RESTLESS INCOHERENCE that comes about when we experience something new which stands in opposition to what we assumed to be true. In this movement we become aware of a tension between our need for internal harmony and the sense that something is just not fitting. The travelers had hoped that Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel, but with the crucifixion, their hopes were shattered.2 AN INTERLUDE FOR SCANNING in which we put the conflict into the back of our mind. In this movement we may randomly, almost passively explore possible ways to resolve the tension we feel. The travelers opened themselves up to the teaching of the one who had joined them. They did not engage in debate; in fact the story gives the impression that they listened almost passively to what the stranger had to say – although later they reported that their hearts were burning as he spoke to them on the road.
3 AN INSIGHT FELT WITH INTUITIVE FORCE in which we experience an “ah-ha” and are surprised with a larger, wholly new outlook that comes to us from beyond ourselves, simplifying and unifying the elements that have been in conflict. In this movement, the tension not only is constructively resolved, but we become “new creations.” In the story, that insight took place when Jesus broke the bread. The couples’ eyes were opened and they experienced an “ah-ha” of “seeing,” not the “unrecognized visible Presence” who talked with them on the road, but the “recognized invisible Presence” in their midst.34
4 A PERIOD OF RELEASE AND REPATTERNING in which energy once invested in and bound by the inner conflict is made available for creative action in light of the new insight. As tension is released, we find a new home, and we experience a sense of enlargement, a new quality of openness to self and world.35 Life appears fresh, wholeness returns, and we are amazed that the struggle which occupied us resolves itself in a surprising way. In this movement we make a bold move, choosing a risky path. The couple immediately traveled back to Jerusalem in the dark.
5 A TIME OF INTERPRETATION AND VERIFICATION in which we tell others what happened. In this movement, we put our new way of viewing the world to a public test as we try to live as a new creation. When the couple compared notes with the disciples, the cohesiveness in the stories verified their truthfulness.
Looking back over their life together, most transforming congregations can point to one or more convictional moments when the church was surprised by an awakening in which it received insight from beyond itself and changed because of that new perception. Here are some examples of what it sounds like when transforming congregations talk about the experience:
“We thought we knew where we were headed, and then we all read that book together. It changed everything. Now we are approaching our ministry so much differently.”
“We were doing pretty much the same thing week after week; then four gay couples joined our church. They made us re-think everything we stood for.”
“After the fire we began worshiping in another congregation’s sanctuary. That experience freed us up so much, we’re not sure we even want to build again.”
“I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden we had six autistic children attending our Christian Education program. Boy, did that change how we taught!”
Convictional moments are those times when the church moves forward by leaps rather than by inches. Looking back on those moments, transforming congregations notice how they were joined to the vitality of God, how their consciousness expanded, causing them to feel like they were participating in a mystery larger than themselves. A convictional moment unites a congregation with the energy of the Sacred Spirit that enlivens, dispels fear, and encourages them to engage in compassionate actions beyond selfish pursuits.
For one church, a convictional moment came in the form of an earthquake. Over the years, the church had engaged in many planning retreats. They had talked about reaching out to their changing neighborhood. They had held workshops about contemporary worship. But the church never actually changed. Each time a new idea came up, the affectionate attachment the congregation had for the building would get in the way.
The neighborhood church council wanted to use the kitchen to prepare a community meal once a week for those who were living on the streets; but the leaders rejected the idea because they did not want outsiders using the facility. The local shelter wanted to use the third floor of the church to house families; but the leaders said no because people in the congregation were concerned about germs in the restrooms. A group proposed the congregation host a day center for senior adults; but stairs up and down at every level made that impossible. Some people in the church suggested they hold a lunchtime Bible study in the parlor for students from the community college right across the street; but there was a rule against food in the parlor so the idea was squelched.
“Finally, we were literally blasted out of the church,” one leader told me. “It was like the Spirit knew we were never going to get anywhere as long as we were in that building. When an earthquake shattered windows and damaged bricks, the building was so structurally unsound, we couldn’t do anything but find a new place to worship.” The church moved up the street where it began sharing worship space with another congregation. Later, the two churches became one merged church. Now, that new congregation engages in many neighborhood ministries.
The Age of the Spirit
Theologian Harvey Cox suggests that we in the 21st Century are living at the dawn of a multi-religious, global awakening he calls the “Age of the Spirit.” It is a time when individuals across the world experience a new sense of mystery, wonder, and awe that comes from connecting with the power and the presence of the Spirit, relying on that Spirit for guidance and wisdom, and sharing in its creative work.
Yet many historic Protestant congregations tend to be skeptical of anything to do with the Spirit. Some shy away from the term “spirituality” because they associate it with the Pentecostal congregation down the street. They do not want to raise their hands or speak in tongues or dance in the aisles of the church. Some confuse spirituality with the metaphysical philosophy called “spiritualism” made popular by Edgar Cayce. They do not want to get mixed up in trying to contact the dead through séances. Some view spirituality as a fallacy based in superstition. They are used to relying on rationality as their primary way of knowing and associate spirituality with the New Age snake-oil they see in the self-help section of the book store.
Transforming congregations, on the other hand, overcome their distrust of spirituality and unearth a rich and long tradition of Christian teaching related to the Spirit. They develop an understanding of Spirit by first recognizing that it reveals itself through symbols, signs, and metaphors. That means it is not usually perceived through rational logic but through intuitive knowing. To be spiritual is to see with the eyes of the heart, to experience the energizing power of God through whispers, hints, nudges, and insights. The language of spirituality is the language of dreams, stories, and visions—forms that are rather foreign to the Western bias towards objectivity, fact and proof. Yet transforming congregations develop a familiarity with that sort of metaphorical communication and learn to detect those convictional moments when their “hearts burned” in the presence of the sacred.
Transforming congregations understand that the Sacred Spirit resides within each person, that every human being is created in the image of God,36 blessed by God, and called to live in harmony with the created order. Recognizing that humans often get lost along the way and do not cultivate that divine seed that is their birthright, transforming congregations hold individuals accountable for life-long learning and growth. They teach people how to ground themselves in the sacred presence of God through prayer, to resist evil through acts of justice, and to allow God’s power to work through their lives just as it worked through the life of Jesus of Nazareth.37
The Spiritual Habit of Waking Up
Transforming congregations seeking to
