Christian Formation
What is Christian Formation?
Introduction to Christian Formation
Many people experience some surprising changes inside when they first become
Christians. Those changes come about because God gives us a new heart as part of
our adoption into his Kingdom. But that is just the beginning. *God wants us to grow
our new identity into a strong Christ-like character so that we can become the person
he created us to be. Learning how to participate with the Spirit to bring about these
changes can be challenging, and many Christians become discouraged with their
spiritual development because the results do not always seem to reflect the effort they
have invested. The good news is that transformation and change are not only possible,
they can become the normal experience of those who learn how to participate well in
this process.
*What is Christian Formation?
We are always in the process of being formed spiritually, positively or negatively, by
our experiences, the things we dwell on, the ways we live, our relationships, and our
connection with the Spirit of God. So in that sense we are always involved in "Spiritual
Formation" whether we are conscious of the process or not. On the other hand, when
that formation is a result of engaging with the Holy Spirit, we call it "Christian
Formation" because our spiritual formation is then specifically directed toward
becoming more Christ-like. As Christians, we need to learn how to be intentional about
these things so that we are continually formed in ways that are consistent with our new
hearts, rather than in ways that are harmful or destructive to our souls.
*Christian growth is a lifelong journey of learning to live well in a broken world.
Along the way there are many ways to veer(turn) off course. If we become too passive,
nothing changes, since growth is not automatic. But neither is it the result of our direct
effort, because we cannot change our character through an act of the will or by trying
really hard to be different. Still, there is something that God requires of us, as
"formation" is by definition the way we are shaped experientially. So while the Holy
Spirit dwells in us and is prepared to grow us up, he does not transform us without our
active participation. Our task is this: to discover what is our part in connecting with and
interacting with the Spirit of God, so that God can do his part and do in us those things
we cannot do. After God has changed our heart and mind, we can then live more
Christ-like because of who we are instead of trying to override who we are.
Traditional Models of Discipleship
One of the most confusing barriers to discovering how to participate well with the Spirit
actually comes from the very religious training that was supposed to help us! Many
Christians today have adopted models of discipleship that look something like this:
*Christian Education (ethics, doctrine, Bible knowledge)
*Will Power (fighting your inner urges to do wrong and making yourself do things you
don't want to do)
*Trying Hard (your best effort to crank out Christian-like behavior)
*The problem is that this approach to the Christian Life simply does not work for very
long! Instead, we end up either feeling self-righteous about our apparent success, or
more commonly, feeling defeated because we can see we are not the kind of person
we think we ought to be. In truth, this approach to Christianity has much more in
common with life under the Law than it does with life in the Spirit. Even if we ask the
Spirit to help us, our hearts remain committed to a way of life that depends heavily on
our own understanding of what God expects of us, and our own attempts to perform
what we think is required.
Living From a Transformed Heart
Instead of trying to coerce ourselves into doing what we think we should be doing,
what if we first had a change of character, so that God's way of doing things simply
came more naturally to us? Motivation would no longer be an issue. Our will would
already be aligned with good things so we wouldn't have to struggle so hard against
the old nature. Things like studying the Bible would become much more life-giving and
relational, a reminder of who we are and whose we are, instead of an attempt to work
out a long list of rules for good and bad behavior. In short, we would be much more
prepared to act in a way that is consistent with the new heart that God gave us,
because we would have become the kind of people we were created to be. As Dallas
Willard has suggested, instead of teaching people how to do merciful acts, what if we
train them to become merciful people?
To restate our task: our main job is to learn how to engage with the Spirit of God in
ways that are life-changing, so that we become more and more prepared to live out of
the new heart that God gave us, and less and less out of our old life patterns and
values. It's a bit like trying to grow apples. If we tried to manufacture apples by
assembling a pile of organic material and attempting to rearrange the molecules to
make apples, we would find the process frustrating and the goal impossible. But if we
plant the right kind of tree, water and fertilize the ground, and protect the tree against
invading insects and disease, the apples will form quite well without our having any
idea how the tree is able to do such a thing. So also with spiritual growth. If we learn to
abide in the vine, we will discover that we can bear fruit that is qualitatively better than
anything we could produce by direct effort.
