When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
- Matthew 16, text Biblegateway
To return to our wandering shepherd, now reunited with his friends after a brief if inglorious career as a visual aid at our church's prayer group.
"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked his disciples. The Sunday before during the service, we'd been encouraged to reflect on who Christ is to each of us wherever we currently find ourselves on our journey of faith. I say encouraged - maybe 'gently challenged' might best describe it. I picked up on this, leading into our customary time of silent prayer with Matthew's text and a short meditation posing the question once more "Who do you say that I am?"
I guess any of Christ's questions could equally well have applied just then. Maybe they did. He asked plenty of them, after all. "What do you want me to do for you?" Who are you looking for?" "Who touched me?" "Where is your faith?" "What concern is it of yours?" "What is your name?" and dozens and dozens of others.
But later I fell to thinking about the approaches different branches of our faith communities take to those questions, to discipleship and encouraging each other to grow and change. Particularly after glancing through another 'Ship' discussion on Altar calls and 'decisionism': the good old call to the front, altar call, sinner's prayer and whatnot. Not all of it unfamiliar to me, in a fairly restrained Anglican version of from my old church. I'll try not to get into arguments about soteriology here; they've been pretty thoroughly covered on the thread. However, my own reflections did get me pondering some aspects of my own journey - and where I stand now on some of the methodology used over on the more evangelical and charismatic wing of the church, now that I've spent a few years in a slightly broader and more catholic setting.
More so given my own moves since into discerment of a possible call to spiritual direction, my deeper appreciation and understanding of the nuances of peoples' faith journeys.
Was, for instance, my group meditation an 'altar call' in a different guise? It certainly didn't occur to me at the time that it might be considered to be this. That my initial feeling was one of slight...only slight and probably misplaced - guilt at even an unintended hint of manipulation on my part is maybe just the lingering remains of hangups from my previous experiences. Certainly I find the more laid back style of 'Newchurch' is enabling me to grow into a way of relating to both God and my fellow Christians that's far more autonomous, less dependent than before. Living, as well as living with...the questions.
Likewise, I consider my own style to be less 'directive,' more 'fellow pilgrim,' 'companioning.' That could account for my ambivalence. Am I confusing directiveness (is there such a word?!) with challenge? That should pose some implications for my own companioning.
So after all that hot air, no answers...more questions. Which neatly brings us back to Matthew 16: "Who do you say that I am?"
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