INTRODUCTION
The
term spiritual formation is
fairly new among Pentecostal pastors and among evangelical Christians in
general. Traditionally, we think of outstanding pastors and Christians as being
spiritual. We usually characterize these people by their integrity, love, and
mystical experiences with God periodically expressed in spiritual gifts:
prophecy, messages in tongues, and interpretation of tongues, perhaps even in
miracles. Unfortunately, while we admire their spirituality, we rarely give
thought to the journey that nurtured it. But today, faced with a host of alien
spiritualities and a creeping professionalization in the ministry, it is urgent
that pastors identify and consciously adopt a process of authentic spiritual
formation in their lives and ministries.
Thus
the researcher in this work defined ministry, shepherding, and spiritual
formation in light with the scriptures, he went further to highlight the needs,
and benefits of spiritual formation in
the church. The researcher summarized by laying emphasis on the ministry of
shepherding in spiritual formation.
DEFINITION
OF TERMS:
MINISTRY/MINISTER: The Greek term typically translated as “servant” or
“minister” (dikonos) is found extensively throughout the New Testament. According
to Brown, “It can be used both subjectively and objectively to describe a
person functioning in an intermediary capacity or to describe an act itself
(i.e., “a servant” or “a service”). It is also used as a verb to express the
act of ministering or serving”. (Brown. 1970, 62). A survey of these uses of “ministry”
and “service” (dikonos) in the New Testament reveals several aspects of the
biblical nature of ministry. To be more precise, a minister is the person while
ministry is the ‘act’.
Luke
describes how, at around the age of 30, Jesus began “his ministry.” Paul speaks
of how he himself received a ministry from Christ (Acts 20:24). Beyond this,
Ephesians 4:12 describes how all the members of the Body of Christ are equipped
for service or ministry for the sake of the community. Thus, we cannot escape the
fact that ministry is personal and, in some sense, conferred upon people by
God.
SHERPERDING/SHEPHERD: Shepherds are people who care or
look after sheep. The
New Testament mentions shepherds 16 times. They were among the first to visit
Jesus at His birth (Luke 2:8-20 ). Some New Testament references used a shepherd and the
sheep to illustrate Christ's relationship to His followers who referred to Him
as “our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20 ). Jesus spoke of Himself as “the good shepherd” who knew
His sheep and would lay down His life for them (John 10:7-18 ). Jesus commissioned Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:1 ). Paul likened the church and its leaders to a flock with
shepherds (Acts 20:28 ). According to
Gangel, “The Latin word transliterated “pastor” means shepherd”. With this
understanding, shepherd and pastor may be used interchangeably to address the
church Leader. (Gangel. 1987, 492).
SPIRITUAL FORMATION: According to Barton, “spiritual
formation is defined as the use of prayer, meditation, confession and ascetic
practices to discipline the soul.” (Barton. 1992, 239) In other traditions,
Clinton explained that “it involves more about experiencing the joy of
justification and conversion, along with their consequences for ethics and
daily discipleship.” (Clinton. 1988, 639). Johnson in a more précised way
asserts that “Spiritual formation can also be described as the process of
spiritual growth and development that begins to take place in a human being
when that person has encountered the Divine and the Divine begins to impart a
new center for the human consciousness (Johnson. 1988, 836). One of the most
popular definition of spiritual formation is defined by Mulholland as “the
process of being conformed to the image of God for the sake of others”.
(Mulholland. 1993, 15). Mulholland’s definition indicates that spiritual
formation is not just an occasion or experience but a process (on going action),
and it is not just for the sake of the person who experienced the action but
also for the sake of others.
When
one encounters God (through God's divine initiative) and enters into
relationship with him, one is transformed into a "new creature," who
continues to be molded and shaped by God. This encounter with God can assume
several forms, often dependent upon one's personality and temperament. Once
begun, this "molding" and "shaping" continues in a process
that takes place from the ongoing deepening of the relationship. As one's
relationship with God continues and deepens, one is being continuously
spiritually formed.
WHY IS SPIRITUAL FORMATION NEEDED?
MAN’S DEPRAVITY: Paul while writing to
the church in Rome asserts that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” (Rom 3:23). The Greek indicates that this sin occurred at the fall of
Adam (aorist, passive, indicative). From that point forward man’s status before
God is that he comes short of the standard of who God is.
The
word “sinned” means to miss
the mark. Man cannot measure
up to God’s righteousness. All have sinned and fall [keep
on falling] short [not
to reach] of the glory [who
and what God is] of God [flunk
God’s standard of perfect righteousness], not only did all sin
but they also fell short of God’s standard. No one can measure up to the
absolute perfection of God’s righteousness. The glory of God is the standard that God Himself must follow. He cannot
be inconsistent with what He is; that would be duplicity on His part.
According
to Channing, “The “glory of God” is everything that God represents and for
which He stands. His glory is the aggregate of who and what He is. That is why
there is universal unobtainability of God’s righteousness”. (Channing. I889,
721). So with this understanding, man need to be saved from his fallen nature, and
to be gradually conformed to the standard of righteousness which God expected
from us.
