FOUNDATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Doreen Olson, Executive Minister
Department of Christian Formation
Introduction
Growing up in a Christian home and within a community of believers, my earliest memories are marked by a keen awareness of God’s love for me. At age six I responded to Christ’s call to follow him. Did I fully realize the demands of the journey on which I was embarking? Surely not. I firmly believe, however, that God readily and lovingly accepts our first steps on the pilgrim journey, no matter what our age or stage in life.
With all of my six-year-old understanding, I placed my life into God’s care and keeping. It was later that I came to a more complete realization that God’s desire is not just to “stamp us saved,” but to grow us up into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Christian Formation Defined
Christian formation concerns that process of growth toward wholeness in Christ. It is our continuing journey of being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ, experiencing and expressing love for God and others.
The word formation is derived from the Greek word morph, suggesting that the inner being of a person is radically altered in this process. Paul used this word in his letter to the Galatian church: “until Christ is formed in you.” Paul agonized, he said, as a woman in labor, until they expressed Christ’s character and goodness in their whole being. A derivative of this word, morphoo, was a term used to describe the formation and growth of an embryo in a mother’s body. So here we get a sense that we are truly in a
gestation process.
Learning to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, however, is a life-long process. We never “graduate” from the school of Christian living. As we learn to apply and obey Christ’s teachings, our lifestyle will increasingly reflect our commitment to Christ. In other words, the result of this life-long process is real, radical change, as expressed in both our individual and our community life.
When transformation happens within us, we don’t just do the things Jesus would have done, but we find ourselves actually wanting to do them. It’s not a matter of trying to do the right things, but we become the right kind of persons, through the Spirit’s work within us. Christian formation relies decisively on God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit. While we can choose to work with or against the Spirit, we cannot accomplish growth into Christ’s likeness through our own efforts alone. To get a better picture
of this concept, I like to consider a sailing analogy. Marjorie Thompson, in her book Soul Feast, compares the relationship between our will and the Spirit’s transforming work to the interaction between sailor and sailboat. Though the sailor cannot control the wind, he/she can set the sails and position the tiller to maximize the effectiveness of the wind. Likewise, Christian formation requires our conscious choice and a responsive awareness of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.
Information or knowledge alone will not result in the radical change that we are seeking. The goal of Christian formation is whole-person learning, which focuses on the heart as well as the head. Though cognitive knowledge is essential, it is only a part of the whole process. Our knowing must lead to new attitudes and new actions that are increasingly consistent with the character of Jesus Christ.
As we increasingly reflect the character of Christ, we learn to live more fully in the kingdom of Christ. In Christ’s kingdom, it is normal to experience God’s love and to express that love back to God and others. In Christ’s kingdom, it is normal and natural to live a life of obedience to his teachings.
Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, points out that in Christ’s kingdom obedient living is really abundant living. Obedience, though sometimes understood to be a rigid legalism, is more rightly understood in terms of the abundant life that leads to blessing others through witness and service. Christian formation leads us to an understanding of Christ’s unique call on our lives, an increasing ability to express ourselves freely, and a generosity in using our God-given gifts for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom.
The Critical Role of Growth
Several years ago, my husband had a poster hanging in his office which read: “The only evidence of life is growth.” As we’ve noted already, growth is to be seen as a normal part of the Christian life. According to Scripture, growth into Christ’s likeness is not optional, it’s essential. Normal Christianity is not conversion only. Neither is it accomplishment or perfection only. It is not pursuit of gratification, nor is it release from our troubles. Normal Christianity is, at its core, continual growth into Christ’s likeness.
There are many biblical references indicating the importance of this continuing growth. In 2 Peter 3:18, we are implored to grow, not just in knowledge, but in an attitude, a life, of grace. Ephesians 4:13 articulates the goal of our growth…that we would all become mature as measured against the maturity of Christ himself. Such maturity also results in a unity within the body, which brings glory to God. Therefore, our Christian formation is to be seen as both an individual and a collective growth into maturity. The Natural, Normal Settings for Christian Formation So, what are the natural normal settings in which we all…children, youth, adults…grow spiritually? We believe, in the North American culture anyway, that there are four natural settings in which spiritual growth might take place. Church leaders would do well to consider how they are assisting spiritual growth in each of these settings.
