March 27, 2025
Last week I told you about studying the leadership principles found in the book Leadership Without Easy Answers. This week I want to tell you about the three pillars of community spiritual formation.
As way of reminder, our program’s definition of spiritual formation is this: “Spiritual formation is our continuing response to the reality of God’s grace shaping us into the likeness of Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, in the community of faith, for the sake of the world.”
Dr. Morse told us about the three core theological values that are necessary for a church to be a place of spiritual formation:
- Resurrection Hope
Christian faith is only possible through hope. And the hope we have is in a God of love, justice, and resurrection. We have to believe that, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, life can blossom from death and that Sin, Death, and Evil will not have the last word. Because of that hope, we are free: “Therefore now, there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of Sin and Death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
Living out that resurrection hope requires a new mental map. A mental map is the lens through which we see and understand the world. And it also requires different thinking. To gain that new way of thinking, Dr. Morse told us there are three practices that help reframe our mental map: solitude (not simply being alone, but being with God and your true self), reflection (looking back on our lives to see God at work), and accountability (active engagement in a community of believers devoted to hope).
It is my prayer that Ardmore Baptist Church would be a place of resurrection hope. We would refuse the harmful, divisive, cynical narratives of this world and we would reframe our minds towards the hope we have because of Jesus.
- Relational Holiness
If Resurrection Hope is about our mentality, then Relational Holiness is about our emotions. Holiness is not about pure morality or “right living.” Holiness is about connection to God. In the New Testament there are numerous moments where Jesus touches what is traditionally considered “unholy” yet, by his presence, it is made holy. Likewise, we are made holy by continual connection to Jesus.
When it comes our emotions, we tend to buy into some modern-day myths such as: emotions are untrustworthy, reason can renew our minds, and we can fix ourselves with enough grit and determination. None of that is true. Instead, we practice Relational Holiness with our emotions when we are able to identify our strong emotions and determine whether or not they help us to love well or to move away from love.
We must learn to be more aware of our emotional lives if we are going to be spiritual formed. Dr. Morse gave us three questions to ask about what we are feeling:
- What makes you anxious?
- Why? (continue to ask “Why?” until you reach a bedrock truth about yourself and God)
- Bring your specific request to God.
When we practice a deeper awareness of our emotional lives and bring them to God, we will find ourselves more connected with God, more connected with our Self, and more connected with others.
- Radical Hospitality
We’ve dealt with our mental health (Resurrection Hope) and our emotional health (Relational Holiness). The third ingredient necessary for spiritual formation to take root in a community involves our actions: Radical Hospitality. And “hospitality” is about much more than being the privileged welcomer or nice person in an interaction. Hospitality is about refusing to “other” other people; it is to welcome them as they are, not as they wish we would be.
Our class was asked a difficult question, “Who do you have a hard time welcoming?” The answers given were raw, honest, and varied: “Those who ask a lot of me,” “Republicans,” “Democrats,” “Transgendered persons,” “Those more conservative than me,” “Those more liberal than me,” “Those persons with non-normative mental abilities.” What would your answer be? Often we are hesitant to welcome some people into our lives because of what it will ask of us. However, the idols of comfort and convenience are the greatest barriers to hospitality.
When we look at the ministry of Jesus, however, he practiced radical hospitality. He welcomed sinners, tax collectors, Pharisees, prostitutes, Roman officials, Jewish leaders, men, women, lepers, etc. And what he wanted this disciples to realize is that they do not welcome people because of how nice they are supposed to be; they welcome others because, in the end, there really isn’t a difference between us and them. We are all sinners in need of God’s grace. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
Resurrection Hope. Relational Holiness. Radical Hospitality.
Sisters and brothers, I am sure there are some areas of these three that we do really well as a church and others where we struggle. But we continue to strive to connect people (including ourselves) to Jesus Christ. And by doing so, we are spiritually formed.
