Earlier this year, several dozen persons gathered for three days in Pasadena, CA for a “spiritual formation summit.” While much was discussed, there seemed to be three themes that rose to the surface.
Theme 1:
There remains a deep thirst for meaningful spiritual life among those within and outside the church.
The hunger for spiritual transformation in Christ is not a passing fad. Studies show that Generation Z and Generation Alpha are increasingly open to spiritual realities. It is vitally important that Christians demonstrate the reliability of transformation through Jesus and the compelling nature of his kingdom way of life.
Theme 2:
There exist extensive spiritual formation resources to help meet the needs and direct those pursuing life with God.
Numerous formation-oriented organizations, publications, degree programs, retreat centers, lay training opportunities, curricula, spiritual directors, and related resources have emerged in the last several decades. The Christian community is much better equipped today than thirty or forty years ago to help address the needs of those who desire formation in Christ.
Theme 3:
Local congregations remain the final frontier when it comes to integrating formation by the Spirit into Christian life.
As strange as it seems, time and time again, it was noted that in many cases, local churches remain organized around goals other than Spirit-driven conformity to Jesus. The goals may be evangelism, missional outreach, biblical knowledge, church growth, service attendance, passionate worship, deliverance ministries, or just plain survival. Even when Christian formation and discipleship to Jesus is the stated goal, our church cultures and their curricula can remain resistant and even malformational.
This third theme deserves careful consideration. The continuing thirst for life in the kingdom of God and the wealth of available spiritual growth resources urge us to identify the factors that obscure Christian formation in local congregations.
In the weeks and months ahead, we will return on occasion to reflections and resources on spiritual formation in the local congregation. For this first installment, we introduce the topic through reflection on Dallas’s introductory words in the first talk of his last public conference in February 2013 at Westmont College, sponsored by the Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Research Center.