The Economy of Spiritual Formation

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Once again I want to reflect on my time at the Spiritual Formation Summit. Richard Foster zoomed in for the first talk to share some reflections on the nature of the spiritual formation conversation and why it developed the way it did.

As one of the most significant figures of the early spiritual formation conversation, and perhaps one of the most influential people in developing the ethos of the discussion, his thoughts on what needs to be maintained to be faithful were intriguing. His focus was on providing series of value claims that are essential, in his mind, for folks working in the area of spiritual formation:

Value anonymity.

Nothing fails like success.

Stay as hidden as you can. Do not run around trying to make things happen.

His call was to have a different value system as well as valuing what we do in different ways then the religious culture around us, focusing on people and the integration of the person.

At the heart of Foster’s analysis of the contemporary issues concerning spiritual formation in the church is that people are choosing a life of superficiality over a life of depth.

Because of this, the temptation for folks who care about spiritual formation will be to reduce it down to a series of principles, axioms, or practices and forget that Christian spiritual formation is antithetical to ways that evangelicalism has bought into worldly power and success. You cannot simply tack on spiritual formation to the broken systems of the evangelical industrial complex.

In a similar way, I sometimes get asked by students about how my work on power, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb, relates to my other work. Their impression is that it is a side-project that is somehow not related my books on spiritual formation or theology. That is a telling instinct. They often miss that the question of power - and what it means to be a powerful person - is at the heart of spiritual formation.

What is easily missed by my generation of folks who work in this area is that spiritual formation is not simply a teaching that can be tacked-on the end of any sort of ethos. There is a prophetic edge to it.

Spiritual formation, as being formed into the likeness of the crucified Lord of glory, will be a judgment against the powers and principalities of this present evil age. Furthermore, it includes the recognition that the powers and principalities will never remain outside the walls of the church, but will be at work from within. To follow Jesus will require that we bare witness against these evils even in the church itself.

One of the reasons I serve in an academic program of spiritual formation is that a masters program (or certificate program), for better and for worse, is a slow, time-intensive season of life with others. In our programs, a cohort walks through life together for 2-3 years of intensive focus on the Christian life, prayer, community, and the reality of what has given shape to who they are.

Core to all of this is the cultivation of something that is antithetical to the quick, simply, and easy solutions that promise much but end up providing very little. The church has too often turned to the quick and easy - what does not require discernment, patience, and the Spirit - and forgets that the supernatural life with Christ is not that kind of thing.

Pause and consider Richard’s advice, and think about what rhythm of life you are imbibing and what you are harmonizing with. When people look at what you give yourself to, is it clear to them that you are the Lord’s? Is the Lord the centering feature of your life that orients all that you do?

Seek faithfulness and not success, and trust that if you seek first the kingdom all you need will be added to you.