First, growth into Christ’s likeness takes places in peer groups. This is the one setting that church leaders think of most readily because we’ve based our educational model in the church on the public education model.
We also grow into Christ’s likeness in congregational or intergenerational settings. Are we being intentional about providing learning opportunities for all ages together? For example, I believe that children learn most effectively to worship by being part of a total worshipping community provided that there is an intentional effort made to include them in the worshipping practices. Are we providing such learning opportunities regularly and intentionally?
Thirdly, we learn to be more like Christ in our homes or family settings. As church leaders, we need to be equipping families to be growing spiritually as they interact daily in this natural learning environment. As Marjorie Thompson states, in Family: The Forming Center, it is difficult to overstate the influence of the family on a child…whether positive or negative. When it comes to the Christian formation of children, church leaders are partners with parents in this endeavor.
Lastly, people learn through self-study and individual practice. Each one of these venues is a natural normal setting in which growth and learning take place. Now, what are the primary means or agents of this growth?
The Essential Agents of Growth
As we’ve looked at Scripture as well as the historical context of our denomination, we believe that there are four essential agents or means of growth into Christ’s likeness. Practices within each of these four areas need to be engaged by people of all ages. We’ve used the word GROW as an acronym to make these four areas easy to remember.
The first area or agent of growth is God’s Word…shaping our actions and our lives. As part of the Evangelical Covenant Church, we are people of the Word, who value Scripture as the only perfect rule for our lives. We desire to know, understand, and live out the truths of the Bible. Our hope is not simply to be Biblically literate, as in knowing the facts, but to make Scripture come alive within us…both individually and collectively as a body of Christ.
The second area or agent of growth is Relationships...nurturing our growth in the context of community. Healthy and effective spiritual growth takes place within the context of relationships...both within peer groups and across generations. Because Christian formation takes place within community, we pay close attention to the health of the various dimensions of our community life. We value our differences, learning from people of diverse ages, ethnicity, and cultures.
The third area or agent of growth is Obedient Living…using our gifts in witness and service. We believe that the new life we experience in Christ implies radical obedience to all of his teachings. Such obedience, together with the Spirit’s work in us, equips us to do kingdom work…giving witness to the good news and serving others in Jesus’ name. Our mission flows naturally out of our life in Christ.
The fourth area or agent of growth is Worship…interacting with and experiencing God. Knowing that God desires an intimate relationship with us, we are committed to a lifestyle of worship characterized by both individual and collective expressions of devotion. Our daily worship practices empower us for living an obedient, abundant, and joy-filled life in Christ.
The Continual Nature of Christian Formation
As we grow more and more into Christ’s likeness, through engagement in practices within these four essential areas, our journey continues throughout our lives. We are continually…
· Becoming aware of God
· Committing to Christ, and
· Maturing through the work of the Holy Spirit
This growth experience is more like a spiral than a straight path. As followers of Christ, who
lean into the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, we are continually becoming more aware
of God’s character and God’s truths, and choosing to commit to those new realities or truths.
The goal of our growth is the maturity of Christ himself. The gospels tell of a Pharisee, an expert in the law, who wanted to know which of the commandments was the greatest. Jesus answered him this way:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
In essence, Jesus here defined two interdependent themes of a Christian’s growth toward wholeness in Christ. A deep, life-transforming relationship with a loving God, and a consistent, passionate devotion to serving others. (These two dimensions were also articulated through a large study conducted by Search Institute.)
Other measurements of a maturing faith found in Scripture include the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5), the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), unity in the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:13), acts of justice and kindness (Micah 6:8). What other measurement tools can you find?
Let me add a word of caution here, however. There is a danger in thinking that we can precisely measure, and even set goals for, the work of transformation within. Let us not forget that this is the work of the Spirit. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul emphatically reminds the believers that it is not about anything they’ve done on their own. It is God’s work within us that brings about our salvation:
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephessians 2:10
Our preparation for the work to which God has called us is the result of God’s work in us…of the Spirit’s transforming work in our lives.
Christian formation is a lifelong process. The main thing, from the Bible’s perspective, is that we are continually growing into Christ’s likeness…as an individual, as well as a church. “The only evidence of life is growth.” It is definitely not an instantaneous thing. It’s a continuing journey we’re on.
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11
