Spiritual Theology - Progressing in the Christian Life

8/8/2019 Spiritual Theology - Progressing in the Christian Life

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THESPIRITUALLIFE

ASpiritualTheologyoftheChris<anLife

TrevorGarre@

SpiritualForma<on1801

MDivCohort7

September22,2010



NOTETOTHEREADER

I recognize that this effort has gone far beyond the term paper boundaries of being “no longer than 15

pages.” However, upon seeing the possibility of leveraging this spiritual theology to follow up my most

recent sermon series on The Sermon on the Mount with a series detailing the path of spiritual progress, as

well as providing the basis for training leaders this Fall, I determined to do a more expansive effort

including the full text of numerous scriptures for use in these efforts.

I apologize for the additional material and hope it will not be too onerous to review.

The term paper formatting guidelines do not specify a requirement for either landscape or portrait

orientation so this paper is submitted in landscape format to facilitate on-screen projection for training

purposes.



TableofContents

...................................................Introduc*on 1

Method:TheRedemp<veStory 1

Measures:FourRela<onships 1

Movement:ProgressiveRevela<on 1

Means:Fourspaces 1

Conclusion 2

.............................1.TheMethodofMaturity 3

Redemp<veHistory 3

TheRedemp<vePa@ern 4

..........................2.TheMeasuresofMaturity 7

Rela<onshipWithTheWorld 7

Rela<onshipWithGod 8

Rela<onshipsWithOtherPeople 8

Rela<onshipWithSelf/Des<ny 10

.......................3.TheMovementtoMaturity 11

WorldRevela<ons 13

GodRevela<ons 14

PeopleRevela<ons 18

Des<nyRevela<ons 21

.............................4.TheMeansofMaturity 25

TheIndividual 25

TheFriend 25

TheSmallGroup 25

TheLargeGroup 25

.........Conclusion:Implica*onsforPreaching 27

Preaching 27

UsingAllTheSpaces 28

LeadingtheChurch 28

Appendix:APost-modernPost-note 30

Bibliography 32



Introduc<on

What follows here is a Spiritual Theology: A description of the

Christian life, its goal, its motive and it’s progression as I see it. This

progression towards spiritual maturity will be described in terms of the

method of maturity, the measures of maturity, the movement to maturity, and

the means of maturity.

Method:TheRedemp*veStory

The method of maturity is rooted in the Christian story, which is framed

not just an expeditionary adventure story but as fractal ––a story that no only

spans the scope of history but recurs throughout history and within our lives.

The redemptive pattern of revelation, trials, crisis of faith then fulfillment

and celebration is a pattern we find in history, in scripture and in our lives.

Measures:FourRela*onships

The measure of maturity is expressed in terms of four key relationships:

A person’s relationship with the world, with God, with other people, and

with themselves in terms of their progress towards their destiny. These key

relationships are not independent but interrelated as will be demonstrated

scripturally.

Movement:ProgressiveRevela*on

The movement towards spiritual maturity is presented in terms of a

number of progressive revelations related to each of the key relationships.

While these revelations are not held as strict stage-gates whereby further

revelation is not possible until completion of the prior stage, each is

presented as vital for progressing from being in the world into a relationship

with God (without of course leaving the world altogether), then moving

from a relationship with God into community as part of the Body of Christ

(building on one’s personal relationship with God), and finally building on

spiritual community to move into one’s personal destiny of transformation

into the likeness of Christ and then back into mission in the world.

I have attempted to present salvation as fully trinitarian, a work of all

three persons of the trinity and not just the Son: A work of the Father as

God’s presence in and through creation; a work of the Son’s saving effort on

the cross, and a work of the Spirit filling the Body of Christ and fulfilling

God’s mission in the world. These revelations are presented separately for

the sake of clarity knowing this is a singular work.

Means:Fourspaces

In terms of practical structures that can help our progress, four “God

spaces” are identified, each of which lends itself to different roles in the

disciple’s progression: The personal or individual space, the friend or two,

The Sp i r i tu a l L i f e Tr evo r Ga r r e t t | Cohor t 7 1



the small group and the large group. Each space is proposed as necessary but

not sufficient.

Conclusion

Finally, the impact of this spiritual theology is analyzed in terms of

preaching, but also suggests that the larger impact will be on how all the

God spaces work together to advance the disciple, not just the large group

meeting.

It should be noted that as a Spiritual theology this effort is designed to

be a conceptual framework comprehensive enough to include a variety of

religious experiences with all components coherently related to each other.

But it is also recognizes that the world is complex and diverse1 , and this

work is constructed in response to a certain context, namely church-planting

on the edge of one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America at a

point in history characterized by wealth, freedom and intense secular social

forces. Part of that context is also my own affordances: my identification

with sacramental, liturgical and contemplative spirituality through my Jesuit

formation, my identification with evangelical community through a personal

decision for God resulting in baptism and membership in a protestant

church, and finally my identification with the “surprising works of God”2 as

a Pastor and participant in the pentecostal-charismatic tradition3.


1 Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downer’s Grove, Il: Intervarsity, 2006), 36-38

2 Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downer’s Grove, Il: Intervarsity, 2006), 38

3 These statements are a response to Chan who presents the formal criteria for a spiritual theology as comprehensiveness, Coherence and evocability, as well as material criteria the global-contextual criterion, the evangelical criterion, and the charistmatic criterio n.



1.TheMethodofMaturity

My starting point for a life in God is the redemptive story. History and

human life can be seen as an unfolding adventure story, a divine narrative

playing out across history but also across and within history and within our

individual lives. All the elements of a great expeditionary tale are here: An

important goal or quest what will require endurance, skill and courage to

complete, loyal companions to rely on throughout the journey, facing danger

and enduring losses together until the ultimate success of the adventure4.