CHRISTIAN IMMATURITY/CARNALITY: More of the reasons why the church/Christians
need spiritual formation is because of her spiritual immaturity. Thus Paul said
to the church in Corinth “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as
worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were
not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.” (1
Cor 3:1). The Spirit
had brought new birth to the Corinthians whom Paul called “brothers,” but with
regard to their spiritual development they were “infants”. The Greek word used by Paul was
“nepios” which could be translated as baby, infant, child; immature; innocent; under age.
He also said that they were
still “worldly,” in other word carnal. The word translated as
worldly is “sarkinos” this is used to indicate human
nature with its frailties physically and morally. To the more mature members of the
churches in Galatia, he said, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who
are spiritual(hoi pneumatikoi) should restore him gently” (Galatians
6:1).
Thus, Elisston asserts; “The contrast between
the Corinthian infants and the spiritual believers of Galatia is a sharp
reminder that all believers (Church), are to continuously grow in their
relationship with Christ”. (Elisston. 1993, 385).
CHRISTIAN IMPERFECTION: because of the imperfection of
Christians/church, there is need for spiritual formation so as to achieve a
sustained growth in their spiritual life. Paul said to the church in Ephesus “so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ”. (Eph 4:12-13). This implies that the
church is meant to reach the fullness of the knowledge of God, and this could
be only achieved through spiritual life formation.
Thus,
this implies that this knowledge is revelational and progressive; ones a
Christian lives, he needs to be undergoing this process of spiritual formation.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR MINIMUM
SPIRITUAL FORMATION:
- Church leaders (shepherds) aren’t helping people surrender their lives to Jesus. – Hull explained that “Spiritual growth is not driven or determined by activities; it is defined by a growing relationship with Christ”.(Hull. 1988, 485) . So the goal of the pastor should not be to launch people into an assortment of ministry activities; it is to launch them on a quest to embrace and surrender their lives to Jesus.
- Shepherds are focused more on Bible teaching than Bible engagement: The most effective strategy for moving people forward in their journey of faith is biblical engagement. Not just getting people into the Bible when they’re in church which we do quite well, but helping them engage the Bible on their own outside of church.
- Most church leaders are more concerned about activity than growth: It is important to understand that increased church activity does not necessarily lead to spiritual growth.
- Most shepherds/pastors are not challenging people to reflect on Scripture: If they could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice would be equally clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives.
- Most Pastors focused on what people should do rather than who people should become: Unfortunately, churches often make things harder still by obscuring the goal to become more like Christ with a complicated assortment of activities. For instance, encouraging people to: Attend teaching and worship services every week. Meet frequently with small community and Bible study groups (often requiring follow-up communications and homework). Serve the church a couple times a month. Serve those who are under resourced on a regular basis. Invite friends, coworkers, and family to church, special events, support groups, etc. When the church incessantly promotes all the things people should do, it’s very easy for them to lose sight of the real goal which is “who they should become” (disciples).
THE ROLE OF THE SHEPHERD IN
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
When
Jesus called himself shepherd in johanaine literature, he gave shepherds roles
to play in the church and in the spiritual formation process of the church.
According to john Jesus asserts
"I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a
hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the
wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and
scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by
My own. As the Father knows Me, even so
I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have
which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My
voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd”. (John 10:11-16)
If the pastor is the shepherd of
the church, his work description has already been listed before the inception
of the church thus Bouyer explained that “the roles of a shepherd as can be
found in the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament account reveals that Jesus
did five things: (1) Jesus built His relationship with His Father, (2) He
preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, (3) He met the needs of people, (4)
He made disciples through the power of the Spirit, and (5) He gave His life as
a sacrifice. These are the keys to true biblical ministry.”
With
this understanding, the ministry/role of a shepherd in spiritual formation includes;
1.
HELPING THE CHURCH IN BUILDING
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER:
Over and over, the Scriptures show
us that Jesus placed the highest priority of His life on spending time alone
with the Father. According to Foster, “His life reveals an intense passion for
the presence of God. His heart longed and hungered to touch the heart of God.
One of the things that Jesus did each day was to fill the well of His being
with the presence of His Father; He then lived with heaven in mind all day long.”
(foster. 1988, 241). He managed His time by moving from being to behaving. His
being was about being in union with the Father and experiencing the joy of His
Sonship. And His doing was about doing the will of the Father. This made His
doing so effective as He received grace and power from the Father. Jesus as the
chief shepherd of the sheep expects the shepherd/Pastor to do likewise, and
train the church to do likewise. To be more précised, the first step to
Christianity is having a relationship with the father, and the shepherd should
play his role in leading the sheep to this understanding.
2.
THE
SHEPHERD SHOULD TEACH/PREACH THE GOSPEL: The ministry of the Word always
leads people to transformed lives. There is power in the Word. The word of God
brought this world into existence. The word brought Jesus Christ from the
grave. And the Word brings us back to spiritual health and meaningful change.
From an early age, Jesus developed
passionate love for the Scriptures. He learned them and taught them with power
and authority (Luke 2:46–50). His love for the Father motivated Him to read His Book
and learn about His will. The pastor should always lead people to a better
understanding of the Word of God. It is only through this that the church can produce
Christians that cannot be tossed around by the false teachings of the time.
