Charism

The greatest enemy of the church is the church itself.

In the church the word charism is deeply evocative. It is an integrating term. It acknowledges how woven together one's psychology and experiences have been shaped by God in a unique and yet historically connected manner in the service of God; it has nothing to do with one's character or personality, much less with whatever chore someone may be assigned in the church. One's character and personality are mere fabrications connected to the force of one's will, and janitorial spirituality can be assigned to anyone for the sake of institutional maintenance. These have nothing to do with the actual work of the living God coursing through the world in the moment, reflected in the complexity of each person and their unique openness to receive it.

Charism is a more holistic understanding of the human person than the word gifts. It most certainly includes the abilities and attributes that God gives to people in order to meet the needs of the church. But it acknowledges these within the deeper context of human identity. The term charism carries with it a certain integrity, wholeness, and wholesomeness that is not to be found in any other word in the Christian lexicon. And one's charism is inviolable. Once understood it is the most sacred aspect of each and every person. It is a high crime to not recognize, nurture, or honour another's charism, let alone to enslave it. Yet in spite of how foundational this reality is, within formal religious settings it is far down the list of importance when it comes to institutional religion's drivenness to chart out its next actions.

The work of the church is to assist each of its members in becoming aware of their charism; in what fashion are people integrated by God in daily life to be themselves and in a fashion that is solely designed by God in order to glorify God in its own right? When the manner in which people care for the world as members of the risen Christ is fully apprehended, that is when the church is able flourish as it uniquely weaves these charisms together to the glory of God in a given time and locality. Unfortunately, the elements of this integration, which the church is supposed to identify, nurture, and protect is almost always degraded and disregarded. Too often the church puts the cart before the horse and operates as if one's charism exists for the sake of the institution and that people can be regarded as material to be exploited for the good of formal religion, and its wilfulness for prestige, privilege, and power.