Todd Hunter
11 min read ⭑
“The good, healing, freeing religion we yearn for radiates from the person and work of Jesus. This is why I seek to dig him out of the rubble of bad religion.”
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
To my adolescent self, circa 1966, there was nothing better than Friday nights when Dad walked through the kitchen door carrying a box of football-sized burritos—one for each person in the family—from our favorite hole-in-the-wall authentic Mexican eatery.
Growing up in a largely Mexican-American city in Southern California, I can be a snob about finding authentic Mexican food. Little to nothing has ever topped those childhood burritos. Where does one get such humongous tortillas? It seemed like they contained a whole can of beans, a pound of beef, and an entire block of cheese! With their rice, cilantro, and pico de gallo thrown in—well, they’re the standard by which I judge every burrito.
Now in my late 60s, I know those thin, grey, foldable cardboard boxes Dad held didn’t just carry culinary delight wrapped in white butcher paper. They represented our middle-class upbringing. They meant family. They were warm ritual. They contained an aroma now deeply embedded in my soul. They connected us to our ethnic context. I learned from burritos the magnitude of blessing that is wrapped in the routine things of life.
Andrik Langfield; Unsplash
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?
A week ago, I inherited a Fender Rhodes piano. I think I’m going to name it Barky for the unique barking sound that distinguishes it from every other electric keyboard.
My mom made me take piano lessons. I wanted to be outside playing sports. The piano seemed wimpy. I know. Relax. I was totally wrong. Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Billy Preston, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney—no one thinks of them as less masculine because of the chops they display on a Fender Rhodes.
I did learn things from my childhood lessons. In college, I needed to take an elective, so I chose a music theory class. On the piano, we learned about scales, chords, rhythm, melody, and harmony. Something hidden in me was resurrected. After college, I took up piano lessons again and played in a totally unknown band.
Then came decades when I set piano-playing aside in favor of life’s various labors, obligations, and hobbies.
Recently, when I’ve seen a grand piano in a chapel or church, I feel an inescapable allure. Halting at first, memories seek escape through my fingers. If I have the luxury of sitting for a few minutes, things loosen up, and small senses of musicality return. I feel joy welling up. The movement of my hands conveys stillness of thought and tranquility of heart. In those fleeting moments I sneak in between commitments, I connect with God. Something in my hidden soul-life is nurtured, settled, and empowered.
I can’t wait for Barky to get fully restored so I can bring it home!
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?
My Google calendar radiates various colors. One must squint hard to find any blanks. I blame it for my overwhelmed feeling of dread when I look at what’s ahead for the next day or week. Then honesty whacks me—I control my calendar. I am not the victim. I am the perpetrator.
Why do I torture myself?
In Enneagram terms, I’m a people person. A peacemaker. I’m an empathetic helper. I like the feeling of contributing to the world. But I also want to avoid suffering and unpleasant feelings—which means I feel uncomfortable when I can’t fulfill every need.
I’ve stumbled over these issues for decades. I suppose I’ve made some headway in both understanding and cultivating improved habits, but it seems halting. It hasn’t come easy. I grind it out.
This truism has helped the most: Life cannot have a powerful yes, a clear focus, without an accompanying series of limits, of saying no. But I hate limits. Aren’t limits to be busted through so that I never have to say no? I fear that saying no—no matter how powerfully I rationalize it to others—will communicate that I don’t care.
At my best, I see saying no as a statement of humility. I’m not capable of doing all that I might want to do. In this way, I am simply accepting and naming reality.
Now comes the lifelong question that I must answer every day: Do I want to live humbly in reality, or will I be tossed and turned by my disordered desires?
Lord, have mercy.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?
I met Mark at a focus group I hosted for those who are done with church—the church-hurt, those who no longer want anything to do with organized religion. Mark had a compelling presence about him. He was real and vulnerable.
He told the group that his parents were relentless churchgoers. Mark said he was raised on the power and goodness of love—but then, in his senior year of high school, his parents divorced after months of violent verbal battles.