3.
MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE: Often the Bible says that Jesus,
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). Jesus loved people. He knew that lost people matter to
God, therefore, lost people mattered to Him.
Christ’s method alone will give true
success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired
their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won
their confidence. Then He bade them, “Follow Me.
Depree explained that “Christ’s
method builds relationships and meets needs. The first thing Jesus did was to
mingle with people, desiring their good. By doing so, He touched their hearts.
The second thing Jesus did was to show sympathy for them. The way He did this
was that He met them at their daily vocations and manifested an interest in
their secular affairs.” (DePree. 1992, 503). And the shepherd in order to meet
the demand for spiritual life formation must also meet the immediate need of
the people just as a shepherd who leads the sheep.
4. MAKING DISCIPLES: As soon as He began His public
ministry, Jesus began to call disciples. He called and empowered twelve men to
be His disciples— twelve men who would champion His evangelistic cause. As
Johnson says in “His concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but
with men whom the multitudes would follow. . . . Men were to be His method of
winning the world to God.” (Johnson. 1995, 297). The wisdom of His method
centered in the fundamental principle of concentration upon those men whom He
intended to use to transform the world, not programs, and not the masses.
The contemporary shepherds are now
driven by masses, and programs and pays less attention on discipleship making.
The role of a shepherd in spiritual formation is making disciples, raising men
who are like Christ. The need to build disciples is so fundamental that Jesus
spent three and a half years in full-time discipleship formation. In fact, if
Jesus had not built His disciples, there would not be a church today.
5.
SERVICE/SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP: There are two important truths
about Christ. First, He was a Servant Leader. Any study of Christian leadership
is incomplete unless we study the servant sacrificial life of Christ. “‘The Son
of Man did not come to be served but to serve’ ” (Mark 10:45, MLB). “ ‘I am among you as one who serves’ ” (Luke 22:27, MLB). The King of the whole universe was not into
self-glorification, self-satisfaction, power, or control. He was into service
and ministry.
The second truth about Jesus is that
He gave His life as a living sacrifice; to redeem us, Jesus lived and suffered
and died., “ ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10). Lost people matter to God. Thus, if I am to be a genuine
pastor and disciple of Jesus Christ, then lost people will matter to me as
well. The pastor’s/Shepherd’s role is to
instill this value in the heart of their congregation.
This sacrificial life manifests
itself on at least two levels. The first level is to live a life of giving—of
time, of resources, and of life. The second level is to render selfless service
to God. God calls us to live the life Jesus lived. Pastoral ministry is not
about us, but about Him—about knowing and serving Him.
If
the shepherds/pastors should play this five roles or minister in these five
dimension taught by Christ through his life, ministry, and teachings; spiritual
life formation of the church will be guaranteed and the church will achieve her
purpose as desired by Christ.
CONCLUSION/OBSERVATION: the issue
of spiritual formation cannot for overlooked any longer by the modern churches
and leaders. Although
today's pastor is concerned about a variety of ministry tasks, such as church
growth, counseling therapy, management and administration, the pastor should
focus on the business of spiritual formation because it is
from this foundational task that pastoral and church ministry can flow.
Though
modern ministers pays attention to multitude and other projects and even
charismatic gifts, Paul explains that certain gifts were given to the leaders
and teachers in the church. In Ephesians 12-16, we are told the purpose for
which these gifts are given. Church members are to be equipped and prepared by
the called and gifted leaders of the church to minister to others. The church,
the body of Christ, is to be built up in an ongoing spiritual formation
project. The equipping and building up is to continue toward the goal of unity
and maturity, the full stature of Christ.
This
process of equipping and building up the members of the church will lead the
church into greater internal stability as it helps the members to grow more
into the form and pattern of Jesus. As the church members are enabled to
replicate the ministry of Jesus, they will grow in their loving relationship
and service to God and their fellow humans.
We
see that writers of the New Testament point to the need for the pastor to focus
on the business of spiritual formation. As spiritual formation takes place,
ministry (e.g., evangelism, outreach, social activism, spiritual therapy, etc.)
flows out as a result of the Christ-likeness being formed.
REFERENCE LIST
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Spirituality of the Gospels. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
Bouyer, Louis. 1982. A
History of Christian Spirituality. 3 vols. New York: Seabury
Brightman, Edgar S. 1942. The
Spiritual Life. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury
Brown, Raymond E. 1970. The
Gospel According to John XIII-XXI. New York: Doubleday
Clinton, J. Robert. 1988. The
Making of a Leader. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress
DePree, Max. Leadership Is
an Art. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Elliston, Edgar J. and J. Timothy
Kauffman. 1993. Developing Leaders for Urban Ministries. New
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Elliston, Edgar J. 1998. Home
Grown Leaders. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library
Foster, Richard. 1998. Celebration
of Discipline. 2nd ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins
Gangel, Kenneth O. 1989. Feeding
and Leading. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books
Hull, Bill. 1988. The
Disciple Making Pastor. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Johnson, Ben Campbell. 1988. Pastoral
Spirituality. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster
Johnson, Reginald. 1995. Your
Personality and the Spiritual Life. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books
