Is a lost art today, I think. I'm not sure why this particular thought has come to mind on this particularly foggy, damp, day, but the thought is there.
Self-reflection has become something that I strive for, perhaps through reading the Puritans as I do - Watson, Owen and their brethren all point us to serious consideration of ourselves as a daily exercise. I wonder why this message has been lost through the centuries. How many pulpits proclaim this exhortation? None that I have been associated with... not once can I recall in 25 years of semi-adult listening (arbitrarily calling myself able to listen in a semi-adult fashion at the age of 9) having a pastor exhort his flock to spend regular time in silent reflection on our sins, sinful condition, and our spiritual state.
Anyone else with a similar experience? Where has "experimental theology", so well propounded by the Puritans and the Dutch Second Reformation divines, gone?
It does appear that we live in an age of feel good theology. No longer, as you mentioned, are we being exhorted to examine ourselves. Yet is this not what the apostle Paul calls us to do? (2 Cor. 13:5). I think part of the problem is that many simply do not know what it means to examine themselves. Many do not know what questions to ask of themselves to even begin.
Posted by: William F Hill Jr at March 28, 2004 05:55 AMPart of the difficulty, too, is that I believe people today do not even have a mindset in a secular sense to examine themselves. What is it that drives people to do whatever it is that they do? Typically it's just whatever they put their mind to. How often does thought go beyond a base level? How often do people think on what they've done at the end of a day, simply as a normal practice? Introspection is something that is uncommon generally, and that Christians don't typically do so in a more spiritual sense should be no surprise... though it is a great error.
Posted by: Todd Pedlar at March 29, 2004 08:14 PM