I take this great adventure and mission of God in the world to include

not only the redemptive work of the Son, as mighty as that is, but the whole

scope of the triune mission of Father, Son and Spirit working in concert to

accomplish the divine purpose:

God wanted to have a race of men whose members were gifted

with a spirit whereby communion would be possible with himself,

who is Spirit. That race, possessing God’s own life, was to

cooperate in securing his purposed end by defeating every possible

uprising of the enemy and undoing his evil works. That was the

great plan. 5

This broader definition of God’s purpose will become important later in

terms of the articulating the destination of the Christian life and properly

positioning personal salvation along the total curve of human spiritual

maturity. It is important to keep in mind that the human race was not created

in order to be redeemed. God the Father had a straight-line vision in mind

from the beginning, God the Son saved that vision and the Holy Spirit is

fulfilling it. So my emphasis here is not on what humanity is being saved

from but what humanity is being saved for.

Redemp*veHistory

In the sweep of the cosmic adventure story, five strategic or kairotic

points in the narrative are of specific interest here:

1. Creation, with God speaking forth a race of people capable of

relationship with Him;

2. Fall, where God’s children choose a life independent of God

resulting in the entrance of sin, death, and difficulty;

3. Redemption, where Christ’s death and resurrection deals not only

remedially with humanity’s guilt and sinful nature, but is also

creative, releasing Christ’s life in a form that can be received by


4 Diogenes Allen, Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today (Cambridge, MA, Cowley Publications) 21.

5 Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life trans. by Angus I. Kinnear (Wheaton, Il: Tyndale House Publishers Inc, 1977) p. 208



humanity so that Christ’s one life it will emerge as many lives, a

level of life beyond the physical life of Adam and Eve had and

which we inherit naturally;

4. Fulfillment, where we are now in history, the Holy Spirit forming

the many Christian lives into the Body of Christ, an expression of

the Son’s life and God’s tool for the transformation of the world;

and,

5. Eternity, where the Son returns for

his Bride, the Body of Christ and

history culminates in a great

marriage celebration.

TheRedemp*vePaern

I believe the redemptive story is more

than merely a macro-description of history.

This story constitutes a redemptive pattern

that can be found in the great stories of

scripture, in human events, and in individual

human lives. Like God, this redemptive

pattern is both transcendent and immanent: It

transcends our lives, but is also a nearby reality to be experienced. We are

not just playing a part in the story, the story is being played out in us:

We become part of what what once took place for our salvation.

Forgetting and losing ourselves, we, too, pass through the Red

Sea, through the desert, across the Jordan into the promised land.

With Israel we fall into doubt and unbelief and through

punishment and repentance experience again God’s help and

faithfulness.6


6 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1954) 53.

God the Son!(SAVES)!

Sent, Lived Among Us

Restores Relationship With God

Teaches The Kingdom

Equipped His Disciples

Multiplication

Leads Us

Life In All It’s Fullness

God the Holy Spirit!(FULFILLS)!God the Father!

(CREATES)!Creation

Relationship

Paradise

Walked with God

Multiplication

Dominion

Tree of Life

TheHolySpirit

TheBody

Adam & Eve

Disciples

Jesus

Fall!The!

Cross!

Sent, into The World

Love One Another

Live The Kingdom

Make Disciples

Be Fruitful

Leadership

Fully Alive

Creation!

Fulfilling !

Eternity!

Crisis! Redemption!

Holy

Spirit!



While we cannot force the movements of God into any rigid formula,

this redemptive pattern appears and reappears consistently in God’s moving

in history and in the lives of people. This pattern can be expressed more

generally as:

1. Revelation, when God speaks, reveals or invites;

2. Trials, where, either by circumstance or obedience to the invitation,

God’s revelation introduces great difficulty;

3. Crisis, where we reach the end and even exceed our measure of

faith, doubting God;

4. Fulfillment, where God meets us in the crisis, often in a surprising

or inexplicable manner; and,

5. Celebration, we rejoice and worship God in celebration for how He

has met us in the crisis and fulfilled His will7.

This is the story of Abraham, Joseph and Moses, of Jesus, and of us.

And it is not just the overall story of our times, but of our lives, and the

pattern repeats within our lives. In this sense the redemptive pattern is

fractal ––a pattern that repeats at different levels within itself. We receive

different heights of revelation, different intensity of trials, different depths of

crisis, and varying deliverance resulting in variety of celebration.

It is this pattern of progressive revelation, trials, crisis, fulfillment and

celebration that is the method of spiritual progression.


7 This redemptive pattern is my own synthesis taken largely from various readings but most notably Blackaby’s work in Experiencing God highlighting that God is always the initiator with his revelation, and Nee’s description in The Normal Christian Life of revelation

and experience as “a wicket gate” and “a narrow path”

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Fractals in Nature. As demonstrated by this fern, fractals are common in nature. Fractals in Theology. The spiritual theology presented here is also fractal, with the redemptive pattern repeating

within itself .

Fractals as a Repeating Pattern. The fractal is created by starting with a triangle and then repeatedly adding a smaller and smaller triangles to each resulting side.



2.TheMeasuresofMaturity

If this redemptive pattern describes the method of spiritual growth and

progression, with the goal of this growth process is ongoing personal

transformation into the likeness of Jesus according to Romans 8.298, what

then are the measures of spiritual growth? In what ways do we mature?

I see spiritual growth as occurring in four vital and interconnected

relationships: Our relationship with God, our relationship with people, our

relationship with our world, and our relationship with ourselves, or our

destiny. These key relationships are different but not independent of each

other. Growth in one area affects the others; failure to grow in one area will

limit the growth in other areas.

