Episode 25 - Embarking on the Spiritual Journey: Insights from Dr. Ray Mitsch
In the latest episode of the Outpost podcast, Dr. Ray Mitsch embarks on a thoughtful exploration of the spiritual journey, commencing with an in-depth discussion of the 'Converted Life.' This initial stage of spiritual development is characterized by a heightened awareness of one's spiritual needs, often ignited by moments of awe or a deep-seated sense of inadequacy. Dr. Mitsch articulates that conversion should not be viewed as a singular event but as the beginning of a transformative process that ushers individuals into a deeper relationship with the divine. He emphasizes the significance of self-awareness in this journey, urging listeners to recognize their current state to effectively chart their path forward.
Throughout the episode, Dr. Mitsch intertwines psychological principles with spiritual formation, addressing how personal histories and emotional wounds can shape one's spiritual narrative. He underscores the necessity of accepting one's imperfections and past failures, positing that such acceptance is crucial for genuine progress in spiritual development. By fostering an environment of compassion and understanding, the podcast provides a platform for listeners to confront their struggles while encouraging them to embrace their journeys with grace and resilience.
Moreover, the theme of mentorship emerges as a pivotal element in navigating the complexities of spiritual growth. Dr. Mitsch advocates for seeking mentors who not only possess a profound understanding of spiritual teachings but also have a lived experience of the journey. This relational aspect of mentorship is portrayed as essential for fostering trust and vulnerability, allowing for deeper connections within spiritual communities. Through this discourse, Dr. Mitsch inspires listeners to approach their spiritual paths with authenticity and intentionality, emphasizing that the journey is one of continual discovery and transformation.
Takeaways:
- The spiritual journey entails a profound exploration of faith, psychology, and spiritual formation, which can be challenging yet rewarding.
- Acceptance of one's current state is paramount in the spiritual journey; without it, genuine progress is hindered.
- Engaging with the biblical Jesus requires confronting and overcoming personal distortions and misconceptions brought from past experiences.
- The first stage of the spiritual journey, termed the Converted Life, involves recognizing one's need for God and experiencing a transformative awakening.
- Creativity and artistic expressions can serve as catalysts for spiritual formation, prompting deeper connections to faith and understanding.
- Finding a supportive mentor who comprehends the intricacies of the spiritual journey can significantly enhance one's growth and understanding.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
You're listening to the outpost podcast with Dr.
Speaker A:Ray Mitch.
Speaker A:Well, welcome everybody, to another edition of the outpost podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Dr.
Speaker A:Ray Mitz, your host.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for joining me.
Speaker A:And just to start out, I was reminded of some words of an old mentor of mine.
Speaker A:Whenever he started to talk, he would often say in the immortal words of Francis of Assisi as he passed Brother Dominic on the road to Perea, hi.
Speaker A:And that's usually how he would do that.
Speaker A:And so that's how I'm going to start today.
Speaker A:It's hi, how you doing?
Speaker A:Thanks so much for joining me.
Speaker A:I know that how you spend your time is a precious commodity.
Speaker A:And your willingness to take an hour or so out of your time to listen to me and some of the things that I've learned and observations I've made is very much of an honor.
Speaker A:So just to give you some understanding, maybe you're new, you've never heard of the Outpost, and somebody said, hey, why don't you listen in?
Speaker A:Well, what we're about, what I'm about is to explore this intersection of faith, psychology and spiritual formation.
Speaker A:And that's really, at any given point in time, we may be spending more time than others.
Speaker A:So, like, for example, the series that I'm just going into today is very much spiritual formation.
Speaker A:It looks at the spiritual journey and how I can understand it a little bit more clearly, how I can participate in it.
Speaker A:And so the next few weeks are going to be really very much devoted to that.
Speaker A:And then we may turn our attention to psych issues that come up in terms of spiritual formation and faith, faith questions and issues that come up as well.
Speaker A:So it's all intermixed.
Speaker A:You can't really tease them apart very easily.
Speaker A:And that's really just the reality behind it all.
