SF 01 Identity 2020

Identity
Table of Contents
Preface: An Overview of Spiritual Formation at Dallas Seminary V
Session 1: Introduction to Identity 1
Session 2: Image of God 7
Session 3: Design 11
Life Inventory Exercise 1: Design 15
Session 4: Heritage 17
Life Inventory Exercise 2: Heritage 22
Session 5: Our Identity in Christ 25
Session 6: Belief 31
Life Inventory Exercise 3: Belief 35
Session 7: Practice 41
Life Inventory Exercise 4: Practice 46
Session 8: Virtue 51
Life Inventory Exercise 5: Virtue 56
Sessions 9 & 10: Identity Foundations 61

Life Inventory Exercise 6: Identity Foundations Position Paper 64
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iv I Identity
Preface: An Overview of Spiritual Formation at Dallas Seminary
Devout conversation on spiritual matters greatly helps our progress,

particularly where people of like mind and spirit are bound to each other in
God.
Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
This quotation from one of the most treasured spiritual classics of Western literature
captures the essence of Spiritual Formation at Dallas Seminary. The Spiritual Formation
Ministry brings together small groups of seminary students "oflike mind and spirit" for the
purpose of "devout conversation on spiritual matters" in hopes that they might greatly help
one another in their progress toward becoming more like Christ.
Spiritual formation 1 is fundamentally about matters of the heart. Great Christian thinkers
like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Edwards emphasized the_r~ality of humanity's displaced
love and misdirected affection. Our hearts are bent toward loving the wrong things. We love
ourselves, our glory, our pleasures, our comfort and security. We love the things of this
world, the approval of people, and the treasures our culture holds dear. And we zealously
pursue these ends in ways that are ultimately destructive to ourselves or others and
dishonoring to God.
Spiritual formation is about transformation of the heart. It is about reorienting our affections,
training us in love. In Spiritual formation we learn to grow in our love and devotion to God
and our love and devotion to other people. And as Jesus makes clear, these two loves-for
God and for others-cannot be divorced (Matt 22:37-40; Mk 12:29-31). In Spiritual
formation, we learn to "practice the presence of God," cultivating an attentiveness to his
presence and activity in our lives. At the same time we learn to "practice the presence of
people," cultivating spiritual friendships characterized by presence, honesty, and
encouragement in the mutual pursuit of a Christlike life.
One of the great tragedies of seminary education is that in the midst of learning more and
more about the Bible and the history and doctrine of the church, men and women can
sometimes find their spiritual passion diminished, their love for God turned cold and their
love for others eclipsed. This should never be the case-pursuit of knowledge about our God
is in itself a virtuous pursuit! The Spiritual Formation Ministry at Dallas Seminary seeks to
1 From this point forward, the phrase "Spiritual formation" (with a capital "S") is used instead of "spiritual
formation" to highlight the distinctive work of the Third Person of the Trinity in believers' formation. He is
the cause of all true spirituality (Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That Is Spiritual: A Classic Study of the Biblical
Doctrine ofSpirituality [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967], 42). He is also the "locus" and the "enabler" of
believers' lives (Jeffrey P. Greenman and George Kalantzis, "On Getting the Spirit Back into Spirituality," in
Jeffrey P. Greenman and George Kalantzis, eds., Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective
[Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010], 44).
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avert this tragic turn. Instead, the desire is to create space in the midst of the crucible of the
seminary experience wherein students might reflect and attend to their spiritual life.
In order to address the spiritual lives of students, the Spiritual Formation Ministry places
students together to share in one another's lives, committo one another's growth, encourage
one another, pray for one another, and explore together the four modules that give structure
to the program: Identity, Community, Integrity, and Fidelity.
An Overview of the Four Semesters

Identity
The goal in Identity is a deeper sense of what should define us. We ask questions like: (1)
"Who am I?" (2) "How has God gifted me?" (3) "What does it mean to be in Christ?" (4) "How
should that impact the way I live?" Students participate in a series of exercises for examining
the concept of biblical Identity. The Life Inventory Exercises are designed to guide students
in examining their lives, identifying specific areas of growth for the coming semesters and
living out their faith in Christ more intentionally. ·
Community
The second module focuses on building a deeper sense of community in Spiritual Formation
groups. This focus reflects one of the driving convictions of the New Testament-life change
occurs in· the context of community. To facilitate this process of growing in community,
students use a tool called "Life Story." Life Story asks the group members to reflect upon the
formative experiences and relationships of each of their lives and to creatively communicate
their findings to their fellow group members. Community builds as the individuals in the
group begin to truly know and be known by one another.
Integrity
The third topic discussed is Integrity. In this module, groups explore the implications of both
sin and grace in their lives. Having established a sense of trust and commitment to one
another, group members are asked to share their current struggles and failures with a caring
group of fellow strugglers. Groups explore the resources that God provides for living the
Christian life-discussing topics like walking by the Spirit, practicing spiritual disciplines,
and evidencing the fruit of the Spirit.
Fidelity
The final module of the Spiritual Formation curriculum, Fidelity, asks the question "How will
I live out my faith in Christ?" Here group members will synthesize the previous modules and
consider the kind of life that each student wants to live as a follower of Jesus Christ. This
module focuses in on the biblical concept: true life change is manifest in a growing love of God
and others-a dying to self and living for Christ. They will know we are Christians by our love
(John 13:35), a self-sacrificial love that is concerned with the well-being and flourishing.of
others. Together, each group member will consider what it looks like to die to self and to live
for Christ, how they might live in a way that demonstrates the love of Christ to others, and
how they can image Christ to the world.
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Using this Workbook
The sessions in the first section of this workbook are designed to introduce key topics
associated with the concept of "Identity,, and to prompt you to reflect upon the implications
of each topic for your personal and corporate Spiritual formation. Generally, the session
content will provide a brief theological orientation to the topic followed by a series of
questions for further reflection and discussion. These questions will follow a four-fold
pattern: Reflect upon the Word, Reflect upon our worldJ Reflect upon your Spiritual journeyJ
and Reflect upon your life now. Each group member should read and respond to the questions
in advance of the group meeting. Key questions from each session will form the framework
of the group gathering.
We use the word "culture,, throughout the reflection questions. To clarify what we mean by
the word "culture,, in this context, we offer the following definition:
Culture: The customs, social norms, and symbols of your particular nation at large
(e.g., U.S., Thailand, Mexico). Secondarily, this could also be answered on a smaller
scale in reference to the region, city, or state you are from (e.g., Bangkok, Mexico City,
Southeastern U.S., New York City, West Coast).
Many of the sessions include follow-up exercises. These exercises are designed to prompt
deeper reflection on each session and on your own life, so as to be attentive to those areas
where growth is needed or lessons are to be learned.
For those who plan to read the recommended book by Paul Pettit, Foundations of Spiritual
Formation, you will find additional reflection questions throughout the book labeled,
"Digging Deeper.,,
The fall semester culminates with each member of the group presenting a brief theological
foundations paper (see Sessions 9 and 10). The goal of this exercise is to get down on paper
a biblical and theological position statement on identity, considering how this relates to your
life experience. Why is the concept of our identity being found in Christ significant? What
difference does it make in life, ministry, and relationships? What are the obstacles that stand
in the way of a life marked by an identity rooted in Christ?
The material covered in this first module is foundational to the Spiritual Formation course
as a whole. Some may say this is an elementary conversation. But like so many areas of our
faith, it is one of those elementary conversations that we grow in throughout our lives. It is
one thing to say, "my identity is centered on Christ and who I am as a Christ-follower.,, It is
quite another to live as though we believe it to be true. This is one of many reasons why we
explore this question of identity in the context of community. We need the Spirit in-dwelt
community to come along side us as we continually discover what it means to say we are "in
Christ.,,
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viii I Identity
Session 1: Introduction to Identity
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the

image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your

mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
What is Spiritual Formation?

