What is biblical Spiritual Formation?

A biblical theology of spiritual formation is not self-evident, because it is not natural, but it is taught by God Himself. Jesus, during his earthly ministry, brought spiritual formation into full view, but the concept and practice were around before the Son of God became flesh. Jesus was not teaching a new thing, but the correct version of an old thing. Since Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being, Christians are being shaped into Christ’s image (Hebrews 1:3). The reason for spiritual formation is not to make moral beings, but to make human sinful nature, conform to spiritual nature.  Christ’s redemption of humanity exchanges the sinner’s consequences for Christ’s perfection and Jesus offers a full life now (John 10:10). Paul explains, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 9:29, NIV).

The mission Jesus gave the church was spiritual formation. Jesus told his followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV). Jesus gave three major areas to act as milestones of transformation. The power to accomplish the transformation and spiritual formation are by the Holy Spirit. “It is actually the Holy Spirit who does the transforming of a person’s spirit and life.”[1]

The Bible is the primary catalyst God uses in spiritual formation. “God’s revelation has come through the inspired writings of Moses and all the other prophets in the Old Testament and, most importantly, through God’s own divine Son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate prophet, priest, and king, and revealed in the New Testament.”[2] The foundation for the theology of spiritual formation is rooted in Scripture. In fact, Averbeck affirms, Psalm 119:105, where God’s word is described as “a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”[3] The Scriptures are act as a lamp and a light. In one way, the lamp of Scripture gives the next step of spiritual guidance. On the other hand, Scripture is a light providing a long-term direction for how God will eventually shape the Christian.

The Scriptures are critical for spiritual formation because the path is illuminated by the correct things. God knows the way his children are meant to grow and He lays out the path in His Word. Averbeck cites events in the life of Saul and David to highlight the importance of correct biblical theology of spiritual formation to know what occurred. For example, “The Holy Spirit came upon one king and departed from the other, and was replaced in the latter by an “evil spirit from the LORD,” which, in turn, tormented him in his human spirit.”[4]

The Bible is needed for spiritual formation into the likeness of Christ, according to Averbeck. Spiritual truth is in the Bible about who God is and how a Christian ought to live. A person could not omit the Bible and gain correct information to grow. Transformation happens when a person understands and believes correct information about God to renew their mind (Romans 12:2). The importance of the Bible for spiritual formation is seen in 2 Timothy 3:15, as Paul tells Timothy “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures.” In other words, Paul explained the Scriptures were the means God used, in partnership with Timothy, to form him spiritually. “The point is that, whether directly or indirectly, the whole of Scripture contributes to the understanding and practice of spirituality and spiritual formation.”[5] According to Averbeck, the Bible is necessary for spiritual formation. Averbeck states, “The Bible is God’s special revelation, so we need to rely on it and align with it as we study, practice, and teach spiritual formation.”[6] The Bible is not a supplement for spiritual formation, but the Bible is absolutely imperative for it. “The goal of spiritual formation as revealed in the Word of God is the (trans)formation of our hearts and lives into the very image of Jesus Christ Himself, which is the will of God the Father.”[7]

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives the revelation to understand the Scriptures and empowers the believer to live it out. The Holy Spirit develops Christians through individual understanding, but that is not all. God’s spirit draws Christians into a community, which is essential for full spiritual growth. “We do not appreciate ‘community’ as we should, and often we do not really understand how important it is to engage personally in fellowship and the building up of the local and universal community of faith.”[8]

[1] Richard Averbeck, “Spirit, Community, and Mission: A Biblical Theology for Spiritual Formation,” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Vol. 1, No. 1, 27-53, 2008.

[2] Richard Averbeck, “The Bible in Spiritual Formation,” in The Kingdom Life: A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation, Allen Andrews (Ed.), NavPress, 2010.

[3] Ibid., 205.

[4] Richard E. Averbeck, “Spirit, Community, and Mission: A Biblical Theology for Spiritual Formation.” Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 1, no. 1 (Spr 2008): 31.