Speaker A:So what I want to do is to create a space where the doubters, the bruised and bent, the wounded and confused, the beat up and beat down people who really believe that their life's a disappointment to God can be accepted as they are and known and know others as they are as well.
Speaker A:Which, ironically, we're always very good at giving acceptance to other people.
Speaker A:But when it comes to taking it ourselves, that's a little tougher to do because it requires some measure of risk when we do that.
Speaker A:So that being said, what's the purpose?
Speaker A:Well, the purpose is for people to actually meet the biblical Jesus, not just who they've been told he is, not the distortions that maybe they carry with them from a bad church experience or a bad Christian experience.
Speaker A:So that's kind of what we're about.
Speaker A:That's what I'm about trying to focus on here.
Speaker A:And one of the things I wanted to do before I got into the actual material and stuff is to tell you a little story.
Speaker A:I had started a number of years back, starting meeting with a group of young men that were motivated to talk about life and have their space and their psychology intersect with that.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I am meeting again with a group of young men that I started with back in August.
Speaker A:And we carried it through as much as we could through the fall semester, and now we're in the spring, and we continue to meet.
Speaker A:And I think this thing of bumping into the biblical Jesus actually happened.
Speaker A:Now, it's not something that happens regularly, but in this group, it sure did.
Speaker A:And Friday when we met, I had a very distinct feeling, and I've had it before because I've been in counseling and I've worked with people for a long time where it is very clear that the Holy Spirit is on the move and pushing and prodding and using my words to challenge various distortions and things that people have.
Speaker A:And that happened.
Speaker A:And it was a remarkable moment.
Speaker A:It truly was a remarkable, remarkable moment that happened in the conversations.
Speaker A:And it really was remarkable in the risks that were taken, the courage that was shown, and then also the commitment that was communicated to one another.
Speaker A:And that's the stuff of what we might refer to as the band of brothers.
Speaker A:They get through the adversity, and the reality is, whether we like it or not, adversity draws us to one another.
Speaker A:And it's out of that bond that then we can enjoy the joys of living life together and seeing things in that way.
Speaker A:So that's just an example.
Speaker A:And in a lot of ways, it's the prototype.
Speaker A:That group of young guys is the prototype for what I talk about in terms of outpost groups and seeing them form and having those kind of conversations occur that are, I think, pretty remarkable, really, and something that I think a lot of people don't often experience.
Speaker A:And in that moment, they sure did.
Speaker A:So that gives you a little bit of idea of what the target is really for Stained Glass International, which is the ministry umbrella under which we operate, the Outpost podcast is just the voice of that ministry.
Speaker A:And I'll talk a lot about at the end of the program some of the resources and things you'll find on the home base, the digital home base called sgi-net.org so with that, let me pivot and talk a little bit about where I ended.
Speaker A:And one of the things that I ended with last week was introducing people to this idea of what a spiritual journey looks like.
Speaker A:And we talked about the variety of elements that will crop up, the difficulties that we'll have, the distortions that we carry with us into this journey.
Speaker A:And so all of that was leading up to what I want to talk about today.
Speaker A:But I want to reiterate the two key principles I started out with last time, and that is that you can't go anywhere or move anywhere if you don't know where you're at.
Speaker A:And so we need to be able to be equipped to think through where we are.
Speaker A:And if we don't do that, then how in the world am I going to plan?
Speaker A:And so I can sit here in Colorado and say, you know, hey, I would love to go to Hawaii, which I wouldn't.
Speaker A:I'd rather go to Alaska, quite honestly, but I would love to go to Hawaii.
Speaker A:And then somebody says, well, where are you now?
Speaker A:And it's like, I have no idea.
Speaker A:I just want to go to Hawaii.
Speaker A:I just want to go to Alaska.
Speaker A:And see that.
Speaker A:It is an element we tend to overlook because we don't really assess, partly because of some other internal narratives I think we often have around where we are versus where we should be, which is thoroughly sabotaging our best efforts to actually engage and participate in this thing we call the spiritual journey.
Speaker A:So that's the first one.
Speaker A:Second one is you can't lead somebody someplace you've never been.
