Meet the Mystics: Augustine Calls Us to Desire

“Thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
-Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Augustine
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is a figure who looms larger than life in the history of the church. Many know him as a great theologian who emphasized God’s grace, taught on the Trinity, and refuted Pelagianism. He helped to lay the foundation for the whole Western church, both Protestant and Catholic.

But Augustine was also a mystic—one who had a truly personal relationship with God. Although Augustine lived a worldly life for many years, the Lord supernaturally crashed into his life at one point leading him to a verse in Scripture that led to his conversion. From then on, Augustine cultivated an intimate walk with the Lord. Augustine and his mother, Monica, also had a phenomenal encounter before she passed away in which they were both experienced a taste of heavenly glory.

Desire
In his writings Augustine has much to say on spiritual growth. One of his key themes is that “desire.” Desire (longing, craving) is the starting point—it is what draws us to the Lord gets us out the front door to go on a journey with God.

Created in God’s image we are born to desire. That capacity to desire is good. Desire is meant to be directed toward loving others—both God and other people. However, because of the fall our desire became twisted inward (concupiscence, lust) and we focus on ourselves and our pleasures.

In his autobiography, Confessions, Augustine describes the many earthly pleasures he pursued before coming to Christ. Our hearts run after many false pleasures and empty pursuits that will never satisfy us.

Augustine sees desire as the driving force of our lives. Salvation is not a matter of killing all desire in our lives, as it is sometimes preached. Rather, repentance means redirecting our desire.

Only in a genuine relationship with God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—will our restlessness be stilled. Spiritual growth, therefore, is all about stirring up our desire for the Lord, directing our steps toward him and continually cultivating our personal relationship with him.

Life-Long Pursuit
When many contemporary Christians read Augustine’s statement, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee,” their thought is “been there, done that.”

This is the wrong response. Far too many people today can describe when they “prayed the sinner’s prayer” but they have grown little since then. Although they claim to be saved, they have little interest in the Lord. Rather, their desire is directed toward material possessions, physical pleasure, success, and even recognition in ministry. It has been years since they genuinely pursued the Lord.

What we desire—what we pursue—tells the truth about us. If we pursue carnal comforts, then our lives are carnal. The spiritual path we are on is headed in the opposite direction from the Lord. As Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21).

Desire is all about where our treasure is. It is the foundation of our spiritual growth. Desire is good so long as we turn from all the self-directed gratifications that seem so innocent.

Instead of ignoring the restlessness in our hearts or being led astray into self-absorption, let us direct our desires toward others and, above all, toward God.

2011 © Glenn E. Myers

Meet the Medieval Mystics

Who were the medieval mystics? What did they believe? What could we possibly learn from them in our day?

“Dark Ages” Full of Light
The Middle Ages (medieval era) lasted roughly from 400 – 1400 AD. Since the enlightenment, this time period has often been referred to as the “dark ages.” This is a misnomer. While the years from 850 - 1050 AD were dark times of chaos and limited education and culture, most of the rest of the Middle Ages was a time of learning. Especially from 1100 onward, this was a time of great light spiritually.

By the thousands people came into a personal relationship with Christ and pursued him with their whole heart. Many of these Christians are referred to the “medieval mystics.” That title seems odd to us today. “Mystic” has a negative connotation in our day, referring to something strange or something related to TM, Buddhism, New Age or the occult.

In the Middle Ages, however, the mystics were simply Christians who cultivated an intimate relationship with Jesus, committed themselves to spiritual growth, and believed prayer was a genuine conversation with the Lord.

Cultivating a Personal Relationship With Christ
Studying the mystics and reading their writing has become my life’s work. Again and again I am amazed how similar their faith is to ours today! As I have studied many of them, I’ve seen seven characteristics of most medieval mystics:

•They pursued a personal relationship with God—recognizing that simply being part of a church was not enough.
•They sought to follow Jesus in daily obedience and discipleship—even when that path led to suffering.
•They nurtured a dynamic prayer life, setting aside the busyness of the day to spend time with their savior.
•They cultivated intimacy with the Lord—experiencing his love for them and pouring out their love in return.
•Often they encountered God’s presence in prayer, Scripture reading and celebrating the Lord’s Supper.
•They recognized that the Christian life is one of growth in sanctification—overcoming sin, learning God’s word, serving others and continuing to surrender our will to God’s.
•They longed to experience as much oneness with the Lord as is possible here on earth.

When we understand who they were, we realize how closely related we are to the medieval mystics!

Some of them have left writings behind, so we know a bit about their lives and their experience in the Christian life. Over the coming weeks I want to introduce you to some of these key men and women, as well as their profound insights on spiritual growth. I hope you enjoy these blogs as well as take away some practical wisdom for your own walk with Christ.

© 2011 Glenn E. Myers