As a Methodist pastor I am attracted to the account of Wesley and his disciple-making machine in the 18th century. It is said that Wesley, through his system of small groups and itinerant preachers, helped England address its cultural ills and avoid a massive revolt on the order of the bloody French revolution. He had a passion for discipling the people the organized church missed.
It is more than coincidence that Wesley’s London headquarters was an abandoned foundry. The industrial revolution in Britain and the huge cultural shifts it generated greatly contributed to the societal ills Wesley addressed. It is interesting that he based in a facility that had contributed to the problem to begin with.
But more important to me is the symbolism. A foundry takes a raw element like iron or steel and reduces it, through heat, into liquid form. That element is then poured into molds where it is left to solidify into the desired shape. Once the general shape is formed, the product is taken from the mold and perfected by having all the rough edges and imperfections chipped and sanded off.
It occurs to me that disciple-making is spiritual formation in the same way a foundry forms raw materials into useful products. The church or discipling body is the form into which God pours heated raw material for shaping. Over time the discipled people take shape. Then they are perfected by chipping here, sanding there, taking off all that doesn’t look like the intended shape. And what is that intended shape?
Read it from Ephesians chapter 4: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; . . .”
The primary spiritual formation tool we have used in the American church is Sunday school. It began as an educational outreach program, teaching uneducated children employed 18th century British sweatshops how to read and write, using the Scriptures. It evolved into an evangelistic outreach for the unchurched, and finally as a means of spiritually educating children of the churched. Countless children and adults have learned the Bible in these Sunday schools, including me! But the downside is two-fold: (1) its stress is educational, or assimilation of facts over touching the heart; and (2) it has had the unfortunate and unintended consequence of excusing parents from their responsibility to train their own children.
I am wondering if we need something else to supplement this old reliable tool. If we begin thinking in terms of formation, of setting up our own spiritual “foundry,” then I am wondering if we need to add components not addressed well by Sunday school. Things like community between persons in a variety of settings outside the classroom. Or service, where we actually put the biblical texts to work in practical ministry where we are shaped simply by thinking of and serving others. Or contemplation, were we revive and employ ancient practices like daily office and fixed prayers, meditation, fasting, lectio-divina, and living the church year. I’m also wondering if we don’t need to help parents regain their role as primary formation agent of their children, and allow church efforts to come alongside what parents already do as they obey the Lord.
While Wesley was an ardent supporter of Sunday school, the fact is that he helped shaped the lives of tens of thousands (and ultimately millions, I think) through informal groups meeting in homes and public places. That was his primary tool. Faith and practice go hand-in-hand and are part of our Methodist DNA. It was also the way of the early church.
In my churches I am advocating that we think in terms of spiritual formation instead of Christian education. I am also suggesting that we call our overall strategy for spiritual formation the Foundry. May God pour us all into the mold of Christ, that we might be shaped, formed, and perfected to resemble him.
It is more than coincidence that Wesley’s London headquarters was an abandoned foundry. The industrial revolution in Britain and the huge cultural shifts it generated greatly contributed to the societal ills Wesley addressed. It is interesting that he based in a facility that had contributed to the problem to begin with.
But more important to me is the symbolism. A foundry takes a raw element like iron or steel and reduces it, through heat, into liquid form. That element is then poured into molds where it is left to solidify into the desired shape. Once the general shape is formed, the product is taken from the mold and perfected by having all the rough edges and imperfections chipped and sanded off.
It occurs to me that disciple-making is spiritual formation in the same way a foundry forms raw materials into useful products. The church or discipling body is the form into which God pours heated raw material for shaping. Over time the discipled people take shape. Then they are perfected by chipping here, sanding there, taking off all that doesn’t look like the intended shape. And what is that intended shape?
Read it from Ephesians chapter 4: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; . . .”
The primary spiritual formation tool we have used in the American church is Sunday school. It began as an educational outreach program, teaching uneducated children employed 18th century British sweatshops how to read and write, using the Scriptures. It evolved into an evangelistic outreach for the unchurched, and finally as a means of spiritually educating children of the churched. Countless children and adults have learned the Bible in these Sunday schools, including me! But the downside is two-fold: (1) its stress is educational, or assimilation of facts over touching the heart; and (2) it has had the unfortunate and unintended consequence of excusing parents from their responsibility to train their own children.
I am wondering if we need something else to supplement this old reliable tool. If we begin thinking in terms of formation, of setting up our own spiritual “foundry,” then I am wondering if we need to add components not addressed well by Sunday school. Things like community between persons in a variety of settings outside the classroom. Or service, where we actually put the biblical texts to work in practical ministry where we are shaped simply by thinking of and serving others. Or contemplation, were we revive and employ ancient practices like daily office and fixed prayers, meditation, fasting, lectio-divina, and living the church year. I’m also wondering if we don’t need to help parents regain their role as primary formation agent of their children, and allow church efforts to come alongside what parents already do as they obey the Lord.
While Wesley was an ardent supporter of Sunday school, the fact is that he helped shaped the lives of tens of thousands (and ultimately millions, I think) through informal groups meeting in homes and public places. That was his primary tool. Faith and practice go hand-in-hand and are part of our Methodist DNA. It was also the way of the early church.
In my churches I am advocating that we think in terms of spiritual formation instead of Christian education. I am also suggesting that we call our overall strategy for spiritual formation the Foundry. May God pour us all into the mold of Christ, that we might be shaped, formed, and perfected to resemble him.
No comments:
Post a Comment