Speaker A:And so this is kind of a two pronged approach, because in one sense, why am I doing this?
Speaker A:I'm doing this to deepen and build my relationship with God, because I need that in my own life.
Speaker A:I need that spiritual connection.
Speaker A:I need the spiritual fuel and refreshment that comes from it.
Speaker A:I need that at the same time.
Speaker A:And that's a key.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Is at the same time that gets leveraged to helping other people.
Speaker A:Because I've walked down this path before, and I can say, yeah, yeah, I get that.
Speaker A:Me too.
Speaker A:I've experienced that as well.
Speaker A:And let me tell you a little bit of what my story is without trying to make it a point for you and really go from there.
Speaker A:So where we want to start.
Speaker A:Now imagine for a moment that you have a circle in front of you and you've got six different squares along that circle, okay?
Speaker A:And each square represents kind of a phase of the journey.
Speaker A:And now the authors of the book that I'm borrowing a lot of this material from Janet Hagberg And Robert Gulick comes from the Critical Journey.
Speaker A:If you want to read it, I would encourage you to do so.
Speaker A:But they have stage one, which is the Converted Life, and then stage two is the Disciple Life.
Speaker A:And we may or may not be able to get to stage two, but I want to at least start to unpack some of Stage one, and ultimately Stage one as the Converted Life.
Speaker A:Well, let me go back to the circle I was describing to you.
Speaker A:So it has six different waypoints, and I mentioned waypoints last time.
Speaker A:And waypoints in flying are coordinates in the sky that pilots run by longitude, land latitude, where they are.
Speaker A:And once they hit that, then it's a waypoint.
Speaker A:And then they make a correction in their course to continue on where they're going.
Speaker A:Those are waypoints.
Speaker A:And now I also mentioned last time, and waypoints is defined as way W a Y, not W, E, I, G, H, because you've no doubt heard anchors away, right?
Speaker A:And away in that case is a W, E, I G H.
Speaker A:It's casting the anchor off.
Speaker A:In this case, it's weigh W a Y point.
Speaker A:And it marks a point where course correction needs to occur.
Speaker A:And so that's what each of the oftentimes these stages are.
Speaker A:And there are six different boxes around that circle.
Speaker A:And we will kind of work our way through each one.
Speaker A:We're going to start at the very first one, and it is literally referred to as the Converted Life and this stage, if you will.
Speaker A:And again, I have real reservations about using the word stage, but since the authors are using it, I will stick to it.
Speaker A:But just realize that, like I said, the journey itself is fluid.
Speaker A:It is a spiral moving upward, and it can collapse down on itself.
Speaker A:So I can be in two different stages at the same time, which really violates a stage model idea, because there's not a bright line between stage one and stage two and stage two and stage three.
Speaker A:There's no.
Speaker A:There's no more of a boundary than if you cross from.
Speaker A:For us here, if you cross from Colorado into Nebraska, it's not like you have to jump a chasm or something.
Speaker A:It's just marked.
Speaker A:And that same thing is true with the stages that I'm going to be talking about.
Speaker A:So the very first one is often referred to as the converted life.
Speaker A:And this starts with the discovery of God through a recognition of need.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's a result of just a sense of awe.
Speaker A:Isaiah in the Old Testament, the prophet was awed by God's presence, and he was ushered into God's presence.
Speaker A:And he was sure that he was going to be undone.
Speaker A:And so sometimes it's a sense of awe, sometimes it's an immense sense of need and there must be something else.
Speaker A:And I can't do this by myself.
Speaker A:And people are thoroughly unreliable in trying to accomplish this.
Speaker A:So it starts with what we call conversion, which is very much of a religious term, but it fits right.
Speaker A:We've got an AC to DC converter.
Speaker A:We convert from a life of enslavement and self sufficiency and all of those things into a life of freedom and reordering the priorities of our life.
Speaker A:It's not like we're going to have no troubles once we pass into a relationship with God and Jesus, but it's still a conversion.
Speaker A:And the funny thing about it is there is oftentimes, not always there is a point of conversion, then there's this long process that we're talking about in terms of the journey, which in a sense is kind of growing into, which is what children do.
