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Spirit & Life
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version 4.0
•••"The
words I have spoken to you are spirit and life"
-- Jesus, John 6:63
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| Top Stories in MissionStuff |
| A Reflection on Spirits in the Dark | | Date Created: 12 Oct, 2005, 09:16 AM |
[ Update: This article now available in a half-fold PDF insert format. ]
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Back at the end of August, I signed up to audit "Omaha Language I" at Nebraska Indian Community College in Macy. It's an immersive, conversational and quite practical approach to learning the proper way of introducing oneself, greeting and initiating conversations, and speech necessary for common interaction among the tribal members. We prepare and share a meal every Thursday, learning vocabulary for various foods by asking for them: bread, bologna, peanut butter, grape jelly, strawberry jelly, orange juice, potato chips, and the like. |
 Last night we had a guest speaker, describing her life as a child growing up in the 50s and 60s here on the Rez. No running water, electricity, indoor plumbing -- its a scene one might expect to hear about the 30s, not the 60s in a Nebraska small town.
While commenting on her childhood days, she recalled the stern rule that the children all had to be indoors and in bed by nightfall. "The spirits come out at night," she explained. "It's not safe for kids outside after dark. That's the way we were taught, the way we lived. We didn't question it." |
SPEAKING OF SPIRITS
Her mention of the spirits was mild and passing, compared to some of the accounts I've heard over the years here. A few weeks back, my instructor mentioned how infants were never left alone in the past, should never be left alone because the spirits come and take them when they're most vulnerable. "They like to take babies," she explained. So the babies always slept with the parents.
Once I was told of a time when two local Roman Catholic priests were invited to attend a sweat. Mid-way through the service, they grew frightened at what they saw and began clutching their rosaries and books--and then were attacked and literally cast out of the sweat lodge. They fled the scene and never returned near there again.
More 'benign' encounters are also recounted, of course. It's been common for me to hear talk of spirits of relatives visiting residents of the nursing home at night. They are somewhat frightening to those visited, but not entirely unwelcome. All the same, when also these sorts of visitations become too frequent, the local Roadman or tribal spiritual leader is called in to "cedar" the place--cleansing it with smoldering cedar incense. It's likewise standard practice to cleanse the room with cedar upon the death of a resident, so that the spirit does not linger there.
These are just a few of the things I've heard and learned over the years, about spirits and the tribal teachings on them. I've been told of these encounters with spirits since the very first day I came here among the Omaha, eight years ago this month. |
ENGAGING THE CULTURE
So what is a missionary preacherman to make of all this? I pondered these things again on my drive home last night. |
 With all the talk recently among mainstream Evangelical Christians about the "Christian Worldview / Biblical Worldview," almost all of it is directed toward affirming the belief in God, His act of Creation, talk of Natural Law, the existence of Moral Absolutes, the doctrine of Vocation and sometimes, the propriety of public Prayer in civil contexts. I cannot recall a single article of any prominence which includes any talk of the reality of spirits at work in the world. Oddly enough, Christians seem every bit as hesitant to speak of such things as do the people I meet among the Omaha.
Here Christians find some common ground with Natives, I suppose, in that speaking forthrightly about spirits in the "Biblical Worldview"--especially in public discourse--proves only a fast track to ridicule and immediate dismissal. Part of me thinks it might actually be easier in 21st Century America for a Native to discuss such matters openly than for any Caucasian confessing Christian.
The culture that mandates tolerance for diverse ways of looking at the world and embraces alternative world views might well welcome such discourse from a Native perspective while heartily marginalizing any Christian which would say some of the same things, even basic shared beliefs like "spirits do exist and interact in the world." |
 THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW
The Biblical Worldview includes mention of spirits, and more than mere mention. Here's one familiar exhortation from St. John, for example:"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." Likewise the Lutheran Confessions presuppose the Biblical Worldview wherein spirits not only exist, but interact with malicious intent to destroy faith in the Gospel, such as Luther's comment in the Smalcald Articles, (SA, Part II, Article II, par.16):The second consequence of this: evil spirits have introduced the knavery of appearing as spirits of the departed and, with unspeakable lies and cunning, of demanding Masses, vigils, pilgrimages, and other alms." Also in the Large Catechism, Luther writes on the Seventh Petition (LC, LP, Seventh Petition, par.114-116):"Therefore we sum it all up [in the Lord's Prayer] by saying, 'Dear Father, help us to get rid of all this misfortune.' Nevertheless, this petition includes all the evil that may befall us under the devil's kingdom: poverty, shame, death, and, in short, all the tragic misery and heartache of which there is so incalculably much on earth. Since the devil is not only a liar but also a murderer (John 8:44), he incessantly seeks our life and vents his anger by causing accidents and injury to our bodies. He breaks many a man's neck and drives others to insanity; some he drowns, and many he hounds to suicide or other dreadful catastrophes. Therefore there is nothing for us to do on earth but to pray constantly against this arch-enemy. For if God did not support us, we would not be safe from him for a single hour." Again, with the Sixth Petition (LC, LP, Sixth Petition, par.104, 109-111):Then comes the devil, who baits and badgers us on all sides, but especially exerts himself where the conscience and spiritual matters are at stake. His purpose is to make us scorn and despise both the Word and the works of God, to tear us away from faith, hope, and love, to draw us into unbelief, false security, and stubbornness, or, on the contrary, to drive us into despair, athiesm, blasphemy, and countless other abominable sins. These are the snares and nets; indeed, they are the real "flaming darts" (Eph. 6:16) which are venomously shot into our hearts, not by flesh and blood but by the devil...
