11.05.09

random thoughts – spiritual formation at the close of Modernity

Posted in formation, leadership, transition at 8:52 am by len

So it was Sunday and I was listening to a young leader.. about thirty years of age.. defending Truth. Essentially this was an Enlightenment grid which baptized one reading of truth within a framework of foundationalism.

That framework and that lens no longer “make sense” for about 2/3 of the people in North America and Europe. While we may grieve that loss, that is the world we live in. The Gospel will endure.

But a Gospel tied to that framework will not make the transition.

And then the implications hit me… A young leader is defending that framework. How did he arrive there when all his peers are somewhere else? This man is living in a world that no longer exists. What are the implications for the Church and for the transition we are in?

He is living in that world because the Church in the west has been cloistered. Wedded to one world, we took little notice when that world began crumbling. Or worse, we took notice and worked hard to bolster a framework that could not be supported.

But the young leaders growing up in the cloistered world we defended are formed within it. As a result they do not understand or work within the new world any more than their mentors.

Where will we find the young leaders we need: those who are “digital natives” and postmodern pilgrims to use Len Sweets terms? Some of the existing leaders will eventually make the transition. Others will not. We will have to find them out there on the streets, because most of the young leaders raised in the Christian subculture are wearing the wrong clothes.
* * *

Let me randomly set the date for the beginning of the conversation on spiritual formation at 1970. Richard Foster’s notable book “The Celebration of Discipline” appeared about 1977.

Now let’s consider the impact of this conversation and the (ancient) practices that emerged from it on the Church in the west over forty years.. hmmmm.

We don’t see great impact. I suspect that there are at least two reasons, resident in those two powerful solvents of faith in modernity.

1. individualism, and

2. dualism or Gnosticism

We evangelicals are very fond of talking about spiritual formation. But it is as if this track runs parallel to belief, but never meets it. It may be that this new generation wil be different, however. We find ourselves entering something like a post-secular space, and while human nature has not changed, there is a readiness to embrace shared practices in community that has existed in only small pockets previously. The huge hunger for belonging may help us rediscover covenant structures and move beyond our western reading of “freedom.”

Similarly, there is a hunger for integration – to embrace the wisdom of head, heart and hand — especially in those seekers who are not immersed in church culture.As McNeal is fond of pointing out, the western church is often more secular than the culture around it..

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