How does one grow in each of our core values? For example, How do you grow your passion for God, relationships, authenticity, intentionality, servanthood, evangelism, and praise?
For each of our core values, there are corresponding kingdom practices (spiritual disciplines) that will help us grow in that core value. You may be wondering, what are kingdom practices? As you practice the kingdom practices under each core value, we believe that you will grow in each of the core values.
Core Values and Spiritual/Kingdom Practices for Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
Through the process of Spiritual formation, the Holy Spirit forms the image of Christ within those whom God has called and sent to work with him to serve others. God sends his servants on missions to serve others. As such serving others is at the heart of Spiritual formation. In fact, the very act of serving becomes a tool God uses to grow the believer.
“Spiritual formation involves growing in love for and worship of the Triune God, conforming to the image of Christ, and experiencing intimacy with Him.” Gwenfair Walters Adams, Ph.D.
“I am convinced that Christian spiritual formation should always, at its core, be about learning to love, especially when loving others is uncomfortable or challenging. [Paul Petitt (2018). (p. 163). Foundations of Spiritual Formation. Kregel Publications.”
| Core Values (Core Practices) | Spiritual Practices / Kingdom Practices (Spiritual Disciplines) |
Notes |
| Passion (love) |
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We love upward, inward, outward: Love God, love self, and love others.
1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” We must first receive God’s love and then reflect it back to him and to others. Christian hedonism and God’s passion for us; 2 Cor. 1:3-5–We receive comfort from God, then we can give comfort to others. In the same way, we enjoy God’s love first, then we can love God back and love others from that same love we experienced from God for ourselves. A lot of people call this practice worship. We call it passion. Passion = Love in Action. Spiritual formation involves growing in love for God. The first step to learning to love God is first to saturate yourself with God’s love for you. Then as a mirror, you reflect back to God his own love. We need to grow in love with each member of the triune God and rely on the contribution each makes to help us grow. For example, spiritual formation is the work of the Holy Spirit. We need to understand Jesus’ death, resurrection, and Lordship over our lives. And of course, the father and his love for us. We are baptized in the name of the father, son, and Holy Spirit. |
| Relationship |
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Relationship (both personal and corporate). Transformative Life change happens best within communities. The ecological perspective/framework is key. Use developing and sharing Life Stories to build community. |
| Authenticity (Authentic teaching & Practice) |
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Authentic Christlike Character. Authenticity has to do with character. The first disciple you should always be making is yourself; then also make others into disciples. *Some people call this discipleship. However, everything the church does should be teaching people to obey everything Jesus’ commanded. Some teaching is didactic, other teaching is through practical modeling, service, etc. The totality of everything that teaches one to be like Christ is discipleship. This is how we develop his character. -Holistic transformation in 4 dimensions (Spirit, mind, body, and social connections). “Teaching disciples in the church occurs on two levels: scripturally and experientially. ‘Teaching the Bible to believers . . . provides the foundation for making disciples and for nurturing them.’ The church also provides “experiences that nourish, influence, and develop individuals within the fellowship of a church.'” Chris Shirley. |
| Intentional leadership |
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Growth is spiritual, psychological, physical, and social.
Everything rises and falls on leadership, so does spiritual formation. Godly Leadership is crucial to biblical spiritual formation. |
| Simplicity |
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| Excellence in Service |
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“Spiritual formation in Christ is a process of growing in kingdom living and participating in God’s mission.” Paula Fuller Live and serve according to our DESIGN, not our defaults. God foreknew us before we were created, called us to be “prophets, to do the good works that he has created for us to do. These works align with the design that God has made us. Teach people to identify the vertical and horizontal callings. |
Key Points
- We organize around core Kingdom practices
- All of our core values and core kingdom practices can be divided into three categories of love: Loving God (Upward), loving self (Inward), and Loving others (Outward). They are all expressions of the greatest and second greatest commandments.
- The ecological framework, e.g. the body of Christ; a seed that is planted, watered, grows into a tree and produces fruit; and Jesus’ vine example in John 15, all provide a good lens through which to see the relationships (and interconnectedness of humans and everything in the universe) that are required for Biblical spiritual formation and growth.
- Discipleship and Spiritual Formation is/are the training program(s) for Kingdom children/heirs, citizens. It is how God raises Kingdom children.
- The aim is preparing servants of God who enjoy him and out of that joy serve others.
- For the #1 core value, even though it is stated as a passion for God, others, and work, we only give spiritual disciplines for growing your passion for God. Other core values carry the disciplines for passion for others and our work.
- The core values promote both corporate and individual elements of spiritual formation. For example, Relationship, Servanthood, Ownership, Disciplemaking, and PRAISE GOD clearly have a corporate focus. Even Passion (for God, others, and work) and Intentionality is corporate facing.
Some key points about calling
- Calling is crucial to spiritual formation.
- The way each of us grows is different. Our path to Spiritual Formation looks different for each person.
Related Links
Sources
Adams, Gwenfair W. “Spiritual Formation for Ministry.” Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Last modified 2017. https://archive.gordonconwell.edu/hamilton/current/documents/hamreg-FA17-MCSF501-HA.pdf; Gwenfair Walters Adams, Ph.D. is a Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary