“Your ministry to others should be an overflow of your relationship with the Lord.” These were the words of my mentor to me on the day I was baptized. Simple words with profound truth. Having been on the mission field for 27 years, I have seen those words play out in my life and the lives of others many times.

The Condition

The church in my country has an urgent need today: we must cultivate healthy churches, develop maturing believers, and establish strong, godly leadership. While we have many capable leaders, we are severely lacking in godly leaders. We need men and women who can say like the psalmist “Let me dwell in your tent forever!” (Ps 61:4).

Most believers in my country have their quiet time and go on with their daily routines. Often, there is little connection between their heart meditations and personal life. We need men who live in Coram Deo. To live in Coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.1

Several years ago, I was sent to the mission field in a part of my country known as the “graveyard for missions.”2 The gospel had been preached there in the early twentieth century, but after a hundred years, there were only 600 Christians in that county. I visited all the churches there and met with the elders and the believers. I was astonished by the immaturity of the believers and the church leaders. They were spiritually “out of shape.”3 At that moment, I realized why that part of the country had been labelled “the graveyard for missions.” I also realized that what I experienced was representative of the churches in most of the northern region of my country.

We have seen much evangelism, many baptisms, many churches, and church planting movements. However, as time goes on there is very little difference between the life of the believers in the churches and those of the unbelievers.

I see discipleship as helping another person grow into the image of Christ, which I believe is the spiritual formation of the person into Christ. Most Bible colleges in my country offer spiritual formation as a course that lasts a few weeks and is considered done. Realizing this, when I started a training program along with other like- minded leaders, we introduced the spiritual formation curriculum as a core subject to be taught and practiced in every module.

Varun’s Story: Discipleship

Some years ago, I was involved in the leadership of a church in a rural area. Varun4, a single young man, had begun attending our church. One Sunday after the service, I asked him for his testimony, and invited him to a weekly discipleship class for new believers. I could see Varun’s passion for drawing nearer to God, to know him more. I then invited him to my weekly class for pastors and aspiring elders. Varun’s desire to learn and to grow in his closeness to the Lord was apparent to all. The class consisted of expository preaching and spiritual formation. Very soon, God started working in Varun’s heart for church ministry. He enrolled in the three-year Diploma in Theology course that we had started and completed it. Together we planted a church in another village where he is still pastoring. He is now married and has three children. He continues to be an example of what it means to be a Christian in a village where he is surrounded by unbelievers. Varun’s story is a living example of my mentor’s words. His journey has been that of continuing to be spiritually formed as he grows in his understanding of how much he is loved by Christ.

My Story: Spiritual Friendship

About three years ago, I was introduced to a group of like-minded brothers who are in a similar season of life as myself. We met every week with two mentors who taught us the biblical story as well as spiritual formation. The content was new and exciting; however, most beneficial was the time of interaction between the brothers as we suffered, wrestled and combated various life situations. I realized the need for brothers to meet as a group; being real with their struggles and sharing in what the Lord has been teaching them is crucial for us to watch our life and our teaching.5 I encouraged spiritual friendships for those on the field. Particularly, we needed to meet with other missionaries regularly and be vulnerable.

Vulnerability is contagious. Others follow and drop their walls. We have been created to love God and to build others up. Spiritual friendships are meant for us to lean on the Holy Spirit as we lean on each other for encouragement, prayer, support, and joy. Spiritual friendship is essentially a relationship that emerges out of shared spirituality. It is sharing the spiritual life that draws us together.6

Some of the most formative moments in my personal journey with spiritual formation have been learning about Ignatian indifference and consolation and desolation. Indifference means we are so consumed by the love of Christ that we are free of all else7. That has become my pursuit. To grow in my knowledge and experience of the love that Christ has for me. Consolation and desolation are also important themes in Ignatian spirituality. Ignatius believed that God is at work in and through the various emotional experiences we have8. Those emotional experiences should draw us nearer to him.

Regula: Spiritual Life Practices

I sincerely believe that as believers we are on a journey. A journey of discovery of how much Christ loves us. Our personal Regula is the source of our deepening intimacy in Christ. How can we grow? How can we draw nearer to God? How can we continually be transformed without meditating upon Scripture? My journey as a believer began with ‘studying the Bible’ daily. I never really enjoyed annual Bible reading plans, although I do see merit in that discipline. I need to pause and think intellectually about Scripture and what it means and how I can apply it. We need both left column and right column processing. Either one without the other leads to a deficient and distorted spirituality.9 There is an aspect to our Regula that has been lost; meditating on Scripture. The Puritan writer Thomas Watson provides this simple definition of meditation: “A holy exercise of the mind whereby we bring the truths of God to remembrance and do seriously ponder upon them and apply them to ourselves”10. So, once we read Scripture, it needs to find an up close, personal, specific, existentially meaningful role in our lives. It must address specific, real, necessary aspects of our lives.11

I have found that going through the acronym ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) has been very helpful in my personal Regula in addition to Scripture meditation. Journalling my thoughts as I go through the different aspects of my prayer helps me think about my day, my conversations, things around me and matters close to my heart more deeply than I otherwise would. I also do daily Examen12, a spiritual exercise taught by Ignatius of Loyola. I think about the day and try to discern what God has been showing me or impressing upon my heart as I reflect on the conversations, meditations, events and conflicts that took place during the day. In addition to Scripture and counsel from others, the Examen has been extremely helpful in discerning God’s will.

Conclusion

I believe if we are not maintaining a healthy, consistent Regula, we are allowing ourselves to slip into a state of complacency or dryness. On the other hand, a Regula that nourishes our soul, helps us discover God’s will and heart which is sweeter than honey!

Check out Journey with Me at William Carey Publishing.