Spiritual formation is:
The process by which God forms Christ's character in believers by the ministry
of the Spirit, in the context of community, and in accordance with biblical
standards. This process involves the transformation of the whole person in
desires, thoughts, behaviors, and styles of relating with God and others. Such
life change is manifest in a growing love for God and others-a dying to self
and living for Christ.
There are several elements of this definition that need to be underscored. First, Spiritual
formation is a process. All of us who have trusted Christ and are filled with the Spirit are in
process. The process is often slow, sometimes painful, and always filled with ups and downs
along the way. Our intentional engagement in the process is essential, but learning to be
patient with God, each other, and ourselves is a vital part of our Spiritual formation.
Second, Spiritual formation is the formation of Christ's character in us. The Apostle Paul told
the Galatians that he was in the pains of childbirth "until Christ is formed in you" (Galatians
4:19): The Father's desire for his adopted children is that we become more and more like his
Son. This is the ultimate goal of all Christian Spiritual formation-to be conformed to the
character of Christ.
Third, this process is accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives
of believers. Left to ourselves we are completely unable to bring about this transformation.
The agent of change in the Christian life is the Spirit of God. Our role is to open ourselves up
to his work, allowing him to accomplish his purposes in us.
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Fourth, this formation happens in the context of Christian community. Any vision of Spiritual
formation that does not sufficiently acknowledge the importance of living life together
misses something essential. God has created us to live in authentic relationships with other
people and he uses these relationships to nurture and sustain our spiritual lives.
Fifth, Christian Scripture is indispensable to the process of Spiritual formation. The Bible is
the place where the viva vox def-the living voice of God-is heard today. Not only is the
Bible the ultimate norm for Christian faith and practice, it serves as the primary instrument
of the Spirit, which he uses to bring about the transformation of our character.
Sixth, this is a holistic process. Spiritual formation is not merely about an internal change in
the disposition of our hearts. It is an internal change that results in the transformation of our
whole self-our desires, thoughts, behaviors, and relationships.
Finally, authentic Christian Spiritual formation results in a growing love for God and others.
Spiritual transformation compels us toward mission as we daily die to ourselves and seek to
live for Christ. All too frequently we reduce Spirituality to sin management-learning to
manage our pathologies. But the essence of Christian Spirituality as defined by Jesus is loving
God with all that we are and all we have and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
What Does "Identity" Have to Do with Spiritual Formation?

In his first letter to his young protege, Paul tells Timothy to pay close attention to himself
and to his doctrine (1 Tim 4:16). In advising Timothy to pay attention to himself the Apostle
Paul is not encouraging a kind of narcissistic self-absorption that can easily befall the
spiritually-minded person. Rather he is encouraging Timothy toward introspection-to
watch the dispositions of character and habitual patterns of behavior that characterize his
life so as to ensure that they are honoring to God. As your Spiritual Formation group explores
Identity, you'll be asked to cultivate the same kind of attentiveness. Why is this important for
Spiritual formation? Consider the following statement:
Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom,
consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined
by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to
discern. 2
With these words John Calvin begins his monumental work, Institutes of the Christian
Religion. From the outset, Calvin acknowledges the indissoluble union that exists between
truly knowing God and truly knowing ourselves. In coming to a deeper knowledge of
ourselves, we know God better. And in coming to a deeper knowledge of God, we know
ourselves better. In this first semester of Spiritual Formation our focus will be upon this two-
2 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Library of Christian Classics, ed. John T. McNeill,
trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), l.i.1.
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fold knowledge, grasping more fully our true identity and grounding that understanding in
the truth of God.
Often our attempts to articulate the basics of Christianity involve the idea of inviting God into
our lives, in finding a place for him in our story. But in truth we understand God and ourselves
better when we recognize that he invites us into his life and that he has made a place for us
in his story. The story of the Bible is the story of God; it is one large, sweeping drama of
creation, fall, redemption, and renewal. We understand who God is and who we are as we
come to understand ourselves as a part of this story. We understand our true identity when
we see ourselves as created, fallen, and redeemed. We understand our true identity when we
recognize that God is in the process of moving all of creation toward a renewed cosmos, what
the Apostle Peter calls "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter
3:13).
Creation
We cannot fully comprehend our identity until we understand the dignity of our creation.
Human beings exist only by virtue of God's gracious choice to call us into being. We are his
handiwork, the pinnacle of creation. All of creation reveals God's glory, but the Bible
indicates that the height of his handiwork is on display in the ordinary people that we
encounter every day. Knowing God and ourselves involves knowing that he is our Gracious
Creator and we are his creatures.
Fall
To fully grasp our identity, not only must we understand the dignity of our creation, we must
also understand the depth of our fallenness. God's story as recorded for us in Scripture
begins with the affirmation that humanity is his good creation. We are created to bring him
glory and to exercise dominion over the rest of the created order. But with the entrance of
sin into the story in Genesis 3 comes a fundamental distortion of God's good creation. After
the fall, sin is all-pervasive. It distorts our physical world, our physical bodies, our social
structures, and our inner-most selves. To understand our identity is to understand that we
are sin-sick people living in a sin-scarred world.
Redemption
The climax of God's story was the incarnation of the Son, the second person of the Trinity,
who entered into our time and space to live a perfect example of what it is to be an image-
bearer, who died to atone for our sins, and who was raised to new life to give us hope beyond
the grave. By the grace of God, we who were far away from God in our fallen condition have
been brought near through the redeeming work of Christ. We who were enemies have been
made friends. We have been adopted as God's children through our faith in his Son.
Understanding our identity means recognizing the profound truth of our new position "in
Christ."
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Renewal
God's story will one day reach its denouement. God will renew his creation, restoring the
glory of the cosmos that has been marred by sin. Our hope will be realized, our faith will be
made sight, and our struggles with sin will be no more.
Conclusion
We now live between redemption and renewal. We still feel the effects of the fall and the
allure of sin. But we also long for the ultimate liberation from sin and the uninhibited
communion with God that awaits us. It is in the midst of this tension that we engage in
Spiritual formation, as we open ourselves up to the Spirit of God and allow him to do the
work of transforming us into the image of Christ. This pattern of creation, fall, redemption,
and renewal will inform the remainder of our exploration of the concept of identity as we
move forward this semester. Each of the four "movements" of the grand story of Scripture
has implications for us as we seek to understand and engage in Spiritual formation.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Reflect upon the Word
1. Identify one verse, passage or story from Scripture that has contributed significantly to
your Spiritual growth. Explain why it has had such an impact on you.
Reflect upon our world

2. How does your particular culture define "spirituality"? How does that differ from the
definition of Spiritual formation offered in this session?
Reflect upon your Spiritual journey

3. What would you say have been the most significant factors or contexts that have
contributed to your own Spiritual formation? (e.g., churches, parachurch ministries,
other Christian organizations) What were the primary ways that Spiritual growth
happened and what were the primary "marks" of Spiritual maturity in these contexts?
Reflect upon your life now

4. What hopes do you have for your own Spiritual growth as you begin seminary? What
fears or concerns do you have?
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Digging Deeper:
Reflect upon Foundations of Spiritual Formation reading
5. What is one takeaway from your reading in Paul Pettit's Foundations of Spiritual
Formation (Forward, Introduction, and Chapter 1, "Introducing Spiritual Formation")
that you can share with the group?
Concluding Prayer
Almighty FatherJ as we embark on this journeyJ we ask that you would
accomplish your purpose in our lives as your Spirit works in us to make us more
like Christ. Would you help us to be open to you and to each other? Would you
help us avoid self-protecting behaviorsJ unhelpful attitudesJ and the sins that so
easily entangle us? Help usJ Father, to be attentive to our lives and to your
presence and activity in them. Conform us more and more to the image ofyour
SonJ we prayJ through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
For Further Study:

Jones, Barry D. Dwell: Life with God for the World. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2014.
Pettit, Paul. ed. Foundations of Spiritual Formation: A Community Approach to Becoming Like
Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2008.
Smith, James K. A Desiring the Kingdom: WorshipJ WorldviewJ and Cultural Formation. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009.
Wilhoit, James C. Spiritual Formation as If the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ Through
Community. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008.
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6 I Identity
Session 2: Image of God
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the bird of the heavens and
over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
Creation in the Image of God

God's glory is on display in all of his creation. The angels that surround God's throne in
Isaiah's vision of the heavenly throne room call out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the
LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isaiah 6:3). The noble beauty of the
mountains, the vast expanse of the starry sky, and the strength of the waves crashing in on a
beach all serve as reminders of the glory of God revealed in his creation. But the Bible
indicates the pinnacle of his handiwork is on display in the ordinary people we encounter
every day.
The opening chapters of the biblical narrative describe God's work of creation, focusing
primarily on the creation of human beings who are created in the imago dei-created as
God's unique image bearers in the world. There are four aspects of the creation story that
deserve our careful attention as we study the concept of identity.
An Intimate Relationship with God