Rela*onshipWithTheWorld

Every person has a relationship with the world in which we live. God is

revealed directly in creation, as beautifully revealed in Psalm 104:

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all.

The earth is full of your creatures...

May the glory of the Lord continue forever!

The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!

(Psalm 104:24, 30 NLT)

And not just in nature, but God loves all the unregenerated people that

are in the world as well:

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only

Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have

eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world,

but to save the world through him.

God loves the world and never takes his hands off it. So it is important

to reject any false dualism of “spiritual” things something separate and

higher than material earthly concerns. They are inextricably intertwined. To


8 Romans 8:29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Relationship with

The WorldRelationship with

People

Relationship withSelf/Destiny

Relationship with

God



grow spiritually is to grow in relationship to our world, in engagement with

both the natural creation and “The World” (kosmon) where we live our daily

lives and participate in God’s mission.

Rela*onshipWithGod

Through the saving work of Jesus Christ, human beings can relate

directly and personally to God:

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to

become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT)

We can enter into another kind of life by God’s Holy Spirit:

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your

mortal body by this same Spirit living within you. (Rom 8:11 NLT)

This life in the spirit is something different and higher than mere human

life:

Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives

new life from heaven. (John 3:6 NLT)

It is the Holy Spirit that produces the fruit of the Spirit in us, a sure sign

of spiritual maturity:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love,

joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self-control. (Galatians 5:22 NLT)

To grow and mature spiritually is to grow in our individual relationship

with God, experiencing increasing levels of intimacy and trust, becoming

more and more confident in the unseen reality of God our Father as

described by Jesus in His Sermon in the Mount (Matt 5-7), and the Fruit of

the Spirit increasingly evident in our lives.

Rela*onshipsWithOtherPeople

While spiritual life is essentially personal, spiritual life is also

“essentially relational without ceasing to be particular9”. Our relationship

with God cannot be separated from our relationship with other people as

clearly shown in James 2 and pointedly illustrated in Jesus’ description of

the final judgement in Matthew 25:

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one

of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to

me!’ (Matthew 25:40 NLT)

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help

the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help

me.’ (Matthew 25:45 NLT)





It is vital to emphasize that the ultimate expression of God’s presence

in this age is not the individual, but The Body, the ἐκκλησία, a community

of people formed, led, and together filled by the Spirit:

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God

and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Cor 3:16 NLT)

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of

it. (1 Cor 12:27)

Spiritual growth and maturity is measured not only by securing

the personal relationship with God that is made possible through

Jesus’ salvific work, but in the kind of relationships we have with

each other as a result of Jesus’ commands to love one other:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other.

Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for

one another will prove to the world that you are my

disciples.” (John 13:34-35 NLT)

“ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your

soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest

commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your

neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the

prophets are based on these two commandments.”

(Matthew 22:37-40 NLT)

This spiritual love, this ἀγάπη love, is entirely different from human

love, as Bonhoeffer notes:

Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake,

spiritual love loves him for Christ’s sake.10

It is maturing in this kind of love that proves to the world that we are

Christ’s disciples.


10 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1954), 34

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Rela*onshipWithSelf/Des*ny

Within the context of relationship and community, the individual

appropriates a deeper self-awareness and self-knowledge, a deeper

understanding of personal calling, mission and purpose. This personal

calling is not individual and separate from spiritual community but is

directly related to it:

Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a

separate and necessary part of it. (1 Cor 12.27 NLT)

Fulfilling our individual purposes and contribution within the context of

the Body of Christ is part of maturing and growing spiritually:

Then we will no longer be immature like children…[we will be]

growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head

of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together

perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other

parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full

of love. (Ephesians 4:14-16 NLT)

Sometimes rather than referring to this as a person’s relationship with

themselves, this aspect of spiritual growth is referred to as a person’s

relationship with their destiny11, to include a more missional, outward-

focused and forward-oriented expression.

It is important to note here that I am using the widest understanding of

spiritual calling to include, as the Reformers did, that any vocation or

activity and not just specifically religious vocations, that “socially useful

occupations were fully spiritual vocations.12” The pinnacle of personal

purpose is not, in what I will describe here, to become a religious

professional like a Pastor or a Missionary or to go into “full time ministry.”

The goal is to fully mature as a disciple of Christ, living out the fullness of

what God has purposed in us in whichever sphere of life we are called.


11 Destiny |ˈdestinē| From the Old French destinee, from Latin destinata, feminine past participle of destinare ‘to make firm, establish.’

12 Diogenes Allen, Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today, (Cambridge, MA, Cowley Publications, 2002), 11



3.TheMovementtoMaturity

With the redemptive pattern of revelation, trials, crisis, fulfillment and

celebration established as the method of spiritual growth, and with our

relationship with God, people, our destiny and our world established as the

measures of our growth and maturity, we can now consider our movement

along the trajectory of spiritual growth.

It is here that we consider more specifically the development of the

individual disciple towards maturity. The disciple moves from the world

into a relationship with God, then moves from an individual relationship

with God into spiritual community, then from spiritual community into their

destiny, and from their destiny back out into the world in mission. Clearly

this movement is not a case of moving entirely out of one relationship and

into the next, but a case of each progression building on and related to the

others. A person moves into relationship with God but does not, strictly

speaking, move out of the world. It is now quite common to find Christians

who have a personal relationship with God and carry on with their

relationship with God in isolation, unaware of the necessity of moving into

spiritual community in order to deepen their relationship with God. It is also

quite common to have people who have a relationship with God and who are

committed to a church, but are passive consumers of ministry never

producing any ministry or spiritual live from themselves. These people need

to move into their destiny, not leaving the world, God, and the spiritual

community behind, but building on each of these, crea ting what I will

describe here as an expeditionary adventure up a mountain.

