Ortberg: Christian Spirituality

“In Scripture we see a persistent conflict between what are called the ‘boundary’ and ‘centered’ approaches to spirituality.  Those concerned with the boundary try to distinguish the sheep from the goats by examining certain highly visible behaviors and beliefs.  In Paul’s time religious leaders often used circumcision, dietary laws, and Sabbath keeping to separate the in-group from the out-group.

Today the boundaries are marked around lifestyle issues, doctrinal positions, or denominational affiliation.  I grew up in a tradition in which the ‘truly converted’ sometimes envied, resented, and gossiped, but they never smoked, drank, swore, or voted Democrat.

But others in Scripture sought a centered spirituality, seeking cultivating first the kingdom and cultivating the fruit of the Spirit.  They looked not for conformed people or informed people but transformed people.  They concentrated not on people’s position inside or outside a boundary but their movement toward or away from the center.  They focused not on the edge of the target, but the bulls-eye.”

–John Ortberg, “What Changes After Conversion?” Leadership (Summer 1991), 54.