Spiritual Formation: Clarifying Core Reality

Formation or growth and development (particularly spiritual) has been on my mind for several years now.  In fact, the desire for a 'deeper community' centered on Spiritual Formation for the sake of others, is the driving force behind the calling God placed on Melissa and me to return to Vero Beach and launch Pillar.  In previous writings I have referred to this desire with the following statement:

 'Christ is not a proposition to prove, a program to purchase or a system to manage.  Rather He is a person to discover; a relationship to explore.' 

This desire that has burned in my heart these past few years has served to remind me that growth in Christ is a journey; a 'deeper journey for the sake of others.'  This deeper journey for the sake of others is always moving us toward an eternal kingdom in the context of a 'spiritual family' (i.e. the Church).  

If you have followed my blogging, then you know that my posts have been inconsistent at best.  Yet I am going to attempt to string together a series of posts considering Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Others over these next few weeks.  Each of the following posts will begin with a core reality I am learning or have learned in regard to Spiritual Formation.  My hope is that these posts will help clarify my own thinking on the subject as well as challenge and encourage you in your own walk with Christ.

Ultimately, my hope is that these imperfect, incomplete and always in development thoughts will be utilized to strengthen the Church to become a faithful presence in midst of the world in which we live.  The following 6 core realities are a reflection of my own personal journey to date.  There are no doubt others you might be inclined to include.  I am sure there will be others that I would add to and some I might subtract from this list.  

SPIRITUAL FORMATION FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS: CLARIFYING CORE REALITY

1. Spiritual formation is a journey, not a destination.  As such spiritual formation is incremental in nature and restorative over time (in contrast with the current get fixed quick strategy of every church based program).
2. Spiritual formation is God's work.  However being spiritually formed requires an 'openness to change' in my life as will as submission to an authority greater than myself.  In other words, I will have to let go of control if I am to travel this journey!
3. The context of Spiritual formation is the world in which we live (not the small group to which we run in order to hide from and complain about the world). As such formation and development is messy, ugly and inconvenient.
4. Spiritual formation is always for the 'sake of others' (perhaps this is a 'given' within the context of this blog series.  However, the phrase as I am using it, is one I have learned from Robert Mulholland in his excellent work, Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation..
5. Spiritual formation, though personal, is never private (in contrast with the pervasive and fatally flawed American Christian Mantra: "It's just Jesus and me").
6. Spiritual formation will require the development of new habits around which my life will orient itself so that my desires might be directed toward Christ and His Kingdom, our ultimate destination.

When I look at the early church and take note of Christ's disciples and His followers -  as well as those who would follow His followers into the Church era - I see clearly that their life was a highly committed, costly and joyous 'journey deeper into Christ for the sake of others.'  They lived their life as a continuous rhythm of growth, development and sharing their growth and development with others. 

If you plan on reading this and the following blogs in this series, consider the following question: 

"Can you point to a time/season in your life when your church took YOUR spiritual formation seriously and provided a seamless and comprehensive pathway whereby you might grow toward Christ for the sake of others?

Christ's disciples would have been hard pressed to find moments when they weren't intentionally being challenged to a deeper walk and maturing growth. Growth was indeed the journey of their life - their core reality.  For we moderns (especially in the church) growth has become at best a 'stop' along the way . . . or at worst a vastly segmented and disintegrated approach that has left us more confused than ever in a world that has become increasingly more complex!

Up Next: Spiritual formation: a journey, not a destination!

the shape of desire!

Biz

Preparing for Game Day!

Football is back.  Finally, the long drought that is summer baseball has ended with the bang of opening weekend (of course, I love October baseball).  The NFL debut last weekend offered even the most casual observer and unlikely fan a wonderful weekend of great stories both on and off the field.  For those who didn’t keep up, allow me a moment to highlight some of the stories I most enjoyed or found intriguing:

1.      An unprecedented number of rookie quarterbacks debuting as their team leaders.

2.      New York Giants failing in their first opportunity to defend their championship ring – at HOME, no doubt.  Only made worse by the fact that they were beaten by the Cowboys.

3.      Tebow in New York.  I hate the Jets.  As much as I want to see Tebow do well, let it be known that I will never desire that he lead the Jets to a victory on the field.

4.      The Eagles nearly failing in their opener against the lowly Browns.

5.      RG3?         RG3.        RG3 . . .          RG3!             RG3!!      Go skins.

6.      The Miami Dolphins proving yet again they have not found the formula for success.  I do, by the way, hope they find it!  I would love, love, love to see them win!

