The Table Video

This video is about spirituality in the mundane and the irritating: budgets, bosses, all the stuff that bumps and bothers our souls. For lots of people spiritual theology is confusing and irrelevant. “I don’t have time for theology; I’ve got an actual job to do!” In this episode, John Coe frames the conversation about personal growth and spiritual formation in a context we can all understand: when the normal stuff of life just BUMPS us… BUGS us. It’s those moments where we can really grow.

Transcript:

With God in heart, scripture in hand all of us are asking the spiritual theological question and that is, how does this really work in my life of growth? And nobody can escape that question. [soft music] Our vocation that God has called us to is wherever we are that He wants to use that to transform us. As you hear the scriptures on Sunday morning, and you hear this very high calling, this very high ideal to walk in the spirit, so now you’re task is, okay I’m at work. Now what would it be to walk in the spirit at work?

How does this actually work in my life? Let’s take you’re doing something as mundane as doing budgets at work. For me, I have to work on budgets in the job I have in the ministry. Well, that became a major issue. John, do you want to do budgets in the flesh? Do you wanna just go on auto-pilot and do it or do you wanna ask the question, how do I sit here and spend the next four hours working at this budget and just be open to you, Lord? I want to walk with you, I wanna be with you. This is my calling. My calling, your calling if you’re doing budgets at work it’s not when you’re going to church on Sunday. Oh now, that’s the higher calling.

No, or going on a mission trip. No, your calling is how to transform doing your budgets at work but doing it open to the spirit. And first, there needs to be an intentionality. An intentionality is, God, today as I’m going to work, I really wanna be open to you. I want you to teach me. I want you as I bump up against things like I’m bumping up against my budget, I get really bugged. That’s cool, lord. In four seconds, and you say, God I’m really bugged about this budget but I wanna do this in you.

Or I’m at work and I’m interacting with a client or a person and that person, they bump something in my heart and I’m scared and a little angry at them, I’m a little bugged or I’m a little fearful. Well, somewhere in the privacy of my soul, I wanna then say, whether it’s just right there or in one hour later, okay God, this is good. This is good because you’re using this person to transform me. They really bug me. And so, anything at work is an opportunity where when people bump our soul, they’re only being used in sovereignty of God but to raise certain issues. Well, now I have a real conversation.

And so, you don’t wanna make the mistake to think that going on a mission trip, ah, that’s where the spiritual growth is. No, all that stuff at work where our souls are getting bumped, that’s the Lord kind of purging it, bringing it up and saying, God, I really am angry at them, I’m really bugged at that person and what’s going on? Now you’re in the middle of formation. Now you’re doing spiritual theology, you’re doing what God called us to do. And you know what the tell us of this is? The goal of all of this is not so that even later on say, ah, I see that I’m growing, I’ve become a better person.

No, you know what I think the goal is? Is we’re moving more towards, I’m becoming a more dependent person. You know, the process of growing, that’s a long process there’s someone who said spiritual formation is the slowest motion on earth. You may not see that growth but here’s what you’ll be getting to see. You will be getting to see that your soul is taking the Lord, Oh God, I need you. You begin to see a little bit of humility so that now, you realize, you know, I used to get really bugged.

I kind of in my soul storm out of the office and be bugged all day but I just, I now am able to hold this process with you more and say, yeah you know, I know that’s going on but God, it’s okay. What you’re doing is you’re gaining more access to your soul of how to experience God in the stuff of your life. And how do you even experience others in that stuff as well? [gentle music]