A Vision for Spiritual Formation

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” (from The Little Prince, as quoted in You Are What You Love)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

What’s our big vision for spiritual formation? In the words of Jesus quoted above, it is to learn to love God with your whole being and to love others as yourself. This is the way Jesus lived, with a whole-life orientation for the love and purposes of God. As you apprentice under Jesus, imitating and practicing his ways, you will learn to long for his renewing love and life-giving purpose in your life and the lives of others.

At Trinity, you’ll often hear us talk about two main ideas in our vision for spiritual formation: counter-formation and spiritual practices. The following is a brief introduction to these ideas as a starting point for our journey together toward a whole-life orientation of loving God and loving others.

COUNTER-FORMATION

In the beginning of the biblical story, God’s beloved image-bearers lived in a relationship with him that formed their minds and hearts with his wisdom, justice, and stewardship for all creation. Humans in those early days loved their Creator (with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength). They learned from him how to live in the world he created. When sin entered, the serpent struck at that very love humans had for their Creator. They instead chose to love themselves, and created things became their idols. This is the sinful human condition of our hearts. We have been formed by desires and affections that are not the true love for which we were created.

Author and philosopher, James K.A. Smith, addresses the problem of heart formation in his book, You are What You Love. He introduces the idea of counter-formation as the need for intentional habits and practices that train our hearts to learn to love God. Smith argues that our desires and loves are formed largely by influences from the culture we are immersed in. Our daily habits, routines, and rituals shape what we desire, and most often those desires are self-oriented and culturally saturated. 

What we need for spiritual formation is a gospel counter-formation that re-orients our hearts to grow in love and desire for God. 

SPIRITUAL PRACTICES

If gospel counter-formation is the why of our vision for spiritual formation, spiritual practices are the how. The Holy Spirit forms us by grace to become more like Jesus, and spiritual practices are the ways we receive this grace. Prayer, Sabbath rest, and studying and meditating on Scripture are a few of the ways we can be formed by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. As author and spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton points out, spiritual practices “offer us a way to make ourselves available for what only God can give.”

When we understand the spiritual practices as ways that we receive and grow in grace to become more like Jesus, we can avoid a common tendency to see them as legalistic rituals. Dallas Willard, an influential author on spiritual formation, helps us think about grace and the practices when he says, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.” 

There is no place in God’s grace for an attitude of earning our way to deserve more favor from him or to be of greater value to him. There is, however, a place for actions and practices on our part that prepare us to receive the grace that can form in us a whole-life orientation of loving God and loving others.

“There is no place in God’s grace for an attitude of earning our way to deserve more favor from him or to be of greater value to him.”

In the next article, we will look at the spiritual practices central to our vision for spiritual formation at Trinity.  Be sure to subscribe to receive these articles and spiritual formation updates when they’re posted twice each month.