Theological Implications of The X Factor

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Theological Implications of The X Factor

• Based on Findings of Christian Research
  Association (CRA) on
• Australian Youth Spirituality in Putting Life
  Together (PLT)

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Moses Generation YPower Point prepared by
Norman Habel - daughter is Generation Y
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What is the Spiritual?

• Definition 1
• A conscious way of life based on a transcendent
  reference
• BUT not always conscious
• Not always with specific transcendent reference
• A hope for the next life
• Commitment love

• Definition 2
• When youths view life/the world discern
  something very important beyond the normal
  relationships with self, close others, society
  and nature.
• Something beyond
• 'A deep relationship'
• The X Factor'

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PLT - Table 3 page 21

• Spiritual commitment and love in relationships
• 1. Commitment to personal growth and excellence
• 2. Love for family and friends that surpasses care

• 3. Commitment to the wellbeing of society
• 4. Commitment to nature, sense of unity with
  natural world
• 5. View of world encompassing commitment to God
  or philosophy of life

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When is a relationship spiritual?

• Not one-off mountain top experiences
• Not specific religious connections
• BUT a certain dimension/quality of relationship
• Something more
• The X Factor

• 5 CRA Categories
• With self
• With close others
• With society
• With nature
• With a world view
• EACH relationship
• may be spiritual or not

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The X Factor

• Title comes from a boy I interviewed
• Relates to any or all of the 5 spiritual
  relationship categories above
• The X factor is the unknown, the mystery, the
  something more, the spiritual, the Y gene

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Theological Starting Points

• Is the situation hopeless?
• Can we locate the X Factor?
• Do our theological roots help?
• What mysteries might we explore with youth?
• The challenges to our theology?

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PLT Survey Part 1 Spirituality and Self

• Few said Life Sucks
• Sense of peace happiness as vital
• Prayer a lost cause
• Vague sense of purpose
• Feeling of belonging
• Constructing selves in terms of their world

• BUT none of these elements high self-esteem,
  feeling good about self, belonging etc are
  necessarily spiritual
• What IS spiritual?
• Is the question OK?
• What is the X Factor?

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The Spiritual and the Self

• Key start is being true to ones self not the
  hypocrisy in churches
• There is something more to life somehow
• Something other than oneself not nec. God
• Life may fit into a great scheme of things

• Is there an inner self?
• c. 80 probably
• c. 20 definitely
• BUT do not pursue it
• Potential is there BUT
• Creating their own world rather than exploring
  the world within!!!

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1a. ImplicationsThe Self The X Factor

• This challenges our traditional theology
• Of soul/spirit as a discrete entity!
• That the self/soul sins
• Faith as total trust of soul in a divine
  person/being
• Youth see a vague X presence within rather than
  an entity, have a vague belief not faith in
  traditional sense

• The vague X presence inside does not necessarily
  pray
• Does the X inside sin? How? Against what?
• Does the X inside need to be saved? Or found?
• Is it seeking to discover a deeper self?
• What is the X inside?

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1b. The Self Sola Fide

• Does this X factor challenge theology that
• Soul goes to heaven/hell
• Faith as accepting beliefs/teachings
• Faith not works saves us from sin
• Faith as trust in Christ alone

• Soul searching self listening?
• Inner self on journey somewhere
• Searching as incipient faith?
• Search alone, not requirement to believe a
  doctrine?
• Search many paths

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Pauls Approach - Acts 17

• Image to the Unknown God X
• Humans ignorant but aware of something there
• All humans search for the Unknown, for God,
  groping to find
• The search as incipient faith?
• And God NOT FAR from each searcher
• Then Paul quotes Greek poet! Or H.P today?

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PLT Survey Part 2a Spirituality Family

• Towards spiritual in commitment and love
• Relatively high levels of satisfaction with life
  at home friends
• Still admire parents, their sacrifice, care,
  sticking with, strong bonds, commitment

• Is there a sense of parents as source of the
  spiritual, the deep, wisdom, connection with the
  other?
• Is God a super dad really present?
• Projected guess from family into other?

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Survey Part 2b Spirituality Friends

• Friendships valued
• Have deep friendships!
• Confidants in pain!
• Ready to support
• Care for those in need or crisis
• Self interests with needs of others

• Church once social centre source
• Now new networks
• Signs of spiritual??
• Something in deep friendships that transcends us
  as individuals
• H.P and J.C. model ?

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2. Implications Family/Friends the X Factor

• Challenges theology that baptism binds us into
  new family
• That together the church is the body of Christ
  one in love Those who live in love - live in
  union with God and God lives in union with them
  1John 4.16

• The X factor and family caring?
• The X factor in hanging out? Excitement?
• Is hanging out as spiritual as Eucharist?
• The X factor in playing together?
• X factor rites today? Music? Forms of bonding?

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Close Others Corpus Christi

• Challenges concept of Church
• As church viewed as all do same, believe same,
  say same
• Authority based bodies offer security
• Key rites as marks of church

• Is there a wider spiritual domain?
• Is the body of Christ a mystery or an
  institution?
• On what grounds do we exclude/include youth from
  being in Christ?
• Alternative rites?
• School as church?

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Is Love the X Factor?

• Loving selves
• Loving family/friends
• Loving nature
• Loving God.
• Love one another as I have loved you
• Strong Spong
• Is the 'Love of God/God is love' a key concept
  lost?

