The best book I have ever read was, What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff. Originally published in 1984, I read it in 1999 and again in 2011. It lived up to its title and told me what to expect, what to be concerned about, and what to not lose sleep over.
I have come to believe that we need What to Expect When… books for just about every aspect of life. My goal is to create a What to Expect When You’re on a Spiritual Journey (and We’re all on a Spiritual Journey). Our spiritual journey, in this context, can most easily be summed up as our quest for meaning.
While I believe the principles of the spiritual journey are universal, I can only speak to this journey with the language of Christianity.
A lot of work has been done in this field already, most notably James W. Fowler’s Stages of Faith (1981), the ideas from which have been expanded upon over the years. Most of that work, however, has been done at the academic level and I don’t find it to be very accessible for the average person to use as a tool to guide their journey. It’s designed for people like me to develop plans and strategies and programs, which is important, but we don’t do a great job of communicating the process to those we hope will follow it.
My hope is to take the ideas from the people who’ve done the research and create something that speaks to people outside of professional ministry who are on a spiritual journey and want to know what’s normal, when to be concerned, and what not to lose sleep over.
While we’ve often broken down spiritual development to “not saved” and “saved,” there’s more to it. A lot more.
Building on Fowler and his successors’ works, we will explore 6 stages of faith development, which I have recategorized to a small extent.
- Pre-faith
- Curious
- Engaged
- Wandering
- Steadfast
- Perfection
Over the last century, the church has largely focused on Stage 3, The Engaged, to the point of unintentionally communicating that’s all there is, just be engaged in the life of the church and maybe practice some spiritual disciplines.
Unfortunately, this has led to stunted spiritual growth and tribalism. Why? How?
I don’t think it was malicious. Most church leaders have done the best they could with what they knew. Stage 3 is easiest to plan for, it’s the most “one size fits all,” and as business metrics have entered the realm of spiritual development, Stage 3 is the easiest to measure. It might be the only stage that’s really measurable.
The problem is, it’s not where most people are, and that’s why they don’t come to church.
My background is in Christian Education. I got good, late twentieth century formal training and education in how to help people grow, which looking back, meant how to engage in the life of the church. I have spent the last ten years unlearning much of that as I pursued understanding what it means to grow as a disciple of Jesus, to grow into being more like Jesus.
Discipleship is different from engagement. Engagement revolves around the church, discipleship revolves around Jesus.
This post is intended to be an introduction to a series I’m working on that will take all this stuff I’ve learned and observed and format into something practical for people to know what to expect on their journey, how to move from one stage to the next, what is normal, when to not freak out about the thoughts in your head, etc.
I would love to hear from some of you about your journeys! I’m especially intrigued to hear how you stayed connected with the church, even with struggles and doubts that have led others to walk away.
Journey Through Scripture 