Attitude Adjustments May Be Necessary

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, February 15, 2008

Sometimes, when one is compelled to participate in an activity, there is a built-in resistance to everything that comes with participating. The kid in school who is compelled to run laps for physical education class is less likely to run with enthusiasm that the kid who volunteers to run the 400-meter race at a track meet. This “rebellion” doesn’t go away when we grow up.

I spent the first part of this week away at a mandatory retreat for certain United Methodist pastors. I am one of 80-something pastors in The United Methodist Church’s West Ohio Conference who are in the “supervised years” process. We are pastors who have finished our seminary education, but have not yet completed at least three years in ministry following graduation. There are certain things we MUST do in order to be ordained.

I admit to being less than enthusiastic about driving four hours to northwestern Ohio (especially in the face of predicted snowstorms) to sit in training sessions for two days around stuff I think I already know. In short, I had an “attitude problem.”

The topic of the retreat was spiritual formation – how to become more in tune with God. In the back of my mind, I was tempted to think: Preachers don’t need that, do they? After all, they spend every waking moment (and a few sleeping ones) thinking and doing things for God, right? I know all about the importance of prayer – we pray every Sunday in church. And reading the Bible? Who’re you kidding? The pastor has to read the Bible every week so that he has something to preach about!

Spiritual formation? Who needs it!?

Guess what?? Pastors need it desperately! They get so busy doing God’s work, that they can quickly forget that it is GOD’S WORK and not their own. And trying to do everything out of their own strength can lead them into traps of weakness. Spiritual formation keeps the pastor on the path towards holiness – that perpetual pursuit of perfection that I wrote about last week.

And spiritual formation is for more than just pastors. Everyone needs to be spiritually formed! No matter what job you have, what stage of life you are in, or how deep you think you are religiously, there is room for growth. Pastors need to practice spiritual disciplines as an example to their congregations, and congregations need to practice them as examples to the community as a whole. This retreat reminded me of that.

My attitude at the beginning of the retreat needed an adjustment – from thinking mostly about myself to thinking mostly about God. I continue to be amazed how much better my attitude towards everything can be when I stay focused on God! And I came away from the retreat convinced that I need to be more diligent in practicing spiritual disciplines, so that my attitude doesn’t require so much abrupt adjusting.

So what are the habits that can help our attitudes to stay in the right adjustment? First is practicing self-awareness. Learning to recognize and identify your feelings and attitudes. John Wesley asked a classic question: How is it with your soul? If we don’t know the state of our souls – lonely, sad, satisfied, ecstatic, pleased, troubled, rested, joyful, angry – then we cannot change when we need to change.

Look at the Psalms for examples of soul-awareness. Take Psalm 42, for example:

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food

day and night, while men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. I say to God my Rock, ‘Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?’ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

The writer of this Psalm is clearly going through some troubled times, and he (or she) is aware of how those troubles’ affect his relationship with God. The psalmist is willing to question God: “Why have you forgotten me?” after being taunted by those around him with “where is your God?” But even in the questions, he is finding God. “Soul, put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him.”

Did you see the attitude adjustment that took place in the midst of the psalm? The writer recognized the state of his troubled soul and brought it to God. How about you? Can you identify what your attitudes are today? How is it with YOUR soul?

During this season of Lent, take the time to ask yourself this question. Don’t be afraid of it, because no matter what state your soul may experience, God is big enough to adjust it for the better. I know, because He certainly did it for me! Anybody up for a 400-meter dash?