Wednesday, June 28, 2006

My Present Philospophy of Spiritual Formation

Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening”
(Peterson 35)?

The story of the sower and the seeds has shaped my thinking about spirituality throughout my life. Growing up, I often heard it referenced in conversations regarding people who had walked away from the faith. I vividly recall lying in my bed one evening as a teenager, wondering if perhaps I were a seed that had the misfortune of landing in the weeds. My life was a cycle of moral defeat, guilt, and resolutions to be a better Christian. Raised in the Pentecostal tradition, I believed that someday I would have an altar experience that would deliver me from sin and temptation. This experience, as I imagined it, would also impart an instant maturity.

I felt stuck in my spiritual life with no guidance as to how press onward. I relate with the frustration of Gordon MacDonald when he writes, “...the pursuit of internal organization has been a lonely struggle because, frankly, I have found that there is almost a universal reluctance to be candid and practical about these affairs. Much preaching on these matters is done in lofty terms that leave the hearer moved emotionally but unable to move specifically. More than once I have read a book or listened to a presentation on getting the spiritual life together, agreed with every word, and then realized that the proposed process was elusive and indefinite” (9).

I read two books during my twenties that greatly changed my thinking regarding the Christian walk. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald showed me that the spiritual life had to be intentionally pursued if it was to mature. Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster offered a practical strategy for growth.

Foster proposes the practice of spiritual disciplines as a “...means of grace” (7) by which individuals can open themselves up to God’s transforming work. The disciplines themselves are not the transformation. Nor are the disciplines a set of practices that make a person righteous. Spiritual disciplines are simply a method of placing one’s self in a state of receptivity to God. As the author cautions, “We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God; it is a grace that is given” (6).

I found something so liberating in Foster’s ideas that I quickly read all of his books. Classical Christian disciplines were incorporated into my daily routine and I experienced a great deal of spiritual growth. For the first time in my life I was experiencing a relationship with God rather than merely talking about one.

My desire for a deeper understanding of Christian spirituality led me to this graduate degree program. It has not disappointed. Two books in particular have confronted and challenged me this semester, M. Robert Mulholland’s Invitation to a Journey and Reginald Johnson’s Your Personality and the Spiritual Life.

Mulholland defines spiritual formation as the “process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others" (15), which revealed that my goals for my Christian walk to be rather unambitious in comparison. I was content with being merely spiritual when only Christlikeness will do. I pursued comfort, when “the process of being conformed to the image of Christ takes place primarily at the points of our unlikeness to Christ’s image” (37). I valued my solitude above all, but a life lived for others reflects the character of Christ "who gave himself totally, completely, absolutely, unconditionally for others" (41). Reading Johnson further challenged my assumptions of community when he states, “Since none of us possesses all the qualities of personality in perfect symmetry, we need each other for balance and wholeness” (19).

It occurred to me that my interest in spiritual formation up to this point in my life has hurt me as much as it has helped me. In some cases, my preference for introversion had actually subverted my practice of the disciplines into a way of avoiding community and transformation. Clearly, a response on my part to these excesses is required.

Real, lasting change will require more than my good intentions. Market researcher George Barna cautions that, “...most born-again adults are limited in their ability to grow spiritually because they have failed to set any goals for their spiritual development, failed to develop standards against which to measure their growth, or failed to establish procedures for being held accountable for their growth” (36). I will heed this insight.

The goal that I have set for my spiritual development over the next year is to observe each of the fourteen classical spiritual disciplines. I have categorized the practices into daily, weekly, monthly, and annual observances. It is my personal rule of life.

To measure my growth, I will meditate weekly on Philippians 5:22 (NIV), “...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This provides a list of characteristics with which I can evaluate my previous seven days of thoughts and deeds.

To hold myself accountable, I will weekly read through my rule of life, meet monthly with a spiritual director, and participate monthly in a spiritual formation group.

I recently reread the parable of the sower and the seeds in my morning devotions. I no longer picture myself as a seed tossed by the winds of fate into a patch of weeds. My purpose is to tend to my soil -- pulling out the weeds, clearing away the gravel -- so the seeds of the kingdom can spring forth unhindered.

