Reformed Spiritual Formation

Introduction

Following the Middle Ages, the next 200 years (AD 1400-1600) is known as the Reformation Era of spiritual formation. The Reformation was a significant turn from previous eras where worship centered around Mass transitioned to pulpit preaching emerging as the central aspect of worship.[1]  The reformation was a rejection of many Catholic teaching and practices that were nearly all human-driven involvement in spiritual formation. The reformers emphasized personal, rather than collective, spiritual formation. Furthermore, individual devotional Bible study and preaching were the two main elements of spiritual transformation.

Theologian #1

The reformer credited with starting the reformation is Martin Luther. He lived from 1483-1546 and he came from poor beginnings in Germany. Luther joined a monastery, but his sinful nature was constantly at the forefront of his mind. While at Wittenberg, Luther’s life changed from Romans 1:17, as he stated, “I was seized with the conviction that I must understand Paul’s letter to the Romans… but to that moment one phrase in chapter 1 stood in my way.”[2] Luther’s spiritual formation was simply reading Scripture and believing what God said. Luther does not describe steps of growth, but he does spend time explaining his conversion, which was a process of unlearning things from Catholicism. After reading Romans with new eyes, Luther said, “This immediately made me feel as though I had been born again and as though I had entered through open gates into paradise itself.”[3] Luther’s spiritual formation was centered around and was driven by the gospel.

Over the years Luther taught Scripture and strongly came against the practice of selling “indulgences, which the popes dispensed in order to reduce the number of years the faithful had to spend in purgatory.”[4] Luther’s view of the gospel gave the Christian freedom. “Martin Luther had much to say on the topic of Christian freedom from his tract from 1520.”[5] It all came to a head when Luther posted his ninety-five theses publicly challenging the Catholic church on October 31, 1517.

Theologian #2

John Calvin is one of the most well-known reformers. He was born in Noyon, France in 1509. Influenced by German Humanists, Calvin become reformed in 1533 or 1534.[6] Calvin was shy and reluctant to lead, but people around him thrusted him into the spotlight. In 1536 the Geneva city council Luther was persuaded to be the cities primary preacher, but he was let go two years later after his attempted changes to the church were unpopular.[7] Calvin was most comfortable serving as a local pastor, but he knew he had a higher calling as the movement’s leader.[8]

Spiritual formation, for Calvin, was primarily rooted in the revelation from the Scriptures. Consistent with reformed theology, Calvin believed God was the driver in spiritual formation, but it was accomplished through faithful reading of the Bible. Additionally, “Calvin believed the Holy Spirit provided inner testimony in the heart of believers to enable them to understand, believe and obey the Word, for there can be no higher or greater witness to God than God himself.”[9] Due to Calvin’s high view of Scripture, preaching God’s Word was the vehicle for bringing about spiritual formation. Sittser affirms, “The Reformers labored to preach well because they had a high view of the Word of God, whether incarnate, written, preached or made visible in the sacraments.”[10] Calvin is known as a theologian who emphasized the reliance on the Holy Spirit for spiritual growth through self-denial.[11]

Theologian #3

            Erasmus was a leader during the Reformation Era, and he is known as the “Prince of the humanists.”[12] Humanism in Erasmus’ day had a very different meaning compared to what one might think it is today. Humanism “encouraged the renewal, a rebirth or renaissance, of an old idea of ‘the human’, which included notions of ethical behaviour in public life, the importance of history, and an ideal of beautiful style in writing.”[13]

Many reformers’ discrepancies with the church were so great they typically left, but not humanists. Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536) was no different, staying connected to the church even though he issued many criticisms against it.[14] Erasmus’ view of spiritual formation came about through intellectual and cultural means. In other words, growing into a mature Christian does not exclusive to “spiritual” or “religious” activities such as Scripture memorization or prayer. Erasmus embraced and taught a holistic view of spiritual formation. Unlike most of the other reformers, Erasmus did not see preaching and personal Bible study as the primary vehicles for spirituality. In fact, Erasmus became influential and famous through his writing and not his preaching.[15]

