Spirituality and Spiritual Formation

What is meant by spirituality has always been somewhat elusive, and this is especially true today as we witness a burgeoning interest in the spiritual. It is even reflected in the hard-nosed, bottom-line oriented world of business, where it has become increasingly accepted to write books on and talk about the "soul of business" and "spirituality in the marketplace." In the supermarket of American culture many "spiritualities," some quite superficial, are currently being offered.

Many of these spiritualities bear only a pale resemblance to what we would understand by spirituality, and some are even inimical to our understanding. Yet this increasing interest in the spiritual may be indicative of a growing yearning for connection with ultimate meaning, with core reality, or what we as Christians recognize as God. That many seek to satisfy this yearning outside the community of faith, and are attracted to superficial spiritualities is not so much a reflection on the depth of their yearning as it is a reflection of our inability as churches to present, interpret, and invite seekers into the depths of a genuine spirituality rooted in the mystery of God. There is a deep hunger afoot for the spiritual—for experience of and union with God—and our challenge as churches, as always, it to show the way to the satisfaction of that yearning, which the Spirit of God places in every human heart.

What, then, do we as Christians mean by spirituality? In a review of the many spiritualities currently being proffered, Andrew Canale has provided a general definition of spirituality as the search for connection with one’s true self and with a core reality that gives value and meaning to life¹. We recognize that core reality as God—the Creator, Christ, and Spirit; and our true self as the image of God that is planted within us at birth and is our goal in Christian living—the soul united with Christ through the power of the Spirit. The Program in Christian Spirituality of the San Francisco Theological Seminary expresses this understanding of Christian spirituality as:

Reformed Spirituality

Our Reformed tradition brings several perspectives to bear on the nature and practice of spirituality. In an article on Reformed Spirituality at the Millennium published in Hungryhearts², the newsletter of the Presbyterian Church’s program on spiritual formation, Brad Kent has recently identified several of these characteristics, many firmly rooted in Calvin’s own spirituality. There is not time to go into each in detail, but I would like to list them, then pick up on a few for closer consideration.

First, Reformed spirituality places prime importance on the development of a deeply personal relationship with God through Christ.

Second, Reformed spirituality has always been open to incorporating into its own understanding appropriate insights from the broad Christian tradition.

Third, it places great importance on the use of Scriptures as a place of encounter with God.

Fourth, prayer, which may be engaged in by many approaches, is not only a chief exercise of our faith, but also a primary form of being in relationship with God.

Fifth, spirituality truly exercised leads to engagement with the world through acts of love and justice.

Sixth, true spirituality is not an individual exercise alone; it is always shaped by and practiced in community

Finally, Reformed spirituality places great importance on keeping the Sabbath—a weekly time for corporate worship, individual rest from work, and reflection on God’s presence and activity in one’s life.

The Importance of Religious Experience

Let us return to two of these characteristics for further exploration. First, Reformed spirituality places prime importance on the development of a deeply personal relationship with God through Christ. Calvin, known to us as a man of strong rationality and powerful intellect, was also a deeply spiritual person. Although we study and are strongly shaped by his doctrine, he held to the primacy of religious experience—of union with God in Christ—over doctrine. His motto, "My heart I offer you, God, freely and sincerely" is captured in the symbol by which we remember him—a flaming heart held in an outstretched hand. Doctrine itself, he advised, is apprehended not by the intellect alone, but only when it finds its home in the deepest recesses of the heart. It is life in Christ, not intellectual understanding or even belief, that lies at the heart of Reformed spirituality. This life of relationship with God is captured in the Catechism of our Reformed tradition, which declares that the chief and highest end of humanity it to glorify God and to enjoy God forever.

The Community of Faith

Second, true spirituality is not an individual exercise alone; it is always shaped by and practiced in community. Our individual experience of God, our personal life in Christ, is always a product of life in community and is expressed in a communal setting. In the sacraments, always a communal experience, we experience our relationship with God. In Baptism, Calvin taught, we are incorporated into Christ and he in us.³  In Communion we join the community of saints of all the ages in the feast with Christ. This unity with Christ and the wider body of believers is something we can express in words of understanding, but ultimately it is something we can truly apprehend only by the mystery of experiencing it.

Spiritual formation, then, particularly from a Reformed perspective, seeks to promote the recognition of and engagement with the presence of God and to move us into a closer union with God in Christ through the power of the Spirit. The fruits of this movement will be our worship, our stronger involvement with the community of faith, and our acts of love and justice in the broader community of humanity.
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1  Andrew Canale, “The Cry of the Desperate.” In New Age Spirituality, ed. Duncan Ferguson. Lousiville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993.
2  Brad Kent, “Reformed Spirituality at the Millennium” Hungryhearts, 1999.
3  John Calvin, Commentary on John.