Good post on formation and its importance,  and how churches today ,  in encouraging the secular value of “think for yourself” ,  also outsource much of the formation of the person to secular values which derive their perspectives from OTHER than the Kingdom of God.

I’m not attracted to Catholicism, but I am very much attracted to the tradition of self-conscious, disciplined spiritual formation into a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is a great failing of our side of the church.

As much as we Protestants talk about being shaped by the Bible alone, most evangelicals are thoroughly formed and shaped by the communities where the Bible is handled, taught and practiced according to a “rule” or accepted authority, and by the media that supports and communicates the values of that community.

It is, without a doubt, one of the most appealing and positive aspects of Catholicism that it is self-conscious about its “rules” and authorities for spiritual formation. (Rule as in “way,” as in The Rule of Benedict.) It surely must be humorous to knowledgeable catholics to look at the various sects, denominations and varieties of evangelicalism and fundamentalism, all claiming to “just read the Bible.”

Michaels’ latter point causes me to wonder just what it is about Catholicism that pushes him to cease being attracted to Catholicism,  if they are so in tune with formation.  If they got this so right,  where have the “gone wrong?”  I’m not emphasizing “going wrong” here,  I am wondering what it is that Michael feels is unattractive enough to grab this morsel and reject whatever portion of the rest?  Just wondering. 

In case you don’t know,  I think that Protestant Americans (and conservative evangelicals in particular) are seriously bigoted and ignorant of the Catholic Church,  and take this idea of “individual freedom” way too far,  ending up farming out their status as resident aliens and becoming instead some kind of gnostic blend.

Michael humorously interjects this:

The closest thing you get to self-conscious spiritual formation among most evangelicals: Jabez, PDL, or an evangelism course. Or a cruise.

Yeah,  that seems to be all in vogue in mega-church Christianity: “Christian cruises”. 

He goes on:

It’s amazing how many Christians conceive of almost the entirety of discipleship in terms of argumentation. This is seen in the pastoral models they choose, the books/blogs they write and the spiritual activities they value most (debate and classroom lecture.)

Yes.  Absolutely.  The modernist trap.  The “thinking man’s” Christianity. 

The “fully formed” Christian in these [certain evangelicals ] traditions is not a person of silence, but of much talking, talking and more talking. Worship is lecture, a rally, or an emotion-centered event. The primary encounter with the Bible is exposition and lecture. Correcting theological error, moral error and ecclesiastical error is the main business of the church.

Michael also mentions the inevitable accusations hurled at such “contemplative” efforts as “new age” and “more of Ophrah Winfrey than of God” kind of thinking.  It often sounds like there’s more energy and concern devoted to being “not-Ophrah” than actually finding ways to listen for God.

And,  most challenging:

I can’t help but think there is an “internet Christian” spirituality as well. Formed by reading blogs. Expressing itself in writing. Concerned with all the perceptions of reality that run rampant on the net. I’m sure this isn’t a good thing either.

Spiritual formation happens in the real world. It’s not just reading, but it’s discussion and asking questions of those further down the road. It’s having leaders who are humble before the Word, and not leaders who take the word and become the pictures of arrogance. It’s seeing your sin in the light of holiness, not excusing your sin in the light of the latest crisis.

Much evangelical spirituality has become like fantasy baseball. We have our own league, our own team, our own statistics, our own insulated world in which all of this matters. We can give great speeches and write long posts (and I am the chief of sinners here) on what doesn’t matter much at all. These days, we don’t all get our 15 minutes of fame, but we can all worship a pastor, go to a winning church, opine on a blog, imagine our arguments are significant in the world.

Meanwhile, we start to look and act more like a fantasy league junky, and fewer and fewer people have any idea what we are talking about.

Whoa!  Seemingly obvious,  but sadly,  too often played out.  Here often enough (way too often actually).  For the day when this blog can be a narrating of what is happening among the members of my church; my community,  which has given itself to be an alternative society that rejects the individualism so rampant in American Christianity,  in both evangelical and mainline churches alike,  liberal and conservative.  I’ve been to “liberal churches” that leave me isolated and alone,  even feeling rejected. There’s something seriously wrong there.  There’s something seriously wrong nearly everywhere.  And the lack of formation,  the lack of community in the truest;  no, THE true sense of the word:  as a/the  body of Christ,  this is what keeps churches going through the motions,  entertaining and “stimulating” us and not really opening ourselves to the body and the Holy Spirit blowing amongst us,  calling us to a radical relatedness.  As we move in this “50 days” from Resurrection to Pentecost,  I remain dependent upon that Day of Pentecost to show me that the resurrection is real (I BELIEVE it is real….my faith has me clinging to and depending upon that,  but the Pentecost is a realized living of that eschatological promise. 

Source: internetmonk.com » Blog Archive » Who and What are Forming You?