Called to Be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity

by Gordon T. Smith

Prayer without teaching is, quite simply, a subtle form of disobedience.

We long for the Spirit to make all things new but often neglect the fundamental means by which the Spirit makes all things new—the teaching ministry of the church.

That is a good place to begin as a way to foster the cultivation of a Christian mind: to see our worship in its Godward orientation and to see our mission in its orientation to the reign of Christ. Otherwise, worship is nothing but sentimentalism and mission is nothing but pragmatism.

The Bible is not our personal book; it is the sacred text of the church. And we do not come to wisdom on our own but in humility accept the wisdom of the church as the “rule of faith” by which the Scriptures are read. There is no wisdom without an acceptance of the authority of God, and the authority of God is revealed through the Scriptures and the church God called into being.

Consider what this might offer us as we think about conversion and rites of initiation. First, of course, our primary reference point for teaching and learning is the authority of Christ and the in-breaking of the reign of Christ over all things, in heaven and on earth (verse 18). The ascension—or, better, the ascended one, Christ Jesus—is central to our vision of wisdom and theological formation. This is the baseline that undergirds our entire approach to mission and the invitation we make to those who inquire after the gospel. To come into the household of faith and respond to the gospel is to come under the benevolent authority or reign of Christ.

One becomes a Christian through a catechetical process of teaching, learning, instruction in the faith, specifically the faith lived in obedience to Christ.

could it be that these words—“in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”—are not so much a formula as a theological vision that informs the very meaning of baptism?

baptism and catechesis are both essential and each is the necessary counterpart of the other.

Baptism without teaching is an empty sign.

We teach for obedience, and the supreme sign of that obedience is baptism.

We have no interest in knowledge as an end in itself, but only teaching for obedience, for transformation, for wisdom and the grace to abide in Christ as Christ abides in us (Jn 15:4).

But perhaps one of the most crucial capacities is that we introduce them to the Scriptures and teach them, as basic Christianity 101, how to read the Bible for themselves. This is fundamental; it should be part of the evangelistic process of all churches so that new Christians can begin to read and pray the Bible in their personal prayers and are equipped to participate in the preaching and teaching ministry of the church.

the church is missionary in its very character, meaning not so much that we “send” missionaries as that the community is collectively, in word and deed, attentive to and participating in the kingdom work of God.

For the church in mission it is noteworthy that what is formative—what fosters faith, hope and love—is shared participation in the mission purposes of God in the world.

The in-breaking of the kingdom of God comes not Sunday morning in the gathering of the people for worship; it is rather on Monday morning when those empowered by Word and sacrament, through fellowship and mutual encouragement, are heading into every sphere and sector of society: into schools, businesses, doctors’ offices, construction jobs, art studios and the daily routines of raising families and making homes.

Most pastors, unfortunately, equate kingdom growth with the growth of their churches. They are inclined to think they are successful if ever more people come to their church and are active in it.

But could it be that the most effective congregations are defined not so much by how large they are and how quickly they are growing, but whether or not their members are equipped and empowered to be the people of God in the world?

When Christians are called into banks, dentists’ offices, schools and the design of gardens, they are being called to do “God’s work.” What they urgently need is the theological vision to see this, feel this and then act in and through their work in a way that is congruent with the kingdom purposes of God in the world.

And then preach not only for moral reform but for participation in the reign of Christ. We preach to draw God’s people into the wonder of the risen and ascended Christ.

Baptism should clearly signal this: at the baptism we signal and declare that this individual, baptized in Christ, united with Christ in his death and resurrection, will now live out his baptismal identity as one called to witness to the reign of Christ in the world.

The church is a liturgical community, a teaching-learning community and a missional community. Each of these is a vital part of the formative work of the church in the life of each member, and the interplay between them is interdependent and iterative.

The ancient language for this ministry has been that of spiritual direction. Whether this language is used or not is neither here nor there; the crucial piece is this: that if we are going to mature in our faith and grow up in Christ, most of us need a personal connection with someone who is pastor, spiritual friend and counselor.

effective congregational life is not about doing more and more and more—I am thinking here of such mantras as “pray more, give more, serve more.” Instead we need to do less, most likely, but do the right things; nothing is gained by making church life so busy that church activities are all-consuming. We must preserve time for play, for meals together, for sabbath rest.

perhaps the most crucial and defining capacity of a graduate of a theological seminary should be the capacity to foster maturity in Christ in and through the church.

Dallas Willard suggests that the “greatest issue facing the church today is whether or not Christian schools will say loudly and clearly that they have essential knowledge that non-Christian schools do not have.”

why engage in higher education or formal theological study or why higher education at all?—the

Either (a) for understanding and knowledge, or (b) for vocational preparation and credentialing.

the crux of the matter, the heart of the issue, is that Christian institutions—colleges and universities of higher learning—have the potential to offer transformative learning.

The grace we seek is to understand the world through the lens of Christ Jesus, the one in whom all things exist and have their being.

I propose that we can say to a prospective student, this is what we hope for you and long for you and offer to you. This is what we are about. This is what it means to be part of this academic community, this university, this seminary. You will grow in wisdom and in your capacity for wisdom. You will mature in your vocational identity and calling, and you will receive the inner tools and resources for a lifetime of vocational discernment. We will grow together in love and in our capacity for love, even as we are loved. You will become a happier person: you will know the joy of God, but more, you will grow in your capacity for joy.

This includes the basic elements of moral intelligence: integrity in our finances, in sexuality and in speech (the three recurring marks in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, the Sermon on the Mount and the New Testament Epistles).

we must not confuse moral formation with spiritual formation.

vocational holiness—the capacity to discern what God is doing in the world and participate in this kingdom work in a way that is deeply congruent with one’s own sense of calling.

It is the constant question for Christians in higher education: not merely “What is truth” but also “What is God doing in our world and how are we potential participants in this work?”

True intellectual development is about the ordering of desire or, as the ancients stated it, the ordering of the affections. It is about fostering the capacity to delight in the good—to find in the good our deepest satisfaction.

Wisdom, good work, love and joy. Each is a dimension of being in Christ.

University studies are about learning how to learn, how to live and how to grow in one’s capacity for wisdom, good work, love and joy.

Wisdom as the fruit of teaching and learning. Wisdom as the ballast for good work and the capacity for good work. Wisdom as the necessary counterpart to love—informing and animating the call to love one another. Wisdom as the foundation for joy.

The university as we know it is essentially a medieval creation.

every university in the West was an institution of the church.

Implicitly if not explicitly the university was about formation in wisdom, and wisdom was found specifically at this point of integration between critical scholarship (scholastic theology) and the intentional fostering of spiritual vitality with reflection on the nature of the spiritual life (mystical theology). Each informed the other; the counterpoint between them fostered growth in wisdom.

study, learning and scholarship must be infused with prayer and worship. It is by prayer and worship that our study is located within the broader purposes of God in our lives.

Bernard of Clairvaux insisted that we are not wise until we live in the fear of God and are drawn up into the love of God.

The Jesuits were and continue to be perhaps the greatest missionary order in the history of the church.

Wisdom fosters a panoramic

Christian vision integrating knowledge, skill and art.

all truth is God’s truth.

Good scholarship fosters depth of piety; piety, in turn, animates scholarship.

a postcritical understanding of rationality, the idea that theory and practice must inform each other and, finally, that we can and must speak of a theological interpretation of the Bible.

what he grieves is the loss of the pursuit of understanding for its own sake, the lack of a commitment to well-rounded formation through education as students are formed for the common good and that, indeed, “the inattention to all-round formation underlines what is perhaps the most glaring weakness of contemporary higher education.”