I grew up in a world that emphasized believing the right things.
At church I learned Bible stories and songs. At school I memorized Scripture. In youth programs, I was taught about sexual ethics and social justice. By the time I was in high school, I knew a lot about Christian ideas and behaviors. But I didn’t know as much about Christian formation—I didn’t know how to integrate those ideas with my interior thoughts and feelings.
The truth is, a person can have a lot of religious knowledge without being a very well-formed person. We can uphold orthodoxy (“right belief”) and even orthopraxy (“right practice”) without ever attending to orthopathy (“right passion”). But discipleship is about much more than what we think or even what we do—it’s about the conversion of our loves, our whole selves. This takes work.
Discipleship requires safe contexts where we can explore the true state of our interior lives: where we can ask hard questions about the events that have shaped us, about our patterns of thinking and relating with others, about our fears and feelings.
In other words, it requires us to ask not only what we believe or do, but why? Why do I react defensively when someone comments on my performance at work? Why do I act like my parents in ways I vowed I never would? Why do I avoid silence and solitude?
If this approach to discipleship appeals to you—or perhaps terrifies you, then you might get a lot of out our fall study of “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” It chronicles one man’s journey through some of these big questions and gives prompts for us to do the same.
We’ll meet in groups so you can discuss what you’re learning with others, or so you can listen along while you process internally. All are welcome. Groups start the week of September 8–get more info or sign up here.
Hannah