Interesting how one pronoun changes everything. For years, I’ve prayed through the Lord’s Prayer, knowing those lines, and yet I rarely prayed it literally. Funny since, being an evangelical, I’ve been trained to read the Bible “literally.” But though we evangelicals often say that is our way of interpreting Scripture, when it comes to certain passages our sub-cultural traditions take precedence (for instance, in your next Bible study, try asking evangelicals if Jesus really meant the poor when he said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor” in Luke 4, or, “Blessed are you who are poor,” in Luke 6).
So, here we were in our Oasis gathering Sunday night when my friend Miche brings up the fact that when he prays “we” prayers instead of “me” prayers, it radically changes the meaning of his prayers and gives them deeper context, meaning, and practicality.
As evangelicals, in our zeal to promote each individual’s “personal relationship with God,” we have shifted the balance of our prayers toward the “me and God” kind. And then we pat ourselves on the back that we’ve taken the Lord’s Prayer and “personalized it” so that it has more significant meaning.
But then the prayer of the evangelical gets truncated to this:
My Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give me today my daily bread.
And forgive me my debts,
as I also have forgiven my debtors.
And lead me not into temptation,
but deliver me from evil.
I need to remember that The Lord’s Prayer starts out with, “Our Father in heaven.”Not, “My Father in heaven.”
What would happen to our prayers if we intentionally prayed for “us?” What would happen to our prayers if our “me” prayers were shifted from individualism toward interdependence - my living in the context of “community?” If being human means being relational, then everything we do as Christians is to be done in the context of redeeming all our relationships (with God, with others, and with the Creation).
What would happen if we read the Lord’s Prayer literally?
technorati: emerging church, spiritual formation, missional
Bob, Great to have you back, blogging!
ReplyDeleteGreat thought here. This is how Jesus said we're to pray. In terms of "us", each other, and not just ourselves. So easy to forget, the way we're conditioned (as you point out), and since the majority of our prayers are done by ourselves (not with others).
good point... I like that the prayer begins... as a foundation of community. That it is not grounded primarily on my goals and aspirations, but it de-centralizes me, forces me into a vocation larger than my own.
ReplyDeletevapor
Bob, I thought the subject of this post was amazing, and it is something that I have been wrestling with for a while now. Why do Christians in the West insist that it is all about me? I think we all know the answer to that question, but nevertheless, it is frustrating.
ReplyDeleteSomething I have realized as of late is that most of our "worship" songs are highly centered around "me". I don't deny the significance of a personal lament, but when it seems that everything is centered around me, myself, and Jesus, I think something needs to be said.
Something that I have tried doing in the worship in song portion of our church services is changing the emphasis on "I", "me", and "my" to "we", "us", and "our".
Like your friend, this has given me a greater sense for community, and it is my prayer that we, as the Church of Christ, begin to recognize that there is more to being a Christian than just your own "personal relationship" with God that exists primarily behind closed doors.
I linked to this post as well, though it didn't appear on your link (and I don't know how to do that).
ReplyDeleteTed,
ReplyDeleteBlogger automatically searches the internet to find sites that link to this post. It did this with you. Look under "links" at the bottom of the page.
Good thoughts over a Community of Jesus!
Vapor,
ReplyDeleteI love the term "vocation." We often forget that being a Christian is a full-time vocation, and part of the "job description" is to pray in the manner of the Lord's Prayer.
Thanks.
Nate,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was pastoring, I constantly was encouraging the worship team to switch up the wording in many of our songs to a more communal focus (we may have sang it as it was written, with the "I"s and the "Me"s, but at least in the last singing of the chorus or the final verse, we'd change those to "We"s and "Our"s.
This helped us as a congregation to remember that we are in this Christian life together!
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI've finally done it - I just purchased The Divine Hours. Your comment threw me over the brink. Too many people I know have spoken far too highly of praying this way for me to ignore it any longer.
Thanks!
Thanks, Amy, for the excellent advice. I will take it!
ReplyDeleteI already have my "smartphone" set up to connect with "explorefaith.org", which features the "The Divine Hours" by Phyllis Tickle (http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/hours.php).
I see that the prayers offered by the Vineyard Ann Arbor are different. Do you know why? Maybe they are drawing from different books in the series?