Speaker A:We grow into who we are.
Speaker A:But there is oftentimes a dividing point where there's a conversion and there's a sense of new birth and a new sense of purpose, a new sense of the life that we might now have.
Speaker A:Now again, just remember that when we go into this, and it's something I have said before, is the converted life is the first stage.
Speaker A:But that doesn't mean that if I'm all the way over in the fourth or fifth stage, I don't have elements of the converted life or I come to a new understanding of my relationship with Jesus and then it feels like a conversion all over again.
Speaker A:Does that mean I'm losing ground?
Speaker A:No, not at all.
Speaker A:Remember, these can collapse down on each other.
Speaker A:And so the sense of new birth, new focus, new life, all of that is very much a part of this converted life stage.
Speaker A:And it can be out of a sense of awe, it can be out of a sense of need.
Speaker A:It really can be some remarkable thing happens and we have a sense that something bigger than us is on the move and actually moving.
Speaker A:Good example is Saul.
Speaker A:I mean Saul, you want to look at a conversion, right, that he was a fire breathing dragon amongst all of the new followers of the Way, otherwise known as Christianity, eventually.
Speaker A:And he was searching and destroying them, he was taking them and bringing charges against them and killing them.
Speaker A:And we're told even in Acts when the story of Stephen is told, which is the first martyr of the church, that who held the coats of the people that threw the stones at Stephen to kill him was Saul.
Speaker A:He was the coat bearer.
Speaker A:And so he went on a rampage throughout the countryside trying to track down all of these way followers.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And by the way, there's that word again, right?
Speaker A:Way.
Speaker A:And so that's a good example.
Speaker A:And there are other examples in Scripture of a conversion experience of some sort where the person turns and pivots and maybe even More so does a 180 and goes back in the direction toward their identity and who they are and a change of mind and all of those sorts of things.
Speaker A:The other thing about this that isn't often talked about, I think, is what can prompt this experience is creativity, is experiencing other people's creativity.
Speaker A:Now, let me give you an example.
Speaker A:If you ever want to read an interesting book on spiritual formation, it's by a Catholic priest by the name of Henri Nouwen.
Speaker A:N O U W E N.
Speaker A:And this particular book was entitled the Return of the Prodigal.
Speaker A:And Henry tells the story of going to the hermitage in St.
Speaker A:Petersburg and sitting in front of Rembrandt's drawing of the Return of the Prodigal.
Speaker A:And he sat there all day to the point where the guards had to kick him out of the museum.
Speaker A:And he tried to get a.
Speaker A:A chair to sit in front of it so that he could see it at a different angle.
Speaker A:It's that kind of thing.
Speaker A:And just in that amount of time that he spent with that painting, the book was born, the Return of the Prodigal.
Speaker A:And he explores what people he related to in that story.
Speaker A:So it was not only God the Father, but it was also the prodigal, and it was also the elder son who's in the shadows.
Speaker A:And so creativity can spark it very much in terms of sparking our understanding and our draw to God himself.
Speaker A:Unfortunately, if you look at some of the more denominationally based or ecumenical approaches to this formation, a lot of times they'll mute and hold down, not suppress, because that has a more intentionality to it, but it mutes this new birth, this new excitement that the person is feeling.
Speaker A:And again, like I said, I can experience a conversion of sorts when I'm over in stage four and five.
Speaker A:And that's, you know, a whole other kind of phase of the journey, if you will.
Speaker A:So there is something else that we have to talk about in stage one, and that is what the authors refer to as feeling caged and feeling stuck would probably be a better way to put it.
Speaker A:And instead of feeling love and awe, we think of God and others as constantly having expectations of us that we can't fulfill.
Speaker A:Now what is that?
Speaker A:The reality is that when I come to faith and trusting that Jesus is who he says he is and his promises are true and I'm willing to lean my life against that and against him, it doesn't mean I drop all of my tendencies that I had before, I bring them all with me.
Speaker A:So if I have perfectionism, if I have anxiety, if I struggle with depression, if I have a lot of distorted perceptions of the world around me and people, all of those come with me, it's not like I drop them when I decide to lean my life against Jesus.
