Transparent Lives

Here is a link to an article by Eugene Peterson, originally published in First Things in 2003. One can see that many of his seed thoughts are here that grew into fruition in his magnum opus series on Spiritual Theology beginning with Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.

The word from this article that has captured me is "congruence." Congruence, Peterson comments, is at the heart of living a contemplative life, a gospel life, a Jesus life. There is congruence between what we say and do, who we are, what we do and the way we do it. We are authentic, transparent, when we are on the Jesus way.

Here's a sampling:

The words of Jesus that keep this in focus are "I am the way, the truth and the life"(John14:6). Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life. But this isn’t easy. It is easier to talk about what Christians believe, the truth of the gospel formulated in creeds and doctrines. We have accumulated a magnificent roster of eloquent and learned theologians who have taught us to think carefully and well about the revelation of God In Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is easier to talk about what Christians do, life as performance, the behavior appropriate to followers of Jesus codified in moral commandments and formulated in vision statements and mission strategies. We never lack for teachers and preachers and parents who instruct us in the mores and manners of the kingdom of God. None of us here are likely to pretend perfection in these matters, but most of us are pretty well agreed on what’s involved.

But what counts on my agenda right now is the Christian life as lived, lived in this sense of congruence between who Christ is and who I am – being in Chicago right now at this busy heavily trafficked intersection of the kingdom of God, Christ playing in my limbs and my eyes.

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