And so as a Pastor and church planter, in the process of creating a

disciple-making and disciple-maturing spiritual community near one of the

largest metropolitan areas in North America, this section documents the key

redemptive revelations that I look for in order to help people progress

spiritually.

While these revelations cannot be said to be strictly serial, they are

progressive: For example, claiming that Jesus Christ is Lord (a revelation of

the Son), without believing in God (a revelation of The Father) would be

curious if not suspect. Claiming to have a revelation of the Holy Spirit

without a revelation of Christ would similarly raise suspicion. These are

obvious examples. But also a person who has not had a revelation of

Lordship will be subsequently limited in their ability to give, share and

submit to authority in spiritual community. Or someone claiming to have a

revelation of their calling, especially a call to leadership, when they don’t

have a revelation about authority and accountability can be dangerous.

Accordingly, the following is a series of progressive revelations of a

maturing disciple. The associated trials, crises, fulfilling and celebrations

associated with each revelation are implied and will not be discussed within





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the scope of this paper. And I recognize that the possible revelations of God

are manifold and endless. What follows is merely what I have experienced

as the critical path.

WorldRevela*ons

If a person is “in the world” or does not not yet seem to have a

revelation of Christ or of God or even of things spiritual, I wa tch for, expect,

and dialogue about the following revelations:

WORLDVIEW

Does the person realize that they have a worldview, that they see things

a certain way, that their worldview was handed to them or created around

them and aspects of it may or may not be true? Do they have any framework

for spiritual or unseen realities? Are they open for discussion about

possibilities? This is in accordance with Jesus’ continual asking if there is

“Anyone with ears to hear…” (Matt 13:9 NLT)

This revelation can continue to increase even in Christians who have

gotten trapped in having all the answers, or have a knowledge of the Gospel

that may be incomplete, biased, or unbalanced.

CREATION

For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an

awareness of the glory of the Lord. (Hab 2:14 NLT)

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to

them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the

earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see

his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they

have no excuse for not knowing God. (Rom 1:19-20)

There is a certain level of revelation of God that is possible simply from

observation of the natural order. Nature is the first, easiest, undeniable clue

that there is something else going on behind the scenes. Willard observes13

:

Paul himself explains that all human beings remain responsible,

no matter how far they fall, because of the clear way in which God

stands forth in natural reality. “Since the creation of the world” he

says, “Gods’ invisible nature is clearly present to their

understanding through what has been made” (Rom 1:19-20)

FALL

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths

to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

(Isa 53:6 NLT)

Does the person have a revelation that something has gone terribly

wrong in the world, that there is a human condition and the lust, greed,


13 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God . (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1998), 327



anger and selfishness which, if unmitigated, naturally takes hold of human

beings and ultimately destroys them? And do they understand that the

problems are not just with “those people, out there, the ones who are

interfering with me and my life” but that the problem is in them as well? Do

they have a revelation of their personal need?

This is a revelation which often needs to be built on even in Christians

who often fail to understand the segment of redemptive history in which we

currently live: Not the Garden and not Eternity––we live in a fallen world,

and despite its ongoing redemption, one should adjust expectations

accordingly about how people are going to naturally behave, particularly

when outside their controls and accountabilities.

THEFATHER

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in

God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned

for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

(John 5:24 NLT)

If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.

From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet

you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen

the Father! (Jn 14:7-9 NLT)

Salvation is often expressed in terms of “believing in Jesus” as if it were

solely a work of the Son. I have chosen to express salvation as triune, a

revelation of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. This is important because it

is possible to have a revelation of the Father without having a revelation of

The Son. A great many people “believe in God” without in the least

believing in Jesus. This constitutes a certain level of revelation of the Father.

And even with Christians this revelation can be expanded until we

know, as Jesus knew and explained in Matthew 6 and 7 as part of His

Sermon on the Mount, what the Father is really like as a statement about

reality, particularly the truth about unseen reality.

The realization that the message is True and not just true for them, that

this is an objective and not a subjective reality, is important because

realizing that this is True constitutes a worldview change. And if the

worldview doesn’t change people will put on or take off their relationship

with God as it suits them. But if something is believed to be true, it is much

harder to put aside.

GodRevela*ons

The next revelations have to do with someone who is a Christian, who

is “In Christ” rather than “In The World”




THESON

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in

God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned

for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

(John 5:24 NLT)

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in

your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be

saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right

with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are

saved. (Rom 10:9-10 NLT)

This is the revelation that is commonly held to be salvation, or “getting

saved,” the moment of crossing over from death to life or “making a

decision for God,” typically in the form of confessing personal sin and

shortcoming and inviting Christ into one’s heart as Saviour and Lord. This is

the traditional gospel message which recognizes that salvation is essentially

personal, and that what it means to be a Christian is to have a personal

relationship with Christ. Often here the focus is on forgiveness of personal

sins, but in light of our highly individualistic culture it is important to avoid

the kind of “revivalism” where being a Christian is solely identified with a

conversion experience.14

The scope of someone’s revelation of The Son is a key indicator of their

progress on the journey: Have they made a personal decision or have they

just grown up in the church? What is their concept of salvation? Is it

oriented around the afterlife or a whole-life commitment to becoming a

student of Jesus?

A key sacrament that recognizes a visible sign of this commitment, and

needs to be mentioned here, is baptism.

THESPIRIT

They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said,

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending

you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy

Spirit. (John 20:20b-22 NLT)

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria

had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. As

soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive

the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of

them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord

Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers,

and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)

It is difficult to express salvation as a triune event. While all three

persons of the Trinity work in together, there do seem to be special works


14 Diogenes Allen. Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 2002), 15



emphasized by each: The Father in creation, The Son in redemption and The

Spirit in fulfilling.

