ReflectiononPeterScazzerosEmotionallyHealthyChurch

2013MatthewHundley

Reflection on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero Matthew Hundley Peter Scazzero is trying to tackle, to use his own metaphor, an iceburg of information in the relatively short span of pages that make up, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. He opens the book by addressing the problema pattern of disengagement in the churchparticularly amongst a segment of people he calls the church leavers. The root of this problem stems from failures in our modern practices of discipleship. Basically he says that we are doing well at engaging folks in the programming; the programs are not the best means to dispensing the Gospel and getting people engaged with Christ. Our activity in God and life for God determines to a high degree our emotional and spiritual health, and thus Scazzero calls us to shift to a more contemplative model for activity and life. Emotional health and spiritual maturity go hand in hand. Scazzeros criticism of current discipleship models is that they tend to focus on surface-level issues, but fail to address deeper spiritual and emotional issues. What happens then is that Bible truths are misapplied, and when trials come our way, when we are forced to face painful emotions, we are ill equipped to handle them, biblically. Scazzero defines a path to unleash the transformative power of Jesus to heal our emotional lives through the joining of emotional health and contemplative spirituality. He points out that our activity for God can only flow through a life with God. This can be difficult, since we operate in a society shaped by the beast but dont recognize the presence of the beast in our lives. Our temptation to earthly success has a radical impact on our image of God. Emotional health impacts our image of God, our ability to hear his voice, and our discernment of his will. Scazzeros practical advice is that we slow down, anchor ourselves in

ReflectiononPeterScazzerosEmotionallyHealthyChurch

2013MatthewHundley

gods love, and break free from earthly temptations that grip us. I was doing a lot of head nodding in agreement with Scazzero as he defined the disconnect we face in the church and its impact. Ultimately what he is labeling emotionally healthy spirituality is a call to radical and countercultural lifestyle. This is not new. Jesus prescribed a radical and countercultural lifestyle to all who sought to follow himsell off all your possessions, leave your family, take up your cross and follow me. These prescriptions are just as difficult for us to accept today as those who sought to follow Christ while He was yet on this earth. There are times where Scazzero sounds a little new agey as he delves into the search for the true self drawing the correlation between awareness of self and relationship with God. He talks about listening to god from within and our searching the interior silence and solitude. But this is all well meaning for God does speak to us through the raw material of emotions. I think what Scazzero is hinting at is the need to be authentic before God; and that only by being brutally honesty and vulnerable before God can we achieve the relationship with Him that we truly desireand that He desires for us. Scazzero takes a number of diversions. At one point he discusses the imprint made by our families and our past. Ultimately he seeks to explain how discipleship involves this move from the biological family to the family of God. He speaks of the journey through the wall and the need to purge our affections and seek richer, fuller communion with him. Ultimately the discussion moves out of the emotional and into the Spiritual. He describes a path to true spiritual life which involves diving back into contemplative observance of the daily office specified times for prayer, study and meditation.