Moving forward from my last post, a series of questions about spiritual formation that are rattling around my dome after finishing Larry Crabb’s Real Church.
- What is “spiritual formation?”
- What do we promise people as a result of their pursuit of spiritual disciplines?
- If we are striving for anything but a thirst for God, isn’t that idolatry?
- If we promise anything besides an increased thirst for God, do we turn God into a vending machine?
- If the goal is not an experience of God, but a thirst for God, then what role does experience play?
- If the goal of formation is thirst, then aren’t we saying that the goal of formation is a deeper sense of frustration?
For quite a long time I’ve been trying to completely avoid christian terminology. I find I can use a lot of important sounding words and sound smart, but not actually say anything coherent (mainly because even I don’t know what I’m trying to say).
what do your questions look like if you replace the phrases “spiritual disciplines” “thirst for god” “idolatry” “experience of god” with actual words?
It’s interesting to me that they are starting to offer classes and even a degree in “Spiritual Formation” at Christian colleges. I love it, but how did transformation and discipleship become relegated to a particular field of study?
As for the idea of thirst, it’s interesting that they serve peanuts, popcorn and pretzels in places that encourage buying beverages…and that our bodies are built to feel pain when they need food…these might have something to do with our recognition of the need for thirst in our lives to motivate us to seek out the things we need most. Food tastes good, quenching thirst feels amazing, that kind of thing. If our physical experiences are meant to lead us to metaphysical truth, it would seem we could learn a bit about healthy spiritual existence from the ideas of hunger and thirst. Maybe the disciplines are the salt that leads us to seek out a drink.