The Wheatland Mission

Some Warnings From The Spiritual Formation Workbook

Many of us have been taking part in the Spiritual Formation Workbook through our house churches. In addition to observing a fast this has been one of our Lenten projects designed to help us deepen our walk with Christ. This material is tremendous for many reasons but the reason I appreciate it so much is that it focuses on spiritual exercises. Sometimes we refer to these things as spiritual disciplines and in our church we have called them missional practices. Our faith is active and not something that is simply lived out between our ears. It is lived out in our daily interactions with others, our regular experience of God, and through those things we do to advance God's kingdom on earth.

However, in the process of doing these things it is easy for us to miss the point entirely. We may be tempted to take things into our own hands and attempt to do God's work for him. It is easy to think that growth in the Christian life is about what we do more than it is about God's Spirit working in us. Before getting fully involved in the exercises outlined in the Spiritual Formation Workbook the authors give us three important precautions.
.
First, do not be afraid to fail. To reach a goal is not the reason you do a spiritual discipline; it is to experience God. Even in failure you are learning new and valuable things.

Wow. Our maturation process is not a matter of checking items off a list. It is a lively, engaged interaction with God. Doing one of the exercises perfectly might provide a perfect result. But, if you struggle in the process or if you find yourself just not getting in the groove then take a break and ask God for direction. Your failure in the process may be exactly what he wants you to experience. It may be the very way God wants you to experience him.

Keep your emphasis on God, not on the method. It is hard initially, but try to think about why you are doing an exercise rather than what you are doing.

C.S. Lewis said, "You are not really dancing if you are still counting the steps." I don't know how to dance and I can barely count. However, the point is clear. If we spend all our energy making sure we pray just right or meditate just thus and so we will likely miss the point of our praying, which is God. Like a kid learning to waltz we won't enjoy the dance until we stop focusing so much on the method and actually learn to move with the music. Paying attention to why we do what we do gets us out of the head (counting the steps) and into the heart (the real dance).

Feel free to modify any exercise to fit your needs. Adapt the exercise you choose to challenge your strengths and support your weakness.

We are all gifted in different ways. We are all wired differently. This diversity is not a liability to God's Kingdom but rather one of its strengths. God made us unique on purpose. Therefore, each of us will require different types of spiritual exercises in order to grow up in Christ the way we were designed to. Don't be afraid to take on an exercise that seems strange to you. It is good to be challenged. By the same token, don't hesitate to further expand one of your strengths.

Above all else, let us be reminded that the purpose of the Spiritual Formation Workbooks, the purpose of our house churches and weekend worship, and the purpose of the Wheatland Mission itself is to make all of us more like Christ. It is about Jesus. If what we do causes us to be less like him then we must strategically abandon it. If what we are involved in makes us more Jesusy, then let us do it even more.

posted by The Wheatland Mission @ 9:58 PM