Maybe I need to break out the notes from last time. Maybe I should practice them a bit more first.
Thursday, April 01, 2021
Formation
Brad Edwards thinks social media are toxic by design, that we need mediating institutions, and that the reason secularism (which he considers a Christian heresy) is growing is that the church, especially evangelicalism, is infected by individualism and had lost a sense of the need for formation. Unfortunately he doesn't describe what he wants here, but Dallas Willard does. The spiritual disciplines don't get a lot of attention as such, and finding ways to make faith tangible is hard. We've had ongoing relationships with some local schools to provide some resources and support, and we try to get the youth involved in annual service days. We're kind of spread out. And you don't hear much about fasting or other disciplines from the "pulpit."
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2 comments:
An interesting pairing of articles, in light of the contrast of views on “Individualism”. Where Edwards seems to approach a problem from the perspective of institutions, and how they form individuals, Willard views life from the perspective of the individual. I suggest Christian Spiritual Formation is specifically a personal and individual enterprise, with the grace of God, encouraged and informed by fellow disciples. That is, the goal is identification and submission to Christ, and only in that context, to a local, social group.
Willard expands his concept of spiritual formation in his book, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. In expressing how he sees the message of Jesus he says, “The revolution of Jesus is in the first place and continuously a revolution of the human heart or spirit. It did not and does not proceed by means of the formation of social institutions and laws, the outer forms of our existence, intending that these would then impose a good order of life upon people who come under their power. Rather, his is a revolution of character, which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship to God in Christ and to one another.” (Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p.15)
I strongly suspected you would comment on this one.
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