Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the New Year’s Day of the Christian calendar. I’m sorry not to be able to enjoy most of it with Gem and the boys. They are leaving Sacramento early this morning to drive home to Mission Viejo. We’ve had a great Thanksgiving up here.
This morning, I will be visiting One Life Church in Lincoln, CA. The pastor is Troy Dean, who I met fifteen years ago as a fellow Fuller Seminary student who took The Leadership Institute’s course there. He asked to interview me with two simple questions:
- What is an everyday definition of spiritual formation?
- What is a practical suggestion about growing in spiritual formation in this Advent season?
As to the first, the one-line definition of spiritual formation that I was part of affirming in San Antonio this last July was:
Christian spiritual formation is the process of being shaped by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ, filled with love for God and the world.
Key here is:
- “Process” – Spiritual formation sees the Christian life as an ongoing, developing, lifelong journey with God, not just as a one-time event.
- “of being shaped” – Though this shaping has obvious implications for how I behave, what I do, and how I related to others, it begins with my mind, my heart and my soul – how I think, Who I trust, where my heart is at. It is a process of inward shaping.
- “by the Spirit” – We are obviously cooperators in the process of our own spiritual formation, but the work of God’s Spirit is primary. We don’t transform ourselves, but are transformed by God’s Spirit.
- “into the likeness of Christ” – We talk about becoming like Jesus as Christians, perhaps asking the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Spiritual formation is the practical outworking of what Paul wrestles in prayer for in Galatians 4:19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” Paul is speaking to Christians who were being tempted to focus on outward rules, practices, ceremonies and observances. Spiritual formation focuses on the reality that the Christian life is Christ making Himself more truly and fully at home in our lives. There is an element of mystery here.
- “filled with love for God and the world” – Spiritual formation is the process of growing in my life of love for God, for one another and for His world.
Spiritual formation remembers that the Christian life is a relationship with Christ that is deepening in me. It remembers that prayer is not so much something I do, but Someone I am with. The Scriptures are not just a book full of true principles about how life works, but a place of interactive relationship with God.
As for the second question about Advent, the most basic idea is that today is the New Year’s Day for Christians all over the world. It is the first day of the Christian calendar for many Christian churches. Advent just means “coming.” Christ came to make Himself at home among us. He took on a human life like ours. We remember Christ’s coming as Immanuel, God with us.
As a practical suggestion for living Advent in the next four weeks, I will suggest a couple of questions on the theme that I left with a group of pastors in the Dominican Republic two weeks ago. I took them to two scripture passages where Jesus uses the word “Come” as an invitation to His disciples.
In Matthew 11, Jesus invites, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Matthew 4, when He calls some of His first followers, He invites, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Come to me. Come follow me.
As we enter a season to remember Christ’s coming to us, perhaps a good way to live it to take these two invitations of Jesus and turn them into questions that begin our day, and carry us through our day:
- Jesus, how are You inviting me to come to You as I begin this new day?
- Jesus, how are You inviting me to come follow You as I walk through this day?
Perhaps you’ll read a gospel this month with these two questions in mind. How are You inviting me to come to You and follow You in this passage?
By the way, Mark Roberts, scholar in residence at the Laity Lodge in Texas, has a great Advent series he posts every year on his blog. Here’s a link to his first post for today.