The Barnabas Ministry
Book Review

Soul Keeping- Ancient Paths of Spiritual Direction
By Howard Baker (Navpress, Colorado Springs, CO 1998.)

Soul Keeping by Howard Baker addresses important issues of inner spiritual life for Christians.

As Christians, we encourage growth in service, growth in scriptural knowledge, and growth in commitment to marriage, family and church. Why have we nearly ignored the soul's growth (Soul Keeping, p. 23)?
Jesus spoke about the central tenet of spiritual life on a variety of occasions. The gospel of John records it as such:
He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal (John 12:25).
One might normally be tempted to consider the "hating of one's life in the world" as the key to this text. But the focus of what Jesus said revolves around keeping our lives for eternity. It is from this desired end result that life's priorities should be defined.

The Greek text of the word translated "life" is the Greek psuche (yuch;), which is normally translated "soul" in English. Hence, the title of the book: learning to keep one's soul for eternal life. The reality of Jesus' teaching is that one's soul is not kept for eternal life by being religious, acquiescing to certain doctrines, nor by jumping through any number of spiritual hoops. It is "kept" by rejecting inner worldliness and drawing near to God-- the human response to God's grace:

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).
Growing up in faith is a daunting if not painful process, usually displaced as a priority by the distractions of good things such as work, home, family and church, if not worldly amusements. Baker's book highlights the importance of considering the end result in the priorities of spiritual life, for without a focus and specific effort to care for and direct our souls this "growing up" will never happen.

The Objective of Soul Growth
The primary objective of soul growth is "spiritual growth in the character of Christ (p. 23)."  The scriptures reflect this personal priority and pinnacle of spiritual growth:

...  until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19)...

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord ... (Philippians 3:8)

Key Elements of Soul Growth
Of course, soul growth is a cooperative work between man and God. We certainly cannot will ourselves to like Christ, as man's reactionary passions cannot bring about the righteous life that God desires (James 1:20). We must allow Him to do the work. Our most important contributions to this are getting out of the way and letting Him do it. While discussing soul growth, Baker addresses a number of more specific aspects of the process.

Seeking God
Too often, people think of "seeking God" as something that someone does prior to their conversion to Christ, or perhaps something that one might do to seek divine direction concerning some major decision. But God is "Our Father" and not "Our Swami!" Scripturally speaking, seeking God is an integral part of our relationships to God.

Everything is made to center upon the initial act of "accepting" Christ ... and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him (p. 58).
The Scriptures teach that we should seek God all throughout our lives:
 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God (Psalm 10:4)."

 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God (Psalm 42:1-2)?

You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).

Seek the LORD and His strength;  Seek His face continually (Psalm 105:4).

Relinquishing Control
Baker discusses the reality of the struggle and fight for our souls. We are faced with choices about what we might trade our soul for (Mt 16:26). For many, we desire to control ourselves and our own destiny-- we submitted to God at the time of conversion, but now we are in control of the ship! We may desire to obey God as we understand him, but the fact remains that we are still in control.
It now seems that the earlier steps of submitting career and lifestyle to God were relatively easy compared to the later call to submit to God my dreams for my children, my notion of what is best for me and my family, and finally, to place all of my desires in God's hands (p. 88).
The gap between our understanding and his understanding illustrates why we should stand in awe of him (Romans 11:33-36) and always seek his control instead of ours. But oh, this is a difficult lesson for a mature Christian to comprehend-- he is too busy doing what God once led him to do to heed what God is now trying to lead him to do.
It is the rare individual who can accept the loss of a job, relationship or dream as the creation of an empty space in our ambitions that God can now fill. We labor ferociously to keep emptiness from gaining a place in our lives. We hold on tightly to anything that seems to make life work for us, and we lose our soul in trying to make permanent a world that is changing beneath our feet every day (p. 91).
What misery it is to link our contentment and happiness to something we cannot have: control!

Slow Down and Open Your Eyes
Baker devotes significant attention to the idea of slowing down life and getting in touch with soul reality. After all, we spend time planning all sorts of things in our lives-- why not take time to evaluate and plan for our souls? For this purpose, he discusses taking personal retreats on a regular basis for reflection and special time with God. He also urges us to make this private, quiet endeavor a high enough priority over all of the voices of other things demanding our attention.

More often than not in casual discourse the answer heard most frequently to the questions "How are you?" or "How's life?" is "Busy!" I am never quite sure whether I am supposed to be impressed by or sympathetic towards that response. For many, busyness conveys the illusion of importance and significance. The sacraments of this illusion are the ever-present cellular phones and pagers. Its holy book is the planning calendar. The irony is that the more we try to control our lives through these "time-saving devices," the more we lose our souls to the compulsions of efficiency and effectiveness (p. 123).
Contrast the busyness of your life with the simple description of the life of Jesus:
But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray (Luke 5:16).
After exposure to this idea, I personally took a half-day retreat just to slow down, get away and do some soul-searching. I went a few hours out of town and was able to spend half a day paying attention to my soul. I used to do this type of thing much more often before I was married and had children (that is, until my life got so busy!). But I don't need it any less than I needed it back then; in fact I need it more. I echo Baker's call to slow down and make sure the important things get done in our lives, and not just the things that make themselves sound so urgent!

