Spiritual Formation
Spiritual formation involves Christians growing in their relationship with God and living lives empowered by that relationship.
Christians grow in relationship to the Father as his children (Eph. 1:17). We also continue to grow into the image of Christ (Eph. 4:15; Rom. 8:3). And we live according to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Rom 8:9). Christian spiritual formation, then, involves discerning the work of the Father as his Spirit moves in and around us and adapting to that work so we bear the image of Christ more completely.
Pitfalls to avoid in Spiritual Formation
Closet Legalism. Spiritual formation is not equivalent to completing tasks, even good tasks such as spiritual disciplines or good works. Spiritual disciplines and good works are the tools and/or by-products of spiritual formation, but not spiritual formation itself.
Secular Spirituality. Christian spirituality is about God at work in God’s people, not about our personal sense of inner wellbeing.
A Static Point. Spiritual formation assumes an active faith, not a place/experience/state to be achieved.
The Broader Discussion of Spiritual Formation
The term spiritual formation has come to Protestants through Catholicism, particularly monastic traditions (what I call “Christian History” below).
In the broad Christian dialog about spiritual formation, various disciplines use similar language even though they approach the subject from different directions. I identify five disciplines that are actively involved in the discussion. Clarifying which discipline someone comes from can help clarify their perspective.
These five areas are historical Christianity, counseling, psycho-educational studies, church culture, and secular culture.
Any given person speaking about spiritual formation may come from one or more of these five perspectives. Most Christians have been exposed to multiple areas of thought. The chart below summarizes these areas of thought and names authors who seem to represent this. The chart is not intended to be exhaustive; bibliographic information is provided in the Spiritual Formation Bibliography.
| EXAMPLE | EMPHASIS | QUESTIONS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian History | Thomas Merton, Urban HolmesRandy Harris | Connection to historic Christian pratices, particularly monastic experiences | How are we to best experience the Christian life? What resources do we have to be experience God? |
| Psycho-Educational Theory | John D. Hendrix, Craig Dykstra, James Fowler, Mary Elizabeth Moore | Use psycho-educational models to understand Christian experience. Also known by as Christian Education and Christian Formation. | How are we growing? How are we influencing others? |
| Counseling | Edwin Friedman, Larry Crabb, John Ortberg | Emphasize the transformative aspect of individual formation. Use therapeutic language | How are people changing/growing based on their faith? How can our thoughts and actions be integrated? |
| Secular Culture | Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra | Understand spirituality apart from the Christian experience. May be secular or even pagan | How are you becoming the best you that you can be? How are you creating a fulfilling reality for yourself? |
| Church Culture | Parker Palmer, Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Urban Holmes, Richard Foster, Darryl Tippens, George Barna | Understand what is happening in churches and want the Christian experience to be consistent with the Christian message. | What are we doing to be authentic Christians? How do we understand and experience the Christian life and mission? |
