Receptive Spirituality: Overview (Part 1)

In our modern day Western Civilization, receptive spirituality not only sounds foreign to our ears but looks different too. We are a culture that does things; we are neither comfortable nor familiar with being acted upon. Even computer word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, flag sentences that use the passive voice as improper grammar. 


Unfortunately, our inclination is towards active spirituality, where we are doing the verbs.  This view of spirituality not only makes us the doer of the verbs but it also impacts our reading of the New Testament. The result is that we will often interpret New Testament passives as things that we do, verbs that we need to act upon rather than what God is doing to and for us, verbs that God is doing to us. The difference is huge because it can change the whole meaning of a passage and our whole disposition.


In the upcoming weeks, I will be posting quotes from John Kleinig's book, "Grace Upon Grace."  In his opening chapters he devotes time to the idea of receptive spirituality.  He shows us how we are not owners of our spiritual life but rather receivers.  He goes on to say, "The focus on reception as the foundation for Christian spirituality is Lutheran, with its emphasis on the Gospel and on our access to the grace of God the Father through faith in Christ.  Yet it is also orthodox and catholic, for by this reception of life from Christ we are drawn into the life of the Holy Trinity.  Receptive spirituality embeds the life of the believer in the family of God and the Church."


So enjoy this series as you simply receive.  


PAX