I've been thinking a lot about spiritual transformation lately. In fact, our senior management team has been involved in quite a bit of prayer and dialog about this. We haven't decided to suddenly make it important; it's woven through our DNA. It's our mission. We're committed to "helping people take their next step toward Christ...together." Since day one we've been focused on reaching people who've given up on God and / or the church and helping them take step after step into a growing, devoted journey with God.
So, perhaps before I unpack this list of questions we're pondering, I should lay at least one assumption I'm making in this conversation...
- Spiritual formation has been happening in each of our lives since the day we were born.
- Dallas Willard points out in his book, Renovation of the Heart, that we are innately in our humanity, first of all spirit. As spiritual beings created by Almighty God, our spirituality has been in formation from day one. Our parents, teachers, friends, coaches, experiences, church, school, the Holy Spirit - good influences and poor - have been shaping our sense of God, of spirituality.
Although there's more I'm convinced of when it comes to spiritual transformation, to state more would cut off the conversation I'd like to entertain with the following questions. These are questions I'm working through again. I'd love your insight. Consider...
10 Questions to Ask
about the Spiritual Transformation Process in Your Church
1. How is spiritual transformation defined in our church?
2. What does a "win" look like in spiritual transformation?
3. In what ways is spiritual transformation expressed in our mission, vision and values?
4. How are we trusting or not trusting the Holy Spirit to transform the lives of our people?
5. Does
this feel like an “add-on” to everything else we’re doing... or how is it integrated into the fabric of our church life?
6. Is there evidence that our people are engaging spiritual transformation as a lifestyle? If not, what's preventing that reality?
7. What key words, what important concepts will we use to cast vision and create a culture of spiritual transformation that is embraced by our people?
8. What environments will we intentionally continue or create to help our people engage the story of the Bible in their journey of spiritual transformation?
9. How do we help our people engage spiritual disciplines as pathways rather than task items to mark off their to-do lists?
10. How will we measure and celebrate spiritual transformation in the lives of our people?
Here's one more sobering question that's the most challenging for me:
What does my personal spiritual transformation process look like? …and is it worth modeling?
You should know that I don't believe there is one right model for our spiritual formation. I'd love to know how you're embracing the journey personally. And I'd really like to hear how you're approaching this in your church with you people.
Leave a comment. Let's talk.
