“I already know everything I need to know,” responded a man by-passing an invitation to my Christian ed class one Sunday at a Knoxville area church. And how many of us working in the church, especially in CED, have heard that from our parishioners? How many of us have also heard, “religion is out, spirituality is in”?
Two new books released this year connect these dots, taking us on journeys through adult spiritual growth and development. In Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth, Thomas Ashbrook leads us through a contemporary, plain-language pilgrimage through Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, her analogy for the stages of spiritual growth, written in the 16th century. On the far less mystical side, Christian Formation: Integrating Theology and Human Development (ed. James R. Estep and Jonathan H. Kim) makes the strong case for lifelong spiritual development, how it happens and how it could be facilitated by the institutional church. Both of these books start from very, very different perspectives but end up at about the same place: we’re stuck.
In Mansions of the Heart, Ashbrook quotes a startling and brutally honest survey result: there is no correlation between participation in the ministries of the church surveyed and personal spiritual growth. Ouch. The problem: lack of clear reference points or processes to aid adults’ progress in their spiritual maturity. (In other words, the ministry of Christian formation for adults is not getting the job done.) He advocates better leadership, more resources, and an environment that nurtures what God wants to do in each person’s life. As it is, Ashbrook asserts, most people who attend churches are stuck in Teresa’s “third mansion” – regular church attendance and participation, but a prayer life that is more talking to God than listening. We then become stuck in this stage, becoming ever more disillusioned or bored or fed up with the institutional church as something deep within us yet yearns for spiritual growth.
From a more developmental perspective, the collection of articles in Christian Formation point to the same conclusion and recommend very similar guide posts: varied age related materials and resources, developmentally sound resources (e.g. small group, experiential learning, recognizing the experience adult learners bring to the table – as opposed to talking head “instruction”). Though said quite differently, these articles clearly correspond with ancient mystics: adult spiritual formation is lifelong and ever-changing and growing in response to God and to our own changing circumstances and efforts.
Interestingly, both books also point us to an issue perhaps few of us want to tackle – the issue of personal responsibility for our own spiritual growth. While we may look to “the church” to cater to us – even present a menu of nutritious courses for growth in front of us – it’s ultimately up to us to grow, or not. We can be hit by the bolt of lightening, experience something profound, but what, ultimately, do we do with it? And could that not be said of the Body of Christ itself?
Cindy Coe 