And so, while the Holy Spirit is clearly involved, for example, in

someone making a decision to give their life to Christ, there is a separate

and subsequent revelation of the Holy Spirit we recognize as part of the

pentecostal-charismatic tradition that is subsequent to salvation, described as

follows by Chan:

Pentecostal spirituality is characterized by an awareness of and an

openness to the “surprising work of God.” It seeks the intimate

presence of God, which usually involves an initial “baptism in theSpirit.” This baptism represents a sort of quantum leap in spiritual

consciousness, evidenced by, among other things, glossolalia and

a new boldness and urgency to engage in the mission of God.15

Being filled with the spirit in this way represents a crisis of separation.

These surprising works of God have a high chance of being perceived as

weird, irrational or unacceptable in a culture where rationality and intellect

and the values of the enlightenment are held sacred. And there is the

potential for significant marginalization not just within Western secular

society but even within the Christian community.

And so, the extent of someone’s revelation becomes important: What is

the role of the Holy Spirit in their spiritual life? Is it merely to bring

revelation through scripture? To provide promptings? Do they speak in

tongues? How open are they to surprising works of God? Or works of God

that may marginalize them or affect their worldly reputation?

DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you

how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and

followed him. (Matt 4:19-20 NLT)

After the threefold revelation of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, that

there is a God, Our Father in the Heavens, and by grace alone Jesus has

made a way for us to live under His Kingdom reign, transforming us into the

likeness of the Son, what comes next is the revelation of discipleship: The

invitation to be a full-time apprentice to Christ in how to live life.

Within the revelation of spiritual discipleship is the revelation of

spiritual disciplines ––the activities of a disciple. Since we cannot simply

“make ourselves like Christ” and produce the fruit directly, we do other

things like pray, study, read, intercede, worship, fast and spend time in

silence and solitude which produce the fruit of the spirit indirectly. The

expected result of apprenticing ourselves to Christ, studying Him and being





in his presence is the ongoing transformation of our character into the

likeness of Christ as evidenced by the fruit of the spirit in our lives:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love,

joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23a)

In the gospel of grace this is where effort finds its place. Since we

cannot produce the fruit of the spirit directly in our lives we produce it

indirectly by applying the disciplines. This is part of what it means to be a

disciple. The distinction between being a disciple and being a Christian is

important because in our culture it is possible to be a Christianwithout being

a disciple:

Non-discipleship is the elephant in the church. It is not the much-

discussed moral failures, financial abuses, or the amazing general

similarity between Christians and non-Christians. These are only

effects of the underlying problem. The fundamental negative reality

among Christian believers now is their failure to be constantly

learning how to live their lives in The Kingdom Among Us. And it

is an accepted reality. The division of professing Christians into

those for whom it is a matter of whole-life devotion to God and

those who maintain a consumer, or client, relationship to the

church has now been an accepted reality for over fifteen hundred

years.16

So the question will arise regarding someone on the path to spiritual

maturity: Do they consider themselves a disciple? A full-time apprentice to

Jesus? Do they practice any of the spiritual disciplines of a disciple? If so,

which ones? When then comment on the church direction, or the sermon or

the worship, are they doing that out of a consistent prayer life and ongoing

revelation or is it their opinion? Have these efforts produced the fruit of the

spirit in their lives? What is the state of their character? Do they demonstrate

virtue?

LORDSHIP

Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all yourheart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ (Matt 22:37)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple

must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For

whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their

life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25 NLT)

Similar to the discipleship question is the lordship question: Has a

person made Christ their Lord as well as their Saviour? Are they at the

disposal of their Lord? Are they prepared even to “waste” themselves on

Him if so required? Have they given over the whole of their life to Christ?

Their time? Their talent? Their treasure? Their attention? Their energy? This


16 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God . (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1998), 301



is the natural result of being with Jesus. What evidence is there of lordship?

In what ways has this been tested?

The natural result of this lordship decision is worship.

PeopleRevela*ons

The next set of revelations deal with interpersonal relationships and

being in community as part of the Body of Christ. While salvation is

personal in nature, “spiritual life is essentially relational without ceasing to

be particular.”17 It is here that we recognize, in a culture of deep

individualism, that God’s expression in this age is not the individual but the

Body:

The vessel through which the Lord Jesus can reveal himself in this

generation is not the individual but the Body. True, “God hath

dealt to each man a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), but alone in

isolation man can never fulfill God’s purpose. It requires a

complete Body to attain the stature of Christ and display his

glory.18

COMMUNITY

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of

it. (1 Cor 12:27 NLT)

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special

function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one

body, and we all belong to each ot her. (Rom 12:4-5 NLT)

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does

its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the

whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

(Eph 4:16 NLT)

Despite the reality of the Body of Christ, within our highly

individualistic society it is possible to be a Christian and decide not to

participate in any corporate life or spiritual community. However this kind

of approach is prone to failure:

It can become too individualistic and can be turned into a system

to support self-indulgence. The corporate life could become a

purely voluntary and dispensable matter. The all-important issue is

“my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” All other

relationships become secondary.19



18 Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life trans. by Angus I. Kinnear (Wheaton, Il: Tyndale House Publishers Inc, 1977), 216




Accordingly, in a society of consumer Christians, church shoppers and

church hoppers, key questions about maturity arise around a person’s

revelation of community: Have they committed to a particular fellowship of

believers? What is there level of commitment? Are they known in that

fellowship? Do they have accountable relationships in that community or are

they effectively anonymous? What has been their response to being pressed

or held accountable? How do they trade off their individual desires with the

greater good of the group?

