mayfield church of christ

Spiritual Formation - Camp Study

Posted by Pastor Mark on 21 February 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: Personal Growth, Spiritual Formation

I have some really interesting friends....and I want to introduce you to them.....

Tony is into fitness....

• Claim to fame - "Abciser" video model
• Gym before work
• Always has a bottle of water
• Run after work then finish at gym
• Weekends - competes in Body beautiful competitions
• Never met ANYONE who spends so much time an fitness and sculpting their body

Kim is into dieting....

• You name the diet....Kay's been on it...
• Not even seriously overweight but convinced she is.
• Currently onto the shakes diet......only has mixup shake for lunch...or a soup.....1 apple
• Conversations....always seem to be about diets.....like she is at WAR with weight.
• Doesn't seem real happy!

Paula is into alternative medicines...

• Took 12 months and went and worked in India....
• Came back very different.....vegetarian.....gave up drinking....into alternative medicine.
• Sit with her at morning tea.....talk will always turn to herbs of some sort.
• Always asking what my problems are and suggesting I use this...or burn this in my belly button.

John....is a good looking man I guess!

• He has a personal trainer.... seems to make most of the major decisions in Johns life....
• If his trainer says to do it....then John does it
• It's all about the whole IMAGE for John....and he struggles when a student in his class doesn't like him.

Angela and her husband are into Financial Planning

• Last week she brought out a graph which they have been plotting for the last 15 years....HUGE
• Every week they plot what the Dow Jones Index is at
• She can show you the build up to every financial glitch over that time.
• She has worked out a mathematical formula for WHEN the best DAYS to purchase stock are and WHAT stock.
• For all her plotting.....Kristi is STILL a school teacher.

Ray....keeps a journal of everything that happens at work

• He's convinced that he's going to be able to SUE his work for something that happens
• If he can't....he's sure he will be able to go out on stress leave
• Ray hates work so much....that he spends every day searching for a way to get out of it.
• Nobody will talk to him....in case they say something wrong and give him the ammunition he needs
• Ray needs to get out of his job

There's nothing WRONG with my friends BUT they are  an INDICATOR of the society we live in......

We live in a consumer oriented society....

• You can buy ANY service.....and we are pretty much prepared to buy whatever we need.
• We also live in a performance based society......
• To achieve whatever it is we want.....we will do whatever it takes......
• We have 5.....10.....and even lifetime plans for ourselves....for our jobs....even our kids.
• We have plans for every aspect of our lives.....from weight loss to getting rich.....from getting healthy to getting the job we want.

AND YET.....and here's the freaky part....When it comes to our SPIRITUAL LIFE.....to the very core of who we are and why we are here......

Most of us have.....NO PLAN.....

We leave all that organization to the Pastor...to TEACH us on Sunday....or to our home group.....or to the youth leader.....to MEET those needs....and we just EXPECT....or at least we HOPE that we will GROW and develop to somehow become MORE like Jesus....

BUT.....it's NOT working for most of us.....and it's SO haphazard....so hit or miss.....

This weekend....is an opportunity for each of us....to think about how OUR spiritual development is going......a bit of a spiritual health check....and to ask the question......WHAT plan do I have in place that is developing my spirit to be MORE like Jesus...that is ACTIVELY......assisting the spirit of God to bring about CHANGE in who I am...and how I think....that is MORE in line with how JESUS thinks.......and if I don't have one......WHAT might I need to do.....

And so....as you go about the rest of your evening...and as you lie in bed tonight....I want you to think about just ONE question.......

Am I willing to have my life changed.....to become more like Jesus?

SATURDAY MORNING

Slide 1

Last night I left you with a question....

Am I willing to have my life changed....to become more like Jesus?