Speaker A:And that's one thing that goes into this.
Speaker A:So this idea where we have this sense of God and others constantly having expectations of us that we can't possibly live up to, that's old thinking.
Speaker A:It's pre conversion thinking, if you will.
Speaker A:And we bring those things with us, and if we don't identify that, then what we will end up doing is integrating that into our faith and it becomes part of our journey.
Speaker A:As if that is just normal and it isn't.
Speaker A:I mean, that kind of begs the question.
Speaker A:It isn't.
Speaker A:But at the same time, we're going into a journey we've never been on, so why wouldn't we use old strategies to try to accomplish this new journey?
Speaker A:And that's natural.
Speaker A:I don't know that there's any way around that it's happening.
Speaker A:But if I want to change that, and if I see that actually as a obstacle to my relationship with God, then I have to be aware I can't change what I don't see or I don't recognize as a problem, or I won't accept.
Speaker A:And that is another one of these key principles that shoots through all of this, is that I can't change what I won't accept.
Speaker A:And when I say accept, it's not condoning, it's not saying it's okay.
Speaker A:It's not patting me on the head and saying everything will be okay, just keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker A:No, it's not that at all.
Speaker A:That's not what acceptance is.
Speaker A:Acceptance is a full embrace of the reality of where I am, who I am, and what kinds of things I'm bringing with me into this journey.
Speaker A:That's what acceptance is.
Speaker A:And then my targets are really very clear in terms of what I can do and what I need to do to make some changes here.
Speaker A:And let me give you another example.
Speaker A:Our perfectionism.
Speaker A:Our perfectionism we bring into our faith and so we superimpose it because it's our way of ordering life.
Speaker A:And so we order our spiritual life that way as well.
Speaker A:And when we do, expectations arise, demands arise, how we handle mistakes, how we handle not doing things quite right or not living up to whatever the standards are that I think I should have.
Speaker A:When I fail to do that, that's usually when perfectionism shows its ugly head.
Speaker A:It's waiting in the wings as long as I continue this performance.
Speaker A:There was another author that kind of got ostracized in the evangelical community.
Speaker A:His first name was Tullian.
Speaker A:He was the grandson of Billy Graham, and.
Speaker A:And he called it.
Speaker A:He didn't call it perfectionism.
Speaker A:He called it performacism, which I think is probably closer.
Speaker A:It's all about performance.
Speaker A:I am my performance, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that my world is clear, that it is certain, it is predictable.
Speaker A:It is, and it's ordered.
Speaker A:And I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens.
Speaker A:And that includes my image of myself, that includes my expectations of other people, that includes even my expectations of God.
Speaker A:And I bring that to this picture.
Speaker A:And quite naturally, then I put it onto my spiritual journey being a list of tasks to accomplish rather than a journey to be lived.
Speaker A:And that is really tough.
Speaker A:And when we're early in this process, we don't know that we're doing that.
Speaker A:And ultimately, we've got to hope or we've got to seek a mentor who understands that not just Scripture, not just the spiritual journey, but understands, and this is the intersection of psychology with spiritual formation is what other psych issues are going on in here.
Speaker A:Just gritting our teeth, white, knuckling it, and stopping something only guarantees it will come back in greater force.
Speaker A:That's all it means.
Speaker A:There is no trust in perfectionism.
Speaker A:There is no trust in perfectionism.
Speaker A:So I am trying to convert into a new face, which is about trust.
Speaker A:But I'm trying to order it in a way that is built on not trusting.
Speaker A:And it's hard for us to admit that, I think, in a lot of ways.
Speaker A:So the other thing that tends to trap us is dwelling on how we have failed others and how certain we will be that we will fail them in the future.
Speaker A:And that that tends to feed a sense of worthlessness.
Speaker A:And these are all things, and just to keep you kind of grounded, these are all things that are part of the very beginning of our faith.
Speaker A:I look back at my faith, and I accepted Jesus on the shores of the River Thames in England in a tent with a leader of a bicycling group that I was with that.
