ABCs of Spiritual Formation: P is for Party & Power
You may spend the silver on anything you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family.”
-- Deuteronomy 14:26
P IS FOR PARTY...
Dallas Willard lists Celebration as one of his "Disciplines of Engagement", and it is one with which I find many people struggle.
I’ll quote Willard at length from Spirit of the Disciplines,
“[Celebration] is the completion of worship, for it dwells on the greatness of God as shown in his goodness to us. We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life, our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness. We concentrate on our life and world as God’s work and as God’s gift to us. Typically this means that we come together with others who know God to eat and drink, to sing and dance, and to relate stories of God’s action for our lives and our people.” (page 179)
How are you at celebrating? When it is your birthday, do you enjoy a good party? How about other people's birthdays? Holidays? Are you one who looks for any excuse to party or do you have issues joining in?
As we mature and grow into Christlikeness, celebrating becomes one of our defining characteristics. Jesus was known for partying too much! Let's look at some verses:
"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’" - Matthew 11:19
"While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples." - Matthew 9:10
"...a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, 'They have no more wine.'" - John 2:1-3
"When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly." - Luke 19:5-6
In addition, the Old Testament is replete with celebrations from the annual festivals to Miriam’s singing and dancing after God led the people through the divided Red Sea.
PROTESTS
If you are not into partying, let me address some issues:
Alcohol - If you don't or can't drink alcohol, no problem. Celebrating does not have to include alcohol. In fact, if we need alcohol to celebrate, that is a problem. Celebration is an attitude, a spirit. Being with a group of people and enjoying yourself is doable with or without alcohol, but although the Bible discourages drunkenness, it offers wine as a gift from God.
Dark Season - Even in dark seasons we can find things to celebrate, but this is not about celebrating constantly. There is a time for lamenting and mourning and for working and for dealing with serious matters, but seasons don't last forever. At times celebration needs to be a discipline. May we have the grace for those seasons to be short.
Painful Memories - "Growing up in my home holidays and my birthdays were horrible times. I have no good memories of celebrations." A friend told me this just the other day. How sad that is, and unfortunately it is true for too many people. If this is you or someone you know, this can't be forced, but Jesus does offer healing. Not being able to celebrate doesn't have to define you. Jesus rose from the dead and resurrection is possible. Healing is possible. It may take a lot of work over many years, but it is worth pursuing. Don't celebrate out of guilt or because you feel manipulated. Jesus is inviting you to something better and deeper. Receive his gracious invitation and allow him to lead you in gentleness towards healing.
Personality - Perhaps you have a more serious or pensive personality in which you always feel the weight of the world. My pastor told me this describes him. He also said he is working on the discipline of celebration. For him, it is a discipline. Maybe this is you too. Again, it is worth pursuing. Recognizing the pain in the world is good. Feeling it with those in pain is good. Suffering is real. Yet, this is one reason we need to celebrate. Remember Romans 12:15 calls us to, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." Only rejoicing or only mourning is unhealthy.
Budget - This is real for us and maybe for you as well. Celebrating does not have to break the bank. Finding inexpensive ways to celebrate may require more creativity, but it is possible. You may be surprised at what ideas you think of when you engage with lack of funds as a hard constraint.
IDEAS
When it comes to celebrating, we have the traditional days - birthdays, holidays, Sabbath, anniversaries, and vacations. Then we have athletic victories, graduations, getting a good grade on a big test, certifications, personally special days (when we first met or baptism or ?), promotions, and even random things like the first snow or everyone is healthy after a season of flu going through the family. I have a friend whose family did something fun on the 23rd of every month. I have no idea why that day was chosen, but every month on the 23rd, they were partying. How about you?
THE KIND OF PEOPLE WHO...
What would it take to be known by those who know us as people who love to celebrate? Jesus was known as a "glutton and a drunkard". Of course, he wasn't that, but he joined in so many parties, that was the complaint. May we be so full of the joy of the Lord that we celebrate freely.
...AND POWER
I was going to stop there, but I can't go to Q without mentioning power. As we grow in Christ our relationship with power must mature. Janet Hagberg's Real Power: Stages of Personal Power in Organizations, Third Edition is a must read for those who want to understand the relationship between maturity and power.
When we are young, we learn about power by default as those with power over us use it in both fruitful and harmful ways. We learn that having power is better than not having power, and we learn the rules for acquiring power. Depending on our context, this can vary widely but often in early stages it is a zero-sum game, meaning the amount of power is finite and must be taken and protected. As we mature, we recognize the emptiness of this mindset.
Jesus is our too often unheeded example. He had all power and laid it down and showed true strength and power in "losing". His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). In reality, in healthy environments power is infinite, and we do best when we spread power around and live a life of empowering others. As Peter Block says in Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self Interest, the leader's call is to confront people with their freedom and to empower those on the bottom and edges of the groups they lead. This was what Jesus did and continues to do as he makes his power available to all who humbly come to him. The Holy Spirit was unleashed at Pentecost just as Joel promised which means each of us is endowed with power. Learning to wield the power we have in Christ is a lifelong process, one requiring humility and compassion which only come from suffering, failure, and the learning we gain from those experiences. Much more could be said on this, but I think this broaching of the subject will suffice for now.
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”
-- Indira Gandhi