...Accordingly we Christians must be armed and prepared for incessant attacks. Then we shall not go about securely and heedlessly as if the devil were far from us but shall at all times expect his blows and parry them. Even if at present I am chaste, patient, kind, and firm in faith, the devil is likely in this very hour to send such a shaft into my heart that I can scarcely stand, for he is an enemy who never stops or becomes weary; when one attack ceases, new ones always arise.
At such times your only help or comfort is to take refuge in the Lord's Prayer and to appeal to God from your heart, "Dear Father, Thou hast commanded me to pray; let me not fall because of temptation." Then you will see the temptation cease and eventually admit defeat. Otherwise, if you attempt to help yourself by your own thoughts and counsels, you will only make the matter worse and give the devil a better opening. For he has a serpents head; if it finds an opening into which it can slip, the whole body will irresistibly follow. But prayer can resist him and drive him back." |
A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
So given this Biblical and Confessional Worldview, how does a missionary respond to talk of spirits present and active among the tribe? |
 As far as dealing with the tribe goes, I listen to their accounts without one ounce of patronizing cynicism. I don't dismiss them. Neither do I swallow every interpretation offered of every unusual experience reported. That a person has experienced *something* dare not be denied, often something traumatic and quite disturbing.
After listening, sometimes I'm asked what I think about what was just told me. I often respond to these questions with an honest, "I don't know. I am a Christian and I do believe spirits exist. God tells us that some are "ministering spirits" sent to help those who trust in Jesus (Heb. 1:14). Others are "deceiving spirits" who mean us harm and try to destroy our trust in the Lord (1 Tim. 4:1-2). About the only way to tell the difference between them is to compare what they have to say about God with what the Lord has to say about himself in the Bible. If they have nothing to say about the Lord or reminding us of His very present help and promises, I generally figure that one didn't come from the Lord--but is probably up to no good. But I do know Jesus tells us He doesn't want us to be afraid, because He's defeated the evil ones on the cross."
Then we follow the conversation wherever it goes.
But how does a Christian engage the secular culture which quickly dismisses those who acknowledge the "paranormal" as holding to mere superstition at best, overly fascinated with urban legend and a mythological fantasy, or worse--exhibiting signs of something more dangerous than mere ignorance, but evidence of probable mental illness, sufferers of auditory and visual hallucination, downright delusional?
How does a Christian engage a Christendom which has largely rejected the claims of the Biblical, apostolic faith and has itself become almost as quick to reject the 'supernatural' as the secular culture itself?
Honestly, I think it's harder to talk about such matters in my own culture. I think that's why most of the talk of the "Christian Worldview" keeps such discourse hushed. It's far easier sometimes to talk about such things with members of the tribe. They're generally less likely to reject a guy outright for even seriously considering such things and wrestling through the Word to address them. In this respect, my mission work is probably a lot easier than yours. |
| Epic Advertangelism or "What'll Those Wacky Lutherans Think of Next?!" | | Date Created: May 10, 2005, 12:51 PM |
At Last! Someone came up with a commercial-advertising-meets-evangelism (Advertangelism™) scheme that's 100% guaranteed to be a blockbuster igniting event! All you need to do to get people to come is:
a.) Figure out which new movie release will surely sell out when it premiers.
b.) Buy a theater full of tickets to said movie.
c.) Make errr... Invite people to attend your event in order to see the blockbuster!
d.) Sell 'em the tickets *at the service*!!!
Nifty, huh? -- Loads of people, and getting cash back too -- especially if you take up an offering!
That's the evangelism recipe for one Michigan congregation in it's new English District LCMS mission endeavor:
EPIC CHURCH... |
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According to the site,
"We've made every effort to eliminate all of the nonessentials that take away from God. No getting dressed up because God cares about our hearts, not appearance. No long boring sermons filled with Biblical terminology you don't understand, just messages that relate to real issues in your life!"
You know, I really wanted to go see that "Revenge of the Sith" flick, but I said to myself "Man, No Way! if I gotta hear a long boring sermon full of Biblical terminology before I can buy my ticket..." |
 Here's a real issue in my life, Epic Church: Is this the acceptable, officially endorsed practice of a truly confessional Lutheran church body?
The ad asks, "Are you dissatisfied with religion but hungry for a spiritual journey with God that involves risk, mystery and untamed faith?"
I gotta admit, the more of this garbage I see, the more dissatisfied I am with religion and hungry for a truly Lutheran spirituality... |
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Epic Update 5/11/05:
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The Epic Church has now revised their site a bit such that the words I quoted above about "No long boring sermons filled with Biblical terminology..." are no longer accurate. This revision comes in the wake of Bunnie's critique of the site (all the more reason to read her blog not only twice, but even three times a day). Here's a little before and after view. Never underestimate the blogging of a Bunnie. |
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