Becoming Actualized Christians : Part 2

Letters to a Young Evangelical (Art of Mentoring)
by Tony Campolo, Ph.D.

(Page 2 of 3)

Then something that verged on the supernatural happened. I turned to her, and she turned to me. Our eyes met and we connected. With all the spiritual energy that had flowed into me during my morning prayers, I focused on her. I didn't just look at her. I looked into her. I somehow felt empowered to reach down into the depths of her being, and I had an eerie sensation that I had touched her soul. What surprised me even more was that she was doing the same thing to me. I could feel her spiritually pouring herself into me.

She stopped her quacking. I had never heard of her doing that - but in that moment, she stopped. Then she lifted her eyes and looked around at the sky and the trees and the people nearby, and she said, "It's wonderful! It really is wonderful, isn't it? It's really wonderful!"

Before I could answer, the traffic light changed, and several people rushed by us. As one of them brushed past the Duck Lady, I watched her head jerk ever so slightly. Then she fell back into her schizophrenic state. As she wandered across the street and disappeared into a crowd, I once again heard the quacking sound. Standing motionless on that street corner, I wondered to myself what might have happened if I could have held on to her just a little longer - perhaps just a minute or two more. Then, maybe, the deliverance would not have been temporary. Just maybe, something more might have happened.

Maybe you're thinking, "He's a sociologist. Doesn't he realize that what she really needs is a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist?" The answer is "Yes!" But when the psychotherapists and psychiatrists have done all that they can to no avail, I believe that there is still "a balm in Gilead" that can heal the troubled soul. That balm becomes available to me when, in prayer, the Holy Spirit saturates my soul. In centering prayer, something happens to me that is strange and blessed. I feel the Spirit expanding within me "like a fountain of living water," as Jesus said, and I begin to experience a transforming presence and a sense of empowerment from God.

The second essential discipline that I believe will give depth to your spirituality is what is called "contemplative Bible reading."

There are many different ways to read the Bible. It can be read as a theological textbook from which doctrine can be extracted. It can be read as a history book that provides a glimpse into what went on in the lives of the strange and wonderful characters who created Israel and, later, the church. It even can be read as literature, marked by poetry and brilliant narratives. (In fact, it's often studied this way in university classes.) But in contemplative Bible reading, Scripture is read like a love letter.

Should you get a love letter, you'll read that letter over and over again. The literal meaning of the words will become secondary to what you read between the lines under the influence of your imagination. It will be as though the person you love is right there with you; you will feel a loving presence and an indescribable connectedness with that person. Each time you read it, you will likely find new meaning and feel new emotions. That is the way it is with contemplative Bible reading. Needless to say, you can't read the Bible that way unless you are already in love with Jesus. That's why I told you to start with centering prayer, because in centering prayer, you fall ever deeper in love with Jesus and you increasingly feel Jesus loving you back. The presence of his love within is what prepares you for contemplative Bible reading. Without his Spirit, the Bible is just a fascinating book; but with his Spirit vibrating within your soul, it can become a living love letter addressed especially to you.

Some people are committed to reading the Bible from beginning to end and cover to cover. I have a friend who proudly tells me that he does that every year because he wants to reacquaint himself with its contents. I have never read the Bible that way. To be honest, I don't think I could. Those genealogies in the Bible get me down. There's a place for scholarly Bible study and even for reading the Bible from cover to cover. It's important to know the contents of the Scriptures. But it is even more important to let the Spirit speak to you through Scripture and mystically teach your heart what reason alone can never know.

I'm quite selective in what I read. Every day, I read a few verses from one of the Gospels, and then I meditate on what I have read, letting God's Spirit teach me things in the sacred moments that follow. Sometimes I'll read the same few verses over and over, waiting for the Holy Spirit to make the words into sacramental food to feed my hungry soul.

Sometimes in the evening I pray one of the Psalms. That's right! I said pray the Psalms! That's another way of doing contemplative Bible reading. I learned that from some monks in the Benedictine order. They showed me that the Psalms can give expression to almost every emotion arising in the human heart and mind. The Psalms enable me to externalize my feelings - and sometimes they are ugly feelings. When I give voice to them as I pray the Psalms, God can deal with them and heal my sin-sick soul.

I don't confine myself to the Gospels and the Psalms. At least once a week, I spend time contemplatively reading from the Epistles. Also, I make sure to give some attention every week to passages in the Hebrew Scriptures such as the powerful writings of the Prophets. But I have to admit that when all is said and done, it's the Gospels that do the most for me. The Gospels help me to get a sense of what it must have been like to walk and talk with Jesus back there in ancient Israel. After reading the Gospels, I read the rest of the Bible through a grid created by Jesus's teachings. I understand whatever else I read in the Scriptures through its relationship to him.

Whatever you do, don't rush through your Bible reading. Let the words roll around in your heart and mind. Allow time for God to say something meant especially for you - something that will bless you, lead you, inspire you, change you.

© 2006 by Tony Campolo. Reprinted with permission from Basic Books.

About the Author

The Rev. Dr. Anthony ("Tony") Campolo is Professor Emeritus of Socialogy at Eastern university, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, having previously served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. A graduate of Eastern Collage and of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned a Ph.D. at Temple University. Dr. Campolo is a frequent media commentator, is President and Founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE), has authored over 30 books, and is ordained in the American Baptist Church. He lives with his wife, Peggy, in a suburb of Philadelphia.