Steve Auld
As encouraging as our church’s numerical growth has been in recent days, the real growth I long to see is spiritual growth. I long to see my people hunger and thirst more and more for God; I long to see them beholding and becoming more like Jesus; I long to see them intentionally cultivating a close walk with God and for them to “reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2–3).
The question, then, is how we turn these longings into practices within our local church. How do we take spiritual formation seriously and help our people truly grow?
In this article, I want to share five pastoral practices that can help your church pursue spiritual formation with greater intentionality and depth.
- Define your ministry by the Great Commission
- Call people to take responsibility for their growth
- Emphasize salvation as conformity to Christ
- Trust God to work through the ordinary means of grace
- Teach the church to abide in Christ
1. Define your ministry by the Great Commission
When we think of the Great Commission, we often picture missionaries being sent to unreached peoples around the world. As vital as that work is, we must recognize that the Great Commission also gives shape to the everyday mission of our local churches. Jesus calls all of us to participate in the work of making disciples.
Notice he says we’re to make disciples, not mere converts. This means teaching new believers everything Jesus commanded, with the aim that they themselves mature into disciples who make disciples, continuing the cycle of multiplication. The goal of the local church, then, is to make new disciples and to help existing disciples grow toward maturity. In other words, the church is meant to be an instrument of spiritual formation, from the first formation of new birth to the ongoing formation that shapes a believer as they grow up into their salvation.
So pastors, elders, and members, keep the main thing the main thing. Ensure that everything your church does, from the Sunday gathering to children’s ministry, youth ministry, student ministry, and every age and stage, is intentionally driving toward the end of making and maturing disciples. That is the heart of spiritual formation, and it is the heart of the Great Commission.
2. Call people to take responsibility for their growth
It is essential that we help our people understand the difference between justification and sanctification. In justification, God works to save us and we receive it by faith. In sanctification, God works and we work to see this sanctification become a reality in our lives. While God works by himself in justification, in sanctification God works and brings forth in us a willing cooperation with him so we actually do the work that he empowers: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12–13).
It is important to stress that spiritual formation is always God’s work before it is our work. But we must not be afraid to teach clearly that, for spiritual formation to occur, we have to do something! No one drifts into excellence in anything in life. It is the same in our spiritual lives. If we are going to grow and mature and see the character of Christ spiritually formed in us, it will take intentionality on our part.
We work for our sanctification as though it depends on us, while resting and praying because we know it ultimately depends on God.
So, fellow pastors, we must call our people to take up their responsibility to grow and mature in their Christian lives. We urge them to work diligently toward spiritual maturity, while continually reminding them that their effort is fueled by the life-giving power of the Spirit. We work for our sanctification as though it depends on us, while resting and praying because we know it ultimately depends on God. Paul holds this tension together beautifully in Colossians 1:28–29: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”
3. Emphasize salvation as conformity to Christ
In Romans 8:28–29, Paul teaches that God works all things together for good, and then defines that good as our being conformed to the image of Christ. God is restoring his image in us, an image stamped on every human being yet marred by sin. Through the gospel we are born again, and the subsequent journey of spiritual formation is the journey of beholding Jesus more clearly so that we become more like him, seeing his image gradually restored in our actual lives (2 Cor 3:18).
We do not preach a gospel that treats Jesus as nothing more than a golden ticket out of hell, a kind of cosmic fire insurance policy. We proclaim a gospel in which we are reborn and then reshaped by the Spirit into the likeness of the Son. As the Apostle John puts it, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6 NIV). The Christian life is not merely about believing in Christ but becoming like Christ. Yet, gospel indicatives must lead us naturally into gospel imperatives. We must remind our people that God has already given us “everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3). Christlikeness is both the goal God is working toward and the life we are called to pursue.
As we lead, we must work hard to emphasize the importance of Christlike character in every interaction within the local church. We should not only teach this, but also model it. In elders’ meetings, deacons’ meetings, leadership planning sessions, and church business gatherings, we must continually remind one another that the manner of our conversation is always as important, if not more important, than the matter under discussion.
4. Trust God to work through the ordinary means of grace
In the New Testament, the primary context for spiritual formation is the local church. In Ephesians 4:11–16, Paul teaches that God has given his church gifted ministers of the Word to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ. Specifically, God works in his church through the ordinary means of preaching, prayer, and the practice of the ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. When these basics are carried out faithfully in community, God brings spiritual growth. Over time, his Word and Spirit bear fruit in the lives of his people.
God works in his church through the ordinary means of preaching, prayer, and the practice of the ordinances.
Of course, we are also to seek God in private by praying, fasting, and enjoying communion with God in the secret place. Yet the goal of even these things is not a privatized, individualized spirituality. All of our spiritual disciplines are meant to strengthen us so that we can enjoy and contribute to the health and maturity of the whole body, our local church.
Consider the implications for our ministries. We do not need novel techniques or flashy gimmicks to see genuine growth in our churches. I often speak of the three P’s of pastoral ministry: preaching, prayer, and pastoral care. If we commit ourselves to these basics and practice them well, spiritual formation will take root and flourish over time.
5. Teach the church to abide in Christ
Jesus promises that those who abide in him will “bear much fruit” (John 15:5)—not might, but will. Spiritual formation is the byproduct of abiding in Christ. Likewise, John teaches that abiding in Christ is the primary way we fight sin (1 John 3:6). Abiding in Christ is not optional; it is the God-ordained pathway to spiritual formation. It will produce fruit in the lives of our people—Jesus himself guarantees it. Thus, if you want to grow, you should focus not on growth but on abiding in Christ.
Since this is the case, how important is it that we teach our people how to abide in Christ? Jesus calls his people to abide in him by feeding on the spiritual significance of his death (John 6:56). He calls his disciples to abide in his Word (John 8:31). He calls us to abide in his love (John 15:9).
So too, we must center our gatherings on Christ, not in a way that neglects the Father and Spirit, but to make clear that, apart from Christ, we have nothing of spiritual worth and can do nothing of spiritual worth. We want to major on union with Christ, that we approach the Father only in Jesus’s name, that Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit who comes to live in us by his indwelling presence. Let’s see our small groups become centers of spiritual formation as we study Scripture, pray together, and discover how all of Scripture points us to Christ. Let’s see our children’s, youth, and adult ministries help people grasp more fully the person and work of Christ. Let’s ensure our expository preaching continually brings people to the astonishing reality of “this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).
And let’s remind our people again and again that he alone brings about true spiritual formation.
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Further resources on spiritual formation & the church
Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ Through Community, 2nd ed.
Regular price: $29.99
Renovation of the Church: What Happens When a Seeker Church Discovers Spiritual Formation
Regular price: $15.39
A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation: Finding Life in Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Community
Regular price: $21.99
Conformed to His Image: Biblical, Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation, rev. ed.
Regular price: $49.99
Mobile Ed: PD201 Introducing Spiritual Formation (10 hour course)
Regular price: $379.99
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