• Some of you may have given that some thought......
• Some of you might have come up with a resounding YES.....if God brings about change in my life...no matter how radical....then YES
• Others might have thought....well I guess so....but I fail to see WHY it would be needed ort what it would accomplish......things are going along quiet well....or I'm old and don't NEED to change
• And I guess some of you might have quietly thought to yourselves....a straight out NO...I'm happy with how things are...life's good...God's in the right position.....everything's OK

The difficult thing is....that as a leader....my JOB is to lead you into places that you might NOT otherwise go....so regardless of HOW you answered that question......my hope is....that over the course of this weekend.....and over the next few months....you might be taken to a place where you begin to really think about what it REALLY means to be CONSTANTLY changing to become more and more like Jesus.

The term that is used to describe this process.....is Spiritual Formation.....the process of becoming more and more like Jesus....

Slide 2

Whether we know it or not, our lives are shaped by the things that we invest ourselves in.....by the things that we value...by the things that energise us.....much like my friends at work who I introduced you to last night....

And none of these are WRONG in themselves.....but when we allow those things to SHAPE our lives.....to shape who we are...and how we operate....and even how we view the world....then it can be very shallow......and it can almost seem as if something is missing.

When I was studying to be a teacher......the process of study was my life.....it was all I breathed....it was pretty much every conversation I had....it governed my time....it governed my mood and it determined my emotions according to how it was going.....and Sue can tell you....that those 4 years were perhaps the 4 worst of our marriage.....BUT for me in the middle of it....oblivious to how it was all playing out and affecting those around me as well as myself.....it felt pretty much normal....I was in control....I was making my own choices....and I was doing well in the eyes of those whose APPROVAL was important to me. BUT I remember feeling IMMENSELY empty during those 4 years...as if something was missing!

And I think that most of us can identify at one point or another in our lives....those feelings.....that there's just GOT to be more.....and at the very heart of those feelings....are some deep spiritual questions....like....What will bring meaning and purpose to my life?......What am I searching for?......How do I live my life in order to make it count?...and what will it look like in the end?

And it doesn't matter whether you're a Christian or NOT......we ALL have those questions.....they are an essential part of what it MEANS to be HUMAN.....they are part of our design and it's almost like God puts them in us so that ONE day we just MIGHT finally wake UP to his whole purpose and plan for us......

BUT the trouble is that our own NEED to be in control of our life and our choices.....I think can potentially STOP us from EVER seeing God's purpose for us....or from enjoying the kind of relationship He REALLY wants to have with us....

GOD wants us to ALLOW ourselves to be shaped and transformed...so that JESUS becomes the centre of our lives....becomes the model of our lives..... becomes the pattern of our lives....BUT that means that we have to CHANGE....from being the person who SHAPES....to the person who is BEING SHAPED.....and as threatening as that might seem....THAT'S the ultimate objective.....the ultimate goal....our highest priority....I think PAUL certainly GOT this......it's exactly what he was talking about in Romans 12:2 .....Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

And then in 2 Corinthians 3:18.....And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This process of change was a REALITY in Paul's life......and not ONCE does he paint it as a BAD thing....as a hard thing.....this change in his life is AMAZING.......BUT sometimes I just don't think we just MISS the whole point.....and I think we sabotage every opportunity that God HAS to bring about this process of change....because we DON'T want to UPSET things as they are.....we don't want to let GO...we think that to let JESUS in.....somehow means there's less of US.  

Slide 3

That's why I wanted this weekend....to begin to look at the process of Spiritual Formation....or the process of becoming more and more like Jesus....It's NOT a sudden change.....its not even necessarily a RADICAL change.....and to some extent there's never a point where we actually GET there...Everyone...whether they're a Christian or not...undergoes spiritual formation......the only question is whether it's GOOD formation or BAD...but regardless....it's a lifelong process that ANYONE who chooses to sign on with Jesus is a part of.....whether we CHOOSE to embrace it ....is another question.

Dallas Willard has written some great stuff on this topic......and I particularly love this quote....

"As a disciple of Jesus I am with him by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in

the Kingdom of God...his life flowing through mine...I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do every thing I do in the manner that he did all that he did."

And that pretty much sums up what this is all about......