Adam and Eve were created to enjoy close, personal communion with God. Prior to the fall
they were uninhibited in their relationship with their Maker. In the creation narrative God is
said to "walk through the garden in the cool of the day." God talks with Adam and Eve and
they are capable of standing before him without guilt or shame. God has created us to know
him, to love him, and to serve him in the context of relationship.
An Unmatched Dignfty in Creation

Adam and Eve held an unrivaled position of honor among God's creative work. The
affirmation that human beings are created "in the image of God" implies that each and every
one of us is created with a special dignity, an inherent worth bestowed on us by the God
whose image we are made to bear. Both the man and the woman were created to bear the
imago dei, and, as such, are "crowned with glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5).
A Life of Purpose
God created Adam and Eve with a purpose in mind. The Westminster Shorter Catechism
begins with the famous question, "What is the chief end of man?" In reply, the catechism
insists that the primary purpose of each human being is "to glorify God and enjoy him
forever." Human beings exist to bring God glory. God did not create us out of any sense of
need on his part. Instead, he created us for his own delight, to be the objects of his love that
might exist for the praise of his glory.
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Life Together in Community
At least part of what it means to be image bearers is that we are created as inherently
relational beings. As the Triune God has eternally existed in the divine community of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, we are created to live together in community as divine imagers. The fact
that God has created us to live in intimate relationships with other people is underscored in
Genesis 2, when God looks upon his creation and sees something that he says is not good-
that Adam was alone. God has hardwired human beings for deep, meaningful, and authentic
relationships.
The Image of God and the Fall

With humanity's fall into sin came a tragic defacement of the imago dei. Human beings did
not cease to bear God's image, but the image of God in us became marred and disfigured. Our
uninhibited intimacy with God was broken when guilt and shame entered the Garden and
Adam and Eve sought to hide from their Maker. This side of Eden, all of us are born into a
state of alienation from God and born with an inborn tendency to pursue our own sinful, self-
seeking orientation.
Though we continue to possess inherent dignity as divine image bearers, this side of Eden
we often fail to treat each other as though we do. Instead our relationships with fellow image
bearers are often characterized by subtle or overt prejudice, abuse, neglect, and selfish
exploitation. Our sinful state corrupts not only our view of others but also our view of
ourselves. The dignity that is ours as God's image bearers gets distorted into various forms
of self-aggrandizement or self-loathing.
Our sense of purpose is also marred by sin. Instead of pursuing God and his glory, we pursue
our own self-serving purposes. Instead of finding our greatest delight in our relationship
with our Creator we seek to satiate our deeply held desires through idolatrous means. We
desire our own glory rather than God's. Every pursuit without God and his glory at the center
is an act of idolatry.
A consequence of our reality as fallen creatures is the sad fact we are born with a deep-seated
ambivalence toward community. On the one hand, we are created for community, so we have
a profound longing to know and be known in intimate relationships. But on the other hand,
we fear being truly known, fearing that if someone really knew us they would reject, exploit,
or wound us. So we shy away from entering into authentic community where we truly know
others and are truly known by them.
Creation, Redemption, and Spiritual Formation

These four basic dimensions of human identity-relationship with God, dignity, purpose,
and community-are fundamental to what God is doing in our Spiritual formation. Through
Christ the alienation of God and humanity has been overcome. We have been reconciled to
God through Christ and the Spirit now works in us to overcome the effects of sin in these four
dimensions of our lives. Spiritual formation involves growing in our personal relationship
with God within the context of an authentic Christian community.
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Conclusion
The New Testament affirms that the ultimate and unadulterated "image of God" is Jesus
Christ himself (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15). Remarkably, our destiny as believers is
to be conformed to his image (Romans 8:29), and the Spirit is presently at work bringing this
about in each of our lives (2 Corinthians 3:18). Throughout the four semesters of Spiritual
Formation, we will give further attention to how we can personally and corporately engage
in this process in an intentional and sustained way, opening ourselves up to the Spirit and
allowing him to do his work. As we do, we will find ourselves nurturing our relationship with
God, growing in love for our fellow image bearers, engaging more deeply in the pursuit of
God's purposes in the world, and entering into deeper relationships of trust, encouragement,
and interdependence.

1. Read Psalm 8, David's psalm of praise to God for his good creation. What are the key
affirmations that David makes about the created order in general and about God's
creation of humanity in particular?

2. This session discussed four aspects of the creation story that are fundamental to human
identity: an intimate relationship with God, an unmatched dignity in creation, a life_ of
purpose, and life together in community. How do the distortions of human identity
(discussed under the heading "The Image of God and the Fall") show up in our world
today?
Reflect on your Spiritual journey

3. What are some concrete examples of the distortion of these four aspects of human
identity that you have encountered in your own experience? Where have you seen
examples of the renewal of these four?
Reflect on your life now

4. The session suggested that Spiritual formation involves growth in (1) our personal
relationship with God, (2) a biblical understanding of our neighbors and ourselves, (3)
abandonment of selfish ambitions in pursuit of God's purposes, and (4) engagement in
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authentic Christian community. Identify ways that God has recently been at work in these
four areas in your life. Which one of these four is the most challenging for you?
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth, we acknowledge that our very
existence comes only because ofyour gracious choice to call us into being. You
have created us to bear your image, to bring you glory and to exercise dominion
in your world, but we confess that we have followed after Adam and have walked
in sin. Help us, Lord, to know you more intimately, to think rightly about
ourselves and our neighbors, to set aside our selfish ambition in pursuit ofyour
purposes and to build and nurture meaningful relationships with other believers.
Through Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen.
For Further Study:

McKnight, Scott. Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us. Orleans, MA: Paraclete Press, 2005.
Plantinga, Cornelius. Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary ofSin. Grand Rapids, MI Wm.
B. Eerdmans, 1995.
Powers, Joni Grace, and Robert Pyne. Life Space: The Practice of Life with God. Ventura, CA:
Regal, 2007.
Pyne, Robert. Humanity & Sin: The Creation, Fall, and Redemption of Humanity. Nashville, TN:
Word, 1999.
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Session 3: Design
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's

womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are
your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one
of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13-16
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: if
prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who
teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who
contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts
of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12: 6-8
Divine Design
In Psalm 139, David praises God for the intimate and intricate design of how God crafted
his life. In verses 15 and 16 the Psalmist says God's gaze fell upon him when he was no
bigger than the head of a knitting needle. The phrase "unformed substance" is the
translation of a single Hebrew word that refers to a human embryo. God's intimate
attention to the life of the Psalmist began at the very beginning, when his very existence
was unknown to anyone else, even to the mother in whose womb he was being formed.
In verse 13 David says, "You created my inmost being." The Hebrew literally reads, "You
formed my kidneys." In ancient Hebrew culture the kidneys were considered the seat of
human affections and emotions. David affirms that his own unique "inner being" was formed
in accordance with God's design and intention. In this session we will focus on how God has
uniquely designed each one of us to accomplish this purpose. He has created each of us with
our own unique capacities to love and serve him and to love and serve others.
The essence of Christian Spirituality is captured in Jesus' well-known interaction with an

expert in the law who asked him to identify "the greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:34-
40; cf. Mark 12:28-34). In his reply, Jesus brings together two Old Testament commands and
suggests that the two are inseparable: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind ..." and "love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus put
together the command to relate properly with God and the command to relate properly with
other people, suggesting that these two commands capture the sum and substance of the life
God desires from us. One of the chiefreasons the Spiritual Formation Ministry exists at Dallas
Seminary is to give students a "laboratory" in which their Christian Spirituality can continue
to be developed and lived out by the empowering work of the Spirit. We are given an
opportunity to do "life together" with a specific group of fellow students with whom we are
encouraged to love God more deeply and demonstrate our ability to love others well.
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Part of God's creative design for each person includes their unique style of relating and their
unique capacities for service-our temperament and our gifting. As we seek to love others
well in community, it can be helpful to understand our own "relational wiring" and that of
others in our group. So too, it is important for each of us to understand how God has gifted
us as individuals so we might better hone and employ our gifts to build up those in our Spirit
in-dwelt community.
Temperament
For centuries careful observers of human behavior have observed patterns of conduct and
styles of relating that characterize different people. Though each of us is created with our
own unique "inner being," our inner motivations and relational dispositions tend to fall into
one of several predictable patterns commonly referred to as our "temperament."
In the context of a discussion on Spiritual formation, the subject of temperament is relevant

