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Evangelicals are listening for God in ways that are different from our usual understanding of discipleship. We are looking at many Christian disciplines, including prayer, silence and solitude, discernment, journaling, and others. … Spiritual direction is one of these disciplines many evangelical Christians are learning about and exploring."

So says Jeannette Bakke, a faculty associate at Bethel Theological Seminary, where she was professor of Christian education from 1978 to 1994. In a recent interview she discussed some of the themes in her book Holy Invitations: Exploring Spiritual Direction (Baker, 2000), the result of more than 15 years of study, receiving and giving spiritual direction, reflection, and teaching.

She was interviewed at Bethel Seminary by Jennifer H. Disney, a writer and psychologist who lives and works near Minneapolis-St. Paul.

What is spiritual direction?

It is a discipline in which, with the help of another, you try to listen to your own heart and to God's. It is about intention and attention: I desire to hear God, so I am going to make space to give God my attention. Spiritual direction is done either with two people or in groups of three or four.

I like to say that spiritual direction is discernment about discernment, as Christians are always in the process of discernment in some way. When faith is important to us, we often consider such questions as How is God with me right now? How is God inviting me? What is God saying to me? Is God pleased with me? Where are God and I at war? We are often muddling along with those things. Spiritual direction gives people a place to talk out loud and confidentially about what they are thinking about already.

Many prefer the terms spiritual friend or spiritual companion to describe this relationship. Why do you like the term spiritual director?

It has value because this is the term used in the literature of this spiritual discipline. If you want to learn more about the discipline, you will find more resources using this term. Also, it's a helpful way to quickly distinguish this discipline from pastoral counseling, mentoring, discipling, or even intense friendship. In my experience, more and more Protestants, including evangelicals, are using the term to describe a particular kind of spiritual companionship.

Why is there is a growing interest among Protestants and evangelicals in spiritual direction?

Still, to be clear, a spiritual director doesn't "direct" or tell the other what to do; he or she simply asks questions, and suggests readings and practices to help the other discern God's presence.

People are hungry for authentic spiritual companionship. Many are concerned about the crassness of the larger culture, and the fracturedness and pace of life—they desire to slow down and notice more about who they are and how to be connected with God. They are dissatisfied with what feels like a lack of significance and are seeking something more.

Do you see anything like this contemporary movement in the history of evangelicalism?

Spiritual direction has always been a part of the church's experience, and different groups of Christians have described God's participation with us—the awareness of God's nearness and leading individually and collectively. The early Methodist class meetings, small groups in which people talked about their spiritual lives together, is perhaps the best-known example of a spiritual formation group.

How is it different from typical devotional practices?

Many Christians set aside a quiet time to be with God and pray. But we often hesitate to talk with someone else about it, partly because of our awareness of intimacy with God and a sense of privacy. But also, everyone I know, including me, thinks that his or her own prayer is inadequate, not very spiritual. There is a reticence to talk, because then others will see I am not so spiritual. Spiritual direction is a place to say, "I am an ordinary person but I have an extraordinary God, and it is okay to be just who I am, to ask God to be a part of the conversation, and to talk to another person about that."

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April 23 2001, Vol. 45, No. 6