Every human is being formed into someone. We are all continually being shaped and undergoing some type of transformation. A follower of Jesus has embarked on a journey to participate in a particular way of transformation. This process of spiritual formation looks to Jesus as its authority and to his way of existing as the means to the "good life," the abundant life God offers to us. A follower of Jesus therefore takes spiritual formation seriously and desires to participate in the "redemptive process" of having their inner being take on the character of Christ himself. As someone on going participates in this process of inner formation, their exterior life naturally flows from the interior. In the previous post in this series, I quoted Dallas Willard's definition in full where he defines Christian Spiritual Formation.
Christian spiritual formation is the redemptive process of forming the inner human world so that it takes on the character of the inner being of Christ himself. In the degree to which it is successful, the outer life of the individual becomes a natural expression or outflow of the character and teachings of Jesus. But the external manifestation of “Christlikeness” is not the focus of the process; and when it is made the main emphasis the process will be defeated, falling into crushing legalisms and parochialisms. “That Christ be formed in you” (Gla. 4:19) is the eternal watchword of Christian spiritual formation, fortified by the assurance that, while “the letter of the law kills, the spirit gives life.” (II Cor. 3:6)
The follower of Jesus is not left alone to embark in this process in some haphazard fashion. God has provided a particular way to go about spiritual formation. He has given to us the Spiritual Disciplines for us to intentionally participate in to provide the space and environment for him to work in our lives. A missional order, formed around a particular set of values and lived out in peculiar practices reflecting those values, must also be active participants in the spiritual disciplines to be formed into the image of Christ. Members of an order must draw upon the resources of the disciplines, those practices deeply rooted in the history of God's people as providing the space for God to work.
God desires the total transformation of our whole person and the disciplines have been given to us to assist us. Richard Foster states in his book Celebration of Discipline, "“The purpose of the Spiritual Disciplines is the total transformation of the person"(62). God is the one who does the transformation and it is only by his grace, but we have to be intentional about it. The disciplines as we practice them are the means by which we undergo our transformation. Again, in closing Foster states, "God has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us” (7).
