Spiritual Formation: Rediscovering old Terrian

One of my favorite quotes by T.S. Eliot reads, "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

Things of great value are susceptible to being lost. I believe Biblical discipleship is one of those things. When I say lost, I do not mean lost like a set of keys. But rather lost in a more subtle, dangerous sense. Lost like how an unattended campfire steadily dies down in the cool of the night until neither flame nor flicker remain. The roaring blaze that once was is now simply a dormant coal.

So things need not be misplaced in order to be lost, only mismanaged. There are many, many factors leading to the demise of discipleship in western culture (perhaps Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy is one of the best and most exhaustive resources tracking this demise). However, what is important is that we ALL agree that we generally do not agree on what discipleship means or how it is to be done.

So, in recent years movements have emerged that are attempting to impart a fresh and more distinct meaning of what discipleship really is. Some of these movements have used new language to describe the process of becoming more like Jesus. The word being used most often is spiritual formation. Spiritual Formation is simply the process of our spirits being formed into the spirit of Jesus. It's the process of becoming like Him, from the inside out.

Why the need for fresh language? Because language is a powerful tool in creating meaning. One thing language does is help us change our mental scenery. Over time any word begins to define itself through the same old images and familiar connotations. When we use the same language over and over again, it begins to lose meaning. It's like to walking into your home. Things become so familiar, you don't take time to really notice or appreciate them.

So, when mental landscapes form from over-usage of a word, meaning is subtely lost. Also, the original intended meaning counts for little. The mental terrain that we traverse has more to do with the context in which that word is most often used.

So we take the word Disciple(ship), a word brimming with amazing 1st century images and connotations involving a rabbi-student relationship. Unfortunately, the mental landscapes available to us when the word comes to mind has little or nothing to do with the its intended meaning in the 1st century. Or possibly even Jesus' intended meaning! The word has been used in so many way shapes and forms that its meaning has been dilluted, if not completely lost.

Is discipleship Sunday school? Does it involve joining a small group? Does it happen in church? At home? Is it the job of a para-church organization? If no one is discipling me, am I really being discipled? What about discipleship programs? If I read my Bible and pray everyday will I be a disciple? Do I evaluate discipleship in terms of faithful church attendance? Do I have to intend to become a disciple or does it just happen? Is it supposed to be birthed in a relationship? Can I be a Christian and not be a disciple?

Perhaps your answer to these questions are, "Well, yes and no. Kind of, sort of, but not really." Now, I'm no legalist looking for a cookie cutter definition of disciple. I'll be the first one to admit that God uses many, many different things to form us into the image of Christ. On the other hand, perhaps we have defined discipleship so broadly and loosely that even those of us who pastor our churches have become disoriented.

The term spiritual formation is fresh language (that's actually very old language) for "discipleship". Maybe the word alone will freshen up the stale and crusty landscape of dicipleship within the church. Perhaps this new term will lead us on an exploration. Maybe we can traverse old terrain with new eyes and fresh legs. Would you be willing to take such a journey? I'd throw all my chips in on this quest. I know of nothing more substantial that we can do in the church than to re-discover what discipleship (spiritual formation, holiness) really is supposed to be.

With God's help, I believe we can rediscover what was lost. I believe we can know arrive back to our starting points and know that place for the first time. I believe that all is not lost. A dormant coal lives and awaits a time when it can blaze anew with the fire it once had. Let's be the church that fans the ember Christlikeness back into a raging flame.