7.      Da Bears!

8.      The 49ners SPANKING the Packers at Lambeau – AWESOME!

9.      Peyton’s comeback and ‘no huddle’ perfection.

While my list is not complete, it represents those moments that caught my attention over the weekend.  Perhaps you might even add some that I overlooked (feel free to comment below).  Of all of these stories my favorite is Peyton.  Not, however, for reasons you might suspect.  While the comeback is amazing, let’s be honest.  Did anyone who has ever followed this guy’s career believe he would come out and ‘lay an egg?’  No, what I loved the most was the way he took over the game and deftly led the ‘no huddle’ offense.  I love the no huddle.  When executed there is an aesthetic quality to it.  It contains beauty in and of itself – a true master piece to behold.  I also love the no huddle because it relates so well to life.  As I watch it, I think to myself: ‘this is how we live our lives.’  Life, as the popular insurance commercial reminds us, ‘comes at you fast.’  I watched the ‘no huddle’ in action and wondered how I might lead my own ‘no huddle’ in life as well as Peyton does on the field?  

Simple: Habits 

In order to flourish in the no huddle of life, I must develop the habits that will move me down the ‘field of life’ on its pace and in its setting.  In my estimation the no huddle offense is effective when a team masters it ‘before’ it is needed.  By this I mean, of course, in practice!  In other words you do not just show up on Game day and execute the no huddle.  If that is your team’s pattern of behavior they will find themselves pushed around, beaten back and ultimately losing valuable ground.  The same is true in life.  Living well and flourishing takes practice.

So, what are the practices that will help me gain valuable ground in my ‘no huddle’ life?  More particularly, as a Christ follower, what practices should I participate in on a regular basis so that I might be formed in such a way that I can simply ‘perform’ on game day?

Simple: Corporate worship.  Or, better yet: Liturgy

Some read this word and gasp.  They think of the stale and stodgy rituals from which we have successfully wrested ourselves free in the modern evangelical church.  Therefore, let me give you a simple definition taken from James K.A. Smith in his book, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview and Cultural Formation.  Smith writes, “Liturgy is a ‘hearts and minds’ strategy, a pedagogy that trains us as disciples precisely by putting our bodies through a regimen of repeated practices that get a hold of the heart and ‘aim’ our love toward the Kingdom of God.”  More simply, in my own words: liturgy is a participatory and repeated practice with the power to form desire shaping habits!  As such, liturgy, in its truest sense, is designed to shape me for my public and often no huddle life in such a way that I fully represent Christ in this world and live for the good of the community, to the glory of God.

Mike Metzger, in his blog Doggie Head Tilt (http://www.doggieheadtilt.com/no-huddle-offense/), captures the heart of ‘liturgy’ as a practice for the common (public) good:

No huddles and precise practices are reminiscent of the ancient church. It knew the name of the game—loving God and neighbor. Love requires learning to die to self and seek the flourishing of others, or shalom. This required precise liturgical practices in the assembly, the ekklesia. Liturgy is training “the body and soul in suitable posture and movement,” Peter Leithart writes. Corporate standing, kneeling, singing, confessing, and reading counter our individualistic leanings. Liturgy “depicts the world as it ought to be, the real world as it is believed to be… and what we believe and hope it will one day be.

Perhaps a further correlation to the no huddle offense might be helpful.  The no huddle is effective because of the liturgy employed by the player’s day in and day out.  The no huddle liturgy is the repeated and participatory regimen the team practices day in and day out.  As they ‘liturgy’ together they develop habits which shape their desire toward a victory on Game Day.

If liturgy is a repeated and participatory practice, then every person experiences liturgy on a daily basis, ever institution utilizes liturgy for their purposes in order to shape our desires toward them and every church practices liturgy when they gather on Sunday morning.  The final statement in regard to the church gathering is important to understand.  The question to ask is not, ‘does my church practice liturgy?’ Rather, ‘what liturgy does my church practice?’ The most charismatic or Pentecostal churches practice a fixed liturgy that the congregant has become habituated to over time, thus making it almost unrecognizable.  For instance, if you doubt this, take note of your worship experience at your next visit to your local house of worship.  In all likelihood you will note how similar it was to previous experiences, rather than how vastly different or spontaneous it was.

I have been in the church for most of my life.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the phrase, 'Now is the time to invite Jesus into your heart.'  In fact, if I were to identify a liturgy (defined as an experience which is repeated and participatory) from my life in church, this would be it - the ever present and always repeated (endlessly at times) 'invitation.'  Based upon my own experience (or practice) of this liturgy, I could have sung every verse of the song 'Just As I Am' in my sleep by the age of nine.

In light of this reality, the question becomes, ‘Is the liturgy in my church thick or thin?’  In other words does the liturgy you experience in your church prepare you for your no huddle life or leave you guessing, confused, bewildered and concerned when it becomes time to ‘move the ball down the field?’  There is a formative and desire shaping power in the practice of liturgy.  Rather than asking how a service or liturgy makes us ‘feel,’ perhaps we would be better served if we asked, ‘has my participation in Christian liturgy (church) shaped my desires toward God or shaped my desires toward me?’  If you have trouble answering that question, fear not.  You will know soon enough.  After all, Game day is coming!

The shape of desire!

Biz