… until Christ is formed in us.

About 5 years ago I started studying ancient Christian mysticism because of several confluent academic interests: comparative religion, the science of spirituality and the brain, alternative atonement theories in the Church Fathers, the spread of Christianity into Greco-Roman epistemological contexts – you know, that kind of thing. 

But as I dug into the theology, the practices, and the spirit of the early mystics, I discovered something I hadn’t expected.

I found a people whole-heartedly committed to Christ, people who felt it was their personal responsibility to carry all the consequences of the Gospel message into their world through daily disciplines of love and humility.

I found serious-minded theologians who cared nothing for philosophical mastery or institutional success and desired only to be more like Jesus.

I found bright and hungry souls who ached for a personal encounter with God, and thus made something as unassuming as hourly prayer their life’s work. 

In other words, I found real Christians.

I had always wondered if such a community existed, if there was a company of disciples somewhere out there who fully embraced as a personal lifestyle the radical hope of the New Testament and the convicting message of its central Figure. I had always wondered if such a thing was even possible. 

As I poured over the mystical texts I knew this was it. Ancient voices spoke their challenges of Christ-likeness and their hopes of a transforming union with God to me, a lost son born over a thousand years after they had traded flesh for dust.

Sure, they had some weird ideas about things like sex and the soul’s relationship to the body, but there was no denying their commitment to the imitation of Christ in mind, heart, soul, and strength. There was no denying their wild-eyed conviction that their own small acts of Christ-likeness were a crucial part of the universal reconciliation and renewal that began with Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

I suddenly knew several crucial things all at once.

First, simply, I knew that I had finally found my people.

Second, standing in their light revealed all of my personal shortcomings, my pride, ambition, and fear. It revealed that I had focused so much on training my mind that the rest of my soul was seriously out of shape. It revealed the arrogance of my cynicism about the faith that I had secretly thought of as a sign of intelligence and strength. It revealed that all my complaints about the lackluster spiritual state of the church were invalid because I hadn’t actually done the necessary work in my soul to consistently live up to my ideals (the ancient mystics do not give you a pass on that). In short, I knew I had found my people, but I knew I was not yet worthy of them.

Third, I saw the potential for the spirit of ancient mysticism, with some updates, to revitalize and reorient the faith of my Christian brothers and sisters who long for personal holiness and a fresh encounter with God. I started to gently add the teachings of the mystics to my preaching and counseling, and the results were wonderful. I knew I had found the bridge from theory to praxis. I had the toolkit that I needed to help others live the lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control that they had always wanted for themselves. There was life here, and I knew it could be shared.

Finally, I realized that ancient Christian mysticism as a concept is very hard to explain to others. The word mysticism is met with immediate suspicion by Christians of the West. The writings of the mystics are hard to find, and harder to understand without a certain level of theological and historical education. In my own study and practice I found power to participate in the Holy Spirit’s work within my soul, power to encounter Christ daily in Scripture and contemplative prayer. I firmly believe that these resources are the birthright of every Christian. But I also knew that if nothing was done to bring these tools and ideas into the present, they would forever remain inaccessible to everyone except the specialist, the monk, the academic, or the historian. 

So I convinced my seminary to let me write my MA thesis on “a practicable and accessible Christian mysticism for today’s contexts.” It was a beast of a project, but the research I did under the guidance of specialists set me up to communicate these ideas to all of my non-specialists friends who simply thirst for more of the Spirit of the Christ.

And that’s what I’m going to try to do with this page. I started a new ministry called “Like Christ” that does the church thing with a mystical flair. I started a YouTube channel to explain the basics of Christian mysticism, and soon realized a podcast would be better, so I’m working on it. I’m writing and writing, trying to translate the spirit of the mystical approach to scripture, spirituality, and life into words that ring in the hearts of my friends today. It’s difficult, and I’m still learning, and I’m kind of an eclectic person to begin with, so…

I need a home base, a permanent notebook where I can sharpen what I have to say, play with words and metaphors, try to express my own experience of Christ, and get some feedback from other humans. And this is it.

Here you’ll find complete ideas, like the Christian mysticism videos I’ve already made, and incomplete ideas, scratches, thoughts, and reflections. But I’m sharing all of it with you because I believe in the power of Christ and the ancient mystical understanding of the faith, and I think we all deserve a better and more accessible conversation about living our spirituality. 

So, welcome! And please help me bring the powerful experiences of our spiritual ancestors, and our own new experiences, into the light of the present moment so that we can join the ancients and grow into Christ’s image together. Thanks for showing up, and I can’t wait to hear from you.

May the love, joy, and peace of Christ blossom in your heart.

Jon