Spiritual Journey vis-a-vis Sanctification

Second Monday of Easter

Today and tomorrow I'll deal with your questions. Jennifer asked, "Is spiritual journey the same as the process of sanctification?" It's a theological question and a hard one. As I keep telling you guys, I'm not a theologian, just a Biblical scholar and Methodist preacher. It seems as if my first reaction to almost all of everyone's questions is, "I don't think that way." Maybe it's good that you are forcing me to think in ways that I don't normally think in.

Sanctification was a major theological concept for John Wesley. He thought of sanctification as a part of a two stage process. The first stage was justification. Justification is having conscious faith in Christ. It brings salvation. Subsequent to justification is a second stage or second event called sanctification. Sanctification is our being fully made free from original sin so that we can be fully perfected in love. Sanctification normally comes as a result of a process, but it can be a single event. It frees us from the stain of all previous sin, not just ours but the world's as well. It is also called Christian perfection, the idea that we can be made perfect in love in this life. The process of sanctification is facilitated by prayer, Bible study, church, the sacraments, and living a totally moral life. Besides not being a theologian, I'm also not a Wesley scholar. If any of your are more familiar with these matters than I am, I would welcome your correction or amplification.

Spiritual journey, at least for me, is not thinking in these same terms. I don't know the history of the term "spiritual journey," but I suspect it's rather recent. It's a term one hears in mainline Protestant and Catholic churches, but not in conservative evangelical or fundamentalist churches. People who think in terms of spiritual journey tend not to use theological terms and not to fit their spiritual experiences into any theological patterns. They don't think much about original sin, justification, sanctification, etc. They do think in terms of experience of God, faith growth, love, story, and hope.

Spiritual journeyers tend to like being in small groups, writing journals, going on retreats, mission projects, helping others. They read a lot. They tend to read more women authors than men authors. Their understanding of their faith tends to be centered on their own spiritual experience. Their journey does not have specific benchmarks, specific goals, or any particular plan. They don't have to believe the same thing. Their individual journeys are God's and their own. Their journeys are stories. Their journeys are lifelong.

I hope that at least somewhat gets at the question. Tomorrow I'll deal with a question I'm much more comfortable with,  Chris's question, "I have a question about the results of your repeated readings of the Bible. I've gone through (most) of the Bible only one time over one year. We've all re-read selected sections multiple times and have favorite passages. Considering the Bible as a whole, can you comment on how much your interpretations of certain (your choice) whole Books (or major sections thereof) changed as you re-read in different languages?" Once again my immediate answer is, "I don't think in those terms," but I'll give it a try.

Faithfully,

Christian