[5] Ibid., 30.

[6] Averbeck, Richard. The Kingdom Life : A Practical Theology of Discipleship and Spiritual Formation. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing Group, 2010. Accessed October 26, 2022.198.

[7] Ibid., 199.

[8] Richard E. Averbeck, “Spirit, Community, and Mission: A Biblical Theology for Spiritual Formation.” Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 1, no. 1 (Spr 2008): 35.

There is a WAY to do Discipleship

The way my brain works is it is always trying to answer questions. Most of my messages, sermons, podcasts basically answer questions. When I observe something I wonder, why did that happen and also what was not said. For example, Jesus commanded his disciples to make other disciples and to disciple them (teach them to obey), but he didn’t seem to tell them how.

Since Jesus did not give us a systematic course in discipleship, I think we have a lot of freedom in how. I am going to share something with you that might be developed as a system in your church. If you are not in a position to implement a system, it will still bless you and provide some focus to your own discipleship journey. Hey, if nothing else, its interesting and it will help you fall back in love with Jesus!

It fascinates me Jesus made the claim he is “THE WAY.”

·       “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)

The description of the term “Christianity” was predominately called “the Way” by the first church. It wasn’t until the Jesus’ disciple-making movement outsiders noticed behavior of “the Way” when people started to call them Christians. In other words, people noticed some kind of pattern or close enough similarities to associate Christ with the “way” people were living, so they called them “Christians.” It seems modern Christianity have attempted, knowing or unknowingly, created the categories of either a Christian or a Disciple. This distinction is nowhere in the life and teaching of Jesus. Moving on…

This brings me to the question, why were they called “the Way.” I don’t think it is as simple as, “well that’s just what they were called back then, but now we call the Christians.”

Offer a Map, Not a Menu (Eric Geiger)

·       I spent 15 years Active in the Marine Corps. In that time, I deployed a few times. Some deployments were more combat related but in other cases, we were more of a contingency force waiting in case something happened. These were most of the time I was on ship deployments. Its not always fun being stuffed on a ship with a few thousand other people in very close quarters. Those are some of the times when things look better in hindsight and you appreciate it looking back. We did get to go to many different countries when we stopped on port calls.

·       I remember my first ship deployment we went to various places. One of those places was Greece and I just wanted off the ship to wonder around. We docked in a placed called Thessaloniki, which is referred in the Bible in the book of Thessalonians. Right there in the town there is a church built and a statue to remember the Apostle Paul. I know people who paid extra for a tour to places like Athens. I thought, I should do that, but it costs money and, hey, I will figure something else out. There is plenty to see. It wasn’t until I saw the pictures and heard people’s experiences of all they saw and learned with memories they will have for the rest of their lives, I realized I made a big mistake.

·       Thankfully, on my next ship deployment, I would not make the same mistake. We got to go to Israel and I did every tour I could. This was a great decision.  It was really the first time I have been on a tour, and I loved listening to the tour guide. He had Jewish heritage like me, but he had something I didn’t, he had been to the places I had only read about. It is quite possible I knew more about the material in the Bible, but he had literally walked in the steps of Jesus. I never would have found any of the things he showed me, and I certainly wouldn’t have known the order they happened. I notice people probably do not intentionally do discipleship because they have never been there themselves.

·       In a 2014 Article by Eric Geiger wrote  “Offer a Map, Not a Menu”

·       He said, “Travel agents offer menus and say, “Here are all the options. Best of luck.” They don’t join you on the adventure. They may never even experience the options they are putting before you.”

·       Tour guides offer maps and say, “Let’s go on this journey together. We know the way. We have been on this journey before, and we are in this with you.”

Jesus didn’t say he would tell us the way, but that he was the way. Maybe discipleship, is about the ordered way fulfilled in Jesus

·       Luke 4:17-21 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners  and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

·       Let’s quickly go through the key points of Jesus’ message that is his fulfillment

o   “the Spirit of the Lord is on me…” Found (chosen) - Position

o   “Proclaim freedom for the prisoner and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” Opportunity - Purpose

o   “The Year of the Lord’s favor” Renew your life to favor - Pursuit

One of the things I learned from the tours is its not just about the information or even the places, but it is often about the path.

