On the Sacred (and Slightly Irreverent) Way
Finally, a spiritual formation guide for less-than-saints.
Skye Jethani
October 1, 2005
Sometimes I sit in my church office amid towers of books on ministry strategy and discipleship DVDs and wonder, Is any of this stuff really necessary? Last year Americans bought $4.34 billion worth of Christian T-shirts, Thomas Kinkade calendars, and devotional books. The proliferation of "Jesus junk" makes you wonder how Christians communed with God before singing vegetables and purpose-driven ministries. Tony Jones's book reminds us that before Christianity was a retail market it was sacred. The Sacred Way awakens us to the simple practices of the spiritual life believers for centuries have used to commune with God. Not intimidated by labels, Jones removes the barriers between Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox spirituality, and acknowledges that we "live in a time of unprecedented cross-pollination" in the church. The admiration for different traditions flows from Jones' frustration with his own narrow spiritual journey. "I was raised in a nice, Midwestern, church-going family. I went away to college and got involved in a conservative evangelical college group then went straight to seminary after graduation. In other words, by the time I was 25, my views of God, prayer, the Bible, etc. were pretty screwed up." Organized into two sections, Via Contemplativa (contemplative spirituality) and Via Activa (bodily spirituality), the book covers 18 practices, including familiar disciplines like solitude and fasting, and those foreign to most evangelicals such as sacred reading, labyrinths, icons, and pilgrimage. Aware that his readers will be unfamiliar with some of the practices and downright disturbed by others, Jones uses stories and humor to identify with his audience. For example, Jones writes, "Everything in my ...
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