Speaker A:We had just finished bicycling all over England, hitting all the tourist hot spots and a lot of places that weren't because we were on bicycles.
Speaker A:And it was a 2,500 mile trip in about a month.
Speaker A:And I had some close calls and I was in the context with other people who were of the faith and I really wasn't.
Speaker A:I was just there to, you know, enjoy the pubs, quite honestly.
Speaker A:And so it was, it didn't work real well.
Speaker A:And yet here I was handing tracts out to people in Oxford or reading the Gospel of John.
Speaker A:And I had never in my life ever read that, read what John wrote about Jesus.
Speaker A:I had never read that.
Speaker A:And I was brought up in a parochial school, a Lutheran school.
Speaker A:I knew, you know, scripture memorization, I did all of that.
Speaker A:And yet I still didn't know the biblical Jesus.
Speaker A:And that's exactly what we're talking about here.
Speaker A:So we bring our shame with us and if we are not careful, it will weave its way into our spiritual journey as well.
Speaker A:And we will not only be sinful to make mistakes and sin another religious word, I realize, but we're not only that, but we're also sinful.
Speaker A:And so the shame gets in there.
Speaker A:Because if I am, let me just be really clear.
Speaker A:If I'm placing my life and my trust, trust and faith in Jesus Christ and what he did at the cross and his resurrection, then Paul tells us we are now in Christ.
Speaker A:And when God looks at us, he doesn't see a sinful, corrupt being, he sees Jesus.
Speaker A:So let's be real clear, shall we?
Speaker A:Because oftentimes our concepts of ourselves are pre conversion, they're not embracing and living in the reality of who we actually are.
Speaker A:Now that doesn't get us off the hook from confronting our sinfulness and our sins, the things that we do that miss the mark, which is exactly what sin actually means.
Speaker A:So we can really get stuck with this guilt and shame.
Speaker A:And not only have I done something wrong, but I've also, I am wrong, I am a mistake.
Speaker A:And we bring that into our faith and then we attribute it to God and then we get mad at God and then we walk away.
Speaker A:And that's a challenge in sticking into, and sticking with this journey as well.
Speaker A:The other part of this is having a sense of kind of bankruptcy, you know, I have nothing to give.
Speaker A:And usually what it does is it, it prompts our tendencies to control and manage and keep things certain where they're not very certain.
Speaker A:And usually what shows up, particularly around this one, where we Feel like God is absent or has abandoned us is something that in psychology, we talk about as attachment styles or attachment filters, however you want to look at it that way.
Speaker A:And there are four different styles.
Speaker A:I'm not going to go into detail with these, but they're the ambivalent, there's the avoidant, there's the anxious, ambivalent.
Speaker A:I believe there's a combination one in there somewhere.
Speaker A:And then the secure.
Speaker A:And the interesting thing, I'm sorry, I told you wrong, it's disorganized.
Speaker A:And then the secure.
Speaker A:The interesting thing about that is, is it's worth our while to understand attachment styles and that which we are showing.
Speaker A:That doesn't mean that we can't change them.
Speaker A:We can, but it also means that they're still there.
Speaker A:They're still going to show up at a variety of times, particularly under stress, when we might be hurt, whatever that might be.
Speaker A:And so people that have a more secure attachment style, when things are going wrong, they don't feel abandoned.
Speaker A:They don't feel like God is absent.
Speaker A:But those of us that have, you know, whether it's the disorganized or the ambivalent or the anxious, all of those, whatever those might be, either those take me toward people and cling real tightly, or they push.
Speaker A:They have me running away from them in some way.
Speaker A:And so it's worth our while.
Speaker A:And I'll just point you to it and I'll put a link on the show notes, the podcast notes that will take you and explain it very simply to you so that you can understand what it is I'm talking about.
Speaker A:We know that attachment styles are related to spiritual development.
Speaker A:We know that without a shadow of a doubt.
Speaker A:There is a ton of evidence about that.
Speaker A:One of the things that we do depending on our attachment style is that we fall into contractual thinking and the way that works, and this becomes a beginning point of our spirituality is if I do this, then God will do that, and it's contractual, and all of our relationship with God is that way.
