disciples in a turbulent world:

A challenge that is worth the struggle

Christian education - spiritual information or spiritual

in/formation?

We have inherited a faith formed by a Jewish man and a band of his friends, which became a global movement with three centers (Rome, Constantinople, and North Africa) in its first 500 years.

The North African center was decimated by Islam in the 7th - 9th centuries, leaving two centers, which coexisted until about 1000 AD, when they split.

The Roman Church became the center of Western culture until about 500 years ago. Then, the faith we have inherited re-formed in a multi-faceted argument with medieval Western Christianity …

… then re-formed several more times in a series of debates within various forms nominal modern Christianity …

… the faith we have inherited was additionally deeply influenced by the skepticism, secularism, and consumerism of modernity.

… our faith was additionally deeply influenced by 19th century revivalism and “revived revivalism” in the mid-20th century.

This version of the Christian faith which we have inherited presents us with a number of categories for discipleship or “spiritual growth,” several of which are being re-thought (and re-formed) today.

Terms like …

evangelism, discipleship, Christian education, teaching, sanctification, spiritual growth

are being re-thought.

Terms like …

evangelism, discipleship, Christian education, teaching, sanctification, spiritual growth

are being re-thought.

The term “spiritual formation” in many ways is a substitute for some dimensions of

all of these terms.

Truly, the church is “semper reformanda” -- always reforming.

1. How would you describe spiritual formation in the New Testament church?

2. … in the Patristic Church (2nd - 6th centuries)

3. … in the Medieval Church (6th - 16th)

4. … in the early Reformation (16th-18th)

5. … in the 19th-20th centuries

The modern version of Christianity which we have inherited largely saw spiritual formation as a cognitive process of acquiring information through study and teaching.

Bible studies, Sunday School Classes

Seminaries

Preaching/Teaching

Courses/Lessons

Booklets with blanks to fill in ...

It was often tacitly believed (and occasionally overtly stated) that if one had the right knowledge (beliefs, doctrines, theology), right behavior would flow naturally. (Some believed that attending the right rituals had the same effect.)

Many of you may share this belief, which is still dominant in the American evangelical subculture today, I believe.

But I believe ...

Our contemporary gospel is primarily

INFORMATION ON HOW TO GO TO HEAVEN AFTER YOU DIE

with a large footnote about increasing your personal happiness and success through God.

with a small footnote about character development

with a smaller footnote about spiritual experience

with a smaller footnote about social/global transformation.

self

church

worldworld

self

church

world

The individual gospel

For God so loved me that he sent his only begotten son, so that if I would believe in him I would not perish but have life in heaven after death. For God sent his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save me.

(Not John 3:16)

The ecclesiastic gospel

For God so hated the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have life in heaven after death. For God sent his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the church.

(Not John 3:16)

faith formation in a postmodern age

Spiritual Formation is a holistic way to talk about everything God wants to do in us, including what we have traditionally meant by evangelism and discipleship (etc.) … and more!

COL 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect [complete, mature, fully formed] in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

GAL 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

The Gospel of Matthew ends with these important words:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make [spiritually form] disciples [apprentices] of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey [practice] everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Too often, we have preached a “gospel of sin management” with an optional footnote about character development, with a more optional footnote about spiritual practices and experience ...

… and an even more optional footnote about making a difference in the world.

The gospel has become information on a fast, easy, and convenient way to go to

heaven after one dies. That must change.

Our call is not to win converts or Christians...

(We have turned a finish line into a starting line)

…but rather to spiritually form disciples

Disciples are

apprentices

of Jesus.

From Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge: Toward a Postcritical Philosophy (1958)

It follows that an art which has fallen into disuse for the period of a generation is altogether lost. There are hundreds of examples of this to which the process of mechanization is continuously adding new ones. These losses are usually irretrievable.

It is pathetic to watch the endless efforts -- equipped with microscopy and chemistry, with mathematics and electronics -- to reproduce a single violin of the kind the half-literate Stradivarius turned out as a matter of routine more than 200 years ago.

To learn by example is to submit to authority. You follow your master because you trust his manner of doing things even when you cannot analyze and account in detail for its effectiveness. By watching the master and emulating his efforts in the presence of his example, the apprentice unconsciously picks up the rules of the art, including those which are not explicitly known to the master himself.

These hidden rules can be assimilated only by a person who surrenders himself to that extent uncritically to the imitation of the master. A society which wants to preserve a fund of personal knowledge must submit to tradition.

… practical wisdom is more truly embodied in action than expressed in rules of action. (pp. 53-54)

Disciples/apprentices primarily learn not by listening

or trying

but by

training.

Think of running a marathon Playing piano

Painting a landscapeBuilding a house

Mastering kung fu

…training.

What if we put everything on the table and risked everything to succeed at this one thing:

…training disciples?

what is spiritual formation?

We have a rich heritage of approaches to spiritual formation:

Celtic Sacramental

Charismatic Ascetic

Liberal/Activist Non-ascetic

Monastic Anchorite

Revivalist Contemplative

Reformed Fundamentalist

A Triangle

Spirituality

Community Mission

External Environment

Experiences of life … joys, sorrows, sufferings, pleasures

Context

Process (versus event) focus into the mission (versus lore):

Induction/Initiation

Transformation

Transmission

1. Induction:

Adapted from Hippolytus … 3rd century

1. The Seeker Phase.

Goal: Beginning to follow Christ

Content: Observation of the community (belonging before believing)

Milestone: Interview (behavioral questions) and permission to attend the whole service

2. The Hearer Phase

Goal: Discipleship

Content: Discipleship, worship, fellowship, hardship, stewardship, partnership

Milestone: Requesting baptism

3. The Kneeler Phase

Goal: Equipping

Content: Equipping for ministry

(Memorizing the Lord’s prayer, apostles creed, spiritual warfare)

Milestone: Rite of Baptism (Easter)

4. The Faithful Stage

Goal: Incorporate

Content: Discern and use gifts, witness and outreach, induct others, prepare for martyrdom

Milestone: Eucharist

after induction … what next?

Transformation:

From Finding Faith (McLaren, Zondervan, 1999)

Simplicity

Complexity

Perplexity

Humility

the end of

christian education

the end of

christian education:

may your kingdom come…