Conclusion

The reformation era covered approximately 200 years and theologians in that time provide various complementary views of spiritual formation. Martin Luther delivered a view of spiritual formation focusing on the Bible and one’s new identity. Luther was certainly influenced by his own conversion. One Luther knew who he was in Christ, he believed spirituality would follow. John Calvin seemed to build on Luther’s spiritual formation by emphasizing the importance of preaching to grow spiritually. Calvin had the heart of a local pastor with a desire to preach God’s Word to his congregation, but his gifts elevated him to cause him to reluctantly be the face of the reformation for a time. In addition to the need for a Christian to hear solid biblical preaching, Calvin also taught the role of the Holy Spirit in spiritual formation. The pure humanist, Erasmus, had a stark difference in practice compared to Luther and Calvin. Erasmus opened the aperture of what spiritual formation encompassed. For Erasmus, spiritual formation included the arts, education, beauty, and culture and not a compartmentalized view of spirituality.

[1] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 210.

[2] Ibid., 214.

[3] Martin Luther, Freedom of the Christian, (Dillengerger, 1520), 61.

[4] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 215.

[5] Ibid., 217.

[6] Ibid., 218.

[7] Ibid., 219.

[8] Ibid., 219.

[9] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 221.

[10] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 227.

[11] David Kaywood, “John Calvin: Who He Is, What He Did, and Why He Matters,” Gospel Relevance, August 20, 2018.

[12] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 218.

[13] William Barker, Erasmus of Rotterdam : The Spirit of a Scholar, (London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2021), 9.

[14] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries, (IVP Books, 2007), 218.

[15] William Barker, Erasmus of Rotterdam : The Spirit of a Scholar, (London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2021), 11.

Make it Count

I loved playing sports when I was a child, and I still love playing. Now as a parent, it more fun watching children play. Well, it is different, but there is a joy accompanied I did not have as a child. There is no greater joy seeing my children score or succeed in some way. However, on the other hand, it is very difficult to see them fail. One thing I repeatedly tell them is “successful people don’t fail, they learn.”

It is also reminiscent of a Michael Jordan commercial where he says, “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” I’ve missed more than 9,000 . . . Michael Jordan - Forbes Quotes. I know this is very little help in the moment, but when they succeed down the road, they will recognize it is because of some lesson they learned through defeat.

Watching a four or five year old play soccer is filled with mixed emotions. It is by pure chance your child scored, but the excitement is like they won the championship. I remember watching a game and another child scored, and you can imagine the exuberance radiating throughout their body. Smiling from ear to ear, chest puffed out, and running with an embolden confidence. The only issue is this child scored on the wrong goal. As parents, we just say “well at least they are happy.” Even if you know it’s a little off, there is something exciting and contagious about seeing someone believe they are winning.

It reminds me of the moment when I realized, maybe that was me. Maybe I was part of a church that thought they were winning, succeeding, making a difference, but we scored on the wrong goal. Technically, the ball went in the net, but the score did count for the intended team. We were making decisions, but not making disciples. The strange thing is we know this. We know Jesus did not call us to get people to make a decision for Christ, but to make disciples, who continue to make decisions to follow Jesus. But people are so excited to make a decision, but does it count?

Although, I like to think this next point is well-known it is probably lost on people who say, “but it’s working.” According to the person who basically started the current model most churches use, it doesn’t work. Bill Hybels began the church movement known as “seeker sensitive” said, “We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become self feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own” (Willow Creek Repents? | CT Pastors | Christianity Today. Pastor Bill Hybels came to this conclusion after his mega church reviewed the work of an independent study to see if their church was successful, which essentially asked the questions if they were making disciples. The model popularized by Hybels has evolved into “attractional church” but the core “counting” remains the same.

Jesus told us, the church, to make disciples because he will have a kingdom of priests. That’s right, every follower of Jesus, all Christians, are priests and not just the person who talks on stage. Have we told people that? Do we train them to live up to that? John said, “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests. . . (Revelation 1:6). Peter told the entire church on earth, you are a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). What are we counting? John Doers helps us focus in on what we think matters, by stating, ‘what matters gets measured, and what gets measured gets done” (What Matters).