Speaker A:And so I pray I read my Bible, I'm a good person.
Speaker A:Therefore, what, you know, how do we see God?
Speaker A:What is he supposed to do in response to that?
Speaker A:Because, you know, there's a part of me, there's not a part of me, there's a lot of me that it seems to me.
Speaker A:And I know God doesn't have a head and he's a spirit being and everything else, but when he hears us thinking and doing things that way, he's got to scratch his head and Say, listen, I gave you a relationship with me.
Speaker A:Why don't you lean into that and let that change you rather than willpowering your way into it and then expecting me to do something in return.
Speaker A:Because that's not a relationship, it's just a trade.
Speaker A:And we treat God kind of like an object sometimes, and what have you done for me lately?
Speaker A:Kind of thing.
Speaker A:And that really does show up.
Speaker A:So what about.
Speaker A:That's how we get caged.
Speaker A:We get kind of stuck in this particular stage.
Speaker A:What does progress look like?
Speaker A:And ultimately, progress starts with acceptance.
Speaker A:Making progress in our spiritual journey starts with acceptance.
Speaker A:If it doesn't start with acceptance, we will spin our wheels at this stage or this phase of the journey a long time, because it's more the same just with spiritual garb.
Speaker A:And that's really what it amounts to.
Speaker A:So ultimately, I make progress to the degree or to the extent that I embrace that I am accepted as I am, not as I should be, because I'm never going to be what I should be.
Speaker A:And a lot of people hear me say that, and I say it a lot, but there are a lot of people who hear me say that and say, well, that just gets me off the hook.
Speaker A:What am I going to use to motivate myself?
Speaker A:And I end up looking back and saying, love that.
Speaker A:Really.
Speaker A:See, the thing is.
Speaker A:And there's so many riffs here that I could run down, and I'm trying not to do that.
Speaker A:But love cannot exist in a context of control.
Speaker A:It cannot.
Speaker A:Love flourishes in freedom.
Speaker A:God went out of his way to free us so that what?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:He freed us so that we could choose him and pursue a relationship with Him.
Speaker A:And presumably, as I bring more and more of my life in alignment with Him, I'll make changes, because that's what alignment is.
Speaker A:That's what a relationship is.
Speaker A:That's the nature of it.
Speaker A:So making progress is moving from the motivation of avoiding shame to embracing love as a motivation moving toward God, because He's already come most of the way for us.
Speaker A:And one of the issues during this phase of the journey is to find a good mentor who doesn't just know about Scripture, doesn't just spout off Scripture about whatever problem you face, but understands the landscape of what a journey like this is like and the kinds of things that you early on have to fight with, that you have to wrestle with somehow.
Speaker A:And there's just a few questions that I think of.
Speaker A:You know, for example, are they willing to share their own journey?
Speaker A:Not because, you know, a lot of times we'll tell a story from our own lives and then kind of tie it up in a bow and then give it to the person and say, okay, now what are you going to do?
Speaker A:Rather than, yeah, I walked this journey.
Speaker A:This is how I handle it, or this is how I really blew it up really badly, and this is what happened, and this is how I responded.
Speaker A:And this may be a key person that intervened to be able to help me along that way.
Speaker A:So are they willing to share their own journey?
Speaker A:And then the second question I have is, do they understand that the journey is about trust, not just obedience?
Speaker A:Not just obedience.
Speaker A:Okay, now let me Again, a lot of these terms have to be defined because obedience is defined.
Speaker A:We equate obedience with changed behavior.
Speaker A:Obedience is defined by the word itself as listening intently.
Speaker A:The next step is doing something with what I just heard.
Speaker A:That's the next step.
Speaker A:But that is not obedience.
Speaker A:Obedience is listening intently.
Speaker A:So we're looking, or you might be looking for a person who, as a mentor understands that the journey is about building and growing in trust.
Speaker A:Obedience will come along on its own.
Speaker A:Obedience in listening intently and acting differently, it will come on its own.
