Introduction

I asked, “Without an anthropological foundation, what will happen as a result?”

Dallas said, “The spiritual formation movement will degenerate into technique. It will focus on practices, and not on the soul.”

My sense is that Dallas’s prophecy has come true. Much of the teaching and writing on Christian spiritual formation focuses primarily on the disciplines—on the practices. And of course, the spiritual disciplines are wonderful tools in our formation. But why do we need a solid understanding of who we are in the process of spiritual formation? We need this foundation because Christian spiritual formation is not primarily about practices or the feelings they might engender. It is about becoming who you are in Christ. Walking a labyrinth or engaging in lectio divina can be powerful practices, but the practices themselves are not the point. Christian spiritual formation is not primarily about helping you feel more spiritual, but it is about forming you in Christ.

The Christian faith is not primarily about belief and practices; it is primarily about what kind of people Christians become.

In short, the Christian faith is not primarily about belief and practices; it is primarily about what kind of people Christians become. And who we are, who we become, is a deep longing in our embodied souls. God designed us with a deep longing in our souls to be wanted, loved, alive, and connected to God. In Christ, we are all of these and more. And when we live into this reality, we become the unique person God created us to be.

A writer who greatly influenced this book, Fr. Adrian van Kaam, once wrote,

I must become the unique person I am meant to be. The more I become what my Creator called me to be originally, the more I will be united with my divine origin. I must find my original self as hidden in God. The original life of a Christian, as St. Paul says, is hidden in Christ.

Our true self—our original self—the one created by and for Christ, the one made in the image of Christ, is hidden in Christ. Christian spiritual formation, then, is the process of allowing that original Christ-created Christ image to emerge. I have discovered that inviting the Spirit to help me become more like Jesus produces much better results than trying to be “the best version of myself.” The practices we engage in are important in that they are means God uses, through the Spirit, to shape and form us. But we must never mistake the means for the ends.

My hope for you as you read this book is that you will discover the good and beautiful you that Jesus created you to be. I pray that you will see yourself with wonder, see yourself as sacred—even though you are flawed and broken. I long for you to know that you are loved by God, forgiven for what you have done, and made alive by the power of Jesus’ resurrection. I have written this book with the hope that you will see that you have a sacred story, a sacred body, and a sacred longing for God that is at your core. I hope and pray that you come to know your unique calling in this life and your divine destiny for glory in the next.

But there is one more desire I have for you as you read and engage with this book: that you will see your neighbor in the same way. I pray that you will look at those you interact with—your friends and coworkers and family members, as well as those people you disagree with politically or socially or culturally—as sacred beings, loved by God, who are worthy of your compassion and kindness because they, too, are of divine origin.

I wrote it because the series would not be complete without it. What was missing, as Joe pointed out, was a book that could help to correct the toxic self-narratives that are ruining so many lives. The true narrative about our identity, I discovered, cannot be disclosed by reason but only by revelation. Only God, through Christ, can reveal to us who we truly are. And in the end, what we discover—what I hope you discover—is that you are good and beautiful. In so doing, I pray that you will discover the person Jesus uniquely created you to be.