Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Formation, Growth, and So On

As healthy organisms grow and take shape how do the structures around them best serve the growth that is taking place? I am always looking for ways in which we can help people deepen their relationship with God in such a way that they live a life that is re-oriented to the Kingdom of God. How does that work? In the past the church legislated one's spiritual formation via programs: Sunday School, Confirmation, Small Groups, etc. While these elements are not bad I'm striving for ways to help people develop a heart of God without throwing more programs at them.

The difficult thing is that the church institution cannot be the sole forming component in one's spiritual life. In other words...we can have all of the best programs and have people insert themselves into those program and still not become the "product" that we think those programs should churn out.

Instead of "churning out" product-disciples we need to create spaces in which people can connect to God in a way that is spiritually forming.

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