I am listening, Lord. Really listening.


WORKS CITED

Barna, George. Growing True Disciples. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook, 2001.

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1988.

Johnson, Reginald. Your Personality and the Spiritual Life. Gainesville, FL: CAPT, 1999.

MacDonald, Gordon. Ordering Your Private World. Nashville, TN: Oliver-Nelson, 1985.

Mulholland, M. Robert. Invitation to a Journey. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Peterson, Eugene H. The Message: New Testament. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1996.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Generation Y Bother?

THE GENERATION Y-BOTHER GUIDE TO YOUTH MINISTRY

So you’ve made the big step of answering the call to Youth Ministry. This orientation guide is designed to prepare you for a lifetime of impacting young people with the gospel of Jesus Christ – or at least keep you busy for the next few months until you decide to go back to school to become a real pastor.

DATING – Parishioners have the right to take an unhealthy interest in any romantic relationships you may pursue. There are really only two socially acceptable dating options for you to choose between. The first is to long-distance date a “special friend” who’s far away at Bible School. This will allow the women’s group to gossip about your personal life to their hearts content while making it impossible to imply that you’re having sex. The other option is to avoid the romance-thing altogether by declaring that you’re “dating Jesus.” It has an added benefit of making you appear more spiritual -- at least until that fox in youth group graduates high school and you invite her to join you and Jesus for a threesome.

NAMING YOUR GROUP - It may be hard to believe, but there are some unimaginative churches that actually refer to the youth group as “the youth group.” You must not do this! It’s very important that you choose a name that will make your group stand out from the crowd, communicate the vitality of youth, and be at least five to fifteen years out of date. Some suggestions are God it Goin’ On Youth and Teens in Jeans Power Hour.

PARENTS
- Otherwise known as The Enemy. It will amaze you to no end that people without any training in youth ministry act like experts about teens just because they feed, clothe, and shelter them! Parents are the people who will quench the Spirit in your ministry by asking inane questions like, “Why did you play an R-Rated movie at the youth overnighter?” Avoid them at all costs.


PRIORITIES
– Church committees learned a long time ago that a youth group is cheap labor, so you can expect many backbreaking “ministry opportunities” to come your way. You will quickly discover that you can’t say yes to them all. When prioritizing between two conflicting calendar items it will be helpful to ask yourself which one is more likely to get a write-up in the denominational newsletter. You wouldn’t want to miss out on a reward because no one was watching, would you?


TEACHING
– If you’re like most youth ministers, this is the area where you’ll feel most inadequate. But cheer up – at your age nobody really expects you to know much about anything yet anyhow. And armed with enough icebreaker games, video curriculum, and Christian CDs you may never have to crack open a Bible during your whole tenure!

WORKING HOURS – A church will commonly expect its youth pastor to work an average fifteen-hour day. (They are after all paying your ten-thousand dollar a year salary!) Some especially legalistic churches may even demand that you to be in the office before 10 am and show up on time for church events. The good news is that it is possible to work a hundred-and-five hour workweek and have a life at the same time. Get creative! Write down that two-hour lunch at Wendy’s as visitation – you did speak to that young person behind the counter after all! Reading your devotions and praying count as message preparation. Even watching DVDs and playing video games counts as researching youth culture if you’re diligent enough to right it down.

We hope you find this guide helpful, but always remember that a truly successful ministry is built on your knees. It’s a great posture to assume when begging for your job back with the church board.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Mark it on your calendar!

I turned on Fox News yesterday for a laugh. Your World with Cavuto was on. He was interviewing Richard Simmons, who was looking pretty classy in a suit and tie. In the almost thirty years since he's been a public figure, I can't recall ever seeing him in anything other than shorts and a tank top.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Thoughts on "Invitation to a Journey"

I was once in charge of an emerging church plant for, of all denominations, The Salvation Army. I used to have the most interesting conversations with other people in my distinctive tribe. Postmodernism was a term that was often applied to the fledgling little community, but the funny thing was that no two people ever seemed to have a similar definition of the term. One time, my wife and I had a good laugh at a when we saw the following seminar title:

POSTMODERNISM -- IT'S MORE THAN CANDLES

The workshop speaker made a valid point. Postmodernism, a way of viewing and thinking about a variety of topics, had become reduced to a way of describing a style of worship for people too young for seeker-sensitive and too old for youth group.

