Session I - Part 3b: "Dead to sin and alive to God" (Romans 6:11)

In the last post, I began describing the seven traits shared by all living things, as developed by Mike Breen in his book LifeShapes. The first three (which form the acronymn MRS) are MOVEMENT, RESPIRATION, and SENSITIVITY. If something isn't moving, breathing, or aware of its environment, chances are it is dead! And what holds true in the natural realm is also true of spiritual life; if we are not moving when God commands, being filled with the Spirit, and aware of the presence of God and the needs of those around us, then it is right for us (and others) to question the health and viability of our spiritual lives.

The next four traits which finish the Heptagon (and make the acronym GREN--however you want to picture MRS GREN in your mind is up to you!) are all equally necessary for an organism to live. GROWTH is natural in a healthy living thing. It is most dramatic when the organism is young, but even once something reaches "adult" size, growth continues, until disease and death set in. Likewise we are expected to grow spiritually. Second Peter 3:18 encourages us to "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Though Christ told us to "become like children," Paul clarifies the difference between being "child-like" and "childish" in 1 Corinthians 14:20 when he says, "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature." Throughout the Old Testament, the "righteous" (those who are right with God) are described in terms of lush growth:

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

- Psalm 92:12-14
And in the New Testament, Paul lists "the fruit of the Spirit" (qualities which should be growing in us) as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

The next trait is REPRODUCTION. This is growth in the social dimension; if a tribe, herd, or species does not reproduce, it will soon become extinct. Though we don't have to worry that Christ will allow his Body to die off completely, there are churches which have died, and neighborhoods or entire countries where a once-strong representation of the Body of Christ has become virtually non-existent (think of North Africa, for example). One of the marks of a disciple is that they make other disciples; God is faithful and he will not leave himself "without a witness" (Acts 14:17), but his chosen strategy for sustaining and building his body is to use US to bring others into the life of God, and train them in the faith. The content of what is taught is important, as Paul instructs Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, "what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also," but the personal touch is also incredibly important, as Paul tells the Corinthians, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). Or, as Mike Breen says, "We all look like sheep from the front, and shepherds from the back." In your relationship to God and to those more mature in the Lord, you are a sheep looking for guidance, but there are people coming up behind you (which you might not even notice), who will be looking to you as a shepherd. And that is all part of discipleship.

The next one we don't like to talk about, but every living creature builds up toxins as a natural process of living, and those would cause sickness and death if they didn't have a healthy process of EXCRETION. Our bodies must eliminate sweat, urine, feces and carbon dioxide, and our spirits must eliminate sin, guilt, fear, anger, bitterness, selfishness and other spiritual toxins. The chief way of doing this involves confession, repentance, seeking forgiveness, perhaps making restitution, and altering our lives. All of this is possible, not by our own merit or effort, but through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace," says Paul in Ephesians 1:7, and John tells us "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). James highlights the benefit of confessing to other believers (and notes the way in which our spiritual lives can impact our physical lives) when he says "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). We might not like doing it, but we won't be healthy if we don't!

And, finally, all living creatures need NUTRITION, taking in food, breaking it down, and putting it to use in providing the body with what it needs for energy, growth, and maintenance of health. Psalm 34:8 encourages us to "Taste and see that the Lord is good," and at the conclusion of the Eucharist we thank God for "feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ" (BCP p. 366). Communing with God is what nourishes us spiritually, and most often this means feeding on the Word of God. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and Satan suggested he turn stones into bread, he responded by saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Peter encourages his readers to, "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk [or "milk of the word" KJV], that by it you may grow up into salvation" (1 Peter 2:2), but the writer to the Hebrews reproves his readers for still needing "milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Heb. 5:12b-14). Clearly our spiritual faculties are expected to mature--as an infant's digestive tract matures--through taking in more and more nourishment, and not simply sticking with the same diet of "soft food" we start with.

So... (here comes the "Dr. Phil question") How are we doing with all that? What areas of our spiritual lives are strong and healthy, and where do we need some attention? Take some time to think about which areas you may be weak in, and what you might do to strengthen your spiritual life.

Session I - Part 3a: "Dead to sin and alive to God" (Romans 6:11)

What does it mean to be alive? Mike Breen and his team at 3DM say that scientists have determined there are seven traits which all living things share, and in their LifeShapes curriculum, they use a Heptagon to help us remember what those are. The other thing they use is the acronymn MRS GREN, which combines the initial letters of each trait into a woman's name. Their concern, of course, is not with natural biology, but with applying the principles of the natural life to spiritual life, and give us a way of understanding how "alive" we are in Christ (and what areas of our spiritual life may be in some degree of danger).

1. The first of these traits is MOVEMENT. All living things must move. Obvious examples are predator and prey; the predator must track and eventually capture its prey if it is to eat to stay alive--and the prey must FLEE if IT is to stay alive! Herbivores must move to find food as well, as they will overgraze, ruin their habitat, and starve if they stay in one place. Some animals migrate to avoid extreme temperatures, find foliage, or find a mate. But even on the microscopic level, living creatures move.

The Bible is full of moving stories, some of the most memorable being Abraham sojourning in the land of promise, going to a land God would show him (Genesis 12:1-3). When Abraham's descendants had spent many years in Egypt and were freed by Moses, they moved through the Wilderness, following God's guidance in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Numbers 9:15-23). In the Exile, God sent his people away, but then he called them back to himself, and back to the land of promise (Isaiah 35:8-10). Jesus did extensive traveling, and he sent his disciples out, both during his earthly ministry and at his ascension in what we call "The Great Commission" (Matt. 28:18-20). Other passages use movement in a metaphorical sense, describing our life of faith as a journey or a race, with Christ as the goal (Philippians 3:7-14, Hebrews 12:1-12).

2. RESPIRATION -- all living things need to breathe in some fashion. When we come across something or someone we think might be dead, this is one of the first tests we use to determine if there is still life in the body. When we breathe in, we take in oxygen, which is needed by all of our cells, and when we breathe out, we rid our bodies of carbon dioxide (which is harmful to us, but needed by plants), and we must balance breathing in and breathing out regularly.

In both Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Bible), "Breath" "Wind" and "Spirit" are possible translations for one word. It was when God breathed into Adam that he became a "living creature" (Gen. 2:4-9), and Ezekiel was told to "Prophesy to the wind" (or breath, or spirit) to come upon the dry bones and make them live again (Ezek. 37:1-14). We need to constantly be taking in the refreshing inspiration of the Spirit of God, which manifested itself as "a mighty rushing wind" on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), and ridding ourselves of "hot air" (or pride). We must also balance rest with work, and work with rest.

3. SENSITIVITY is the third trait shared by all living things. In order to find food, avoid danger, and generally stay alive and healthy, a creature must be sensitive to its environment, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, an tasting in order to be aware of what is helpful and harmful to life. Spiritually, we must also be sensitive to our surroundings, and to what God is doing in the world around us. When the disciples asked Jesus why most people didn't "get" his parables, he said:

Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

-- Matthew 13:14-16

In the Gospels and in Revelation, Jesus frequently admonishes his audience, saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The clear implication is that people grow insensitive to God's truth and the Spirit's voice. And not only are we insensitive towards God, we are also often insensitive to the needs of those around us. Jesus had compassion on the crowds, and he expects us to show compassion as well, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. John reproves anyone who sees his brother in need and "closes his heart" (1 John 3:17--literally "locks up his intestines," the idea being that seeing the suffering of those without adequate food and shelter should be "gut-wrenching"). May God soften our hearts so that we can truly love God and our neighbor as we should!

[to be continued...]