Everything that grounded his life shook. Massive betrayal from his parents cheating on each other brought painful doubt. Their hypocrisy dominated his heart. Hurting badly, Mark was in the grip of disappointment with bad religion.
Most of us have seen the frequent news stories about the decline of faith and church attendance in America. In the focus groups I’ve hosted, I was able to put faces to facts and stories to stats. It was heartbreaking.
I couldn’t unsee the trauma of church hurt. I wanted to help. I thought the best way to do so was to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus. I wanted to show people that Jesus both condemned bad religion and modeled and taught good religion. I thought, What would change if we stopped trying to understand God through the lens of “church”—especially church hurts—and tried to think of church through the lens of Jesus instead?
I’m not so naïve to think that this switch in perspective would fix everything. But I know this: The good, healing, freeing religion we yearn for radiates from the person and work of Jesus. This is why I seek to dig him out of the rubble of bad religion.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
My habit is to write in the morning. A 5 a.m. alarm rattles me awake. I let the dogs out and then splash cold water on my face. In the kitchen, the hot pot is constantly ready to serve up heated water. In a mug goes Earl Grey, sugar, and cream. After a final stir of the spoon, I sit at our dining room table in front of my laptop and steaming mug.
And I pray.
Pray what? For a publisher? Nope. For sales numbers? Not that either.
I pray for the person and work of the Holy Spirit to be the animating energy in my work.
I pray for my heart because, according to the genius of Jesus, my words come from my heart. Thus, I ask for the fruit of the Spirit to manifest in my writing. I ask for a gracious, generous, generative spirit. I ask for gifts of wisdom and discernment. I pray for love and that my writing would truly benefit others. Without love, me and my writing are nothing—so I heard a wise man say. Without love, the words just noisily, annoyingly clang into each other.
But I testify to the truth: On hundreds of mornings, after inviting the Spirit, my writing feels something like journaling. I feel a deep connection among God, my inner self, and those who will become my readers.
“Come, Holy Spirit” is not the prayer of a wild Pentecostal. It is the prayer of writers desperate to make a positive difference in the world.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin’ best for you right now?
“Todd, do what you want to do.” Those are not the words one expects to hear in answer to prayer. But I heard them.
Early last year, I was preparing for a five-month sabbatical. Being a recovering perfectionist, I studied, sought advice from experts, and prayed my heart out. I wanted to make sure I used this once-in-a-lifetime gift to maximum effect.
I was looking for answers to my questions about sabbatical design from outward sources. That seemed to me to be the perfectly reasonable course of action. Thus, you’ll appreciate my surprise upon hearing words that pointed me inward: “Do what you want.”
As I sat with this supposed insight, I realized that “want” had a special meaning in this context. It meant whatever was genuinely replenishing. Wow—that was freedom!
If I felt like walking, I did that. I did adult coloring books with vinyl jazz playing in the background. I read. I was alone and silent. I wrote when I felt moved to do so. In all this, I simply tried to notice God and self. And it worked. I was replenished when the sabbatical ended.
I’ve kept at this practice. But I should say that I have several decades of experience with the classic spiritual disciplines. If you’re a beginner, you may need something more structured—but then again, maybe not. Listen to God, take chances, and learn as you go. That is part of what it means to be a disciple, student, and apprentice of Jesus.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources—lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?
An old stool from pre-school days languished in the basement. It looked like it could be stripped, sanded, and refinished. But one of the legs had come out. For it to work, it needed all three legs to be functional. Something like that is true for my life. Three practices make all the difference in my life, keeping me grounded, and enabling me to love God and my neighbor.
Words: Authors like Dallas Willard, Tom Wright, and Eugene Peterson have shaped my imagination regarding what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Words are not just ink on a page. Words come from and convey a whole worldview, an entire way of being. For me, words have been game-changers.
Music: Since moving to the Nashville area (Franklin), I’ve rediscovered my love for live music. Nashville is a legitimate “music city.” I’m awed by the musicianship in town. Gals and guys play and sing to very high levels in ways that seem effortless. In these performances, I see something of the goodness of God’s creation. I see creativity used to bring joy to an otherwise gloomy human condition.