Speaker A:We don't have to focus as much on that because part of our transformation is not something that is in our control.
Speaker A:We don't have the power to be transformed.
Speaker A:Only God has that power.
Speaker A:And the only way I can access that power is by trusting him, even when the circumstances don't say he's good.
Speaker A:So the key here is to accept that you're loved as you are and not as you should be.
Speaker A:And that really is key.
Speaker A:The other thing to keep in mind, and if you're in a position of mentoring people, I want to address you.
Speaker A:And that is be aware that we are prone to make disciples that look just like us rather than like Jesus.
Speaker A:And it isn't always words that are necessary to accomplish them looking more like Jesus.
Speaker A:It's in our interactions.
Speaker A:It's in our willingness to ask the kinds of questions that prompt them to think, not tell them what to think.
Speaker A:It's those kinds of things that are.
Speaker A:That are important part of it.
Speaker A:So all of that is what stage one looks like.
Speaker A:There's a lot there and I kind of had a suspicion that I would do that.
Speaker A:So there's a lot there and I probably, I am going to call it a day and bring this to a close today.
Speaker A:And then I'll go on to stage two next time.
Speaker A:But just a few end of program reminders.
Speaker A:SGI-net.org that is the digital home, please visit.
Speaker A:Join our community and you will be notified you'll get a newsletter.
Speaker A:I've got a new article coming out in the news, new newsletter called Redemptive Communities and so we will be building that in.
Speaker A:There will be dates of when the retreats are coming up, as well as some devotional inspirational reading as well, and a variety of other kind of hopefully helpful things to keep in mind.
Speaker A:If you have questions or anything, obviously the invitation stands to DM me on Instagram or just hit the website.
Speaker A:There's a comment box at the very bottom of the page on the first page that you can do that and then subscribe and follow the podcast and write us a review if it's good.
Speaker A:If you think it's worth people's while to listen, please do a review.
Speaker A:That's the only way that we can raise our profile to not only further the mission of SGI but also to get more ears listening to the kinds of things that I tend to talk about here.
Speaker A:So you can follow us on Instagram giinternational at Facebook Ray Mitch there are frequently posts there and Then finally at LinkedIn @DrMitchM I T S C H By the way, you can hear the podcast on any platform that you listen to podcasts.
Speaker A:So feel free to do that if you're interested.
Speaker A:If you want to partner with us financially, we would be ever so appreciative and eternally indebted, literally.
Speaker A:So you can make a donation.
Speaker A:And SGI is a tax exempt organization, so all your donations are tax deductible.
Speaker A:And you can support our scholarship fund.
Speaker A:You can support just the general mission of sgi.
Speaker A:And there are other things in the wings that I would very much like to see implemented, but we need the income to do that.
Speaker A:We need money to do that either.
Speaker A:No wet, no matter how you cut it.
Speaker A:That's really the process by which we accomplish these things.
Speaker A:So you can hit the donate button and donate there.
Speaker A:Or if you want a resource of some sort for your donation, you can certainly do that as well.
Speaker A:You can either sign up for our digital devotional called Setting New Boundaries and you will get an email every week for a year about healthy relationships and boundaries and things like that.
Speaker A:That's a donation.
Speaker A:We also have window sticker that promotes the Outpost podcast that you can proudly wear for people to ask about what we're doing has the Latin phrase on it, esse quam videri, which means to to be rather than seem.
Speaker A:So there's that.
Speaker A:That's only five bucks.
Speaker A:And then of course, I already mentioned the Digital Devotional.
Speaker A:If you would rather send us a physical check, you certainly are welcome to do that.
Speaker A:Just make it out to SGI, P.O.
Speaker A: , Eastlake, CO: Speaker A:So there you have it.
Speaker A:Thanks again for joining me.
Speaker A:I very much appreciate it.
Speaker A:I do not take it for granted that I have.
Speaker A:I have some folks out there that that listen on a regular basis.
Speaker A:So thank you so much for doing that.
Speaker A:And I will be back here next week talking about stage three, and I hope to meet you then here at sgi-net.org until then, love you later.
Speaker A:Bye.
