Topics in this podcast include the significance of having a team of leaders, loneliness and its role in human experience, the formation of a new family based on apprenticeship to Jesus, the importance of community and deep relationships in spiritual growth, and the transformative power of genuine community in fostering relationships of depth and vulnerability.
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Quick takeaways
Forming a new community based on apprenticeship to Jesus invites deep transformation and healing.
Choosing a relational spirituality challenges the individualistic culture, requiring intentional effort and self-sacrificial love.
Deep dives
Formation of a New Community
Jesus calls Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow him and become fishers of people. They leave their nets and their father, Zebedee, and join Jesus. Jesus intentionally forms a new community, not based on blood, but on apprenticeship to him. This new community will invite others to join as well. Jesus appoints twelve apostles, symbolically representing the twelve tribes of Israel and signifying the formation of a new family. Community is an essential part of spiritual formation, where deep transformation and healing occur.
The Ache for Relationship and the Pain of Loneliness
Loneliness is a universal human experience, arising from the ache to know and be known, to give and receive love. Augustin describes loneliness as the essence of being human, created to be in relationship with God and others but cast out of the perfect intimacy of Eden. Loneliness drives us to search for connection and is the seedbed of all spirituality. However, the cultural milieu, marked by radical individualism, has intensified loneliness to alarming levels. Loneliness has become a social epidemic, with threats to physical and mental health.
The Practice of Community
In the midst of a lonely world, Jesus presents a radical vision of community. Jesus forms a new family, the church, where relationships are based on apprenticeship to him and love for one another. To experience the deepest transformation and healing, relationships across all four circles are essential: intimates, friends, village, and tribe. Within the smaller circles, friendships marked by depth, vulnerability, confession, and commitment to transformation flourish. Spiritual friendships provide the space for growth, healing, and becoming people of love.
The Challenge and Necessity of Relational Spirituality
Living in a culture that prioritizes individualism and superficiality, choosing a relational spirituality is a counter-cultural challenge. It requires intentional effort, rule of life, and self-sacrificial love. Spiritual friendships are not superficial, but marked by death, vulnerability, and a commitment to growth. They involve confessing sins, listening deeply, and being present with one another. Relational spirituality is not just about attending church, but about living deeply relational lives as a new family formed by apprenticeship to Jesus.