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Do Christians know how to be Spiritual?

Things I liked about John Drane’s Do Christians Know How to be Spiritual?

1. John is such a down to earth and commonsense writer. Time and again this struck me.

4. The mapping of different types of contemporary spirituality on page 60 under 3 headings;
Lifestyle – Values, Community, Belonging, Morality
Discipline – Committment, Structure, Authority, Traditional faiths
Enthusiasm – Experimentation, Freedom, Experience, Mystery
and it left me wondering about where most of my spiritual exploration is (lifestyle I think); and where most church spiritual exploration is…

3. The diagram on page 85 exploring the interplay between undefined spiritual experience; gospel values and intentional Christian spirituality

4. Some great quotes

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, wth all you rmind, and with all your strength .. and Love your neighbour as you love yourself …can become an appropriate text not nly for mission among spiritual searchers but also for renewed forms of ministry within a post-modern church.” pages 88-89.

“Jesus never called disciples to be perfect or infallible, but to be true to themselves and to the gospel, and in the process of doing so to invite others to join them in the struggle to be human, spiritual, and Christian that is part of one’s life journey. Evangelism is more about inviting others to join us on the journey, because we share the same questions, than it is about selling people the ‘right’ answers to life’s problems,” Page 143.

“Angry and fragmented people create an angry and fragmented world, while those who are whole spread peace and harmony,” Pages 158.

“We have something to share with others not because we are different, but because we are no different, and we can become credible witnesses not as we condemn others and dismiss what we regard as their inadequate spiritualities, but as we constantly listen to the gospel and appropriate its challenge in our own lives.” Pages 160-1.