Madmen meditate— Christians don’t!
Madmen meditate, or so I’m told, but Christians not so much.
It’s happened again. If the rainbow has unfortunately fallen upon tough times in our current social climate, then the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines, specifically for my interests, biblical meditation, has fallen victim to the current wellness craze.
Wellness has become the latest trending topic for our current self improvement compulsion, attracting both developers and adherents to a series of practices that promise greater productivity, inner peace and the necessary help to navigate an ever growing confusing and compulsive world. According to the Wall Street Journal the practice of meditation has begun to make inroads into the male psyche which has long resisted the touchy-feely in favor of a more rigorous series of coping mechanisms for the workplace and what happens when men go home. The meditation fascination is largely an eastern brand, complete with mind-emptying narcissistic alter-consciousness and focus less other-mindedness. Make no mistake about it, meditation has made it to the front page; after all the Star Wars Yoda meditates; The Beatles practiced meditation, Homer Simpson apparently tried his hand at it and Don Draper from the Madmen series approached meditation as the therapeutic magic pill for the difficulties he faced in navigating the corporate world of a post World-War Two mania.
So here’s my question, if meditation is the new “Pet rock” ( you would likely need to be my age to remember this), why aren’t believers at the forefront of the discussion— after all, meditation has long been the practice of the early church throughout its development. The second question is easier— why don’t believers meditate? For the sake of this discussion, I would define meditation as that practice by which the individual focuses his mind on a particular attribute of the person of God, His Son, His Spirit, or a concept or doctrine enumerated in Scripture and commits his mental energies to drill down and focus his mental and spiritual acumen on understanding that truth.
I find that meditation was the practice of the Old Testament follower and the New Testament saint alike, the companion of Jesus, his apostles, and part of the church’s toolbox as it grew and suffered through the difficult years of both torture and ease. Jonathan Edwards framed it as contemplation and argued for it in his mega-church congregation at Northampton.
Why don’t Christians meditate? Maybe we’ve simply become enamored with the instant gratification, customer satisfaction only model of modernity’s format for Christian discipleship, which leaves little room for the contemplative rigors associated with a mind given over to the fascination and preoccupation of a holy God, His nature, and his works.
Libertas believes that there are benefits to be realized from a comprehensive study of the Bible and its history of the pursuit of a pure walk with God; that a prepared and disciplined mind is one most ready to appreciate the Word and works of God; that an understanding of the spiritual disciplines informs our worldview of the convictions that stayed the church’s course when worldliness and cultural profanity threatened to stifle its effectiveness.
We seek to prepare young men and women for the ugly rigors of life that result from dwelling in the city of men when our ultimate destination is the City of God.
Will you help us build that legacy… in your churches, and in your conversations?
Your servant,
Mark.
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