I am teaching a course on spiritual mentoring,"Growing People Relationally", with Trinity Theological College’s EQUIP programme. I have taught some variation of this course a number of times. This time round I remembered the work of Diane J. Chandler, Christian Spiritual Formation.(1) Her major thesis is that spiritual formation must be inclusive of all the main dimensions of human life. Here is her summary of the seven areas that should be addressed in Christian spiritual formation:
- Formation of the spirit relates to our faith journey as the grace-based, interactive process of nurture and growth of the human spirit as it is conformed to the image of Jesus and overseen by the Father through the indwelling Holy Spirit in the context of the believing community.
- Emotional formation refers to the process of understanding, expressing and reflecting on our feelings, passions and desires in productive ways in order to reflect the image and character of Christ and come to terms with past hurts, wounds and bondages that stymie emotional freedom.
- Relational formation relates to how we are conformed continuously into the image of Jesus through social interactions and the life of the church, which invariably are embedded within cultural contexts.
- Intellectual formation concerns the development of the mind, to think, reason and discern truth consonant with the Word of God in order to nurture godly beliefs and a Christ-honoring worldview that reflects biblical knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
- Vocational formation involves the process of being conformed into the image of Jesus in our life through the development of God-given giftings, talents, abilities and skills that reflect the grace and glory of God in life and work-related contexts.
- Physical health formation pertains to the care of our physical bodies, which Paul identifies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19), in order to maximise our effectiveness in fulfilling our life purpose.
- Resource formation relates to the wise stewardship of the earth, finances, material possessions and time in order to bring maximum glory to God.
For some reason this approach to discipleship and spiritual formation spoke to me afresh. It may be because I am reflecting now on how to do discipleship for Third Agers (60 and older) and the above list would be an ideal checklist for folks at that age. Of course, one soon realises that this will be an excellent checklist for followers of Jesus at any chapter of life.
1. Formation of the spirit is what most discipleship programmes focus on and that is right. To be saved is to become part of a new humanity that bears the image of Christ (Romans 8:28–30). Chandler correctly points out that this happens in the power of the Spirit in the context of a believing community. The great commission should be at the centre of our spiritual formation (Matthew 28:16–20).
2. Emotional formation is often neglected in Protestant circles though this is slowly changing. Evangelistic tools like the Four Spiritual Laws taught that emotions were not necessary for one’s salvation. This led to a neglect or even a distrust of emotions. Yet emotions are a large part of our humanity. At the grave of His friend, Jesus wept (John 11:35). We act out of how we feel more than we realise. Discipleship should help believers grow in what we should feel, when, and in what intensity. Something is wrong when we are more distraught when our favourite football team loses than we are that so many do not know Christ.
3. Relational formation should be a given but is not. Most churches focus on right doctrines, mission, and emotional experiences in worship, or some combination of the above. Everyone talks about love, but it rarely translates into practice. Yet the Bible is clear that love for God must lead to love for others (1 John 4:19–21) and that the Christian life can be summarised into love for God and neighbour (Matthew 22:34–40). Followers of Jesus need to be discipled as to the whys and hows of relating to others as this is an important component of life in Christ.
4. Intellectual formation is another missing component in most discipleship programmes. Believers may be taught what to think, e.g., basic doctrines, but rarely do we teach believers how to think. Yet Romans 12:2 makes it clear that transformation comes with the renewal of the mind, and that renewal enables us to discern the will of God — what is true and what is false. Paul provides the context. A fallen world tries to conform us to its false beliefs and values. This is even more true today in the internet/AI world we live in. We are bombarded by so much data and so many ideas. How well are we preparing our people to think biblically?
5. Vocational formation should be another priority in our disciple-making. It is well established that people are motivated by a sense of purpose. It is therefore important that we help followers of Jesus discover their callings. Jesus said that as the Father had sent Him, so in turn He sent His disciples into the world to continue His mission (John 20:21). But from the word go, we already know that human beings are sent into the world as God’s representatives to be His agents in the world (Genesis 1:26–28). Disciples need to remember this. One key purpose is to make disciples (Matthew 28:16–20). By reflecting on their abilities, passions, and burdens they may also have some understanding as to what their unique contributions to God’s agenda in the world may be (Ephesians 2:10).
6. Physical health formation is probably the one aspect of formation that has the least chance of being part of a discipleship curriculum. Perhaps it is a lingering result of a Platonic influence that we consider the spirit as more important than the body. But this is not biblical thinking. Right from the start, humanity was created as embodied beings. Jesus, who came to show us, among other things, how to be truly human, came as an embodied being, as human. He came back from the dead as an embodied being and He took pain to let us know that He was not a bodyless spirit (Luke 24:39). Paul reminds us that spiritual health is more important than physical health in light of Jesus’s imminent return, but he doesn’t say that physical exercise is unimportant (1 Timothy 4:8). A healthy body is the medium by which we live out our faith. Many of us can testify that when we are tired we are more susceptible to temptation and spiritual confusion. Many committed Christians complain of burnout. Physical health formation should be a component of discipleship.
7. Resource formation. As agents of God in the world, we are entrusted with the oversight of various resources. On a personal level, most of us are stewards of time, money, and talents. This can be extended to our stewardship of our abilities, our experience, and our networks. We are stewards of the gospel itself. At another level we are stewards of the world we live in and have a responsibility to care for it. What is clear is that these are “talents” entrusted to us to be used for the King and that one day we will have to give an account of how we have used them (Matthew 25:14–30). Helping people to grow in Christlikeness must include helping them to understand that they are stewards of God’s resources. Then we need to give them practical handles to name the resources entrusted to them and guidelines on how to use them for the King.
Reflecting afresh on Chandler’s seven areas for formation made me realise that we have been reductionistic in our approach to discipleship. In a world obsessed with speed, we are more concerned about how to bring a disciple up to speed as quickly as possible. In doing so we have not focused on every area of transformation. In recent times we have become concerned about the dropping numbers of those turning to Christ in our churches. We will be tempted to look at quick fixes to get the numbers up. Maybe we should be looking at how we can help our people become attractive members of a new humanity that will draw people to desire a similar transformation.
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(1) Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.