for at least two reasons. First, our temperaments have implications for the ways in which we
relate both to God and other people. Every temperament has ·strengths and weaknesses.
There is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" temperament, just different temperaments. We
have a natural tendency to want to chisel away aspects of other people in order to create
them in o'ur own image. Having an awareness of our own temperament allows us to
understand and engage the strengths of our "personality type" as we relate to God and others
and to respond to the weaknesses of our natural dispositions as we relate to God and others.
Instead of inadvertently hurting others as we attempt to craft them to be like us, we can learn
to appreciate them for how God has uniquely wired them for his service.
Second, understanding the temperament of others helps us to love and lead them well. It can
be difficult to love people if we do not understand them, particularly when their personality
is different from our own. A person with a strong "task orientation" can struggle to
understand, appreciate and relate to a person with a strong "people orientation." A
contemplative, introverted person may have a difficult time "getting" and "connecting" with
a person who is more gregarious and extroverted. Understanding both our own
temperament and the temperament of those with whom we share life can help us understand
and appreciate our differences and overcome some of the relational challenges that arise
because of those differences.
Gifts
The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world today is that of creating and sanctifying a people
for the glory of the triune God. Stated more succinctly, the Spirit's work is the building up of
the church. To accomplish this work, the Spirit uses human agents whom he endows with
special abilities to minister to others for the building up of the Body of Christ. Each one of us
has been sovereignly designed and enabled to serve others in particular ways. As the Apostle
Paul indicates, "to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1
Corinthians 12:7).
The New Testament speaks of a variety of gifts such as showing mercy, teaching, leading, and
encouragement. In preparing for ministry, it can be helpful for us to reflect on how the Spirit
12 I Identity
has enabled each of us to contribute to his work of building up the church. Some questions
that can help us identify our own gifting are: (1) "What do I consider to be the most pressing
need in the Church today?" (2) "What am I most passionate about doing to contribute to the
Church?" (3) "How have I significantly impacted others in a spiritual sense in the past?" (4)
"What have others, particularly those who know me well, affirmed about me in ministry or
service to others?"
It is worth drawing attention to two potentially negative aspects of our consideration of

spiritual gifting. First, we must remember that spiritual gifts are not given for the purpose of
providing a sense of personal satisfaction or achievement. We do often find great satisfaction
and enjoyment in employing our gifts. But when we focus our attention on how exercising
our gifts make us feel, or on the applause or approval of others in response to our gifts,
something as glorious as spiritual gifting can become idolatrous. Spiritual gifts are given "for
the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:27), "for building up the Body of Christ" (Ephesians
4:12).
Second, we must be on guard against "gift envy." In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul says,
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but
the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers
them all in everyone" (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). There are certain gifts that are sometimes
afforded higher honor in people's estimation, particularly in a seminary context. But Paul's
teaching indicates that all of the gifts are important, even essential, to the building up of the
church. Some gifts are more publicly visible than others, but all are given by the gracious
provision of God for his glory and for the good of his people. We are to be content with the
gifts that God sovereignly gives us and practice humility in our exercise of those gifts.
Conclusion
God has created all humanity with a purpose-to glorify him and enjoy him forever. But he
has intricately designed each one of us to manifest that purpose in unique ways. He has
designed us all with particular styles of relating and special capacities for service.
Understanding our "identity" and growing in Spiritual formation involves recognizing more
fully these aspects of God's design in each of our lives, so that we might further learn what it
means for each of us to love God with all we are and all we have and love our neighbors as
ourselves.

Reflect on the Word
1. Read Psalm 139:1-18. Identify key concepts in the psalm that have implications for our
Spiritual formation. If taken seriously, how might these concepts affect the way we think
and live in our pursuit of spiritual growth?
Identity 113
2. Identify an experience in your life when you particularly sensed you were operating
according to your design. What makes that experience stand out in your memory?

3. Some students struggle in seminary because their temperaments do not fit well into the
confines of the seminary environment or because they are limited in their opportunities
to exercise their gifts. What challenges have you faced or are you concerned about facing
in this regard? How has your experience at the seminary fit with your temperament
and/or gifting?
Please complete Life Inventory Exercise 1.
Concluding Prayer
Father in Heaven, we know that you have created each of us for a purpose. You
have made each of us unique and you delight in our uniqueness. You have given
us gifts to glorify you and to accomplish your purposes, building up your church
and reaching out to your world. Help us, Lord, to better understand how you have
designed us and how you desire to use us. Help us to be diligent in our studies, so
that we may be further prepared to be used by you in building up your church.
And help us not neglect you or our neighbors in the midst of our busyness. We
pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.
For Further Study:

Rath, Tom. StrengthsFinder 2.0. New York: Gallup, 2007.
Smith, Gordon T. Courage & Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potential. Downers Grove, IL:
Intervarsity Press, 1999.
Thomas, Gary. Sacred Pathways: Discovering Your Soul's Path to God. Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2002.
Voges, Ken and Ron Brand. Understanding How Others Misunderstand You: A Unique and
Proven Plan for Strengthening Personal Relationships. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1995.
14 I Identity
Life Inventory Exercise 1: Design
Although there are many personality assessment approaches, here we will utilize the DISC
Discovery Report you completed at the beginning of the semester. Each letter in the DISC
model of Human Behavior represents a core personality style: Dominant (D), Inspiring (1),
Supportive (S), and Cautious (C). For a summary of the personality styles, please refer to
page 5 of your DISC report. While people often can be characterized by one or two
predominant patterns of conduct, each individual is a unique combination of all four traits.
Even those traits that fall significantly below the mid-line are a part of your unique
temperament. The Discovery Report refers to this combination as your distinct "personality
blend.,,
The goal of this exercise is to consider some basic characteristics of your personality blend
that reflect consistent patterns in your behavior. Additionally, we hope you will take this
opportunity to discover more about the God-given design of your fellow group members.
Finally, you will consider your spiritual gifting based on Scripture, your passions, and your
experiences.
We need to stress that this exercise and the findings of your DISC personality assessment
will not by itself verify your personality type or your spiritual gifts. Human beings are much
more complex than the results of a particular tool. This exercise merely gives you a chance
to consider and discuss various aspects of your personality and passions and to think about
how this knowledge can help you live out your faith. By no means is this an attempt to
"define,, you. Rather, it provides a launching point for helpful discussion about each of our
unique contributions to the body of Christ based on how we,ve been designed.
1. Record your personality blend here: _ __
Review the information regarding your particular personality blend found on pages 7 - 10
of your Discovery Report. Do you think these descriptors accurately describe your
personality, strengths, and potential blind spots? What insights did you gain through
reviewing your report?
2. How might the characteristics of your personality blend challenge your ability to love
others well? On the contrary, how might they contribute positively toward your ability to
love others well?
3. How might they affect your relationship with God?
Identity I 15
Gifts (Spiritual gifts will be dealt with in greater detail in the fourth module, Fidelity.)
1. Read each of the following passages and note what each passage teaches about Spiritual
gifts.
Romans 12:1-8
I Corinthians 12:1-31
2. To help clarify your Spiritual gifting, consider the following questions:
a. What do I consider to be the most pressing need in the Church today?
b. What am I most passionate about doing to contribute to the Church?
c. What are some ways that I have significantly impacted others in a Spiritual
sense in the past?
d. What have other people, particularly those who know me well, affirmed about
me in ministry or service to others?
3. After reflecting on the above questions, what do you consider to be your Spiritual gifts?
16 I Identity
Session 4: Heritage
He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he
made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he
determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
Acts 17:25-26, NIV
What quickens my pulse now is the stretch ahead rather than the one behind,
and it is mainly for some clue to where I am going that I search through where
I have been, for some hint of who I am becoming or failing to become that I
delve into what used to be.
Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey
Spiritual Formation and Heritage

