It is apparent to most that the church in the West is at a tipping point. The faults and failures of what has come before have been laid bare in apocalyptic terms. Yet we know that from the ashes of frail human institutions God is able to birth something new, something vital. Part of what keeps me going is finding voices within the Christian household who can bring a vision of what comes next rather than simply joining in the rage and vitriol. What I hear time and again is the necessity of a dialogue between the liturgical/contemplative traditions that teach us an inner life of the Spirit, and the pentecostal or charismatic movements that champion an outward life of the Spirit. If we are to truly become faithful in our time we must learn to enter a total life of the Spirit, as people who are creating sanctuary in our innermost being to find grounding in God so we can then speak of a radically new way of enacting justice in the world as God’s kingdom.

Brian Zahnd is a pastor in St. Joseph Missouri whom I trust to articulate the way to becoming a contemplative revolutionary. In our conversation, we discuss his journey from Zeppelin-loving Jesus freak to church-growth guru to contemplative pilgrim. We talk about the necessity of a prayer life that, patiently over time, shapes us to have a healthy detachment from the chaos and pain of the world, in order to offer a better more Christlike way.