All Christians need spiritual direction

Our lecture tonight included a quote by Douglas Hardy, a professor at Nazarene Theological Seminary. Professor Hardy indicated that all Christians need spiritual direction and gave several reasons in support of his claim. I agree. Listening and responding to God's spirit is a characteristic that desperately needs to be nurtured in Christians today.

We have largely lost a sense of the supernatural in our faith. In the void has grown a subculture that substitutes routine for surprise and wonderment. We no longer participate in God's dreams, but rather shrink our image of God to fit ours. We have systemized a love affair into rules and regulations.

We all have routines with which we have to comply. People have expectations of us that we feel obligated to live out. Our good intentions consistently outnumber our productive hours. All of these things can drown out that still, small voice, which ironically, is the only voice that matters in the end.

Spiritual Direction, for me at least, provides a place for those half-heard or un-reflected upon conversations to be revisited. Sometimes I can easily recall a statement and other times I struggle to piece together the words or the meaning. But the process eventually gets it all out there.

Spiritual Direction makes time to heed the still small voice. My director helps bring clarity to the situation. Sometimes he only acts as a sounding board. But it's important to have someone to keep me accountable to this kind of introspection—otherwise I would probably have a full calendar and a lot of regrets.

I wonder what it would take to get our churches from here to there? Perhaps a good place to start would be to introduce some of the concepts of Spiritual Direction into already existing aspects of the church. Maybe we could pursue some group guidance for a start in Sunday Schools or with a ministry team. An old tradition that might be revived in churches is the question, "How is your soul?"

An important aspect to keep in mind is that direction should be part of the life of the church and not just the domain of the "experts".

One of the most detrimental things for young people today is that we have fooled ourselves into thinking that professionals and programs are the only people capable of working with youth. A lot more good would be accomplished at a fraction of the cost if adults just became engaged with kids where they are. (Learning the names of kids in the neighborhood, volunteering for youth programs, etc.) I'll get back of my soapbox now.

The point is, we can't let the same thing happen in the church. Looking back I can see where I've had plenty of mentors in my Christian walk, even if they didn't carry any official title. As I've been reading through this week's assigned text I've become convinced that my friend Brad and I were already doing mutual spiritual direction even if we didn't know it!

Spiritual Direction is an important but by no means the only aspect of spiritual development. Spiritual Direction needs to be part of a well-rounded program that includes corporate worship, Christian education, discipleship, mentoring, and service.