Human beings are inherently social creatures. We are made to survive and to thrive by living
"life together." We make sense of the world and of ourselves through patterns of thinking
and relating that come to us from the various networks of relationships in which we find
ourselves. We are born into families, communities, and cultures that deeply shape us. In this
session (and the corresponding exercise) we will examine the ways we are shaped by our
heritage. We will focus our attention on three particular aspects of heritage that factor into
our Spiritual formation: our family heritage, our dominant cultural heritage, and our
racial/ ethnic heritage. As we explore these aspects of our individual experiences, we want
to evaluate how to respond to what our heritage has taught us-both the negative and the
positive lessons.
Family
It would be impossible to overstate the significance of our families in shaping us into the
people we have become. Our character is deeply formed-for good and for ill-by our family
heritage. Some people live with a deep sense of gratitude for the nurturing they received
from loving parents and family members. Others continue to deal with painful wounds
inflicted on them by those closest to them. Still others live with some mixed sense of both
gratitude and remorse, recognizing that our families have made positive contributions to
who we have become, while also recognizing that they have wounded us or let us down in
some ways.
Consider some of the important lessons that we learn (and sometimes must unlearn) from
our families. It is largely from our families that we learn about gender-what it means to be
a man or a woman and how men and women and husbands and wives are to relate to one
another. It is largely from our families that we learn about race and ethnicity-what it means
to be a part of the race and/ or ethnic group we belong to and how different racial and ethnic
groups are to interact. It is largely from our families that we learn about politics-how we
ought to order our societies and who or what ought to be valued and supported by our
Identity 117
political allegiances. It is largely from our families that we learn about how we handle
religion-how we acknowledge different belief systems and how we relate to our own.
Obviously our commitment to Christ has profound implications for each of the four examples
cited above-gender, race and ethnicity, politics, and religion. For some, our family heritage
introduced us to and reinforced Christian convictions about these issues. For others, our
family heritage was not informed by Christian convictions and therefore sometimes taught
us things that are deeply at odds with those convictions. Still others experienced troubling
mixed messages, as our families professed Christian commitments yet modeled for us
convictions that we ought to recogn~ze as inappropriate for followers of Christ. An important
part of our Spiritual formation is recognizing who or what has shaped us in ways that are
contrary to Christ and the gospel. From that recognition and with the help of the Spirit we
need to try and unlearn these deeply imbedded beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that we have
inherited so that we might learn beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that bring God honor.
Cultural Heritage
An ancient proverb says, "If you want to know about water, don't ask a fish." According to
the logic of the proverb a fish is so immersed in and surrounded by water-and so
unconscious of any other environment-that he could not tell you anything meaningful
about the water in which he swims. As Christians we often operate in the same unconscious
manner amongst the cultural settings in which we find ourselves. Too often we fail to pay
critical attention to how our culture shapes us and how others are not necessarily shaped
the same way.
Our participation in a given culture shapes our perceptions of meaning, value, and identity.
Our culture provides us with everything from "the meaning of life" to the meaning of the
physical objects that inhabit our surroundings. Our cultural setting mediates a sense of value,
an understanding of what is important, what is beautiful, and what is to be pursued or
rejected. Our participation in culture also provides us with a sense of identity, a sense of who
we are and where we fit in the social order.
When we are unconscious of the way that our participation in the dominant culture shapes
our conceptions of meaning, value, and identity, we are unable to accurately discern where
tensions exist between our culture's understanding of these things and the sense of meaning,
value, and identity that we find in our relationship with God and our participation in his
Church. If we desire to grow in Christ, we must become increasingly attentive to how our
cultural environment is shaping us.
Race and Ethnicity

People experience their racial and ethnic identities in different ways. For those who have
lived their entire lives with little exposure to people of other racial or ethnic backgrounds or
who have always been among the cultural majority, their own race may seem insignificant,
almost "invisible." For others, particularly those who have experienced racial prejudice or
ethnic discrimination, these aspects of their heritage are among the most significant
18 I Identity
dimensions of their identity. Our families, surrounding cultures, and participation in certain
racial and/ or ethnic groups shape our perceptions of race and ethnicity in profound ways.
As believers, our faith in Christ has implications for how we think about our racial and ethnic
identity and that of others, but we must be cautious not to follow misdirected implications.
As Christians, to suggest that race and ethnicity do not matter is to ignore the fact our
1
diversity is a part of God s creative intention for his image bearers. Our diversity should be
appreciated and celebrated as a bridge to unity rather than an obstacle. At the same time,
believers ought to consider how our allegiance to Christ and identification with his Body
impacts all other social identities. We are first and foremost brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our racial diversity, although highly significant, should never be the "main thing." As
Christians, we should be willing to examine our perceptions of race and ethnicity,
recognizing that patterns of thinking or relating from our own heritage may not be honoring
to God or to our fellow image bearers.
In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul reminds his readers that God has reconciled Jews and Gentiles
both to himself and one another. In Christ Jesus the Gentiles were brought near "by the blood
1
of Chrisf (2:13).
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down
in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of
commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one
new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to
God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (2: 14-16)
As brothers and sisters in Christ we should have unity and peace, regardless of racial
1
differences. In fact, such diversity adds to and, in God s creative economy, builds up such
unity. The challenge is to embrace the reality of who we are and the significant role race plays
in that equation without allowing our racial distinctiveness to serve as a "dividing wall of
hostility" within the body of Christ. May it never be that we would live in a way that denies
what Christ has done!
Conclusion
Although for each of us our heritage is in some sense a mix of blessing and brokenness, it is
important to keep in mind that God has superintended the entire process and desires to
uniquely use it for His glory and our good. We have much to learn from and grow in as we
pay careful attention to our stories as shaped by our family, cultural, and racial/ ethnic
heritage.
Please note that when we refer in future sessions to your "heritage': we are referring to
the amalgamation ofyour family background, your religious and cultural heritage, and
your racial and ethnic identlty.
Identity I 19
Reflect on the Word
1. Consider the story of Moses. In what ways did his family, cultural, and ethnic heritage
impact his life and "ministry"?
Reflect on our world

2. What are some examples of the way your particular culture communicates meaning,
value, and identity? What are some of the dominant images it uses, stories it tells, and
things, people, and ideas that it esteems?

3. Identify the most positive spiritual contribution you have received from your family.
Which character trait, spiritual practice or religious belief has made the most difference
in your life?

4. Which of these dimensions of your heritage-family, cultural, racial, or ethnic-has
affected your perception of your identity most profoundly? Why and how?
Concluding Prayer
Father, you know our stories. You know where we've come from and how that
has shaped us for good and for ill. As we reflect on our heritage, help us to see
your hand at work, forming each of us into the person we have become. Help us
discern any patterns of thinking and behavior that we've learned from our
heritage that are not honoring to you. Help us to set them aside for new ones that
correspond to your intentions for us. And for the many good things that we have
gained from our heritage, we give you thanks. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
20 I Identity
For Further Study:
Ackerman, Paul D. In God's Image After All: How Psychology Supports Biblical Creationism.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990.
Beck, James R. and Bruce Demarest. The Human Person in Theology and Psychology: A Biblical
Anthropology for the Twenty-First Century. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005.
Boa, Kenneth. Augustine to Freud: What Theologians and Psychologists Tell Us About Human
Nature [And Why it Matters). Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2004.
Corduan, Winfried. A Tapestry of Faiths: The Common Threads Between Christianity and
World Religions. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2002.
Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling. Downers Grove: InterVarsity
Press, 2008.
Fong, Bruce W. ''Addressing the Issue of Racial Reconciliation According to the Principles of
Eph 2:11-22."Journal of the Evangelical Theological Societyv. 38, no. 4 (1995): 565-580.
Identity I 21
Life Inventory Exercise 2: Heritage
Family Heritage
1. Identify the significant people in your family heritage.
2. What is the religious background of the key figures in your.family heritage?
3. Identify some of the significant aspects of your family background.
4. What were the dominant values?
5. How did your family define gender roles?
6. How has your family heritage contributed to the formation of your character?
Cultural Heritage
1. Identify the cultural setting in which you grew up, e.g. Midwestern United States, Post-
Communist Eastern Europe, upper class gated community, etc. When and where were
you born and raised?
22 I Identity
2. Identify some of the key aspects of your cultural background. What were the dominant
values?
3. How has your cultural background affected your Spiritual formation?
Racial and Ethnic Heritage

1. How do you identify yourself with respect to your racial and ethnic background?
2. Identify some of the key aspects of your racial or ethnic background. What were the
dominant values?
3. How has your racial or ethnic heritage contributed to the formation of your character?
4. What racial or ethnic tensions have you experienced while in seminary?
5. What would you like your fellow students to understand about your racial background
that they may not see?
Identity I 23
24 I Identity
Session 5: Our Identity in Christ
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what
is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised
in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so
that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts,
11
boast in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:27-31
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former

ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
11
conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy.
-1 Peter 1:14-16
Holiness is not a condition into which we drift.

