Spiritual formation is a deeply personal and inward transformation process designed to shape our hearts, minds, and character into the likeness of Christ. I’ll call this a type of a sanctifying process, where we’re set apart for God’s use and our own individual growth. This process is a piece of the Holy Spirit, completed through our energetic cooperation in committing to spiritual disciplines, engaging in Christian community, and taking up an ongoing responsibility for lifelong growth in Christ.
If I finished there with that definition, you may wonder who would have an issue with that? Well, surprisingly (possibly not) this topic gets added to the seemingly ever-growing list of “controversial” topics that appear to dot the landscape of the Christian faith. Therefore, the elemental issue at the center of this debate is whether or not the methods and philosophies of the spiritual formation movement align with biblical truth.
Is Spiritual Formation Biblical?
Whether or not spiritual formation and its movement is biblical is determined by who you ask. Of course, proponents of it imagine it aligns well with Scripture, while opponents raise their concerns. To assist you to understand higher, listed here are among the key disciplines of spiritual formation.
- Prayer – Personal and company times of dialogue with God. This will include adoration, confession, intercession, thanksgiving, and listening.
- Bible reading and meditation – This involves reading Scripture commonly, together with memorizing and reflecting on the meaning and purpose of the text. The aim shouldn’t be just to assemble information but to be transformed by the word of God.
- Worship – Intentional times of praise and adoration to God each individually and corporately, often through song, silence, liturgy, all done reverently.
- Fasting – Choosing to abstain from food to hunt a more focused spiritual reference to God.
- Silence and solitude – A time of withdrawal away from the noise of life to give attention to God, rest, reflect, and listen for his voice.
- Confession – Acknowledging sin before God and confessing sin to others.
- Fellowship and community – Building relationships with other believers for fellowship, accountability, and encouragement.
- Service – Using your gifts and skills to look after others and show them the love of Jesus by caring for them.
- Seeking guidance – Pursuing and getting clever counsel from mature Christians.
- Sabbath and rest – Taking intentional moments of rest to honor God and recharge the spirit, mind, and body.
You could make a case for every of those disciplines from Scripture, and on a surface level there doesn’t appear to be anything mistaken with these disciplines. If that’s the case, then what’s the priority in regards to the spiritual formation movement?
What Is the Spiritual Formation Movement?
Two key people introduced the trendy spiritual formation movement. The first is Richard Foster, who wrote Celebration of Discipline in 1978. This book reacquainted the evangelical church with disciplines reminiscent of solitude, silence, fasting, and meditation. His book was followed ten years later by a book written by Dallas Willard, called The Spirit of Discipline, which focused on how spiritual disciplines are a path to Spirit-led transformation. His book gave the movement an mental and academic framework and opened the door for spiritual formation to be taught in evangelical seminaries.
Critics of the movement imagine that certain practices of spiritual formation are related to mysticism, New Age techniques, and Eastern meditation. This is particularly true of things like practicing meditation. Others feel there’s a shift away from biblical truth to counting on personal spiritual experiences because the measure of authenticity. Some critics argue that this movement leads people to approach holiness from a works-based mindset, claiming that the disciplines give attention to human effort slightly than the remodeling work of the Holy Spirit alone. Finally, some query whether the practices align with Scripture and in the event that they are too reliant on psychology or therapeutic methods.
How Spiritual Formation Happens within the Christian Life
According to Dallas Willard, here is how spiritual formation happens:
“Spiritual formation within the tradition of Jesus Christ is the technique of transformation of the inmost dimension of the human being, the center, which is similar because the spirit or will. It is being formed (really, transformed) in such a way that its natural expression involves be the deeds of Christ done in the facility of Christ.”
Proponents of spiritual formation might add that it goes beyond just changing external behaviors. The disciplines are speculated to result in a deep, inward transformation. The transformation that happens results from cooperation between the work of the Spirit and the work of the human in selecting to participate in these disciplines.
One thing that’s essential is distinguishing spiritual formation from salvation. While salvation is an act of grace through faith, which requires no work on your individual to acquire it, spiritual formation comes after salvation and is a byproduct of religion, grace, and work. Stated one other way, you may have a job to play in your spiritual transformation, and the disciplines will move you in that direction.
You might then wonder, does spiritual formation = spiritual transformation?
While the reply to this query will rely on who you ask, those that practice spiritual formation would probably conclude that spiritual formation shouldn’t be transformation. Instead, it’s the behaviors which might be put into practice that result in transformation. Spiritual formation is about intentional habits or practices that give room for the Holy Spirit to do the work of transformation within the believer’s life.
Conclusion: Should You Practice Spiritual Formation?
One necessary query underlying spiritual formation is what role will we play within the sanctification process? Is this only the work of the Holy Spirit and all it requires us to do is read the Bible and pray?
I feel most would agree that the disciplines of the religion contribute to our growth, and we cannot grow if we don’t practice them. We all know that when you don’t pray, read the Bible, or when you neglect fellowship, those things (or lack thereof) will hinder your spiritual development. But the query stays: how far will we take this?
Are there advantages to disciplines like fasting, silence, meditation, or confession? The answer is a convincing yes! However, we have to be clear about how we define these terms. That also matters. For example, the Bible tells us to meditate on his word day and night, so we’re careful to do what it says (Joshua 1:8). However, in meditating, are we considering deeply about God’s Word or are we searching for to enter some variety of subconscious spiritual state that can produce change? I might deem the previous healthy; the latter is potentially dangerous for the Christian and will even play a (negative) role in spiritual warfare.
If you might be intentionally taking time to hope, study, worship, and meditate on God and his word, even shutting out the encompassing noise to focus in on what God is saying to you, those are good things. They are spiritual disciplines that each believer should practice. If that’s your definition of spiritual formation, then practice it. Beyond that, things land on shaky ground.
Spiritual disciplines are a part of this journey, and Jesus modeled a few of them for us. While you may never earn salvation through spiritual formation alone, your growth right into a healthy and mature follower of Jesus is determined by the way you learn and apply the things he has told us to do. To some level, all of us practice spiritual formation. Whether you must fully embrace it is determined by your definitions of those disciplines and the best way through which you practice them.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Joel Muniz
He is the writer of The Pursuit of Purpose, which helps readers understand how God leads them into his will, and the writer of The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. Clarence can also be committed to helping 10,000 people learn methods to study the Bible and has released his first course, Bible Study Basics, to realize that goal. To learn more about his ministry and resources, please visit clarencehaynes.com.
