I just learned of Jan Johnson, a writer, speaker, and spiritual director. Jan is a good example of a progressive evangelical who takes both social justice and spirituality seriously. She has connections with Fuller Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, World Vision, and other places where moderate and progressive evangelicals hang out. Here’s how she describes her passions:
Spiritual formation: The key to getting rid of stubborn habits and ingrained character flaws – the tendency to criticize, complain and procrastinate — is to build an interactive life with God. Instead of trying to be good, we connect with God in order to let God transform us into Christlikeness. As we do the connecting with God, God does the perfecting in us.
Partnering with God in caring for the voiceless: We can learn to offer cups of cold water to the thirsty, to whisper words of life to the unreached, to love all peoples the way God does, to set aside the pull of materialism and spend our resources on worthwhile purposes. Such a life flows from cherishing the compassionate lifestyle of Jesus and arranging our lives to love this world that God so loves.
Living with Purposeful Intentionality: Life today is characterized by too much activity with too little meaning, on glitz instead of substance. Focusing on how God is calling me to let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God prods me to partner with God in efforts that reconcile people to God, to others and even to themselves. This kind of life is exciting – interacting with God throughout all of life and hear God compel us, comfort us and nudge us along.
To hear her articulate her vision of spirituality, check out this youtube clip:
David R. Swartz 