Spiritual Formation Practical Lessons From

Spiritual Formation

Practical Lessons from Boa's Conformed to His Image: A Personal Spiritual Formation Plan

Spiritual formation, or the development of the spiritual aspect of human nature that is innate to all peoples of all cultures and religions, is a more complex and profound task than most people realize. The development of our education, our learning styles, and even to some degree our personalities occurs in at least a semi-conscious manner, with time given for reflection and active choices made to developing certain ways and to move away form certain perspectives and/or behaviors that we find to be more damaging. The same attention ought to be paid to spiritual formation, and Kenneth Boa's Conformed to His Image provides an excellent starting place for an understanding of spiritual formation and the development of a conscious and personal plan for each individual's own spiritual formation form a Christian perspective.

Key Concepts in Spiritual Formation

The most essential concept I have learned about spiritual formation from Conformed to His Image, and the very foundational principle of Boa's text, is that there are many different paths to spiritual formation, and many different mental and emotional constructs for each individual's relationship to God and all things spiritual. I have discovered -- or rather, have consciously clarified -- that my personal path towards spiritual formation is most aligned with what Boa terms "devotional spirituality." Ascertaining God's plan in me and in nature has been my paramount source of security and inspiration in life.

This translates directly into a practical plan for greater spiritual formation in a conscious and active manner. Boa cites meditation as a practice that is "too often neglected as a meaningful component of devotional spirituality," and one that can lead to greater clarity, understanding, and attunement with God if properly practiced (155). A part of my spiritual formation plan that I have already put into action is the inclusion of at least a brief meditative period shortly after waking up, in an attempt to focus my thoughts and energies towards an awareness and appreciation of the evidence of God's presence and desires in the world around us. Spiritual formation, as Boa describes it, is an intensely personal journey, but one with very real external effects and influences. This period of meditation will allow me to become more cognizant of and attentive to such influence, while developing internally from such conscious and active interactions with the spiritual aspects of physical life.

Convictions regarding Spiritual Formation

The deeper I delve into Boa's Conformed to His Image, the more I become aware of -- and convinced of -- the truly multi-faceted nature of spiritual formation. This is, of course, the primary conceit around which Boa constructs his text, and thus might seem a simplistic lesson to draw from his work. Describing the different approaches to spiritual formation as different facets of the same gem, accomplishes only a surface understanding of the analogy; as the text goes on to describe each of these facets, it becomes clear that each truly is a complementary portion of the same basic concept, simply viewed from a different perspective.

There is a great deal of commonality and interaction, for instance, between the devotional spirituality that strives to see God's glory and God's will in the physical world and in one's life, and the holistic spirituality that views all of life and existence as taking place "under the Lordship of Christ" (201). Both can also be seen as simply different understandings of "Walking in the Power of the Spirit" -- what Boa identifies as the ninth facet, in no particular order of importance -- and to many aspects of facet four, "Exchanged Life Spirituality." None of the facets are mutually exclusive, proclaiming a "right" method of spiritual formation that excludes the methods and attitudes of the other facets; each speaks from and to a different perspective, and there are differences in the approaches to spiritual formation that appeal to different attitudes and personalities, but none of this preference or specialization comes at the exclusion of the other perspectives and understandings.

As my conviction regarding the multi-faceted yet single-sourced nature of spiritual formation grows, so does my belief that spiritual formation is a truly universal process, whether or not it is consciously or actively engaged in. Obviously, an individual who had never been introduced to Christianity would not develop certain of the precise spiritual formation attitudes and styles described by Boa, but highly similar and comparable spiritual attitudes could also develop outside an understanding of Christian principles and histories. Every individual on the planet develops some relationship with the spiritual and/or divine aspects of the universe, and the facets described by Boa are largely applicable in all contexts.

Personal Plan

These convictions have had a large impact on the development of my own personal plan for spiritual formation. I have always been committed to achieving a greater understanding of God's will and design here on Earth, but this was largely an intellectual pursuit, and one that I perceived as taking place on a field of right and wrong. Though there are still certainly moralistic rights and wrongs according to scripture and basic human nature, I have begun to see the process of spiritual growth and formation as taking place outside this moral landscape, removed from such judgments. Any understanding or perspective that deepens an individual's personal relationship with God and the spiritual world is a good thing, and there is no true relationship with God, however formed, that is "bad."

Far from simply having an impact on my abstract understanding of the process of spiritual formation and my own personal place along this journey, this awareness and understanding has had a very real practical effect on my plan for spiritual formation. I have opened myself to new understandings of and appreciations for different approaches to a relationship with God, and have moved away from my intellectual emphasis to include a much greater appreciation of the emotional aspects of God's work in this world. In keeping with this trajectory of growing understandings and appreciations, I have become determined to increase the breadth of my knowledge regarding different theological and spiritual understandings of man's relationship to Christ and to God, and to God's world.

I also plan on expanding my understanding still further, beyond the boundaries of traditional Christian doctrine to include the spiritual and theological approaches of other cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. Though these religions are not based on readings of the same (or at least all of the same) texts and trajectories of thought and understanding as Christianity, and thus will necessarily have fundamental differences in their conclusions and overall perspectives, there will also likely be insights and understandings developed and delivered by these religions that will be directly applicable to a Christian understanding of spirituality and God's will in the world. Just as Boa asserts that our spiritual awareness should be all-pervasive in each aspect of our lives, so too can a Christian spirituality and the will of God be found in outside and even conflicting texts (78).

Hypothetical Director of Spiritual Formation

Were I named to the position of the Director of Spiritual Formation at a local church, the most important adjustment to my method for helping people achieve spiritual formation would be to listen. Given the multi-faceted and highly personal nature of spiritual formation, each member of the church that seeks my guidance must be encouraged to develop their own understanding of God's will, and their own relationship with God. By first listening to the struggles, understandings, and/or concerns that each individual demonstrates through our initial conversation, I will be more fully able to assist them in their journeys of spiritual formation as a guide rather than an instructor or leader.