Can a privatized spirituality change the world?

 Jesus taught us that it is what comes out of a person’s heart that either rewards or judges them. [i]It also reveals the content of the heart. There is no such thing as a privatized spirituality, because what is in a person always comes out, it always affects those around them. A person truly alive in Christ is like a lit match, he will start a fire. Most of us have a box of matches in the house,they are stored somewhere safe, they are of no danger lying dormant in a box. But grab a handful and lay them on a table, there are many matches doing nothing. This could be very much like groups of Christian who lay dormant, no one or thing has ignited them.  If however,you strike one, the rest of the pile ignites and you have fire. Jesus championed the idea that from one little light, a difference can be made. “ You are like the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise yourheavenly father.” Matthew 5: 14-16  The answer to the question is Only a privatized spirituality can change the world. What starts private does not remain private, by its nature the flame is ignited and before you know it you have Elton Trueblood’s, Incendiary Fellowship.[ii]For unless it is privatized, or should I say, firmly inside a person, it will flame out, it won’t be real. It is located in a person, that is the only place it can begin, then we put it on a display, it shines, it talks, it walks, it interacts, it cares, it is God’s active presence in the world. This is why there can never be a Churchless Christianity, it is by the faith of others that our faith is ignited. “ When Blaise Pascal needed language to express the vivid character of his life changing experience in November, 1654, he wrote in large letters, on his secret document, the word, FIRE.” [iii]After Pascal’s death the secret document was found sewn into the lining of his coat, the passion for Christ burned deep within him. That night he described his encounter with God as “ Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.” [iv]The reason we have trouble igniting passion in others is that we function as unlit matches, laying there with the potential for fire, but unstruck. There is ananonymous prayer that can act as an antidote,             Comeas the fire and burn            Come as the wind and cleanse            Come as a light and reveal.            Convict,convert, consecrate            Until we are wholly thine. [i] Luke 6:43-45NLT[ii] EltonTrueblood’s work, The Incendiary Fellowship is a wonderful book that speaks ofthe fire of the true spiritual life and how it affects the faith community and the public square.[iii] Trueblood,Elton The Incendiary Fellowship, Harper and Row, 1967 Page 108 [iv] Muggeridge,Malcolm A Third Testament, page 32 Orbis Books, Maryknoll , New york, 1976