Our Part
So what is our part? Well, without trying to evade the question, a full explanation is
very difficult, because so much of what we need to know can only be learned
experientially, and not from a printed page. And any summary description of the
process is easily misunderstood or dismissed as either too trivial or something we
already tried and failed at. But at the risk of being too brief, we will try to point the way.
Please refer to our bibliographies and other resources for a more complete coverage of
this issue.
Put briefly, some of the more important aspects of Christian Formation are :
Learning to discern the voice of God
*Developing a conversational prayer life (instead of one-way prayers)
*Building a genuine relationship with God through interacting with him
*Rearranging our lives to make time and space for this relationship
*Learning to engage with the Spirit of God as a personal Mentor, allowing him to reveal
our flaws as well as our new identity and his way of seeing us and our lives
*This is the soil in which new life can take root and grow. Engagement with a Holy God
is the only true source of life-giving transformation. This is not a cognitive achievement,
or a carefully followed ethical system, but an authentic, experiential relationship.
Finally, we are not meant to learn this on our own. We must make this journey with
others. We need to learn from those who have gone before us, who have built or are
building this kind of relationship with God. We can then share our joys and frustrations
with them and engage with God together as a community.
"May he give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better
… that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope
to which he has called you …" (Eph.1:17-18 NIV)
Christian formation is the work of God’s Holy Spirit in the lives of his people, slowly
growing them into the image and character of Jesus. God does this work by renewing
our minds, reordering our loves, and redirecting our lives toward the end of glorifying
God.
Growth into the image of Jesus Christ is a process (sanctification), and it is a gift
from the Spirit of God at work in us. Yet we are not passive in this process; we are to
cooperate with the Spirit. We have been given several “means of grace”—sources
through which the Spirit frequently imparts grace that are designed to help us to mature
and deepen our faith in and obedience to God. Two of these means of grace are the
reading of God's Word and prayer.
Both of these should be practiced in community with other believers—as we do in
worship on Sunday—but they are also to be part of our daily lives as individuals and as
families. No spiritual discipline or practice is the same as godliness. Only the Spirit can
breathe life in and through the means of grace, and yet we are most likely to grow in
knowledge, godliness, and obedience when we make a solid habit or discipline of
practicing the means of grace.
The Model
Christ-centered, Gospel-driven, practice-based model of Christian formation.
The Purpose—The purpose of Christian formation is to become more like Jesus Christ
(Col. 1:28, Eph. 3:14-19)
The Power—The power for Christian formation is the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom.
1:16, 1 Cor. 1:18)
The Practices—The practices of Christian formation are the means of grace (2 Tim.
1:13, Matt. 28:18-20)
The Practices
The Church wants all people to experience the joy and peace of union with Jesus
Christ. We pray that as we follow Jesus together, we will all become more like Him. To
that end, we strive to create ministry environments where the means of grace are
faithfully administered and accessible to God’s people and thus favorable for spiritual
growth. In studying the Bible’s teaching and the historic tradition of the church, we
began to see a collection of spiritually helpful practices—eight in total—that are
favorable for spiritual growth. As you might expect, many of the eight practices we are
already cultivating at Cornerstone, but there are several more we would like to see take
shape in the days and years to come. Rest easy, you do not need to begin all eight
practices at once. Start by choosing one or two that are new to you and letting these
be your focus. Let us help you get started as an individual or a family.
Corporate Practices
Common worship. We gather together weekly to worship God and, through His Spirit,
re-centering our lives in Jesus Christ.
Education. We learn together and wrestle with all that the Bible's message means for
our everyday lives.
Small groups. We meet with other Christians, becoming friends and helping each other
to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Individual Practices
Reading the Bible daily and prayer. We read through all of God’s Word together as a
church, allowing this to change us and help us grow. In prayer, we commune with God,
bringing each day’s joys and needs to the God who cares for us.
Sabbath. We rest from our work and celebrate our new life in Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Mentoring. We intentionally pursue conformity to Jesus Christ in every area of
life through the means of a gospel friendship.
Retreats. We pull away for a short time to reflect upon our relationship with God, with
ourselves, and with others in order to reenter life
Service. As we serve others, we also grow in our discipleship as Christians. This
service can take as many forms as we have opportunities to see where others need
help.