Praying the Psalms and Gospel Meditation
Baker focuses a great deal of attention on praying the Psalms and Gospel Meditation. In praying the Psalms, he urges that we communicate to God in this way that He has already shown us. Often, our prayers are more like shopping lists and requests for divine brilliance than the simple communication in the context of a relationship. Praying the Psalms helps us to tap into the power and depth of communication that is so often lacking in our prayers, as the Psalms cover such a wide variety of circumstances and emotions.

In response to the notion of praying through the Psalms, I undertook a study of the Psalms to consider if praying through them might be a useful thing. I will soon publish a study on the spiritual needs addressed in the various Psalms, as I have found that reading and praying Psalms that more closely relate to my situation are helpful.

Likewise, Baker urges that we read the gospels with a different perspective. We should put ourselves in the position of those whom Jesus ministers to and allow ourselves to be the healed ones, the tax-collector in the tree, and the penitent sinners. Put ourselves there, and hear the words of Jesus calling us to be healed, dine with him or be forgiven. Why should the imagination be left for Satan? Why not use it to make Jesus' message to us come to life?

Too often, we read the gospels and emphasize how different Jesus is compared to us. Preachers do this a lot, and it is easy to show how someone is a sinner compared to Jesus! But persistently reading the gospels in this way can make our visits to the gospels an occasion of guilt and shame, turning the "good news" into bad news. Instead of trying to grasp on to being like God (Philippians 2:6), we should remember the good news that Jesus is the Savior of us sinners:

And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)."
Spiritual Classics
Another great tool that Baker urges is the reading of spiritual classics like Brother Lawrence's "The Practice of the Presence of God" and Thomas A' Kempis' "The Imitation of Christ." This is not to say that monasticism is the path to spiritual growth, but it reflects the reality that writers of other times and cultures can speak effectively to us precisely because they are outside of our culture, and because they have captured jewels of spiritual riches that can help us even today. After exposure to Soul Keeping, I have begun reading "The Practice of the Presence of God" and have found it helpful and encouraging to growing closer to God.

Spiritual Mentoring
Involvement with other Christians is a key part of soul keeping, as Baker addresses the place of relationships in spiritual growth.

Neither rugged individualism, a lone ranger spirituality, nor a "me and Jesus" approach to life is an option for the Christian who seeks to be guided by God and to live biblically (p. 142).
I've been exposed to the idea and practice of discipling for many years, yet I must admit that in practice discipling does not always contribute to the spiritual growth God desires for us. Often we've succumbed to the philosophy that "the method is the message--" that the mere recognition of discipling is the same as actually achieving the goal of discipling-- becoming more like Jesus. I can testify to the fact that just because "discipling times" happen, it doesn't mean anyone is getting any more like Jesus in character or closer to God spiritually.

In fact, one of my greatest disappointments about spiritual leadership is that it often has very little to do with getting closer to God. By its very nature, it is all about leading others, but by focusing on others the ongoing spiritual needs of leaders do not get met. So what happens when spiritual leaders are not growing in spirituality? They become stagnant and provide unspiritual leadership.

Baker draws a distinction between spiritual leaders and spiritual mentors (or "spiritual directors"). Leaders serve a function in helping the church stay unified and connected in its agenda, but mentors help people truly grow in their spirituality. If we do not recognize this difference, we will not be truly effective in helping people grow spiritually. This is not to say that spiritual leaders cannot be effective mentors, but it does recognize the difference in these two functions.

Baker identifies some traits to look for in a spiritual mentor who can help you grow to be more like Christ.

1. A person of prayer who prayed for you and with you
2. Someone who was able to see movements of God's grace in your life when you could not
3. An individual who could accept you, just as you are
4. A person strong enough to challenge you to go deeper with Christ
5. A person of integrity, mature and passionate in his or her own relationship with God
6. A good listener who could focus on the condition of your soul.
As one who has led and mentored people in the past, I can readily see that much of this mentoring earlier in my spiritual life was quite humanistic and unspiritual. This is because I was humanistic and relatively unspiritual in my own spiritual life; I honestly wanted to take care of people's souls but mistook adherence to the church agenda for spirituality. This is a common and normal thing for people at less mature stages of spiritual life. But in later years, I see myself with more of these traits that Baker identifies (though I still have a long way to go!).

For me, they key difference in the stages of mentoring is this: Do I try to solve everybody else's problems (especially with some directive to "do" something), or do I help them go to God and not me with their issues? Do I see myself as their primary helper, or God as their primary helper? A list like the one Baker has provided is a great tool to help us take inventory of our ability to help others with their souls.

Conclusion
Humans have this incredible tendency towards reactionary extremism. In the context of spiritual growth, on the one hand we may resent worldliness and pursue being ultra religious (perhaps through asceticism or isolation), but on the other hand we may be reactionary against "being religious" and pursue worldliness. This ebb and flow of extremes has occurred in church history and in individual lives over and over again.

Soul Keeping, as also with the example of Christ, urges us to consider the important things with the gravity they deserve, being careful not to get so caught up in the "here and now" to see what's really going on inside and where we are headed. Baker records a lament by author A. W. Tozer concerning busy religious people that may apply to us:

For millions of Christians, nevertheless, God is no more real than he is to the nonChristian. They go through life trying to love an ideal and be loyal to a mere principle (p. 111).
I commend Soul Keeping as an eye-opening work that will help older Christians remember why they became Christians in the first place, help young Christians to avoid getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of spiritual life, and help spiritual leaders tend to the business of truly shepherding the souls of the flock.

Copyright © 2001 John Engler. All rights reserved.


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