John R. W. Stott, God's New Society: The Message of Ephesians
Our Identity
In the grand story of God the climax comes when the Eternal Son of the Father takes on flesh
and blood as the Son of Man. Christ took on humanity to redeem humanity. The second
century theologian Irenaeus of Lyons said it this way: "He who was the Son of God became
the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might
become the son of God. Through the incarnation, passion and resurrection of Christ, we
113
now have access to his righteousness, holiness and redemption. Through faith, we who were
dead in Adam are now made alive in Christ.
In a very real sense, Spiritual formation is the process of learning to live out who we are, that
is, learning to manifest in our lives the realities that the Bible says are true of those of us who
11 11
are "in Christ. This little phrase, "in Christ, is one of the Apostle Paul's favorite ways of
speaking about our Christian identity. In Paul's usage, the phrase is fraught with meaning.
To be in Christ means to have a union established with him in such a way that everything
that is in him that can be shared with us will be shared with us. Christ alone is the unique,
"only-begotten,, Divine Son, but by being "in him" we share in the benefits of sonship
(Romans 8: 15-17). Consider the following list of all that we enjoy in him:
• we receive grace in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:4)

• our redemption is in Christ (Romans 3 :24)
3 Irenaeus, Against Heresies in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, lrenaeus,
ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (reprint edition, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), III.xix, 1,448.
Identity I 25
• we are justified in Christ (Galatians 2:16)
• we have forgiveness of sins in Christ (Ephesians 4:32)
• there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1)
• we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• we have eternal life in Christ (Romans 6:23)
• God supplies all our needs in Christ (Philippians 4: 19)
• we have every spiritual blessing of heaven in Christ (Ephesians 1: 3)
• we will be presented to God perfect/complete in Christ (Colossians 1:28)
• we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:38-39)
• we are one body with fellow believers in Christ (Romans 12: 5)
These incredible affirmations of all that is true of us "in Christ" ought to evoke in us a deep
sense of awe and gratitude, a profound love for and loyalty to Christ, and an impassioned
desire to increase his renown.
Another critical aspect of our identity "in Christ" is that it is a corporate identity. We are in
Christ together and enjoy the benefits of Christ together. We are redeemed together, justified
together, forgiven together, created anew together, and perfected together. We share an
astonishing unity created in Christ and for the glory of Christ as we participate as one body
in him. Our corporate identity in Christ points us to one of Paul's favorite ways to identify
those in Christ-his use of the term "saints."
Called Saints
In the opening words of six of his New Testament epistles the Apostle Paul refers to those in
the church he addresses as "saints." The Greek word hagioi literally means "holy ones," those
"set apart" for God-set apart from the corruption of the world and set apart for the purpose
of engaging in the mission of God as ambassadors of Christ. According to Paul, we are all
"saints by calling." The implications of this designation are two-fold. On the one hand, the
designation speaks to our positional identity. We are "holy ones" in that we are clothed with
the righteousness of Christ. We have had Christ's righteousness imputed to us. He has
become for us our "righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).
On the other hand, as the adopted children of the Father we are called to be people who are
not only "holy ones" in terms of our spiritual position, but who manifest holiness in our lives
and in our communities. We are not only those who have been declared holy, but also those
to whom God has commanded, "Be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:16).
In our life-long process of Spiritual formation, we who are called "holy ones" must learn to
live holy lives. We are called holy and enabled to live that way through God's Spirit. As Peter
insists, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness," ,, (2
Peter 1:3). We are given a new identity (as holy ones in Christ), a new power (through the
indwelling Holy Spirit) and a new community (in the unity of the church in Christ through
the Spirit).
But a careful examination of Paul's usage of hagioi makes clear the reality that we all
experience-that there is often a disconnect between our practice in life and our position in
26 I Identity
Christ. For example, Paul addresses the Corinthians as "saints" in 1 Corinthians 1:2, but one
of his chief reasons for writing that epistle was to chide the Corinthian church for the overt
sin that they tolerated in their midst Why do we so often experience this discrepancy
between our practice and our position?
Already/Not Yet
In Romans 8:29 Paul makes it explicitly clear that every Christian is "predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of his Son." Conformity to Christ is our destiny as believers. When
God completes his work in us, this formation into Christ's likeness will be complete. But we
live now in the tension between the already and the not yet-between redemption and
renewal. We are no longer what we once were, but we are not yet what we will one day be.
Consider these profound words from the great reformer Martin Luther:
This life is not righteous, but growth in righteousness; it is not health, but
healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise; we are not yet what
we will be but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it
is going on; this is not the end, but it is the road; all does not yet gleam in glory,
but all is being purified.4
We are saints in process, learning to live out our new identity in Christ, enabled by our new
power in the Spirit, in our new community in the Church. But we still find ourselves in the
presence of sin as we live in a fallen world. We still find ourselves affected by the patterns of
sin that have been a part of our personal, family and cultural stories.
False Identities
There are times when we as Christians find ourselves believing in or projecting a false
identity. This can manifest itself in one of two ways. On the one hand, we sometimes look for
our identity in the wrong places. We confuse our identity with our roles, overly conflating
who we are with what we do. Rather than finding our sense of self, our sense of value, and
our sense of purpose in Christ, we look to our jobs, our relationships, our moral performance
or the approval of others to find our sense of who we are and why we matter. When we fall
into this subtle form of idolatry we find ourselves particularly vulnerable if our jobs change,
our relationships struggle, our moral performance lags or the approval of others is not
immediately evident.
On the other hand, we can sometimes simply be guilty of believing things about ourselves
that are in conflict with what the Bible says is true of our new identity in Christ We can
believe that we are not free from sin but bound to it. We can believe that we are not objects
of God's unconditional love but objects of his disappointment or scorn because of our
failures. We can believe that we are not able to change and heal but are shackled by our past
4
Luther, Martin, "Defense and Explanation of All the Articles," Luther's Works, vol. 32, George Farell and
Helmut Lehmann, eds. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1958), 24.
Identity I 27
Often when we believe these false things about our identity we also project a false self to
those around us. We may feel a sense of inner brokenness, but we do not want others to see
us that way. So we engage in image management, projecting something to the world that
hides the reality of our hearts and lives, presenting only what we think the world wants to
see.
Conclusion
The gospel is at the very heart of Spiritual formation. It is not only the good news that saves
us, but the good news that sanctifies us as well. Those times when we seek to find our sense
of value and purpose in the wrong places or when we attempt to project an image to others,
we then reveal a discrete form of idolatry-a failure to really believe the gospel. The gospel
insists that our identity is bound up in Jesus Christ and his indefatigable love for us, not in
our own performance. The gospel insists that we need not project an image to others to be
accepted by them because Christ already unconditionally accepts us. The gospel insists that
in Christ we are alive (Ephesians 2:4-7), we are forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14), we are free
(Romans 6·:16-18), we are called saints (1 Corinthians 1:2), we are beloved of God (Romans
5:8; Ephesians 5:1; 1 John 3:1, 2) and we are made one with other believers (Romans 12:5).
This is the good news of our new identity, the good news that has the power to transform
our lives.

