The word spiritual formation is never mentioned in the Bible, so how can we know that it's biblical and not just a New Age concept that has worked its way into Christian thought, understanding, and practice?

Christian spiritual formation is steeped in centuries and centuries of history, but we'll examine the historical aspect in another article.

In my article, “What is Christian Spiritual Formation and Why Is It Relevant to Evangelicals?,” I state that Christian spiritual formation is about how we allow Jesus to shape our inner life. How is Christ shaping us to be more like him? The Bible is filled with verses of becoming like Christ. I'll list some at the end for reference, but here's one of my personal favorite scripture passages, which also happens to be relevant to this topic:

The Spirit doesn’t transform us from one degree of glory to another when we remain static. No, the Spirit invites us to work in conjunction with God’s grace. We can do this through spiritual disciplines—practices that, when combined with God's grace, help position us to become more Christlike. Paul tells us we need to train (our souls) for eternity the way we presently train our earthly bodies (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and 1 Timothy 4:7b-10).

Everything Jesus asks us to do, he did. Jesus had certain practices that filled him up and allowed him to be present to His Father through the Holy Spirit. For example, he withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16; Matthew 14:23). This means that he made it a habit to engage in solitude, silence, stillness, and prayer. Another example is that he regularly engaged with scripture study (Mark 14:49). He knew the Word of God and taught it in the temple (Lk 24:27).

There are those who don’t believe that spiritual formation is biblical and believe it to be an Eastern religion. A few years ago, there was a man who upon finding out that I was enrolled in the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation told me of his concern for me because he had read Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline years ago and believed that certain spiritual disciplines were biblical, while others were not. The Bible does not explicitly mention the terms, spiritual discipline or spiritual practices, nor does it discuss certain spiritual disciplines; however, let's not minimize the power and activity of the Holy Spirit.

Each of us is a unique reflection of God's image, and God speaks to us in different ways. Jesus said that it would be better for him to go so that the Spirit could come and could teach us (John 14:26; Jn 16:7). The Bible does not tell me to go sit in a field and study a cow so that I can hear from the Holy Spirit. But let’s say that I do go sit in a field where a cow is grazing. While watching it chew the cud, I begin to meditate on how just as God created the cow to chew the cud, God created us humans to chew on the Word of God. Then I realize that the Holy Spirit has brought me to this revelation as I sat in silence and solitude, while observing and meditating upon God’s other book, the “Book of Nature.”

This is what it means to live incarnationally. When we notice what God is doing in our world, we see the spiritual and the material meet. One of my favorite spiritual practices is being present to what God is doing in the moment. Is it biblical? It's not stated like this in scripture, but check out these verses: in a promise to the Israelites, God tells them (and us) not to worry about former things but that God is doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:18-19), we are not to worry about tomorrow (Mt 6:34), we are to rejoice in today (Psalm 118:24), and God is always with us (Ps 139:7-12).

Because God is God, the Holy Spirit can use anything to teach us. Our concern need not be whether a spiritual practice is explicitly stated in the Bible but is best placed in testing what we believe we are given, what we hear, what we see, etc. We are to test everything (1 Thessalonians 5). Does what I heard or experienced align with scripture? Is it something that Jesus would do if he were here living my life? Jesus could do only what he saw the Father doing (Jn 5:19). Remember, one of the primary ways that we can tell if something is from God is by the fruit it produces in us and others (Mt 7:17-2). Let's leave room for the Spirit to work in us, with us, and through us.

A sampling of Bible verses on becoming like Christ:

• “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” ~1 Jn 2:6 (NIV; BibleGateway and herein)
• “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” ~Romans 6:11 (NIV)
• “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” ~1 Corinthians 11:1 (NLT)
• “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” ~Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
• “You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” ~Eph 4:22-24 (NRSV)
• “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” ~Eph 5:1-2 (NRSV)
• “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” ~Rom 8:29 (NIV)
• “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” ~Galatians 3:27 (NRSV)

A few things Jesus says…

• “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” ~Jn 13:13-17 (NKJV)
• “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ~Matt 5:48 (NRSV)