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PLT Survey Part 3 Spirituality and Society

• Low level of interest in social issues
• High number watch news BUT
• Issues not seriously discussed by youth
• Pro-peace world to enjoy life and friends
• Social justice means a fair go for Aussies

• See importance in SJ - little understanding
• Do minor things give, volunteer, help
• Everyone does their bit but few get heavily
  involved in a cause
• No church prophets to emulate
• No march on uranium mines or against war
• No non-violence focus?

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3. Implications - Social Justice and the
Theologia Crucis

• Challenges the theology of the incarnation Phil.
  2
• Ministry as serving the one who came to serve
• Challenges Jesus mission of social justice
  Luke 4 he identifies with those struggling
  against injustice works to free
• Christ not gentle Jesus but love your enemies
• Way of cross not glory Christ not superman!

• Identify with those willing to die for the X
  Force struggle for true justice as a spiritual
  X models
• Gandhi
• Martin Luther King
• Daniel Berrigan
• Nelson Mandella
• Jesus Christ
• Archbishop Tutu
• Charles Strong
• Florence Nightingale

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PLT Survey Part 4 Spirituality and Nature

• Some enjoy beaches, being alone in bush.
• Peace away from city
• Rarely have deep experiences of bush
• Excitement rather than protection of the E.
• More consumer than nature concerned
• Global warming not yet seen as violence one of
  crimes against creation

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Spirituality and Nature

• In PLT, Paul Collins story of discerning
  presence lurking experiences
• But anthropocentric views rule over nature
• Aboriginal spiritual bond with land ignored
• Church is heaven not Earth oriented
• Few find nature part of spiritual journey
• No priority to experience God in nature

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Science Rules!
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4. Implication - Nature and the X Factor

• Luther Finitum capax infiniti
• The infinite as the X factor in nature?
• Or is all finite?
• The X factor and genetics
• The X factor and evolution
• Creatio continua and the X Factor
• Creating search

• With evolution and science a given - a vague X
  factor in nature challenges
• God as a Creator we owe so much
• Creation as kin and responsibility to kin
• God revealed through nature
• God immanent in cosmos

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Jobs Experience

• A crisis senseless suffering violence
• God a hidden cause!
• Job takes God on and demands showdown
• Challenges the beyond to appear on Earth
• God breaks through in storm talks about nature
  ecospirituality

• Job 38-39

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Ecospirituality

• A spiritual spot

• A spiritual season

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PLT Survey Part 5 World views and Cosmos

• No Aussie agreed worldview, mate!
• Pluralistic society
• After counter-culture revolution of 60s-70s
  scepticism normal
• No clear God background to reject
• Matter of choices smorgasbord of
  spiritualities!

• The grey area includes karma, psychic, astrology
  and God!
• Clear area is science, history based on
  evidence accepted
• Where is capacity to make choices wisely?
• Where is the Cosmic X option?
• School science ignores the mystery element

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God in the Grey Area
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Generation Y Beliefs

• About half believe in God BUT not deep
• Maybe 15 enthusiastic about religion
• 20 reincarnation - karma
• Maybe alternatives
• Images of God father, in sky, watcher, kind,
  cosmic therapist - vague

• Not the U.S. warm and fuzzy God
• Creator OK for some
• God as perfect parent/friend for few
• Whatever works for you personal thing
• Whatever you find helpful is fine!
• No urgency to find the X Factor in the cosmos

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Implication 5 - The Cosmos and the X Factor

• The X Factor in the wider world, in the cosmos,
  challenges
• The God of history
• The God of heaven who rules in person
• The God of destiny
• God who forgives sins and saves
• The Trinity v- grey

• 3 distinct persons v- one indistinct X

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Challenge for Churches

• God in the grey area
• Society secular spiritual stays
  personal/private
• Choose what works
• Challenges tradition
• S.J. not urgent
• Church an optional extra like astrology
• 25 believe in God but half immigrants

• How does the church, a divided Xty, plan to have
  some influence on the values and vision of youth
  who now view God as an optional extra and an X
  factor in the grey and who know more about H.P
  than J.C?
• Old God images dead?

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Luthers Approach

• Deus absconditus
• Connected with God hidden in nature, but
  especially with idea that God was on the cross,
  shamed! Hidden!
• Deus revelatus
• God revealed through crucified one announced in
  Gospel and grasped by faith

• What if
• We view the X Factor as deus absconditus God in
  the grey
• Search the mystery of the hidden see what is
  revealed through youths?
• Compare with other revelations
• God as searcher Job 28
• Proverbs 8 Col. 1

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Challenge of Spirituality

• Unclear what it is! X!
• Confused with Religion
• No clear X traditions
• No X symbols/rites?
• No heroes H.P?
• No urgency!
• Needs someone to 'come out' and say I am
  spiritual

• Grey on Grey

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Possibilities Mystery of Spiritus Sanctus

• Spirit more than a third of the trinity
• Spirit as the impulse for the inner self to
  search within...
• Spirit as the impulse to relate to others is a
  deep way...

• Spirit as the impulse to follow Christ on a
  social justice journey
• Spirit as the impulse that renews and reveals in
  creation
• Spirit as the impulse to discover God in the
  cosmos

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Towards a new definitionSpirituality is the
impulse

• To search for meanings within the self -
  incipient faith
• To reach for deep relationships with others
• self-giving love
• To identify with those struggling against
  injustice way of the cross
• To discern presence in the natural world
• To search for the mystery in the cosmos - the
  hidden God
• Are these impulses the work of the Spirit even
  though youth may not recognise them as such?

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A Blessing

• May the spirit surprise you,
• like a dove from above,
• or a swallow from below,
• but now and then
• like a blue wren
• Norman Habel
• nhabel_at_esc.net.au