What’s the heart of spirituality? If you could reduce it to a single word or phrase, which one would you choose?
As the title of my blog would suggest, I lean toward discipleship. After all, if you want to learn about spiritual life, talk to Jesus. He knows best!
But love is an excellent choice, too. Doesn’t the Bible promote love as the greatest of the virtues? Seems like a great option.
Theologians have also stressed the value of faith, peace, freedom, righteousness, or salvation. Each has its strong points.
Now consider authenticity. This buzzword, or at least the sentiment behind it, enjoys popularity among the younger crowd. Tired of outward conformity and slick programming, they seek the genuine in themselves and in the world around them.
How does you become authentic?
According to Bernard Lonergan, the theologian whom I studied in graduate school, people “attain authenticity through religious, moral, and intellectual conversion” (Method in Theology, 292).
And the Bible backs this up. For example, David expressed his desire to convert sinners to God. Jesus insisted that to see the kingdom of God, people had to convert. And the church celebrated reports of the Gentiles converting to Christ.
As these illustrate, converting means turning around. People change the direction of their lives; rather than drifting or fleeing from God, they approach Him through Jesus. And in so doing, they not only find the Lord; they discover themselves, too.
And there’s more.
Your growth in authenticity, or “authentic subjectivity,” as Lonergan puts it, helps you to know the world around you, too. In philosophical terms, this is called “objectivity” but you can think of it as being realistic, free from bias or presumption.
Lonergan stated that “objectivity is simply the consequence of authentic subjectivity” (265). He repeated himself: “objectivity is the fruit of attentiveness, intelligence, reasonableness, and responsibility.” And again: “genuine objectivity is the fruit of authentic subjectivity. It is to be attained only by attaining authentic subjectivity” (292).
If you allow the Holy Spirit to “authenticate” you in Christ, your whole outlook will change. If you resist, you’ll remain stuck in the mud. As the Bible clarifies, “to the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” The quality of your involvement with the world depends on the condition of your heart.
Do you want to get better? Do you want the things around you to improve? Convert! Turn! As Wayne Dyer noted, “if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Even your relationship with God gets affected one way or the other: “to the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the devious You show Yourself shrewd” (Psalm 18:25-26). The nature of your connection to God demonstrates the health of your soul.
To know unvarnished reality, become authentically human. To become fully awake and alive, convert. Turn to God; follow Jesus and don’t quit. His Spirit will fulfill you.
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