The natural result of the revelation of community ismembership and the

sacrament of communion as the ongoing sign of this relationship.

SERVING

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader

among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first

among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man

came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a

ransom for many.” (Matt 20:26-28 NLT)

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the

source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we

serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the

same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

(1 Cor 12:4-7 NLT)

Central to the maturity of a disciple is the attitude of a servant: The

ability to apply their gifts, talents and capabilities to the needs of others in

community. Specifically here is a revelation of spiritual gifts as a gift to the

body and not for personal gain.

It is not only important for the individual that they serve, it is vital to

the survival and success of the community:

In a Christian community everything depends upon whether each

individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the

smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A

community which allows unemployed members to exist within it

will perish because of them. 20

Questions include: Does the person demonstrate the attitude of a

servant? Are they passive or active in their serving? Do they passively wait

until asked or do they actively look for ways they can contribute? When

there’s problems in the community do they hold back and critique or jump

in and help sort it out? Are they able to regularly lay down their own agenda

to serve the agendas of others? Or do they come with their opinions,

preferences and their own vision of how things should be? Can they serve

outside of their known gifts when required? Have they experienced the

empowerment of the Holy Spirit to serve in ways that are outside their

experience and comfort levels?


20 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), 94



SHARING

And all the believers met together in one place and shared

everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and

shared the money with those in need. (Acts 2:44-45 NLT)

Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or

clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm

and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or

clothing. What good does that do? (James 2:15-16 NLT)

But even as a person serves and helps, there remains the question: Are

they open to a common life with other people? Do they share their life with

others in the community? What do they share? Are they over-protective of

their own time/money/assets/leisure/comforts/life? How do they practice

boundaries? Where are they strict on their boundaries and where are they

loose? Are they strict with church but loose with work? Do they distance

themselves from members of spiritual community but dedicate themselves

unreservedly to other unhealthy relationships?

This idea of being together can be daunting in our culture. It means

sharing our lives and opening oneself to others who may ask for something

we have, who might impose on us, perhaps repeatedly, who might infringe

on our much-treasured personal wants and freedoms. The previously

unknown levels of private wealth we enjoy have created the the opportunity

for the creation of individual kingdoms and personal cocooning that leaves

the individual undisturbed in the midst of extensive personal preferences.

The side-effect of this is tremendous isolation and loneliness as we live

more technologically connected but without real community and authentic

relationships. We ignore those around us and their needs at our peril:

The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless

people, from a Christian community may actually mean the

exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the

door. 21

AUTHORITY

Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought

against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle,

and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great

dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one

deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all

his angels. (Rev 12:7-9 NLT)

I know this because I am under the authority of my superior

officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say,‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my

slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were

following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith

like this in all Israel! (Matt 8:9-10 NLT)


21 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community (New York: Harper & Row, 1954), 38



Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones

who love me. (John 14:21 NLT)

Even if a person has committed to living in accountable relationships,

and serves and shares in that spiritual community, there is a question of their

heart and attitude that is a pre-requisite to any sort of leadership or

responsibility: How do they respond to authority? Can they be lead? Are

they open to correction? Are they open to correction from an imperfect

leader or Pastor? Has this ever been tested in a meaningful way? How did

they respond to that correction?

Des*nyRevela*ons

Movement here is movement into one’s individual destiny, but as we

have pointed out, one’s individual destiny is not isolated from the whole but

emerges as part of the collective destiny of the Body of Christ together

fulfilling God’s mission in the world. It is here that the disciple’s ministry

begins to shift to equipping and possibly into the various levels of

leadership:

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the

prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their

responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up

the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come

to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will

be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete

standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like

children. (Eph 4:11-14a NLT)

BEINGSENT

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending

you.” (John 20:21b NLT)

But Jesus said, “You feed them.” (Luke 9:13 NLT)

The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them

ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.

These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the

workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the

harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.(Luke 10:1-2 NLT)

Serving, giving and and successfully coming under the authority of

another leader begins to qualify the disciple for a vision and responsibility of

their own. Increasing levels of responsibility are a key aspect of maturity.

We expect children to grow and take responsibility first for themselves, then

for their assigned work, and then perhaps ever-increasing circles of

responsibility as they are capable. The same applies to the disciple: Are they

willing to take ownership and responsibility for some task or call? Are they

able to cross over from “just helping out” to taking ownership for the work

that needs to be done to fulfill the vision? It should be emphasized here that

God’s call is not limited to strictly religious activities, like taking ownership

of the Children’s ministry at church or taking responsibility for the vision




for a new building project. Maturity develops as we embrace and take

responsibility for whatever God has called us to in the church or in the

world.

FRUITFULNESS

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This

brings great glory to my Father. (John 15:8 NLT)

A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad

fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t

produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit

is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can

identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their

actions. (Matt 7:17-20 NLT)

As the disciple takes responsibility for something, whether it is a call, a

need, a project or a ministry, the question emerges: Are they fruitful in that

task? If so, what kind of fruit and to what degree? In many cases the

disciple moving into his or her destiny will have a great passion or desire to

do or accomplish something for God. There can be many motivations for

this, seen and unseen. Unbeknownst to them they may be motivated by a

past wound, a desire for attention, or some other inner need that God may

want to meet another way. As people move into their authentic destiny we

can expect fruitfulness. If there is no fruit this is cause to step back, re -

assess, pray and seek God for insight and direction.

