I dolatry is a fickle creature. It creeps in, in subtle and overt ways. Augustine’s famous quote resonates as a focal point of the spiritual life, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”1 But, the spiritual life lies not in a solitary moment. It is always seeking. And, it requires patience. It requires patience in order to focus our hearts so that we might ensure they are resting in God and God alone. Eugene Peterson described this patience as unfolding over a lifetime using the metaphor of a disciple being an “apprentice,” in order to live out the spiritual life (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship In an Instant Society). How do we eschew such idols that come our way? Do we have a common definition of idolatry? Do we recognize them as idols?
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A scriptural perspective
In many ways, the Old Testament could be seen in part through the thematic struggle of this fickle nature of the heart to be drawn to idols at times. There are cycles of this throughout the Old Testament in which the people of God forget to keep God first and do the things which God has commanded. God desires that fidelity in relationship with the people, even as the grace of all of it is that God remains faithful always. But, of course, God is well-aware of the ongoing struggle that will ensue for God’s people: “But if your heart turns away and you do not hear but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall certainly perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess” (Deuteronomy 30:17-18).
Is there a promised land of the spiritual life that we are to possess in this earthly life? Or perhaps even in the promised land, even in the “hills” of our spiritual lives, the temptations and the many idols of the world litter our steps. As we traipse through the litter of idolatry, we are constantly confronted with asking: where are our hearts affixed? Of course, only God knows, and only we, if we are honest with ourselves, can hold that out before God in prayer, naming it honestly, and praying for the grace to recenter if our hearts have wandered. The idolatrous litter will still be there the next day in our path, though: an ideology, the desire for financial security, a status, a job title, a position, a possession, and the list continues.
Related: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
The Ignatian Indifference
A basic principle and foundation of the “Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius is the Ignatian Indifference. Jesuit Priest Fr. Kevin O’Brien defines this indifference as the ability to “hold all of God’s gifts reverently, gratefully, but also lightly, embracing them or letting them go, all depending on how they help us fulfill our vocation to live in everyday, concrete details.”2 The Ignatian Indifference is a key underlying understanding in Jesuit spirituality and here I’m only making passing mention of it. It is essential for the spiritual life of St. Ignatius. In my own understanding, it is a spiritual life that enables one to truly walk freely with God, a state of the soul’s rootedness that is centered in the calming assurance of our ultimate belonging in and through Christ. This inherently means that one’s heart is affixed to God.
Related: What does it mean to be spiritually rooted to Christ in a rootless age?
Yet, it is a radical understanding. It is radical, at least, for the world. It’s “radical,” to arrive at a place in the spiritual life, that O’Brien says we can “make ourselves indifferent to all created things,” which he describes as not being concerned with seeking “health rather than sickness, wealth rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor,” and so on.3 This is not an indifference that does not care. It’s quite the opposite. It is an indifference that seeks after the central aspiration in Ignatian spirituality: to “love” as God loves. It is an indifference that enables us to care deeply for that which God cares deeply for. Cultivating an Ignatian Indifference through the grace of the Holy Spirit enables us to have clarity around the central question I am dealing with: where are our hearts affixed? Are they affixed to God? Or is there idolatrous litter competing with our heart’s attention?
The contemporary landscape
In the Reformed tradition, our confessions help us illuminate that which the “Holy Catholic Church,” as a theological reality, believes and is called to.4 The Belhar Confession, arising out of the heretical belief of apartheid that existed for decades in South Africa, calls the church at all times to witness unity, reconciliation, and justice. These three biblical themes it deals with are all closely intertwined. As my former theology professor—whose vocation includes being an ordained minister himself and who had a lot to do with the Belhar Confession—reminded our class in seminary, when he lived in apartheid in South Africa, the apartheid heresy was considered “normal.” He said even his parents believed it, and so too his parents and many others believed the underlying biblical heresy used to justify it. But, true to his vocation, he quickly said: “The question is not what was considered wrong then; the question is what is wrong now?” This is the Reformed witness to the gospel: to name the idolatrous beliefs and actions of our present time.
Idols littering our present
I acknowledge my heart is heavy, especially for the refugee, the immigrant, the migrant, the asylum seeker, whom the Scriptures over and over calls us to care for. Does not the image of God stir also in them? Aren’t they worthy of compassion? Aren’t they also worthy of the love of God that has already been given to us in Jesus Christ? Are they not worthy of the mercy Jesus Christ speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount?
For those who make the claims that try to justify this mistreatment of the “stranger,” I can only reason that their hearts must be affixed to an idol. It can’t be to God. That’s not the God I walk with in my spiritual life. That’s not the Lord Jesus whose gospel I pledged my life to “preach and teach.” The Lord Jesus I know calls us to empathy, compassion, love, forgiveness, mercy, meekness, patience, kindness, and gentleness, among others. The Lord Jesus I know was so concerned for others, that even in the agony of the cross and the pain he endured, the Gospel of John recalls that Jesus desired family for his mother, telling the “beloved disciple” to take her into his home (John 19:27). Even as he approached his death, Jesus was more concerned with others. We could pray on that truth for a lifetime and not even begin to understand it. That’s the mercy, compassion, and love of who Jesus Christ is.
Prayer, wisdom, and courage
Amidst a time of great division, heresy, and alas, idols, I believe the place to center ourselves is in prayer. Christian leaders will be challenged in this time, if not for making spaces for prayer, silence, reflection, and lament. This is the place to begin. Julian of Norwich says, “begin with the heart.”
After the exhausting work of witnessing and telling others who God is, Jesus often retreated for prayer. Jesus was aware of his ongoing need to keep his heart affixed to the Father. This is our ongoing need: to pray for the grace that our restless hearts may truly rest in the Lord Jesus, and from there, to discern how the Spirit is leading us to do justice and witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ boldly, prophetically, and faithfully.
From the refrain of the hymn “God of Grace, God of Glory”:
“Grant us wisdom,
grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour.”
References
1 The Confessions
2 O’Brien, Kevin. The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2011), 63.
3 Ibid, 67.
4 The Apostles’ Creed
Rev. Zachary K. Pearce
Rev. Zachary K. Pearce is a minister of Word and sacrament in the Reformed Church in America.