Slide 4

If the OBJECT of this life....is to become more and more like Jesus......then it's probably worthwhile spending some time LOOKING at how that might LOOK in us.....because the process actually involves an interweaving of these three DIFFERENT processes within each one of us.....

The first is about what we THINK about Jesus and about what it means to be a follower of Christ.....this is termed orthodoxy......

The second is about our actions .....how does having a relationship affect our behaviour, our actions, and how do our actions line up with the actions of Jesus.....this is termed orthopraxy

And third.....is about how we feel... about God, about ourself and about others as a result of how Jesus sees and feels about  us...this is termed orthopathy.

And the whole process of our spiritual shape or formation...our whole view  of Jesus and his impact on our lives.......is determined by how these three processes interplay in our lives.......and it's all about balance....that no ONE is more important or less important than the others....

And you can begin to see what happens when we have a SKEWED view on this....and say FAVOUR one aspect over another.....

If it's all about orthopraxy and our actions and what we DO....then there's a good chance that at worst we will become tireless ....and tired...and we'll likely burn ourselves....and others...out because we feel we have to rely on our own efforts to please God.

If it's all about orthopathy ....or our feelings about God...and about ourselves and the relationship of the two.....to the exclusion of the others......then we can end up as impractical off with the fairy mystics....so focused on contemplation and personal spiritual experience that we become absolutely no use in the kingdom of God.

And I think we all know what happens.... if our main focus or even our exclusive focus is in orthodoxy...or our need to know the RIGHT thinking about Jesus and our faith....and there's a lot of churches out there that have this focus.....then the worst case scenario....is that we end up hard arrogant judgmental law mongerers.... no different than the Pharisees of Jesus day.....worshipping our doctrine and our theological arguments and our intellectual superiority......INSTEAD of a genuine REAL encounter with Jesus

THIS....is the place we want to focus of...where the three intersect....and FORM who we are in our spirit.....this point where our HEAD ....our HEART and our HANDS....overlap....because it's HERE that we meet JESUS and begin to understand what it REALLY means to be shaped by Him....and we begin to understand just who we ARE in Him.......

Slide 5

Now....understanding that this process of spiritual formation.....is a lifelong process......I'm not aiming to get this all sorted this weekend......

This weekend is about BEGINNING the process of understanding WHO YOU ARE in your relationship with Jesus....and how your current perceptions of that might be SKEWING that relationship......

My mum......took up pottery when she was older....and she was AMAZING...she was a GREAT potter.....I was intrigued when I watched her spin up a pot on the wheel....and gently lift and form the sides of the pot....and narrow the sides as she drew them up.....

And it was a fine art......of working the clay and keeping the moisture....the pressure on her hands and the thickness of the side....ALL in balance.......

BUT every now and then.......when she was distracted....of if she let the clay get too wet......or if she went a bit thin with the sides.......the pot would begin to wobble....just a bit at first....but then it would wobble noticeably....and then the WHOLE pot would collapse on itself in an ugly mess.....and she would start the whole process over again.....

I sometimes feel like our spiritual formation is a bit like that...sometimes things just get out of whack..... we fail to get it...we try too hard...or worst...we do NOTHING....and then we hit a hiccup......the whole lot seems to be collapsing around us in an ugly mess.....

BUT our God is a gracious God.....and he WANTS deep meaningful relationship with us....he WIRED us for it.......and he sent JESUS to show us the BEST way to make that happen......and He wants us to GET that...He wants us to CARE about that...and he wants us to DO something about it.

For the remainder of our time until morning tea.....I want us to begin to think about our Spiritual formation......and I guess that begins....by going back to our original question...... Am I willing to have my life changed....to become more like Jesus?

I've divided you all into groups....

I want each group to just discuss the 5 questions on this sheet....

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. When in my life has God become more that just a concept?

2. If each of us are becoming more like Jesus, then there should be those around us who resemble Jesus in some way. Who in my life is like Jesus?

3. In what areas do I sense development or change in my faith?

4. What are the greatest obstacles in my life to growing spiritually?

5. How do I most often express my love for God?