REPRODUCTION

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same

works I have done, and even greater works…” (John 14:12a NLT)

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority

in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and

the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the

commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you

always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20 NLT)

As reproduction is a natural outcome of maturity and intimacy in the

physical realm, so it is spiritually. The next question facing the mature and

fruitful disciple is whether they produce that fruit in and through others and

not just in themselves. Can they pass it on? Can they raise up other fruitful

disciples? Other fruitful leaders? Can they train and equip other people who

do what they do and be what they are? Do they mentor people? Do they

invest themselves in the lives of others? If so, what is the extent and quality

of the reproduction?

SACRIFICE

Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say

good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a

hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of

God.” (Luke 9:61-62 NLT)




“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are

not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more

than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up

your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you

cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for

me, you will find it. (Matt 10:37-39 NLT)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of

many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith

develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that

you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James

1:2-4 NIV)

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.

We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down,

but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are

not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in

the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our

bodies. (2 Cor 4:8-11 NLT)

While I am personally unfamiliar with these levels of discipleship, it is

clear both from the life of Christ, church history, and the lives of the saints,

that increasing levels of discipleship means increasing levels of sacrifice and

suffering as required. The process of sanctification involves not a

eradication of unique personality but a total laying down of the will, the self

and preferences in favour of God’s will, God’s mission, God’s preferences.

In our culture of comfort and in light of our highly held pursuit of personal

happiness, the question needs to be asked: What has our apprenticeship to

Jesus cost us? What sacrifices have we made? In what ways have we

suffered for the sake of the Kingdom and our call? Life is measured not in

what we have accomplished, amassed or achieved, but in what ways we

have given of ourselves in love.

DEATH

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil

and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new

kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life

in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in

this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my

disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am.

And the Father will honour anyone who serves me.

(John 12:24-26 NLT)

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill

Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting

there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and

held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is

finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

(John 19:28-30 NLT)

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who

believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me

and believes in me will never ever die. (John 11:25-26)




I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never

die!” (John 8:51 NLT)

At the end of the day, the mission will take everything we have. “No

one is getting out of this alive” as the old saying goes. We honour the

martyrs for valuing God more highly even than their physical life. But death

as expressed here is nothing like what is commonly meant by death, not

“ceasing to exist” or “The End” but merely the door to a different level of

life. We experience all sorts of of deaths in our lives, losses, changes, all

generating grief and requiring mourning. But these too are doors to a

different level of life that help shape us into the image of Jesus. The

pinnacle of discipleship is the kind of person we become, the kind of person

who, as Jesus explained in Luke 19:17 and Matthew 25:21, is the kind of

person who is the “good and faithful servant” transformed and equipped to

reign with Him.

LIFE

Death is not our end. That is the great and fractally repeating message

of the story. There is life on the other side. It is not Jesus’ death that is our

hope, but his death and resurrection.

And so we must ask ourselves these questions: Have we given our lives

for the mission? Have we valued God more highly than anything? And what

kind of person have we become? Have we passed through our various deaths

into an eternal kind of life?

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be

raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were

crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.

We are no longer slaves to s in. For when we died with Christ we

were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ,

we know we will also live with him. (Rom 6:5-9 NLT)




4.TheMeansofMaturity

While the scope of this paper prohibits extensive discussion, some

mention needs to be made of the means of maturity, as this has direct

relevance to how we structure our spiritual communities and church planting

efforts. I see four “God Spaces” that are essential for facilitating the

movement to maturity: The individual or personal space, the friend or two,

the small group and the large group. The failure to have any of these spaces

will limit the ability of the disciple to progress. Each of these spaces will

lend itself to certain activities and efforts as follows.

TheIndividual

We have recognized that salvation is personal and implicit here is an

ongoing, moment-to-moment interactive relationship with God. This is an

appropriate space for most of the spiritual disciplines, silence, study, prayer

and fasting, and by definition, solitude and secrecy require individual space

with God.

TheFriend

An important part of our maturity and development is the need to

process the specifics of what we are learning in our lives. When we meet

with a spiritual friend for mutual encouragement and to discuss our

problems the dynamic is entirely different than our personal devotional time

with God. This is the ideal space to practice fellowship, accountability and

confession as well as prayer and study.

Jesus highlights the unique dynamics and potential of this space in

Matthew 18:

“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning

anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For

where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there

among them.” (Matt 18:19-20 NLT)

TheSmallGroup

The small group of 10-12 believers is the ideal space for “doing life

together.” This size of group is still small enough that everyone can ta lk, but

there is also a diversity of personalities, gifts and resources that create the

possibility for community and not just relationship. Here the disciplines of

fellowship, service, worship and celebration emerge more fully in addition

to prayer and study together.

TheLargeGroup

Larger groups naturally become more gift-based and when the Body of

Christ gathers in larger groups it gives rise to a different experience, as the




larger group creates the opportunity to exercise spiritual gifts that pertain to

large groups, for submission to leadership, for a wider fellowship, a different

level of worship in terms of “Kingdom Immersion22” and the experience of

being part of something much larger than ourselves. These large group

opportunities range from the weekly meeting of a local congregation, to

trans-local conferences, to regional, national and global gatherings.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and

good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some

people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day

of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)


22 Donald Goertz, Toward A Missional Theology of Worship (Toronto, ON: Tyndale Seminary, 2009), 3



Conclusion:Implica<onsforPreaching

This view of the method, measures, movement and means of maturity

has direct implications for preaching and also how the church is organized

and mobilized.

Preaching

The first thing that needs to be recognized in light of everything written

here is that preaching will have to be less like putting gas in everyone’s tank

every week so they can keep on going as they always have, and more like

inspiring and motivating people to move on from where they already are

into further stages of spiritual maturity.

