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There is a feedback loop involved in the creation of our souls. This process is under the control of the God-Spirit-Within who is both the source of our aspirations to attain to God-likeness, and the control channel by which our spiritualized experiences are conserved for the process of soul formation. And help is always at hand:
"If your own mind does not serve you well, you can exchange it for the mind of Jesus of Nazareth, who always serves you well." (553)
This statement leads to a useful technique. When in a quandary, if we are familiar with the mind of Jesus, we can always ask ourselves and our Spirit-Within, "What would Jesus do?"
One step at a time.
"When you enter the kingdom, you are reborn. You cannot teach the deep things of the spirit to those who have been born only of the flesh; first see that men are born of the spirit before you seek to instruct them in the advanced ways of the spirit. Do not undertake to show men the beauties of the temple until you have first taken them into the temple. Introduce men to God and as the sons of God before you discourse on the doctrines of the fatherhood of God and the sonship of men. Do not strive with men--always be patient. It is not your kingdom; you are only ambassadors. Simply go forth proclaiming: This is the kingdom of heaven--God is your Father and you are his sons, and this good news, if you wholeheartedly believe it, is your eternal salvation." (1592)
Christians already know that God is their Father. From childhood they are taught the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father who is in heaven…." The task confronting us is to modify that concept to include "Our Father whose Spirit dwells within us." There are more than twenty verses of the New Testament attesting to this virtually forgotten fact. Almost all are from Paul or from John. Examples are:
"Surely you know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells within you (1 Cor. 3:16)
"If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:12)
Serve as we pass by--and leave the rest to God.
We are left with little doubt that we are not to follow the path of social service that brought disaster to the Quakers. Where does that leave us? Primarily we must put our own house in order, learn how Jesus lived, and seek to be like him. Bearing fruit will tend to be unconscious, a by-product of living as Jesus lived. Mostly it will come about through serving as we pass by. We are to avoid being conspicuous--in giving alms, doing our good deeds in secret--or at least unobtrusively, "not to attract attention to self." (1572)
So how can we influence Christianity or anyone else? Jesus said to take no thought for tomorrow. When a young Indian lad asked Jesus why he was not yet teaching publicly, Jesus responded: "You must, in all such matters, wait upon time…We are now on the way to Rome and that is sufficient for today. My tomorrow is wholly in the hands of my Father"
In other words the doing of God's will is just that. It is not our will. We are passive performers, living as Jesus lived, doing as Jesus did--leaving the future to God. It is not our world, we are only messengers. Faith is our sole support as we labor inconspicuously, taking no anxious thought. That appears to be the way things are meant to be for God's messengers.
Reference
1. These words, attributed to John, were written about 70 years after Jesus crucifixion and probably were editorial additions by John's disciples. See Catholic study edition of the Good News Bible.
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