Kimball and Kempis in dialog
I am currently reading “Imitation of Christ” and “They Like Jesus But Not The Church”1during my morning routine and I wish I could get Dan Kimball and Thomas à Kempis in the same room and be a fly on the wall. “Imitation of Christ” is a classic and much about spiritual growth through devotion and discipline. “They Like Jesus” is a contemporary work dealing with the disconnect between church and culture. Kimball narrates his journey of breaking out of the “bubble” while Kempis seeks to enter more deeply. This paragraph from Kempis prompted this post:
If we were to uproot only one vice each year, we should soon become perfect. The contrary, however, is often the case—we feel that we were better and purer in the first fervor of our conversion than we are after many years in the practice of our faith. Our fervor and progress ought to increase day by day; yet it is now considered noteworthy if a man can retain even a part of his first fervor.2
I believe in discipline. I have a morning routine that is such a fundamental part of my life that on the rare occasion that I don’t go through my morning ritual (fodder for another post perhaps), I suffer anxiety about getting my reading done before the day is over, for time is unfortunately unrenewable. Use it or lose it. The above quote is nonetheless disturbing. There’s an old saying that only a fool will continue to do the same thing hoping for different results. Make no mistake, Kempis is no fool. If anything, he seems to be highlighting the fact that personal devotion and discipline is not enough or all there is. Kimball is helping us to see why we shouldn’t isolate ourselves from humanity in general and non-Christians in particular. Kempis is too concerned with avoiding spiritual contamination: “We should enjoy much peace if we did not concern ourselves with what others say and do, for these are no concern of ours.”3 How shall we ever love others if we are more concerned with our own peace than their concerns? Do your devotions and disciplines and then get out in the world and mix it up.
