Once again, T.M. Moore has surprised me with part four of his series on contending for the faith. This time, the heresy of our age is anti-supernaturalism. His evidence of this problem is a lack of spiritual discipline for one. He says,
"Through prayer, meditative reading of Scripture, solitude, fasting, singing, and other disciplines, one draws aside from the normal routine of things to concentrate on meeting with the Lord, coming into the presence of His glory and experiencing new depths of His love, often with transforming effects."
He includes a lack of spiritual vision, the tendency to rely on human strength and methods and expect spiritual results. And he cites a preference for "activisim" over spiritual discipline, wanting to promote a cause rather than live a life.
I have to admit mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it is easy to criticize the methods of this or that strategy as being too worldly. On the other, spirituality can be a nebulous thing, it is somewhat invisible. I've been in plenty of revival meetings where there was plenty of emphasis on the spirit, but the real power was manipulation. I've been in other settings where the emphasis seemed largely theological and rational on the surface, but the lasting effects were fruitful.
I have to admit to a certain bit of rationalism. But it is not that I don't believe in the supernatural. I prefer to use Reagan's famous phrase, "trust, but verify".
I also note in Moore's list, "prayer, meditative reading of Scripture, solitude, fasting, singing, and other disciplines", that these generally conjure images of individual activities. I would simply add spiritual disciplines of corporate prayer, confession, and regular, reverant communion as forgotten disciplines that have left much of us woefully lacking in a sense of God's presence and power.
Moore's target is all of us. The heresies he has pointed to can threaten any of us. He prodded my conscience most with this last one.
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