First, the people will need to be clea r on what the bargain is. There are

all sorts of conceptions of what church and preaching should be, what they

want, and what they expect when they turn up at church. Being clear about

this will sidestep confusion when, for example, you try to hold someone

accountable for their actions only to realize they have not agreed to be held

accountable and don’t recognize you as any sort of accountability-holding

authority. There must be agreement on what is going to happen. We will

need to be clear about the revelation, trials, crisis, fulfillment and celebration

that we expect.

Second, I think there’s going to have to be some clear communication,

not once but ongoing, about the nature of spiritual progression and the role

of effort in the spiritual life. It has been my experience that a good portion of

evangelical community is constantly on the lookout for heresy in general

and anything they perceive might undermine salvation by faith in particular.

The great worry being that they might fall into some sort of salvation by

works. From what I can tell there is little or no actual danger of people

trying too hard in their spiritual progression, but the concern runs deep. A

solid and communicable linkage between effort and spiritual progression

under the Gospel of Grace will need to be held at the ready.

Third and perhaps most challenging is recognizing the heterogeneous

nature of the maturity of the congregation. Spiritual maturity varies widely.

Somehow the message is going to have to move everyone: Educating them

about the path, encouraging them along the way without presuming any

specific level of revelation, and without putting anyone above anyone else.

In my current congregation there is typically a widespread revelation of the

Son, but even then we often have visitors who may not have that revelation.

Perhaps the secret is to have something for everyone, always having some

elements of the basic gospel for those that are in the world, discipleship and

lordship elements for those who are in God but not in the church, and then

missional and leadership challenges for those moving into their destiny.




What is important to consider is the question, “Where are these people at?”

and go from there.

UsingAllTheSpaces

Nevertheless it seems clear that preaching will not nearly be enough.

It’s unreasonable to expect to meet everyone where they are at and move

them to their own next level all in one big meeting with one message. For

sure the large group meeting has the atmosphere and opportunity for

revelation and celebration, but the trials, crisis and fulfilling rarely occur in a

church service. For these the other God spaces are required: Personal

disciplines being practiced in individual lives; a spiritual friend or two to

lean on, to talk through the trials and to take the phone call in the crisis of

faith; and a small group to support in the crisis, to come a round and pray

through to fulfillment.

Leveraging the personal, friend and small group spaces also helps

manage the heterogeneous nature of the congregation’s spiritual maturity.

Rather than 100 people together in a service, 10 groups of 10 people creates

the opportunity for customization based on where people are at, to split up

for example, into a seeker group, a new Christians cell, a ministry team, and

a leadership team. My one concern here is that when the the Christians who

self-perceive themselves as “mature christians” make their own group to

cater to their own interests and spirituality, self-focus, isolation and

cliquishness can occur to the detriment of the mission.

The role of preaching then is to cast vision for the adventure, engage

people on the journey, motivate them, and encourage them by highlighting

the progress of their peers and betters. In this way the large meeting

becomes the hub which provides access to all the other opportunities and

relationships required for progression.

LeadingtheChurch

The impact of thinking of the spiritual life in terms of progression and

maturity will have a significant impact on the overall leading and managing

of the church, as the question changes from how we produce services and

programs to how we move people into increasing maturity as disciples.

As shown in the diagram on the following page, everything the church

does can be geared to moving disciples forward in their maturity, whether in

big or small groups, in relationships or in individual lives. Measures can be

applied to the the different stages of maturity and our efforts to move and

mature people who are in the world, in God, in community or moving into

their destiny.




APPENDIX:

APOST-MODERNPOST-NOTE

While spiritual progress has been presented here a linear, we know that

life is characteristically dynamic, complex and non-linear. Accordingly,

some consideration was given to a non-linear metaphor appropriate to

express spiritual growth and progression as described here.

It was this thought that I came across a certain Moleskine product.

Moleskine is a manufacturer of the type of journal used by Vincent Van

Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway, characterized by an elasticized

closure and an inner pocket. More recently Moleskine has marketed what

they describe as a “City Notebook”: A journal that is designed around a

certain city (for example Venice or Paris), and is made up of journal pages

interspersed with city maps, subway guides, zone indexes, detachable

sheets, clear overlays for tracing routes, and notched pages for capturing

stories, places, legends, names, faces, encounters, art, books, movies, wines,

and meals. It is a journal that is also a guidebook, or rather a self-guidebook,

or maybe even a guidebook in the middle voice: It gives insight into a city in

such a way that the traveller finds their own route through the city and

accumulates their own experiences.

When I saw this I thought that spiritual growth and progression is like

exploring a city. There are insights and maps that can be given, but the

traveller must find his or her own route through the city, travelling through

different zones, with different goals, perhaps taking different routes,

capturing stories, places, faces names, encounters, books, revelations, trials,

crises, fulfillments and celebrations as they go.

As a subsequent effort it would be interesting to express the revelation

and relationships described in this spiritual theology non-linearly as a city to

be explored, and perhaps even create an interactive Moleskine journal to

help guide people in their exploration.




BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, Diogenes. Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today. Cambridge, MA, Cowley Publications, 2002

Blackaby, Henry, Blackaby, Richard, and King, Claude. Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God. Nashville, TN: B&H 2009

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1954

Chan, Simon. Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life. Downer’s Grove, Il: Intervarsity, 2006

Goertz, Donald. Toward A Missional Theology of Worship. Toronto, ON: Tyndale Seminary, 2009

Kelsey, Mark. Progressing People. Oxford Falls: C3 Church, 2003

Nee, Watchman. The Normal Christian Life. Translated by Angus I. Kinnear. Wheaton, Il: Tyndale House Publishers Inc, 1977

Willard, Dallas. The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering our Hidden Life in God . San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1998


Spiritual Theology - Progressing in the Christian Life

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