For many Christians 'Quiet
Time' is an important part of their spirituality. They take some time out of every
day to read their Bible and spend some time in prayer and possibly reading some
other Christian focused book whether it be devotional, commentary or theology.
No one for a moment is saying
that you should neglect Bible reading or prayer. The criticism comes with the
perception that a day without it is a day that should be riddled with guilt or
that somehow that day will not be blessed or 'right'. It must be admitted that
for some it almost takes on a superstitious ritualistic kind of flavour and that
of course would be an abuse or at the very least a misunderstanding.
Some are criticizing the
emphasis on Quiet Time due to its individualistic and subjective aspects. They
would argue the Evangelical church has become far too individualistic in both
its understanding of doctrine and its notions of worship. There's something to
this of course but the critics often go too far. These are often the same sorts
of people that are almost uncomfortable with the idea of Christians reading
(and judging) the Bible for themselves apart from some kind of ecclesiastical
guidance or structure. They won't come out and say it but it's almost as if
they believe that untrained regular people (the laity as they would call it)
are incapable of properly studying the Bible. Individuals studying alone, let
alone in a group can only lead to trouble.
While this certainly can be the
case it is not automatically the reality and just because something is subject
to abuse does not mean the ecclesiastical powers that be are now right in restricting
use or eliminating it altogether.
The Holy Spirit certainly uses
Means to govern the Church and the government of the Church is a critical
component. But polity in the end is a form that cannot guard against all
corruption. That said it also cannot in and of itself forge the unity in the
Spirit we would all desire.
It is the work of the Spirit
Himself. God will hold the Church together and no matter what form you wish to
create or impose, if it's His will that it be rent asunder you will not stop
it. Guarding the flock is not a license for spiritual tyranny.
We can acknowledge the problems
with individualism and the modern attitude that is often dismissive of the
past. Like Luther we celebrate the individual's reading and interpretation of
the Bible while rejecting the 'me and my Bible' attitude in much of
Evangelicalism. The problem with the latter is the intellectual divorce from
historical context.
My late father was part of this camp
and as he would share his theories with me he was often surprised when I would
point out to him that the very issue in his theory had been discussed and
debated many centuries before. We run the risk of being arrogant and foolish if
we ignore the past and we're also denying the work of the Holy Spirit operating
within the minds and hearts of God's people.
That said much of the past is
riddled with error and wickedness masquerading as Christian Truth. As Paul said
with regard to Israel, the Church is not always the Church.
But before we can even begin to
think about the issues we have to invest the time and energy into learning the
Scriptures and how they've been read throughout history.
Quiet Time can be abused but
its neglect is also an abuse. Those whose only diet is the Scripture being read
and preached on Sunday morning run the risk of spiritual starvation. This is
especially true given the state of the modern pulpit.
There's another argument that
is often employed and this is with regard to the historical question of
literacy. Many would argue that most Christians throughout history have in fact
been illiterate and thus the notion that people would spend time every day
reading the Bible is ridiculous. We can and should read it but shouldn't feel
obliged to do so or guilty if we don't have time.
Again I'll admit if you wake up
late and didn't have time to read, or you came home exhausted and fell asleep,
I don't think you need to feel guilty.
But I would think as Christians
we would hunger and thirst for regular Bible readings. If we don't then we need
to pray for more zeal and desire within us to know the ways and paths of Mount Zion.
We have lost sight of its glory in the clouds of worldly distraction and are in
danger of withering away and failing to persevere.
And yes, one's understandings
of perseverance, sanctification or lack thereof are also elements to this discussion.
Some whom I would label as Hyper-Solafideists are critical of the notion of
Quiet Time. They don't like the idea that we must put forth effort, bear fruit
and that our peace and assurance are somehow tied in with an objective
vitality. These things can be abused to be sure but a lackluster presumption is
also perilous. Those that have reduced the idea of saving faith to mere
intellectualism are also likely be to somewhat critical of the idea of private
devotion.
With these abuses of 'saving
faith' a corollary reductionist view of sanctification can usually be found. In
fact in some Evangelical and Reformed circles the idea of sanctification has
been almost eliminated.
We need to be careful to
maintain good works and these works are defined Biblically not in the language
and concepts generated by Dominionist theology. Work is a means not an end and
in light of eternity an hour spent reading Scripture is far more valuable than
a 'time is money' attitude and the deception that wealth and physical work
build the Kingdom of God. I'm referring to the fact that in some circles it's
all but insinuated that since work is worship your best served by working hard
and let your devotional time be tied to the Church.
It's true that many in the
Middle Ages and Antiquity were illiterate and as a result would not be able to
devote their time to reading. There are a few things to consider.
First, society tended to be
more proximate and notions of time were different. People could attend church
more often and hear the word read and preached. Their lives were not separated
as they are in modern congregations located within modern Western society.
Their lives were not on schedules. As an aside for something to consider when
you're laying awake at night... The invention of the clock radically changed
the way people live their lives and as wonderful of a tool as it is, I'm not
sure the effects have always been carefully weighed. While useful it also means
that Western life took on a structure that did not previously exist.
If we all lived within walking
distance of our congregation, then daily worship could be a reality. How
wonderful that would be, but in order to have it the Church would need to
re-think its place in and relationship to the larger culture.
Second, it must be emphasized
that even during the Middle Ages the Christians who comprised the Underground
Church were always zealots when it came to literacy. God has communicated to us
a written Word. We are people of the Book and groups like the Waldensians
understood this. There are copious records of underground schools and
scriptoriums wherein the Scriptures were learned and copied.
They also spent tremendous
amounts of time learning and memorizing Scripture. This is not the
out-of-context Bible memorization common among many Fundamentalist groups. No,
they memorized whole books and large portions of the Bible, especially the New
Testament. It was if they let it soak and absorb into them. For them the
Scriptures were the Words of life, the authority in their lives.
The fact that the Roman Church
turned to stained glass windows and statuary as 'books of the laity' is little
more than an indictment against that false system. The very existence of the Waldensian
project condemns both the Roman system and the literacy argument employed
against private devotional Bible reading.
This is very much like those
who would defend the sanctioned violence of the Protestant Reformers because
they were 'men of their times' who took as normative the execution of heretics.
Again the Medieval Dissenters
condemn them. They argued both against the Constantinian state violence and the
idea of persecution of heresy. A majority is not equal to consensus nor does it
grant moral legitimacy.
Quiet Time rightly understood,
divorced from superstition is a helpful tool for growth and a means by which
the Holy Spirit can enable us to grow.
Some criticisms are valid but
in other cases the criticisms expose and unveil deep problems in the
theological assumptions of the critics themselves.
As Christians we love the Word
of God and any day spent apart from it should rightly vex us. While the New
Testament era is not particularly an age of typological symbol and ritual we
are left with a handful of means or tools by which God aids us through tangible
exercise by which we can grow and draw closer in communion with Him. Apart from
Baptism, the Supper and Prayer, the reading (and hearing) of the Word as often
as is possible aids us in 'giving ourselves' to the things of the Kingdom.