My thinking about Christian formation has been profoundly influenced by Dallas Willard. His ‘The Divine Conspiracy’ and Renovation of the Heart’ remain among some of my favourite reads.
In the latter book Willard draws from the 12 step model employed by Alcoholics Anonymous stating that:
“Any successful plan for spiritual formation, whether for the individual or group, will in fact be significantly similar to the Alcoholics Anonymous program.”
– p.85, Renovation of the Heart
Willard offers the following adaption of the 12 steps in the Renovation of the Heart Leaders’ Guide, page 5A:
- I admit that I am powerless over sin and that my life has become unmanageable.
- I believe that God—through His action and those of His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit—can restore me to sanity.
- I will turn my will and my entire life over to the care of God.
- I will make a searching and fearless inventory of my life to discover all the ways I have engaged in self-worship (by being in control instead of living surrendered to the will of God).
- I admit to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs.
- I am entirely ready to have God remove all the defects in my character and replace them—through His presence—with the thoughts, emotions, will, behaviour and relationship patterns of Christ.
- I humbly ask God to help me become willing to deny myself—and the desire to live life on my terms—and to remove my shortcomings.
- I will make a list of all the people I have harmed and become willing to make amends.
- I will make direct amends to all I have injured.
- I will continue to take personal inventory, and when I wrong someone, I will promptly admit it.
- I will, through prayer, meditation, and the practice of other Christian disciplines, attempt to improve my conscious contact with God.
- Having experienced some measure of authentic transformation as a result of surrendering all aspects of myself to the power and presence of Christ, I will carry this message to others and continue to practice these principles in all my affairs.
What I like about Willard’s 12 steps is that they are theologically well informed, missional and most importantly ‘doable’. However, at first glance it seems as though they lack the communal dimension of formation. Perhaps herein lies the their strength. While not appearing as overtly communal they are undergirded by a recovery model that functions within the context of a healing community.
I’m thinking to rework them to more overtly reflect the role of community in our formation any thoughts?
1 comment:
These are very good. They give you the correct structure for applying them to your life. I agree with you that they are "doable", but it is still going to take some self discipline, perseverance and a lot of grace from God to accomplish them all. Cant wait for your "version" of them. Try to include practical and basic instructions for application.
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