The Second Stage of Spiritual Growth: "Believing and Belonging"

Continued from previous posts: In the last few posts, I introduced the first of six stages of spiritual growth, what I call, "First Awakening." This is the point when you first become conscious of God. There's some need, some precipitating event, some intervention that unsettles you, inspires your search for God, or requires you to make sense of a spiritual experience you simply can't ignore any longer. It's as if you've awakened from a long night's sleep to sunlight streaming through your window and you wonder why you slept so late.

I'm writing about these stages to help you understand the way God generally works in our lives so you can better understand your own growth as well as the growth of others. Last month, I also urged you to be careful not to turn these stages into a program. The pattern of these stages is consistence throughout the history of Christian spirituality, but it's nevertheless an oversimplification. God is always free do blow our little maps apart in order to bring us to the fullness offered us in Christ.

First Awakening usually leads to the second stage, which I call "Believing and Belonging." At this stage in our journey we connect to a community where we learn the essential doctrines of Christianity. Here, we're formed by our association with others, our attendance in worship, and our involvement in experiences that teach us the faith. This then leads to the third stage, "Service and Leadership". It's quite possible that you might find yourself serving during the second stage, and so, the stages can overlap. But in the second stage, though you may participate in a service project, assist with VBS, or lead in worship, the focus is largely on learning and belonging. Service can be a great way to learn; joining others is a great way to belong and connect.

To be continued . . .

A journey of six stages

One way of looking at the spiritual journey is to view it as a journey of six stages. The first three are primarily external; the last three primarily internal--though of course, there are deep interior moves in the first three more external stages, and there are serious engagements with the outer world in the last three more internal stages.

This pattern appears consistence throughout the history of Christian spirituality. But remember, any such scheme is an oversimplification, even while it describes a time-tested path of spiritual growth. God is always free do blow our little maps apart in order to bring us to the fullness offered us in Christ.

God will not be boxed up or caged, nor the path to God turned into a formula.

So while it's not inappropriate to explore the path of spiritual growth, we must avoid turning that path into a journey we can engineer on our own, and we must take care not to turn these stages into tools to judge others or ourselves. What I say about these stages is meant only to help you recognize common sign posts along the way, while leaving the journey open to whatever God wishes to do in your life and in the lives of those around you.

To be continued . . .

The stages of spiritual life: how your spiritual life grows

"How can I grow spiritually?" "Can I know where I am on the spiritual path?" "Is there a way for me to be more intentional about my spiritual life?" These are the kinds of questions people often ask me when we sit down together. And if they don't ask them exactly, these are the questions that hide within the other questions and struggles they bring into the counseling conversation.

The short answer is, yes, you can grow spiritually. Yes, you can have some understanding of where you may be on the path. And yes, there is a way for you to be more intentional about your spiritual life. What's more, doing so is rewarding. We are spiritual beings, made by God, breathed into life by God, and we were made to experience the joy, peace and meaning of union with Jesus Christ in the Spirit.

Church leaders often talk about growing the church, but when they do they usually look at age stages or social categories and how each stage and category requires certain programs. They program for young people, families, singles, middle-aged and older adults. But while age stages and social categories are helpful for developing certain kinds of programs, they are not the most helpful ways to think about spiritual growth for people. A person can be young but quite spiritually advanced. An older person can be newly awakened to the life of the Spirit and relatively immature spiritually.  If we think of spiritual growth in only age-stages or social categories we can get stuck, living a more superficial spiritual lives than we were intended to live.

Over the next few weeks, my posts will explore the time-tested stages of spiritual growth and how understanding them will help you grow into "maturity, the measure of the full stature of Christ" (Ephesians 4.13).

These stages are informed by spiritual teachers as diverse as St. John Climacus and the Fathers of the ancient church, the Cloud of Unknowing in the Middle Ages, St. Teresa of Avila in the Renaissance, more recently the observations of Ken Wilber, a contemporary philosopher.  The six stage framework is drawn from contemporary writers Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich (who was my New Testament professor years ago).

To grow in prayer, get this simple book

If I could keep with me only two books and a journal, this book would be one of the books. As far as I'm concerned it's the most important book (and among the most influential) on Christian prayer in the last two millennia. We don't know the author's name, but only that he was a British monk, living in the fourteenth century. The Cloud of Unknowing is a personal letter written to a young person seeking fulfillment in Christ through prayer. The author's lesser known companion essay, The Book of Privy Counsel, is a follow up letter to the young disciple, providing simple yet profound instruction for the life of contemplative prayer.

Carmen Acevado Butcher's new translation is a gem. She draws the earthy language of the fourteenth century into the idiom of our own. You'll feel like the monk is speaking directly to you.

Practicing Relinquishment: An Interview with John Gabel

Distraction is epidemic. You don't have to look at the driver texting in the car beside you to witness this truth. You are distracted--much more than you'd like to be. Real focus, concentration, and the kind of awareness that brings us back to our senses spiritually, bringing us happiness and meaning, requires some degree of relinquishment.

In this interview, John Gabel talks about what relinquishment means in his life and how this neglected spiritual practice is enriching his daily experience.