This is the abundant life: the renewed opportunity to encounter God with our whole self, to exist as those created to walk between worlds.
I once had a close friend pose an interesting thought experiment. He asked, introspectively, whether I thought we are physical beings having a spiritual experience, or spiritual beings having a physical experience. It is a great question. As I began to reflect on this, it occurred to me that framing such a question as an either/or dichotomy only functions to obscure the deeper truth… that we are both. Were we only material creatures, then our physical nature would be little more than dust and flesh, devoid of will, beauty, and the capacity for love. Were we only spiritual entities, however, we would be equally devoid of that link to the grand creation of which and for which we were made. Our spirit encounters the things of God; our matter engages the things of earth. Thus, as we look forward towards eternity, we do not see the Christian hope to be that of casting off our material forms, but rather of receiving a glorified body, resplendent in the absence of our current frailties.
The question of our material nature, however, is not the one often facing Christians today. Rather, our modern sensibilities challenge the very existence of the soul. It is our inner spirituality that is at stake, accosted by a worldview paradigm which threatens to sever us from the core of that which makes us human. So it was that I felt my inner being breathe deep the words of Dallas Willard in my most recent reading of The Divine Conspiracy this week. He spells it out plainly:
For it is in persons, or “selves”—and their experiences of feeling, thought, and will—that we primarily come to know precisely what the spiritual is. “Spiritual” is not just something we ought to be. It is something we are and cannot escape, regardless of how we may think or feel about it. It is our nature and our destiny. (Kindle 1636)
Willard does not mince words. That inner spirit is an inescapable part of our makeup. To deny our spiritual nature does not cause it to cease to exist, it merely cuts us off from that wellspring which leads us into the depths of True living. Furthermore, it divorces us from our ability to encounter the reality beyond the senses, that permeating presence of God and of the heaven which surrounds us, offering to fill our hearts as air fills our lungs.
To understand spirit as “substance” is of the utmost importance in our current world, which is so largely devoted to the ultimacy of matter. It means that spirit is something that exists in its own right—to some degree in the human case, and absolutely so with God. Thoughts, feelings, willings, and their developments are so many dimensions of this spiritual substance, which exercises a power that is outside the physical. Space is occupied by it, and it may manifest itself there as it chooses. This is how Jesus sees our world. It is part of his gospel. (Kindle 1692)
What a glorious thing! We are beings of two worlds, anchored in this great creation, but also connected to the heavenlies. God, who is Spirit; and earth, which is matter… we exist in connection to both. One realm is understood through scientific inquiry, the other through revelation and divine encounter. Though we may naturally gravitate toward the material, God is actively at work infusing the miraculous into our every step. Thus, Willard goes on to say:
Because we are spiritual beings… it is for our good, individually and collectively, to live our lives in interactive dependence upon God and under his kingdom rule. Every kind of life, from the cabbage to the water buffalo, lives from a certain world that is suited to it. It is called to that world by what it is. There alone is where its well-being lies. Cut off from its special world it languishes and eventually dies. This is how the call to spirituality comes to us. We ought to be spiritual in every aspect of our lives because our world is the spiritual one. (Kindle 1696)
This is the abundant life: the renewed opportunity to encounter God with our whole self, to exist as those created to walk between worlds. This is what it means to be spiritual.
How do you encounter the world beyond the senses?
NEXT WEEK I WILL BE GIVING AWAY A FREE COPY OF ‘THE DIVINE CONSPIRACY’ TO A RANDOMLY SELECTED MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY WHO HAS TAKEN PART IN THE COMMENTS DISCUSSION SURROUNDING THIS BOOK. FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE THE GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES.
Related articles
- The Kingdom of God: Eternity Begins Now (ofdustandkings.com)
- The Divine Conspiracy: Knowing Life (ofdustandkings.com)
- The Divine Conspiracy: Particles and Progress (ofdustandkings.com)
andrejoy18 April 3, 2012 at 11:27 am
This is so true! If we neglect either the physical or the spiritual, we diminish our humanity. I just finished reading Dallas Willard’s book “Revolution of Character”, which discusses the 6 dimensions of the human being, the body and the soul included. Great parallels with this discussion are in that book, if you haven’t already read it!
T. E. Hanna April 3, 2012 at 11:30 am
Dallas Willard actually has a trilogy in spiritual formation. Renovation of the Heart is (I think) the first, then Revolution of Character, and then Divine Conspiracy (which is this one). Great books. Dallas Willard and Richard Foster are the two people I put at the top of my list for spiritual formation.
andrejoy18 April 3, 2012 at 11:31 am
Wow, cool! I guess I need to read Renovation of the Heart and The Divine Conspiracy then! I have heard of the others but have only read the middle one (if they go in that order).
Karen Wan April 3, 2012 at 11:28 am
You write beautifully about the Christian faith. I believe that I read another book by Willard a while back and loved it. Thanks for sharing from this book, and making me think about the spiritual self in an expanded way!
220lily April 3, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Reblogged this on 20/20: Learning to See Like Jesus and commented:
It is through the body, the imago dei, that we encounter a spiritual being – the triune God – and experience (enjoy) him. Heaven and earth meet in our tripartite beings.
Bob Pittenger April 3, 2012 at 4:26 pm
The abundant life cannot be found in possessions, places, or people; neither can it be found by simply looking to our eternal future with Christ. It is found living in the here-and-now being filled with the Holy Spirit in order to obediently fulfill His will on earth as it is in heaven. We reach the pinnacle of our existence when our lives are lived to His glory; which in turn brings about an even greater abundant life.
Dallas Willard is a wonderful author! I have read, “Hearing God: Developing a conversational Relationship with God,” “Revolution of Character,” Renovation of the Heart,” and “The Spirit of the Disciplines.” “Divine Conspiracy” is next on my reading list.
Thanks for the great post!
Judy April 3, 2012 at 5:50 pm
I completely agree with your observation that to make a question about our physical and spiritual existence an either/or choice is to ask the wrong question. As you so well expressed, “we exist in connection to both.” What a great joy! Thanks for an excellent post.
irishsignora April 3, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Of course we’re both
There’s a reason we Catholic types pray, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” They’re present in everything, if we but look for them. Random chance would allow for two blades of grass or two snowflakes to be identical. God does not, as each of His creations is uniquely and wonderfully made.
Beautiful and thought-provoking post!
rabidmongoose April 3, 2012 at 10:26 pm
I wonder if this is the dual citizenship of heaven and earth each follower of jesus possesses, as discussed by the Apostle Paul. We walk here and in heaven simultaneously. Such a thing would be impossible if we were not both material and spiritual.