The following post is an excerpt from my DMIN manual assignment on Christian Spirituality:
In defining spiritual formation, I have to admit my denominational bias in that my religious background or upbringing is in the United Methodist Church—a Wesleyan influence. In that regards, spiritual formation as process is inherent within my theological framework. Though one might believe John Wesley’s evangelical fervor swayed towards camp meetings and the like, he actually thought of spiritual formation in terms of Christian nurture--more specifically, a formation that was family-taught and family-based. Wesley gave two reasons for his congregants as to why religious education or Christian nurture must begin in the home:
A. Christian education must begin in the home because the home represents the first environment the child encounters in life. Since at birth the child’s mind is a tabula rasa, waiting for good impressions to be made upon it by the reception of empirical sensations, whatever happens within the home is crucial to child development. Parents are, therefore, the first instructors, teaching by control of all stimuli from the very beginning….B. Religious education begins in the home because the home is the place where children first exhibit self-will and pride. Education, being the cure of self-will and pride, must necessarily, be provided immediately as soon as there is need for it (Naglee, 1987, pp. 212-213) .
In light of Wesley’s insistence on family as first responders to the faith, so to speak, one recognizes the fact that Wesley is explicit in his understanding of Christian nurture as being a familial or communal experience. And this idea of Christian nurture is, in my opinion, an appropriate underlining principle for the way in which one begins to think about spiritual formation.
M. Robert Mulholland, Jr., provost and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, defines his Wesleyan expression in the following manner: “the process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others" (Mulholland, 1993, pp. 64-73). And again, it is important to remember that spiritual formation does not happen in isolation. One must recognize that it is the community of faith that provides the language and education with which a person grows in faith maturity. Spiritual formation is an on-going process of learning and serving--a process that begins at home.
References:
M. Robert Mulholland, Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 1993.
David I. Naglee, From Font to Faith: John Wesley on Infant Baptism and the Nurture of Children. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1987.
You're speaking my language!
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