THE WHOLE PERSON

The scriptures are very clear that there are three parts to us as humans and that any part that is ignored will cause an imbalanced life. Paul, an apostle, writes, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To reference us as human is to include our interior and exterior… our humanity and spiritual being.

Alan Watts (1915-1973) philosopher, said, “that as long as we divide life into interior self-awareness and exterior experience, into life in here and life out there, we split our psyches asunder and doom ourselves to never attaining the wholeness at the heart of human happiness.” This is a great description of much of historical religious thought: life in here and life out there. It has also produced our classic religious schizophrenia (a mentality or approach characterized by inconsistent or contradictory elements). Internal self-awareness and exterior experience are the true balance of a Spirit-filled human. There is hope of wholeness with parity of our parts. Christ in the flesh was a human filled with the Spirit of God. As are we.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.” Jesus