J. Michael Thurman

I’ve recently been doing quite a bit of reading on spiritual formation. This isn’t a new topic for me. I’ve had more than a few discussions with colleagues from the Methodist, Baptist, and Eastern Orthodox streams of Christianity. That list may seem to be a strange mix, but there seem to be quite a few laity and clergy among all three groups (as well as Roman Catholic, and many other Protestants) who are keenly interested in how our spiritual lives are formed.

Why my sudden renewed interest in this field? It’s simple…children and teens. In the United Methodist tradition, it is common for a lesson to be presented during worship just for the children. Unfortunately, I have been like a lot of other clergy in delivering children’s talks that were really a teaser for my sermon. It should come as no surprise that I didn’t communicate with the children very well. Though the elementary and preschool-school children will benefit, I pray, from my concern for spiritual formation, it was my work with the youth (ages 12-18) that really got the ball rolling.

It started when I had to teach Confirmation Class for the first time. As much as I enjoy teaching  the theology and history of Christianity, I realized that such learning wouldn’t do my confirmands any good unless I taught them how to live the faith. It just so happened that I was taking a couple of classes on the topic of spiritual formation at the time. As a result, I tried to fit a smattering of this and that about life as a Christian into our already over-stuffed curriculum.

We talked about different ways of being…contemplative, charismatic, sacramental, socially active…to name a few. We talked about how to pray, and to study the Bible, how to meditate, how to fast, how to serve others in the name of Christ, and how to experience the presence of the Triune God in the celebration of Holy Communion. Some things stuck…and I was happy.

For the last two years, we’ve been struggling together to form a real youth ministry. It is tough starting with only a hand full of teens…but that means that we get quality time together. Yet, the models of ministry profiled in the New Testament…and some in the Old…are about much more than ministry within one group. The lessons are about going out into the world and spreading the news of Jesus’ life and mission…and what that means for our lives now…and our lives in Eternity. After all, didn’t Jesus command his disciples (we are his disciples, aren’t we?) to “go and make apprentices to him among all kinds of people…baptizing them…and teaching them to do all that I have commanded you to do”? Yet, here we are…in our comfortable group.

August 2006 came and I was more determined than ever to learn all I could about ministry to and with teens. One of the books I picked up was Creating an Authentic Youth Ministry by Edward Fashbaugh, II. (www.discipleshipresources.org ) Rev. Fashbaugh’s main work area has been youth ministry…so…I wanted to know what he knows. I was stunned that in the midst of my learning about youth ministry I read that a church’s youth ministry will be a mirror of its ministry to and through adults. WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!!! I’m not reading this book to think about ministry to and through and with adults. I want to know about teens!!!!!

The more I thought about what I was reading, the more I realized that the real message was more like this: you can spend all of the time, energy, and money you want, and more, trying to tell teens how to be Christian…and they will listen to you…to a point. What they will really hear is the sermon St. Francis of Assisi recommended when he told his brothers to preach the Gospel everywhere…and to use words only if necessary!

Hmmm… So, Rev. Fashbaugh and St. Francis are telling us that children and teens will hear our message…the message that we live. If we are Christ’s disciples…they will likely also be. If we say that we are Christian and our actions don’t prove it, they will know that they can get away with that, too. And they will…at every turn.

The more I read the more the message is the same. It doesn’t matter whether I read Justin Martyr, St. Symeon the New Theologian, the Bible, contemporary writers who are serious about their faith, or any number of Christian writers in between. Justin wrote it in the fewest words, so I’ll give you his version: “Let it be understood that those who are not found living as He taught are not Christians-even though they profess with the lips the teachings of Christ.” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 160) OUCH!

So, OUR task is clearly outlined: to teach the teens to live as Christ taught. To do that we, the adults, have to be living as Christ taught. That means…ughh!…that we have to be obedient to the One we call Lord…. This shouldn’t be a surprise given our vocabulary about God and Jesus. Father…Almighty God…Master…Teacher…Lord…

Throughout most of human history, anyone with the title of father, or master, or teacher, or lord, was obeyed without fail and almost without thought. The consequences were just too great to do otherwise. Now, we live in a world where consequences are out of fashion. I wonder…will God give us a free pass just because our culture says that actions no longer should have consequences?

If the Bible does indeed describe God’s interaction with humanity, the answer to that last question is a big, fat…NOPE!

Now I’m stuck with the reality that an effective ministry to and with teens and children is one led and modeled by an effective ministry to, with and through adults. It has to be a ministry that coaches adults to run the race living as apprentices of Christ…just as one might be an apprentice electrician, plumber…or student teacher.

To that end I keep praying, and reading, and meditating, and worshiping, and finding ways to serve others, and convincing myself to…eek…fast…(yes, that means to do without food)…and to celebrate the Great Thanksgiving that is Holy Communion every chance I get.

It’s a lot like learning to be a musician or an athlete. You have to know certain things…and then practice them…and the learn more by your practice. Dallas Willard writes in The Great Omission that, “Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort.” And so it is…we must put forth whatever effort we can…and trust God to do the balance of the work within us and then, to work through us in the world in which He has placed us.

I highly recommend all the books I have mentioned so far to anyone who wants to gain a new or renewed perspective on discipleship. Another book I recommend as a primer on the spiritual disciplines is Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline.  If you need a basic place to start learning…well…start with your Bible. Read what the people in those pages did…David, Samuel, Jesus, Paul…and many others. Then go to Foster’s book… 

I pray that your answer will be, “Yes, Lord. We are able!”

I’ve just barely brushed the topic of exercising for spiritual health. There is so much more to be learned…and practiced…learned again. I wish you Godspeed on your Journey with Jesus.

Blessings,