I lost my soul.

I mean, I didn't know I had one.

What I really mean is, I knew I had one, but I'd never come in contact with it.

I came from a tradition where souls were a theological reality, not a faith reality. Souls were for saving, not for communing. Souls were for converting and, once they were converted, they were to be left alone. Souls were too mystical, too subjective, too ambiguous, too risky, too … well, you know — New Age-ish.

I came from a wonderful evangelical tradition that has always lifted up the integrity of the Word of God, the significance of the church, the centrality of salvation. But that same tradition, in the past few years, has seen an epidemic of moral failure. There seems to be an ever-increasing amount of defections from the faith. More and more of my friends are dropping out, giving up, or just placing their faith on the shelf for a while.

Why?

We've lost touch with our souls. We've been nourishing our minds, our relational skills, our theological ...