Christian meditation leads us to the inner wholeness necessary to give ourselves to God freely.
The two main things he points out is that we are seeking to empty our minds of the things of this world so that we can fill it with the thoughts and will of God. Secondly he says that we seek to become detached to the things of this world (cares, worries, striving, possessions, idols) so that we can attach ourselves to Jesus and begin to work in the world and not simply live in it. Thirdly, in detaching from defining ourselves in worldly terms and attaching ourselves to Jesus, instead of ceasing to exist, we become more fully who God intended us to be. More like Jesus and more like ourselves.
CAN I TRUST MY IMAGINATION?
Again, I like how Foster addresses this concern. He says "Some have objected to using the imagination out of concern that it is untrustworthy and could even be used by the Evil One. There is good reason for concern, for the imagination, like all our faculties, has participated in the Fall. But just as we can believe that God can take our reason (fallen as it is) and sanctify it and use it for his good purposes, so we believe he can sanctify the imagination and use it for his good purposes. Of course, the imagination can be distorted by Satan, but then so can all our faculties. God created us with an imagination, and as Lord of his creation he can and does redeem it and use it for the work of the kingdom of God. "
He's saying that there is a danger of our imagination misleading us, just like there is a danger that our rational logical side or emotional or subconscious faculties can also mislead us. Yet for some reason we trust God can use some of those other created faculties more than he can use our imagination. Foster is saying that we need to realize that God often does and wants to use our imagination as much as our logic to help us encounter him.
He summarizes by saying "To believe that God can sanctify and utilize the imagination is simply to take seriously the Christian idea of incarnation. God so accommodates, so enfleshes himself into our world that he uses the images we know and understand to teach us about the unseen world of which we know so little and which we find so difficult to understand."
God created us, he dwells within us, and he uses our created faculties to engage with us, including our imaginations. We believe he does that through engaging with Scripture imaginatively in cooperation with the Holy Spirit through meditation.
HOW WILL I KNOW THAT WHAT I'M HEARING IS FROM GOD?
To answer this question, I'll turn to two other other great books. Dallas Willard in his book a book Hearing God says "The quality of God’s voice is a matter of the weight or impact an impression makes on our consciousness. [It has] certain steady and calm force . . . inclines us toward assent. . . . We sense inwardly the immediate power of God’s voice [and] the unquestionable authority. . . . It is a spirit of exalted peacefulness and confidence, of joy, of sweet reasonableness and of goodwill. It is, in short, the spirit of Jesus [or] the overall tone and internal dynamics of his personal life as a whole. . . . It is this Spirit that marks the voice of God in our hearts. . . . And because his voice bears authority within itself, it does not need to be loud or hysterical."
If what we are hearing is calm, peaceful, authoritative, and represents love and goodwill towards us and others it is probably trustworthy. Even when what we hear is pointing out something that needs to change, it is both strong and compassionate.
Additionally Bill and Kristi Gaultiere in their book Journey of the Soul, list ways that we can sense if what we are hearing is from God through His Holy Spirit. They give this list.
Is what I'm hearing...
Consistent with the Bible?
Calm Authority?
Exalted peace and sweet reasonableness?
Gentle like the Spirit of Jesus?
Surprising to me?
Offering a world of meaning?
Bringing clarity?
Imprinting in my memory?
Producing a living spark of faith? (spurring on my faith for God and to live in response to his will?)
Humbling me?
Turning me away from worldly things?
If it has these characteristics, then what you are hearing is most likely to be coming from God through His Spirit. Additionally, if you feel like you're being led to do something that doesn't seem right, it is always wise to consult another more mature believer to seek discernment.
With this in mind, it's my hope that you can enter into practicing lectio divina and trust that God will meet with you and speak to you through his Holy Spirit in the word. In our next post we'll talk about how to do that practically.