Reflect on the Word
1. The Apostle Peter insists that we have been given "all things that pertain to life and
11 11
godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Identify what "things we have been given as Christians that
enable us to live godly lives.
Reflect on our world

2. Identify some ways in which you see people around you seeking a sense of identity,
meaning, and significance.

3. In what ways have you noticed yourself believing in or projecting a false identity?
28 I /dentity
4. Identify the primary roles you play at this stage of your life. In what ways might you be
(or have you been) tempted to find your identity in these particular roles? Consider any
temptations that come from being in seminary and in ministry.
Concluding Prayer
We praise you, 0 God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the grace you have
lavished on us inyour beloved Son. We who were dead have been made alive. We
who were enemies have been made friends. We who were Jar off and without
hope have been brought near and given a living hope through faith in Christ, who
is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. We praise you, 0 Father,Jor giving
us a new identity in Christ and we pray that you would enable us by your Spirit
to live in accordance with our new identity more and more each new day, until
that day when you bring to completion the work that you have begun in us. We
pray this in Christ's name and for his glory. Amen.
For Further Study:

Bridges, Jerry. Who Am I: Identity in Christ. Adelphi, MD: Cruciform Press, 2012.
Highfield, Ron. God, Freedom & Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-
Centered Culture. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2013.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Designed to Be Like Him: Understanding God's Plan for Fellowship,
Conduct, Conflict, and Matu'ri-ty. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005.
Tucker, J. Brian. You Belong to Christ: Paul and the Formation ofSocial Identity in 1 Corinthians
1-4. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010.
Final Project Check Point

When you have finished this session, you should read the instructions for Life Inventory
Exercise 6: Identity Foundations Position Paper (at the end of the Identity module). This is
the capstone project for this module. Review the assignment now so you can begin
working on the project in advance of the session in which you present your paper.
Identity I 29
30 I Identity
Session 6: Belief
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2 :8-9
While we teach that faith ought to be certain and assured, we cannot imagine
any certainty that is not tinged with doubt, or any assurance that is not
assailed by some anxiety. On the other hand, we say that believers are in
perpetual conflict with their own unbelief.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't
have doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in
the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.· · ·
Fredrick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
In the first session of the semester we explored the relationship between knowing God and
knowing ourselves, suggesting that the two are interrelated. Without a deep knowing of God
we are hindered in knowing ourselves. And without a deep knowing of ourselves we are
hindered in knowing God. This principle has guided this semester of exploration into the
concept of identity. In seeking to know ourselves more fully, one area worth considering is
the area of belief. Are there discrepancies between the things that we affirm theologically
and what might be called our "operational theology" -the way that we actually operate in
life?
The Struggle to Believe

In Luke 7:19, John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask "Are you the one who
is to come, or shall we look for another?" In the previous verse of Luke's narrative, he tells
his readers that the news of Jesus' miracle-working power had reached John. Yet, in sending
his disciples to question Jesus, this one whom Jesus claimed was "more than a prophet"
revealed that he was struggling to believe. The parallel account in Matthew 11 makes it
explicit that this event occurred while John was in prison. As he sat in his cell, John found
himself questioning whether or not Jesus was truly the long-awaited Messiah.
More frequently than we are willing to acknowledge, we struggle to truly believe what we
intellectually affirm. We struggle to allow our theology to penetrate our lives. We might be
willing to engage in heated debates about the sovereignty of God, all the while feeling deeply
conflicted about entrusting ourselves to his providential care. We may claim to believe that
God's grace is free and his forgiveness is absolute, while remaining racked by guilt and a
sense of obligation to atone for a past failure. We may affirm God's omniscience and
omnipresence, but live as though certain areas of our life remain hidden from his sight.
Identity I 31
Our struggles to believe arise from several sources. First, we may find it difficult to believe
because of a genuine sense of intellectual uncertainty. We are limited creatures, limited by
both our finitude and our fallenness. God and his ways are often difficult to grasp. God spoke
to his people through the prophet Isaiah, saying, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways ... As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55 :8-9). There are times
when faith is hard to come by because we have a difficult time intellectually making sense of
what the Bible affirms about God or what we encounter in the world.
Second, we may struggle to believe because of unmet expectations. Sometimes the

disconnect between the theology we affirm and our operational theology is not an
intellectual matter, but rather that certain assumptions we held about God's nature or our
own lives caused us to expect things to be different than they are. Our culture, and at times
even our well-intentioned spiritual leaders, can cause us to believe we are entitled to
particular privileges and pleasures afforded to others. When God does not live up to our
expectations, we find ourselves disappointed and disillu_s_ion~d.
Third, we may struggle because of the reality of pain in our lives. Like John the Baptist stuck
in prison, we can find ourselves stuck in painful circumstances that are completely beyond
our control. Like David in Psalm 13, there are times in our lives when we feel as though God
has forgotten us or has hidden his face from us. Some circumstances may cause us to
question whether he is there at all. The history of the church makes it clear that pain is often
the crucible in which profound Spiritual formation takes place in the lives of God's saints. But
as we endure those times of pain, our struggle to believe can be very real.
Finally, we may find it difficult to believe because we have chosen to cherish sin. When we
willfully choose to harbor sin, we betray a fundamental discrepancy between our theology
and our lives. Sin erodes our faith and can reinforce our doubts. Though we are called "holy
ones," we are not prevented from making decisions contrary to God's will, and these
decisions result in what can be a painful tension between our affirmations and our practice.
Responding to Our Doubts and Disconnects

As the quotations at the beginning of this session make clear, the struggle to believe is a very
real part of the lives of Christians. All of us live "in perpetual conflict with [our] own unbelief."
But recognizing and responding to this conflict can be an important part of our Spiritual
formation. It must be noted that there are no simple solutions for overcoming these
struggles, no easy formulas for eradicating doubt from our lives. But when we recognize
where our affirmations and our gut-level beliefs do not match up, we have an opportunity to
grow as we probe and respond. There are at least three ways that we need to respond.
First, we must be honest with ourselves. We must be attentive to our own hearts (Proverbs
4:23), asking ourselves if we really believe what we affirm intellectually (1 Timothy 4:16).
We must be willing to spend time in introspection, examining ourselves to see if our theology
has made its way into our lives. And we must be willing to admit to ourselves where
discrepancies exist. There are some dimensions of our faith where we are well aware of our
3 2 I /dentity
struggle to believe, but there are others where we are either unaware or unwilling to
acknowledge a disconnect between our affirmed theology and our operational theology.
Second, we must be honest with God. The Bible provides us many examples of honest
confessions of such inner conflicts. The psalms of lament are the divinely inspired prayers of
those who found themselves struggling to believe, struggling to trust God in the midst of
difficult circumstances. They provide a pattern for us to follow as we seek to relate to God in
the midst of our own conflict with unbelief. Far too often we are afraid to ask questions, to
doubt, or to wrestle with the things of God. The testimony of Scripture stands against that
kind of blind fideism. Questions are not condemned in Scripture. In Luke 7:18-28 we have
the account of the imprisoned John the Baptist sending a message to Jesus. He asked, "Are
you the one who is to come, or shall we look for anotherT This, coming from the one who
prepared the way for, and baptized the one he knew to be Messiah (Luke 3). Was John
rejecting what he once knew? No! He was struggling because Jesus didn't appear to be the
Messiah he had envisioned. Like many others, John was expecting a powerful messianic
conquering king. Jesus did not respond by rebuking John for his question, despite ~he fact it
was one with the potential for great embarrassment since it was asked publically. Instead,
Jesus responded with evidence that John would recognize from Scripture as being an
indicator of the Messiah (vv. 21-22). Remarkably, Jesus then went on to defend John to the
watching and listening crowd. John was not rebuked for his question. Instead, Jesus affirmed
11
him saying, "among those born of women none is greater than John (v28).
Third, we must be honest with our trusted friends. Part of living in authentic community
means speaking openly and honestly about our struggles to believe so that we can "bear one
11
another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). Consider these words from the Dutch theologian
Abraham Kuyper: "As one tree of the forest protects another against the violence of the
storm, so in the communion of saints does one protect the other from the storm-wind of
doubt. God has given us the gift of community to challenge us, encourage us, and sustain us
115
in the midst of our struggle to believe.
Conclusion
As we explore our identity and take inventory of our lives, it is important that we examine
our beliefs and whether or not our affirmations match up with our operational theology,
what we really believe at a gut level. At the beginning of this semester we considered Paul's
admonition to Timothy to watch his life and his doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16). Part of
our Spiritual formation involves this kind of attentiveness to how our doctrine and our lives
match up. When we find it difficult to translate our theology into our lives we need to
consider the source of our struggle and be honest with God, ourselves, and one another. As
we respond in this way, God can use these struggles in our lives to continue to refine us.
5 Abraham Kuyper, Sacred Theology (Lafayette, IN: Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2001), 165.
Identity I 33
1. Read Psalm 13 and consider David's response to God. What can we learn about engaging
God in the midst of our struggles from this psalm of lament?
Reflect upon your faith journey

2. Have there been times that you have experienced particularly troubling struggles with
doubt? If so, which of the four sources of doubt discussed in this session best
characterizes your period of struggle? How did you overcome such doubt?

