Contemporary Misperceptions Regarding Spiritual Formation, From a [Christian?] Social Justice Ethos

Recently, I read a blog post entitled: Saying Goodbye to Spiritual Formation

by Anderson Campbell 

http://thecrookedmouth.com/saying-goodbye-spiritual-formation/

Here are some of my thought regarding it... 

"Saying Goodbye to [Christian?] Spiritual Formation.. I Am Over It AND You Should Too!" (Perfect Imperative)

Wow! Ironically enough, this post displays an astounding amount of prejudicial intolerance and a bit of an incendiary stereotype. Given what I assume are his core values regarding people, I find this to be a bit of a surprise... well but maybe not really... since blog posts like this often (often arrogantly) communicate sentiment, that: "at long last, after 2,000 years, this generation of believers have finally gotten church and Christian faith right!" Why? Because they have finally figured out what it means to imitate Jesus... or so they think... But you wouldn't know that in this post, because of the way Campbell disparages and entire tradition of the faith, that has made enormous contributions to the Christian faith over two millennia. Contributions, I suspect have shaped much of who he is and what he says he values...

I understand what Campbell is TRYING to say, but perhaps it would have been better and more accurate if he had said: "for those who practice their (Christian) Spiritual Formation in this manner..." Every faith tradition in history, has it's (supposedly!) undeniable strengths, as well as its weakness... If we want to critique a tradition's weaknesses, that's fine, but be sure not to include everyone... I don't think Jesus would do that...

While I am not one to typically wear my pedigree on my sleeve, I feel compelled to say that I do have a Doctoral Degree in Spiritual a Formation. I can tell you that from my years of study as well as rather extensive experience in my own personal life, as well as the lives of those who I have engaged, that what Campbell has described in his post is nothing less than a caricature, and representative of a relative minority... Are their people in the Christian Spiritual Formation like the one's that Campbell describes above? Sure!? Are they always typical? Absolutely not... Are there examples of it through history? Sure? Does that mean the entire movement itself has not been (in)valuable... I dunno, ask the average Christian Church Historian and you might get a different perspective?

Framing the Christian Spiritual Formation tradition as largely individualistic and retreatest, demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of the discipline itself... For example: Just using Foster's historical distillation and typology, Christian Spiritual Formation includes the following disciplines:

Inward Disciplines:

1. Meditation - Great for sermon prep!

2. Prayer - I don't think this needs any defense

3. Fasting - Who needs to know?

4. Study - Sometimes I just need a quiet place to concentrate

The Outward Disciplines:

1. Simplicity - a.k.a. Non-materialistic

2. Solitude - I think this a bad word here (although you might want to consult Moses, Elijah, David, Paul and Jesus on this practice)

3. Submission - How is this possible unless there are other people

4. Service - Ah Hah! I bet this came as a surprise... Given the discussion this appears to be counter intuitive!

The Corporate Disciplines:

1. Confession - I think this involves others as well

2. Worship - Okay, you can do this by yourself, but having others makes it fulfilling in a different and more full manner.

3. Guidance - It implies homo sapiens, not just the Holy Spirit

4. Celebration - See the above...

In the Four Stages of Faith Theory - (first initiated by John of the Cross), I might note that while there is a macro OVERALL progression as listed above, it certainly is not exclusively that... there can be many micro forays, by the believer into all of the areas below per the Holy Spirit's discretion... The mistake that many conclude from reading the list below is that it is all done within a vacuum... This however, is not the case, the growth outlined below takes place largely while living in the world, in part because the world functions as a protagonist on one hand, and providentially is an ethos within which to live out and practice our relationship with and like Christ on the other hand... The general list is:

1. Awakening (To Faith in Christ)

- Encounter with God

- Encounter with Self

- Comfort from God

- Threat - Needing to change life

2. Purgation of Sins - (This section is kinda out of style right now, since there has been a monumental shift from the Centrality of the Cross to the Sermon on the Mount (Primarily Beatitudes especially as expressed by Luke), as the primary understanding of the Christian faith. Younger believers are living almost exclusively in the Gospels (Perceptions of Grace) and not so much in the Epistles (Concerns about "Truth" statements! Tssssss!!!) It is in essence a new kind of emerging "Fundamentalism" that is almost the polar opposite of the 20th Century form of Fundamentalism.

" But here they are anyway!

- Renunciation of Blatant Sins

- Renunciation of Willful Disobedience

- Unconscious Sins and Omissions (Solitude and Silence are great for this!)

- Deep-Seated Structures of Behavior

- Coming to Trust

3. Illumination - In this list

- Total Concentration to God's Love

- God Experienced Within

- Integration of Being

- Unceasing Prayer

- INCREASING SOCIAL CONCERN - Often very powerful

4. Union With God:

- Abandonment to Grace

- Prayer of Quietness

- Dark Night of the Senses

- Full and Ecstatic Union

- Dark Night of the Senses

Having said what I did thus far, I should be clear and say that seasonal retreat isn't a bad thing if it helps you to have more intimate conversation with the Father and hear the Holy Spirit better, but abandonment of and to the world is... ALL (wholistic) Christian Spiritual Formation is designed and purposed to incarnationally become like Jesus, so that we can do the things that Jesus would do, if He were us in the here and now... The more one becomes like Jesus, the more they ontologically can't help do, what Jesus would do... To do otherwise, isnt' really engaging in "Spiritual Formation."

In conclusion, let me say, that I rarely respond to posts like this, with this kind of assertiveness... I am actually pretty laid back... but I responded as I did because it is a gross injustice to conflate "Spiritual Formation" with a kind of hyper-pious, retreatest form of Christian individualism. I am afraid that his blog post will do far more to egregiously mislead, offend and divide the Body, for those who read it, rather than to inspire and challenge...

Ironically enough, I feel compelled on behalf of those who have participated in the tradition of Christian Spiritual Formation, and those who are practicing it now, to include these verses... because for some believers they may feel that it might just apply... Note: these verses conclude the Beatitudes themselves...

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Mat 5:9-12