What is the Spiritual Formation Movement, and Why is it Unbiblical?

Spiritual Formation: A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement.
by Roger Oakland

When I first began writing in the field in the late 70s and early 80s the term "Spiritual Formation" was hardly known, except for highly specialized references in relation to the Catholic orders. Today it is a rare person who has not heard the term. Seminary courses in Spiritual Formation proliferate like baby rabbits. Huge numbers are seeking to become certified as Spiritual Directors to answer the cry of multiplied thousands for spiritual direction. 1--Richard Foster

A move away from the truth of God's Word to a mystical form of Christianity has infiltrated, to some degree, nearly all evangelical denominations. Few Bible teachers saw this avalanche coming. Now that it is underway, most do not realize it has even happened.

The best way to understand this process is to recall what happened during the Dark Ages when the Bible became the forbidden book. Until the reformers translated the Bible into the language of the common people, the great masses were in darkness. When the light of God's Word became available, the Gospel was once again understood.

I believe history is repeating itself. As the Word of God becomes less and less important, the rise in mystical experiences escalates, and these experiences are presented to convince the unsuspecting that Christianity is about feeling, touching, smelling, and seeing God. The postmodern mindset is the perfect environment for fostering spiritual formation. This term suggests there are various ways and means to get closer to God and to emulate Him. Thus the idea that if you do certain practices, you can be more like Jesus. Proponents of spiritual formation erroneously teach that anyone can practice these mystical rituals and find God within. Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is not a prerequisite. In a DVD called Be Still, which promotes contemplative prayer, Richard Foster says that contemplative prayer is for anyone and that by practicing it, one becomes "a portable sanctuary" for "the presence of God."2

Rather than having the indwelling of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, spiritual formation through the spiritual disciplines supposedly transforms the seeker by his or her entering an altered realm of consciousness.

The spiritual formation movement is widely promoted at colleges and seminaries as the latest and the greatest way to become a spiritual leader. It teaches people that this is how they can become more intimate with God and truly hear His voice. Even Christian leaders with long-standing reputations of teaching God's Word seem to be succumbing. In so doing, many Christian leaders are frivolously playing with fire, and the result will be thousands, probably millions, getting burned.

It isn't going into the silence that transforms a person's life. It is in accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and allowing Him to change us that transformation occurs.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (Colossians 1:21-23)

We are reconciled to God only through Christ's death (the atonement for sin), and we are presented "holy and unblamable and unreproveable" when we belong to Him through rebirth. It has nothing to do with works, rituals, or mystical experiences. It is Christ's life in the converted believer that transforms him. (For more information on this topic and emerging spirituality, read Faith Undone.)

Notes:
1. Richard Foster, "Spiritual Formation: A Pastoral Letter" (January 18, 2004, click here).
2. Richard Foster, Be Still DVD (Fox Home Entertainment, 2006), section titled "Contemplative Prayer."

A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen

A Time of Departing 2nd Edition
By Ray Yungen / Lighthouse Trails

Ancient mystical practices are being introduced into countless churches under the umbrella of the spiritual formation movement. Also known as contemplative spirituality, this belief system has roots in mysticism and the occult. A Time of Departing exposes the truth about the new spirituality that is entering the Christian church.

Richard Foster Promoting Eastern Mysticism by Proxy

by Ray Yungen

I want to assure you, for what it’s worth, that I bear Richard Foster no personal animosity. My reason for writing this testimony is that with the rising tide of critical input my book may bring I want to clarify why I am doing this type of activity.

It has come to my attention that some view the current controversy regarding Richard Foster as stemming from a misunderstanding of his statement “we of the new age” in the first edition of Celebration of Discipline. This is not the case. The real issue lies in his statement where he encourages, “we should all, without shame, enroll as apprentices in the school of contemplative prayer,” and also in his statement that “Christianity is not complete without the contemplative dimension.” It is from these comments and this viewpoint that opposition to Foster flows. If he were to understand why this is so, his sense of having his reputation falsely impaired would be greatly tempered.

Click Here to continue reading this article.

"Emergent Church" is Satan's Deception by By Jan Markell

The "Emergent" or "Emerging" church is an ecumenical movement within the Christian church that focuses on rethinking theology within the cultural context of Postmodern culture. This movement strives for "greater mutual respect, tolerance, and cooperation between the world religions". In other words, it smacks of "one-world religion"!

If you're over age 35, your spiritual health may be at risk in that new "church movements" are focusing in on primarily "GenXrs." You may not have even heard of the latest, the "Emergent Church" or "Emerging Church." Many today are looking for a new "methodology," "new wave," or "new thing God is doing." I ask, "What is wrong with the old way?" Apparently just the Bible is no longer sufficient.

Some say the "Emergent Church" (EC) is the next step beyond the "seeker movement." Leaders of the EC say they have answers for our generation even though it focuses on experience much more than the Bible. But leaders of the movement insist that in our fast-changing culture, something is happening. What was once a Christian nation with a Judeo-Christian worldview is becoming a post Christian, unchurched, unreached nation. There is arising in our midst new generations without any Christian influence, and thus we must re-think everything we have done with Christianity over many centuries. Part of what they say is true and their evangelistic fervor is genuine no doubt.

Defining the EC is a little bit like nailing jello to the wall, but here goes anyway. It relies heavily on mysticism, a great danger to believers of all denominations. Some leaders will tell you that you cannot know truth. An EC service will often meet in homes, and will rely on extra-biblical paraphernalia, extra-sensory images, sounds, smells of candles and incense, silence, mystical meditation, making the sign of the cross, touching icons, statues of saints, rosary beads for Protestants, liturgy, yoga-like deep breathing, contemplative prayer, and sacraments--all for a full sensory immersion with the divine. In other words, they are looking for an encounter with the Lord using all their senses. Worship is stressed, but some would say more than the Word.

They borrow liturgical practices from the Orthodox, Lutheran, and Catholic Church and heavily from the traditions and views of Catholic Church Fathers.

It would seem to me that if the Bible were being taught, the extra-biblical paraphernalia, extra-sensory images, sounds, smells, etc., would hardly be necessary, but maybe I'm making much ado about nothing.

The most visible leader is Brian McClaren whose book, "A Generous Orthodoxy" has caught on all over. In it he states that, "The Christian faith should become a welcome friend to other religions of the world, and not a threat." He states in the book that not all people need to be Christians to follow Jesus. Some may be able to be "Buddhist or Hindu followers of Jesus." He also states that, "God is interested in not only saving us from consequences after this life but in saving us from injustice, oppression, greed, and war, in this life." He was uninvited as a speaker at the Kentucky Baptist Convention when leaders learned McClaren suggested that people could be saved without being Christians.

Others either in the EC movement or supportive of it include Robert Schuller, Richard Foster, Brennan Manning, Dan Kimball, Bill Hybels, Dallas Willard, Bruce Wilkinson, Eugene Peterson, John Ortberg, John Eldredge, Dr. Robert Webber, Tony Campolo, Rick Warren, and dozens of lesser-known people.

While the movement is ecumenical and attracts numbers and particularly youthful followers, it hardly seems biblical when so much involves the extra-biblical.