Spiritual Transformation - Key #6
September 13, 2007 | Filed Under georges boujakly, missional, spiritual formation |
Georges Boujakly continues his series on the key principles to spiritual transformation. These eight “keys” include the following:
1. Spiritual transformation is an inside job.
2. Spiritual transformation requires deliberate effort.
3. Spiritual transformation has a specific goal.
4. The goal of spiritual transformation is conformity to Jesus Christ.
5. The progress of spiritual transformation is always slow.
6. Spiritual transformation is the “business” of the church.
7. Spiritual transformation is not a luxury for the spiritually elite.
8. Spiritual Transformation is plural.
Today Georges elaborates on #6:
Spiritual formation is the business of the church
Dallas Willard has challenged the church to come up with a comprehensive process and curriculum that would take seriously the mandate Christ gave when he said in Matthew 28: “train them to do everything I have told you to do.”
Whatever training Jesus did with his disciples, he was entrusting to them (and to us) to pass on the training to do everything; ad infinitum!
One way to see this command is to understand Jesus’ words this way:
“You have one main business in the church; duplicate all I did with you. You heard me teach and you saw me practice many things. Some you won’t remember, but the Holy Spirit will remind you.”
The church should have one occupation, one profession, one process: That of the formation of the Spirit of Christ in his disciples. If that is not the business of the church whatever could it be? Willard, however chides the church for not taking this “everything I have taught you” most seriously. I agree, don’t you?
I have labored in local church ministry for all my Christian life, as both an ordained and lay leader of the church (I don’t like the terms but they are easy to use). I have served as pastor, deacon, teacher, committee member, board member, and janitor.
However, one more thing there is left for me to do is to be a member of a team that takes the teaching and training of “whatsoever I have commanded you” challenge seriously. To come up with the vision and the means of implementing it in a local church and watch what happens in our midst. To see every aspect of church life dedicated to learning and living out “the everything” Jesus has commanded would be a dream-come-true; perhaps worth the cost of all else we do in church.
If you were on such a team, what would your implementation plan of “teach them whatsoever I have commanded you” look like?
What would the gospel message sound like?
What would the work of the ordained look like?
What would the laity be engaged in doing?
What might a week look like?
What changes do you think would be most resisted in your setting if the spiritual transformation of people became the business of your church?
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George
Great questions about how different things would be if we really focused on training and teaching whatsoever. I think it would look VERY different. I think it relates well with Brad’s earlier post from The Sky Is Falling, much of what we would “train and teach” would be focused on participating in what God is doing in the world rather than how we can consume from the “spiritual food court.”
Georges
I agree, great questions. Oh, how very different things would look if that was really our focus. It would certainly be much more relational/communal and it would be more practice based rather than memorization of formulas and bullet points.
Good comments David and Brad.
I sure would love the have an opportunity to try to lead a church by these questions on an interim basis and study what happens.
Isn’t it true that what we have produced as far as disciples today is the result of the kind of teaching and preaching we have done in the past. To continue to do the same and expect different results is loonie bin kind of behavior.