One possible, albeit sarcastic Telos as seen in downtown Culver City.
The real first question of discipleship is, “What do you want?”
- James K A Smith, “You Are What You Love”
Story is about intention and obstacle. Someone wants something. Something is standing in their way of getting it. Doesn’t matter what they want... They want the money, they want the girl, they want to get to Philadelphia... They have to want it bad, and if they can “need” it- even better, and whatever is standing in their way has got to be formidable.
- Aaron Sorkin
So, what do you want? Maybe you want peace, security, to feel competent in your work, to have influence in the world? In John 15, Jesus addresses some undercurrents of many of these common desires and more. He recognizes our root longing for unending joy, and real fruitfulness, and the answer He offers is pursuing Life with God through abiding in Jesus as the true-vine.
Life with God is key to pursuing the disciple making life we’ve been discussing the last few weeks at our Sunday morning gatherings. Being a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples begins with acknowledging that our lives and the choices we make are driven and formed by our wants far more than our deliberate thoughts and intentions. These wants we develop are ultimately directed at what the greeks called our Telos, a vision of “the good life” that unconsciously orients our goals and desires. Because our wants are the the product of unconscious conditioning, stimuli, and habits, if left unchecked, they will form us into something we aren’t aware of and do not intend. In light of this reality, actively pursuing a formative life with God becomes pivotal to our remaining in the vine, and bearing fruit.
What follows are the 3 categories of love shaping practices we’ve outlined for cultivating life with God, and some tools to help you begin to form your own personal liturgy of love shaping practices.
Listening Through Silence + Stillness
Clearing the do lists
When you set out to listen, you’ll notice quickly that the first obstacle to stillness before God is to-do list items popping up. Have a sheet of paper ready to write them down to get them out of your head. Then, just pay attention to where your thoughts go. That’s probably what the Spirit wants to speak to you about.
3 Column Listening Journal
Make 3 columns in a journal. Over the first write Self, the second Family, and the last Community. Then ask the Spirit what he wants to say to you about each area. Silence in stillness is good to practice in both short daily intervals and longer full day retreats. This can be a helpful structure for a quarterly or annual, full or half days of silence and stillness.
The Ignatian Daily Examen
Ignatius was an early church father who contributed much to Christianity in the vein of having a contemplative life with God.
Listening Through Prayer
The Jesus Prayer is an ancient practice common in many Eastern Christian traditions, and it is very simple:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
The goal is to orient our minds and hearts, and to listen without our own words taking up our attention.
Jesus, where are you coming to me today?
I never anticipate how God is going to answer this prayer:
Sometimes it’s a particular passage I feel compelled to read.
Sometimes it’s a specific call to obedience in some area.
Sometimes it’s a book to read that He knows will awaken my affections for Him.
And Sometimes, its just quiet and peaceful, and that’s ok.
Both of these I adapted from Pete Scazzero at Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Here you can find many great resources for learning to listen to the Spirit and practice silence and stillness before God. Here are a few highlights:
Receiving
You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
- Augustine
Having spent time listening, here are some practices of receiving to help your heart find rest in Jesus.
Reading Plan
Get a reading plan. Here are some of my favorites:
Daily Office
Daily Office is a practice in the Anglican Church, where you set aside a short amount of time at various points throughout your day to read a small passage of scripture and pray. This can be adjusted however you need to fit your daily routine and rhythms. There are typically 8 different times.
Here’s an introduction.
Praying the bible
This is a helpful method of engaging scripture that can even be used in conjunction with your reading plan or the Daily Office. The idea is that you read and pray through scripture in a way that transforms you. There are 3 simple steps.
Read a short passage
Say it in your own words
Pray a response, agreeing with, confessing, struggling through - react to the passage honestly and talk to God about it.
Podcasts
There are lots of helpful podcasts out there to listen on the go as part of our life with God. Here are some I recommend:
Obeying
The climax of John 15 is that true abiding in Jesus necessarily includes and results in keeping his commandments - that in keeping his commands we abide in and experience the depths of His love for us. Jesus doesn’t leave any ambiguity about which commands he means:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends
In this command, Jesus reveals that love which lays down its life is the fruit that we bear through abiding in Him. We bear the same fruit as the vine of which we are branches. This kind of obedience comes as the result of our wants being reshaped and conformed through abiding in Him. It’s the direct outflowing of listening and receiving from God. As a result, I do not have specific practices to offer you in this category. You must hear for yourself what next steps He might call you into to abide in His love.
Jesus said I am the true-vine, who yields the true fruit of extending blessing to the nations through laying down my life. Will you trade your wants? your unconscious Telos of destructive idol worship, for Jesus, the beginning and end of all history, who reveals the true Telos in laying down His life and taking it up again to make all things brand new. He invites you into the same. This is the pathway to unending joy, and real fruitfulness that lasts into the new creation.
Jared Brient is one of the elders at Soma Culver City. Jared and Robin help lead the downtown Culver City missional community. They have been a part of different church plants in Los Angeles and London since 2006. Jared also works as a visual effects artist in the film industry.