Regulating activities: The depths of our brains need to stay regulated. But the anxieties and trauma of life de-regulate them. A wise therapist introduced me to regulating activities, such as adult coloring books with colored pencils, puzzles, noticing my breathing, and breath practices. Often, soft jazz or blues is playing in the background. This is real-deal, life-enhancing stuff!
We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season—and tell us what it’s done for you.
“Use it or lose it” the old saying goes. Strength for living, stamina for ministry, and energy to endure life’s challenges must be cultivated. My heart and soul are contained in, and mediated to others through a body.
Thus, a core aspect of my current spirituality is physical exercise. I walk, swim, and do hot yoga. Together, these activities allow me to accomplish simple tasks of life, like tying my shoes without much grunting and getting in and out of a car with minimal groaning.
The physical enables the spiritual. For instance, last Thursday through Saturday, I led a retreat. Saturday night, I attended a family birthday party. Sunday morning, I had church. That afternoon, I spoke at a prison. That evening from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., I gave a radio interview.
Getting older while maintaining a full schedule like that has relentlessly insisted to me that “use it or lose it” is totally true. I can do spiritual disciplines, but if I don’t have basic physical health, my spiritual goals are blunted. Love is enacted—this takes energy. Patience is practiced—this requires resilience. Faith is shown in deeds—this necessitates strength.
As I do physical training, I have a refrain I employ. With each step, swim stroke, or yoga movement, I repeat to myself: Faithfulness, fidelity, and service. Faithfulness to my Lord Jesus Christ. Fidelity to my wife, family, and work. Humble loving service to all others.
In this way, I connect bodily strength with spiritual growth into Christlikeness.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
I would love to spark a national discussion about Jesus!
He’s routinely misunderstood. The church often doesn’t get him—at least judged by our actions. Politicians, on the left and right, coopt him for malevolent purposes. Philosophers talk around him. Sociologists name the dysfunction of the church. Historians usually fall far short of fully describing the global and cosmic effect of the person and work of Jesus.
I wonder if this would be a quick yet adequate summary of Christian spirituality: Take Jesus seriously.
Maybe a fresh look at Jesus would help us take seriously what he taught and, in turn, become his students and apprentices, taking him up on his offer to “come and follow me” into life in the kingdom. Perhaps a new focus on Jesus’ deeds of power would both illumine and animate confidence in God’s powerful and wise love. Rehearsing in our imagination the way Jesus conducted his life might lead us to deeply accept that he is indeed “the way, the truth, and the life” (see John 14:6).
I wonder what could happen if we stopped trying to understand God and his Christ through the lens of the church and sought to understand the church through the lens of Jesus instead.
Once we get committed to the stunning beauty and goodness of Jesus, we will soon see that he has “a people.” Arm and arm with Jesus, we can then take the faithful risk of committing to a body of fellow followers of Jesus, seeking to serve his cooperative friends and living for the good of others through the creativity and power of the Holy Spirit.
With 2.38 billion global followers, Christianity is by far the largest religion in the world. And yet how many professing Christians truly know Jesus and follow his example? Since we can’t see into people’s hearts, it’s impossible to say. But the sad truth is that many are still stuck in a shallow understanding of who he is.
That’s why Bishop Todd Hunter’s call to “take Jesus seriously” is so important in our day.
Jesus isn’t any less real, any less powerful, any less righteous, or any less loving than he was when he physically walked this earth. And his arms are wide open to all—eager to show us his ways and strengthen our relationships with him.
So today, will you join us in praying for this world—and our own hearts, too—to truly know Jesus and his love? He’s far too good for us to stay where we are.
Todd Hunter is the founder of The Center for Formation, Justice and Peace. He is also the founding bishop of The Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others and was the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, California. He is past president of Alpha USA and former national director for the Association of Vineyard Churches. He is the author of Christianity Beyond Belief, Giving Church Another Chance, The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican, Our Favorite Sins, Our Character at Work, Deep Peace, and What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion.