Communion - Not just juice and crackers

·       Without a spiritual tour guide, we cannot fully understand the depth of what God is telling us in the Scriptures and sometimes we miss things completely.

·       My introduction to communion is probably similar to yours.

o   The Pastor stands up and says something like, now we are going to partake in communion or some reference to the last supper. Interestingly, this is not actually Jesus’ last supper since he lived and ate with his disciples for 40 days after the resurrection. It also seemed strange to me that Jesus apparently only had a piece of bread they all shared and a cup of wine. Or grape juice and don’t ask too many questions because Christians don’t drink… or at least not much in public because they could cause their brother to stumble or something. At least that was the extent of instruction I got from decades attending church.

o   There are a few primary passages read: Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:7-22, and Matthew 26:17-30. Mark’s account is very brief, and we get most of the details of the event from Luke and Matthew. It is repeated for the churches in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

o   Jesus didn’t do communion, but he celebrated the Passover with the Disciples (Luke 22:7-22 ESV)  - Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you da large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes pas it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!”

The Passover meal was a progressive meal where four cups of wine are drank and each cup symbolizes promises God gave after He freed the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Notice, the gospel writer keys in on one scene in this meal. Jesus picks up one of the cups and draws attention to it. What cup is this and why did Jesus stop and talk about this cup? Paul gives more details to the Corinthian church.

 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV - For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

“The Cup after the meal is the third cup. Jesus calls this the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Paul also references it as “the cup of blessing and the cup of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21.

The four cups of Passover are anchors of the Passover meal celebration. They stand for each of the four promises the Lord makes to His people in Exodus 6:6-7, but what do the cups mean?

The 1st Cup: The Cup of Sanctification

“I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

·       Found – Position in God’s family and his care

The 2nd Cup: The Cup of Deliverance

“I will rescue you from their bondage.”

·       Opportunity – Purpose and freedom to carry it out.

The 3rd Cup: The Cup of Redemption or Cup of Blessing

“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”

·       Renew – Pursuit is the life because God is the one redeeming. God takes missteps, abuse, oppression, personal sin, and he also gives you supernatural spiritual gifts to redeem all that was and propels you into what will be.

·       Romans 4:17 – “the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

The 4th Cup: The Cup of Praise

“I will take you as My people.”

·       Jesus, on the night of the last Supper, he did not drink the fourth cup of the Seder. Once I realized there were four cups and I noticed the Bible only mentions the third cup, I couldn’t figure out why the fourth cup isn’t mentioned. Jesus is God in the flesh, he fulfilled the law and he would not just miss this. It was very important to Jesus to fulfill the final passover

·       Jesus did not share this cup like in the old covenant. This cup of praise is to be thankful to God even though the Jews still did not fully have freedom in their land. In other words it was still bitter, which is why this final cup of wine in the Passover seder is bitter wine. This was practiced in Jesus’ time on earth because the Romans lorded over the Jews.

·       Jesus did drink the cup, but he did not share this bitter cup. Luke 22:42 Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane praying ““Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

·       Matthew 27:33-34 “And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.”

·       John was the only disciple to stay right by the cross and witness Jesus’ death. He notes, in John 19:28-30, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

·       This new covenant is where we get to participate in the first three cups of reconciliation. In fact, this is why Paul explains we now have been given the ministry of reconciliation to invite people into the family of God, who Finds us, gives us the freedom of opportunity, and renews us to live out our calling.

·       We could use different words but the church, as disciples can break our ministry down into doing three things involved with the cups of Sanctification, Deliverance, and Redemption. This could be developed into a process to walk people through the promises of God in discipleship.

o   Since God is not trying to get something from you, but he has something “FOR” you, It is fitting to use the acronym “FOR”

F – Found (Sanctification)

O – Opportunity (Deliverance)

R – Renew (Redemption)

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.