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