I recently did a podcast focusing on David and Goliath (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unnaturally-leading-leadership-that-counts/id1482591395?i=1000509215071). Borrowing from insights from Malcom Gladwell’s book David and Goliath, David and Goliath (Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants): Gladwell, Malcolm: 4708364221388: Amazon.com: Books, I discovered how we count shapes what we care about. Gladwell explains many of us got this famous underdog story all wrong. In fact, it is not really an underdog story. Effectively, we count the wrong things. Everyone thought David was crazy because they counted the difference in him and Goliath’s height, military experience, age, and so on.

What you count, reveals what you: Value

What you count, reveals where you find: Security

What you count, reveals what you thing is: Strength

Maybe we keep counting decisions in church only because its something we think we can win. The truth is, that is not all that matters to us. We also count staff, attendance, viewership, and so on… but not disciples. Granted, this is very difficult to count, but it is the only thing God counts. We need to make disciples. we need to renew discipleship #renew-discipleship.

Bridging the Gap - A Great Divide

We need to bridge the gap between the pulpit and the pew. I know we do not have pulpits or pews in most churches, but it sounds better than bridging the gap between the bistro table and the cushioned interlocking chair. I am willing to bet, most pastors want to motivate their congregation to action and many Christians know there is more to their spirituality than the Sunday service. When did this great divide occur?

Continental drift is as real in Christianity as it is in geology. Church history gives some indication when the slow gradual shift happened from the church we see in Acts to the reality in how our church acts. The church history recorded by Luke in the book of Acts was not a flash in the pan event, but it recorded highlights over about three decades.

A product of the first church was a man named Ignatius (AD 35-107) of Antioch, Syria (modern day Turkey). He thought there should be only one pastor of each church. He wanted to centralize the church under one leader. Ignatius seemed to lean toward extreme oversight with this quote, “It is not lawful either to baptize or to celebrate a love feast without the bishop, but whatever he approves of, that is also pleasing to God” (Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 8). Then Evaristus, the Bishop of Rome AD 99-107, divided Rome into parishes with a supervising priest. Fabion about 100 years later divided the cities and districts led by a deacon. By the fourth century a centralized congregational framework was accepted to unify the church under one leadership. The reformation helped decentralize teaching to the individual, but leadership structure remained. A priestly class developed and then a laity class of Christians. The professionals giving a service to the consumer who attended. The divide from the first to the fourth century came from leadership structure to manage the church rather than enable the church (Christian disciples) to carry out their mission. These structures and behaviors shaped minds away from the biblical model.

The current reality in most churches is there are a few people held responsible for “doing ministry.” The ripple effects from the great ministry divide are felt today as Christians do not see themselves as disciples and they drift further from their purpose. National Geographic gives a good synopsis of “continental drift” now the theory is known by the science of tectonics.[1] The theory of continental drift was modified because it “lacked a mechanism for how it works – why did the continents drift and what patterns did they follow?”[2] Just like centennial drift, we need to see what is happening.

Most people inside and outside the church recognize there is a problem. People outside the church do not want to have anything to do with “organized religion.” People who tell me this usually cite their experience or a general understanding of abuses of power that lead people astray. On the other hand, people inside the church often feel like they are not growing enough. I have heard people say things like “I wasn’t being fed,” “I didn’t get anything for worship,” or “they didn’t have enough for my kids.” Many people can recognize a problem, but we need to find a solution. Part of that is what we are trying to do to identify the mechanism causing the divide.

The Apostle Paul wrote to a group a Christians in Ephesus, a city located in modern-day Turkey, and he noticed the same issue of the church getting out of order. In the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to this church he noticed a drift and tells them, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3, NIV). He recognizes the divide and the current reality they are “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14, NIV). As any good leader, Paul leads with vision for what they should be and does not leave them to figure it out themselves. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:15-16, NIV).

Paul noticed the problem at Ephesus, and maybe your church, is people expected something from the pastor he cannot give. God made His church a body that is meant to work in concert with each other and not co-dependency. God does not just show us the problem, but He gives us the solution.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV).

The healthy church is operating effectively when it is organized according to God. When people say they do not want organized religion, they are really saying they do not want the disorganized religion they see. We can start reorganizing and lead with the vision to move in the journey of discipleship!

[1] Caryl Sue, Continental Drift, (National Georgraphic, 2015), https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/continental-drift/

[2] Ibid.