Light the candles, use some celtic-type fonts in Power Point, and say words like community and authentic a lot -- you're postmodern! It's a cosmetic change for the same old business-as-usual that goes on in every other church across the country.

I am afraid that I have done the same thing with the term Spiritual Formation. I am forever grateful to M. Robert Mulholland for pointing this out to me in his book Invitation to a Journey: a Road Map for Spiritual Formation.

Mulholland offered the most concise definition of spiritual formation that I've yet encountered in my reading on the topic: "The process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others." The implications of his definition have forever changed my concept of Spiritual Formation. I am having to change much of my practices of the disciplines, or at least look at them from a different perspective. I will break down the definition as Mulholland has done in his book and share my thoughts and reflections on each section.


A PROCESS

In most of the Wesleyan/Methodist/Holiness circles I've kicked around in sanctification is often portrayed as a one-time event where everything that follows is smooth sailing. I can't think of one person I know personally who can testify to an experience like this, but it preaches well, especially in a revival setting!

Just like older kids who begin to catch on to the Santa racket but keep quiet just in case, I think there are a lot of people like me in the church who think about faith as a journey but are kind of afraid that it's some sort of cop out or unspiritual. Mulholland's description of formation as a process was personally liberating.

I'm not entirely convinced of his explanation that attributes our ignorance of the process to our culture of instant gratification. I think an equally important idea that wasn't explored is people's simple desire for closure. If I can just settle the god-thing by going up to the altar or getting dunked or laying my hands on a TV set means that it's settled and I can get on with my life. But a process or journey means that I'm always going to have the issue in front of me. Another idea that wasn't explored was why communities of faith repeatedly hold up a one time all inclusive experience as the ideal when they know better!

When I was a kid, I always wondered what it would feel like to be grown up. I'm 38 now and I still don't feel grown up. I don't agonize over it. I just get on with the daily business of being grown up, such as going to work, raising my children, and getting into debt for my graduate degree. Likewise, I need to let go of the myth that I'm someday going to become Super Christian and just get on with my daily relationship with God.

BEING CONFORMED
In other words, it's not what I do, but what God does. I found myself in easy agreement with the ideas in this section, but I think it's much harder to actually trust God on this one!

IMAGE OF CHRIST
It occurred to me during the reading of this section that I had set my ambitions for the spiritual life much, much too low. I had been satisfied with being a good person with a somewhat vague spirituality. Now I understand that I need to be conformed to the image of Christ. That delights and scares me at the same time!

"The process of being conformed to the image of Christ takes place primarily at the points of our unlikeness to Christ's image. (p. 37)" I'm embarrassed to admit that this rather obvious idea had never really occurred to me before. It made me think about the last time my practices of the disciplines has caused me conflict rather than a blissful feeling. I would say I became more yielded in some areas that I've been struggling in as a result.

SAKE OF OTHERS
I bought into the "...for others" part pretty slowly. At first I thought it was a nice enough sentiment to put into the definition, a Christian counterpart to having the word excellence in company mission statements. Mulholland made a convincing argument that "...for others" is a summation of the whole law. But even deeper than that, "for others" is actually the character of Christ "...who gave himself totally, completely, absolutely, unconditionally for others.(p 41)"

I'm the poster child for Spiritual Formation in the circles I travel in. I own the Celtic cross, the Chant CDs, and the Russian icons. But this book showed me how I had utterly missed the point in so many ways. I believe that my preferences towards solitude and introspection has fueled much of my interest in Spiritual Formation up to this point in my life. In a way, I think there is even an element of escape from others in many of the practices I've adopted.

I need to be involved in Spiritual Formation because I need balance and wholeness. I need to be involved because the body needs me and I need the body. I need to be involved because I need Christ.