Character formation is a process, not a one-time event
I loved my upbringing in church. The Assemblies of God denomination I grew up in was a great experience. They taught people to desire the gifts of the spirit, but not be overcome by it (Ex: believing that speaking in tongues earns salvation). It was a good middle ground. However, I couldn’t help but really see some common themes after serving in ministry, attending to Bible school, and being employed by a few churches. I would notice that many people in the circles I was around genuinely believed that spiritual experiences themselves actually transformed them. For instance, I had a friend in my teenage years that would go to the altar every Sunday, cry out to God for repentance, and ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance. She would genuinely desire transformation during that Sunday morning worship service and would have many spiritual experiences, which did aid her in many ways. However, during the week, she would put little to nothing into practice. She said she didn’t have time to pray daily, pick up her Bible, or spend time alone to seek God during the weekdays. It was only on Sunday mornings that she would actively be aware of the presence of God. This is was we call “binge-spirituality.” She thought that her character had changed in just one dynamic worship experience per week.
Dallas Willard says,
“Baptism in the Spirit, spiritual experiences, high acts of worship, and other experiences of worship do not transform character.”
In my short life of serving and pastoring in the local church, I believe this to be true. It’s not that spiritual experiences don’t have their place in growing closer to Jesus, it’s just that they cannot be relied on by themselves to transform us into the image of Jesus. In other words, transformation comes from the power and presence of God working itself our in our lives over a long period of time through every day faithfulness. Our process of formation creates the change in our lives, and the daily and weekly habits that are produced keep up the transformation.
Pastor Stephen Blandino puts it succinctly,
“Events inspire change, process creates change, and habits sustain change.”
We must see our spiritual experiences as a momentum booster to be inspired to change, but our character formation is only seen over a long period of time through our faithfulness to the spiritual practices. This looks like someone leaving a great spiritual experience at a church service or worship night and immediately starting the process of cutting out sin in their life (installing porn blockers on their phone, putting “do not disturb” on their phones in the morning for prayer times, finding an accountability partner, etc). Then after a few months of following the process of transformation, their character is now noticeably different. In the same way you won’t see muscle definition in just one high intensity workout, you cannot see character change in just one dynamic spiritual experience. It takes a formational process and consistency over time.
In my personal life, I’ve noticed how important it is in establishing rhythms for transformation. I now help lead a house church that has very little dynamic worship experiences like many other churches have every week. It is now very rare for me to have a worship leader and band guide me into God’s presence through powerful songs or even a pastor preaching a monologue message that inspires the room. We are more guided now by the power of the scriptures itself speaking into our lives and creating a culture that produces daily disciples not just weekly participants. Because of this culture, we force people to focus more on the process of transformation. This aspect my be harder for many churches to practice, but just having a mindset that events inspire change, process creates change, and habits sustain change will help you see what you need to emphasize or de-emphasize.
Reflection Questions
- Are you bingeing your spirituality to just weekly church gatherings?
- What needs to change in your life to create a process for change?
- How can your church community help you sustain habits toward transformation?
Matt Garcia
Matt is the creator of this website and curates resources on spiritual formation. He is a husband of Jesika and a father of 4 children. He also helps lead a house church. Follow him on Instagram to see what he's up to.