Leadership Journal

What do you say when someone asks you: "How's your church going?"

I always get a little nervous around that question. Sometimes it's because I think I am not doing as well at my job as I should be. Sometimes I wonder if this is pastor talk for "How big is your church?" Which in turn can be pastor talk for "How important are you, and can I gain status by hanging around you?"

But there are other ways of thinking about the question. When we hear the phrase spiritual formation, we usually think about individual lives. That's not a bad thing; Paul says he labors and struggles "to present everyone mature in Christ."

However, Paul wasn't writing to an individual at the time. Most of the New Testament books are letters to congregations; to corporate bodies; to groups, not individuals. They do the work of spiritual formation: they diagnose malformation and prescribe remedies. Their primary target is not an individual or two but the church.

Paul is exasperated that the congregation at Galatia has deserted the gospel; Paul is troubled that the congregation at Philippi is not struggling to bring about the resolution of conflict; Paul perceives that the congregation at Corinth is confused and unconcerned about the right and wrong practice of sexuality.

The classic examples of congregation discernment are the letters to the churches in Revelation. In each case the diagnosis of what is going right and what is going wrong is laid out with exquisite care and skill. In each case the road to health is clearly marked. This assessment of spiritual health is done at the congregational level

It's a good thing to discuss the spiritual formation of individuals. What is badly needed alongside of that is a thoughtful, concrete way of discerning and addressing the spiritual formation of congregations. For we are not just a collection of bobble-head saints.

If I'm a member of a gym, it may not matter much to me what kind of shape other people are in. I'm interested in my fitness. I don't have a strong investment in the fitness of other people. In fact, I don't mind a little flab in the bodies working out around me. It makes me feel better by comparison. I use the fitness center to get my body in shape. The fitness center is a tool for individuals.

The church is not a spiritual fitness center.

The church is not a tool.

The church is a body. It is the body. It is Christ's body.

Ironically, if we speak about spiritual formation purely in individual terms, we will not even be able to form individuals well. Part of what is needed for our formation is membership in and submission to and compassion for a community larger than our individual selves. If you love the body of Christ, you are concerned for the health of the whole body. It does no good to have a thriving kidney if the heart is a time bomb.

I went through an exhibition about the human body last week with a friend of mine. It's an exhibit that has traveled the country, featuring parts of actual bodies arranged so we can see each system in its brilliant detail. The nervous system alone took a year to dissect.

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