Matthew Bingham’s book A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation was introduced to our church leadership team by our lead pastor at our annual leadership retreat last fall, who encouraged all of us to read it. It has since become a very influential book in our church, with many reading and discussing it, including our officer candidates. You can read my review of the book here, and I highly commend the book to you.
But what is spiritual formation? Like me, you may have heard the term, but aren’t’ sure exactly what it is. You may have heard about friends getting degrees in spiritual formation from a Bible college or seminary. Bingham helpfully tells us that the term spiritual formation has arisen to describe the biblical process of molding the mind, heart, and life of a Christian into conformity to Christ.
In his book, Bingham introduces what he refers to as the “Reformation Triangle” of scripture, meditation, and prayer which is at the heart of historic Protestant spiritual formation. Taken together, these three can be conceived as a conversation between the believer and God: we hear from God through his word, we reflect on what we’ve heard in meditation, and we then respond to God in prayer.
Bingham quotes heavily from the English Puritans, who devoted an incredible amount of time and attention to the subject of spiritual formation, writing at length on what it means to live and grow as a Christian.
Bingham is persuaded that a Reformed approach to spiritual formation is consistent with what the Bible itself teaches. The purpose of his book is to explore and commend a distinctively Reformed Protestant vision of Christian growth for twenty-first-century evangelicals.
Although I benefitted from the entire book, it was the chapters on the Reformation Triangle of scripture, meditation and prayer that I most enjoyed. This is the first of a series of three articles about what Bingham says about the Reformation Triangle, and will be on scripture. The following articles will be on meditation and prayer.
Scripture: Hearing from God
Bingham tells us that in a Reformed context, when we talk about spiritual formation, we are always, in one way or another, talking about engaging with God’s word. The Bible is not just one tool among many in our spiritual formation tool kit, but rather, whether directly or indirectly, the whole of our spiritual formation flows out from our engagement with it. Spiritual formation cannot be reduced to Bible reading, but it can also never be separated from it.
Bingham tells us that as he explores several spiritual disciplines, or “means of grace” in the book; we must always keep in mind the way that Scripture informs and undergirds every one of them. No real spiritual growth is possible apart from engagement with God’s word. To read Scripture in step with the historic Reformed tradition, we must read frequently, actively, and expectantly. When we come to the word, we come to commune with the living God, to hear from him, and to be shaped and formed thereby.
To help cultivate the daily habit of Bible reading, the most frequent suggestion among the Reformed was to be sure to read your Bible in the morning when you awake. While beginning the day with God was the most common prescription, the close of the day before bed was also highlighted as a choice moment for returning to God’s word.
Bingham adds that if approaching the Bible is the functional equivalent of approaching God himself to commune with him, then such an exercise never proceeds fruitfully unless it is accompanied by earnest prayer, prayer that the same Spirit who breathed out the words of Scripture will bless the one who reads them.
Next time, we will look at meditation.