3. In what areas of your life are you most struggling to trust God (e.g., education,
relationships, finances, etc.)? Is your struggle in this area related to immediate
circumstances or is this a long-term struggle for you? Why do you think this area is
difficult for you?
Concluding Prayer
We believe, Our Father, but we find ourselves in conflict with our own unbelief
Sustain our faith amid the storm-winds of doubt. And help us to integrate the
theology we affirm into the lives that we live. As we find ourselves facing
disappointment and pain, or struggling with sin, give us the grace to persevere
and to depend on you and on your people to hold us up and encourage us. May
your Spirit soften our hearts, so that when we struggle we might be honest with
ourselves, with you, and with our trusted friends. And as we face our struggles,
may we be strengthened and encouraged by the reality of our identity in Christ
Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.
34 I Identity
Life Inventory Exercise 3: Belief
This exercise is designed to help you identify where disconnects exist between your
affirmations and your gut-level beliefs (your operational theology). For the exercise to be
effective, you must be willing to carefully reflect on each statement and honestly examine
your heart.
Consider the fifteen beliefs listed below. After reading the statement associated with each
belief, place an X on the line indicating the degree to which you agree or disagree with each
statement. Placing an X on the left side of the line indicates a struggle to believe. Placing an
X on the right side of the line indicates that you hold this belief with confidence. Then, in the
space provided, reflect on how your belief or your struggle to believe impacts your life.
1. Belief that God is forgiving.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God no longer holds my past
failures against me.
Agree Disagree
How does this impact my day-to-day life? Identify any particular areas of your life where this
is more of a struggle.
2. Belief that God is sovereign.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God is in providential control of
all things-in my life and in the world-in the past present and future.
Agree Disagree
Identity I 35
3. Belief that God is trustworthy.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God will take care of me and that
all things will really work out for good.
Agree Disagree
4. Belief that God is personal.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God is present, active and
interested in the seemingly mundane details of my life.
Agree Disagree
5. Belief that God is real.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God exists.
Agree Disagree
36 I Identity
6. Belief that God is good.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God deals with his creatures in
ways that are just and caring.
Agree Disagree
7. Belief that God is omnipresent and omniscient.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that God is everywhere and sees
everything, and more specifically, that he is everywhere I go and sees everything I do.
Agree Disagree
How does this impact my day-to-day life? Identify any particular areas of your life whe_re this
8. Belief that God is holy.
When I am truly honest with myself /struggle to believe that my sin is a big deal to God.
Agree Disagree
Identity I 37
9. Belief that God is wise.
When I am honest with myself I struggle to believe that God knows what is best for me and for
my future.
Agree Disagree
10. Belief that I am valuable.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that I am valuable to God.
Agree Disagree
11. Belief that I am able to change.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that I can change, that God can enable
me to experience healing from past pain, failure, or ingrained patterns of sin.
Agree Disagree
38 I Identity
12. Belief that I am not self-sufficient.
When I am truly honest with mysel£ I struggle to believe that I have needs that I am unable to
handle on my own, that I truly need God and other people.
Agree Disagree
13. Belief that the Bible is God's trustworthy word.
When I am truly honest with mysel£ I struggle to believe that the Bible is God's inerrant word
and a reliable guide for my life.
Agree Disagree
14. Belief that prayer makes a difference.
When I am truly honest with mysel£ I struggle to believe that prayer matters.
Agree Disagree
Identity I 39
15. Belief that the church is essential to the life of faith.
When I am truly honest with myself I struggle to believe that commitment to the church is
indispensable for a healthy Christian life and an essential part of my commitment to Christ.
Agree Disagree
Reflection
1. Review your responses above and identify one or two beliefs that you hold with
confidence. In the space provided, reflect on why you believe those areas are strong for
11 11
you. Consider how your "Design and your "Heritage might impact these beliefs.
2. Identify one or two beliefs that you struggle to believe or to integrate into your life. In the
space provided, reflect on why you believe that area may be difficult for you. Is your
struggle in this area related to immediate circumstances or is this a long-term struggle?
11 11
Consider how your "Design and your "Heritage might impact these beliefs.
40 I Identity
Session 7: Practice
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for
godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in
every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy4:7-8
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but

present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life,
and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Romans 6:13
Scripture makes it clear that everyone who has trusted Christ for salvation is in the process
of Spiritual formation. If the Spirit has taken up residence in our lives, he is at work within
us transforming us more and more into the likeness of Christ. But progress in Spiritual
formation does not come by accident or chance. Spiritual formation is a synonym for
sanctification and just as justification is a work of the Spirit (no man can save himself), so
too is sanctification. But we have a responsibility to receive that gift, to allow the Spirit to
accomplish his purposes in our lives. 6 Stated simply, this responsibility can be captured in
two words: attending and responding.
First, we have the responsibility of attending to the Spirit, that is, paying attention to his
presence and activity in our lives. Too often we live spiritually inattentive lives. Other things
distract us or we hurry through each day without much reflection or attention to spiritual
matters. In the ordinary events of our daily lives, the Spirit is present and active and desires
to affect his transforming work. But we must pay attention. We must grow in awareness of
his presence and activity.
Second, we have the responsibility of responding to the Spirit-opening ourselves up to his

transforming power. Scripture repeatedly uses agricultural metaphors to instruct us in the
spiritual life. For example, there are numerous ways that a farmer can create optimal
conditions for growth, but he cannot cause a crop to grow. Similarly, there are things that
believers can do to cultivate the kind of lives that allow the Spirit to produce his fruit in us.
However, the fruit is God's to produce. He produces this fruit in us as we yield to him, as we
make ourselves available for him to do his work
6 There is a tension here. Just as no one can save himself or herself, no one can make themselves more
like Christ apart from the grace and enabling power of the Holy Spirit That said, we must recognize our
perception of progressive sanctification is different. The point of this session is not to debate how
sanctification works behind the scenes. The point is, from our perspective and from the emphasis in the
biblical text, we have a responsibility to pursue holiness. We aren't advocating works to advance our faith.
Rather, we're promoting a faith that produces imperishable fruit
Identity I 41
Practicing Our Identity
God has given us the practices of the church-the personal and corporate spiritual
disciplines of the Christian life-as instruments of transformation, means of attending and
responding to the Spirit in our lives. These are the "acts of piety" commended to us in
Scripture and developed over the history of the church-practices such as worship, prayer,
fasting, giving, scripture meditation, service and rest. These are the ways that God has given
us to "practice our identity," to cultivate a way of life that corresponds with who we have
been called to be as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Disciplines are ways in which the Holy Spirit empowers us to pursue our relationship with
Christ and follow his ways out of our desire to grow in him. These historic practices of the
church are divinely ordained means of attending and responding to God's Spirit, means that
God uses to form us more and more into the likeness of Christ. Richard Foster writes, "God
has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The
disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us. 117
Below we will briefly consider four Christian practices that have particular prominence _in
the history of the Church.
Hearing God in Scripture

The Bible stands at the center of Christian Spirituality. In Scripture, God speaks to his people.
As we listen to him speak, the Spirit who worked in the past to inspire the words of the
apostles and prophets works in the present to transform us into the image of Christ. As we
seek to be transformed by encountering God in his word, we need to cultivate new habits of
reading-ways of reading for formation rather than merely for information. Throughout the
Bible, God's people are called to meditate on his words, his precepts, and his mighty deeds.
Meditation on Scripture gives us a vision for Spiritual formation, teaching us what the
transformed life looks like. Scripture meditation also provides one of the primary means of
Spiritual formation, as the Spirit uses it as an instrument to accomplish his work in our lives.
Prayer
Christians have been given the holy privilege of being able to address God directly through
prayer. In Scripture, God speaks to us. In prayer, we speak to him. As P. T. Forsyth says,
"Prayer is the highest use to which speech can be put. It is the highest meaning that can be
put into words. 118 In a very real sense it is the foremost spiritual discipline, as it is the one
discipline on which all of the others depend and it is the one practice that involves our
unmediated encounter with God.
7 Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1988), 7.

8 P.T. Forsyth, The Soul of Prayer (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2002), 18.
42 I /dentity
Fasting
In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks of three specific spiritual practices: prayer, fasting, and alms
giving. When he addresses each practice, he does so in a way that simply expects that these
disciplines will be a part of the life of his disciples. The Didache, an early Christian
discipleship manual written shortly after the closing of the New Testament canon, contains
instructions for Christians about regular fasts that were expected to characterize the
spiritual practice of the early church. Jesus' teaching and the historic precedent of the church
seem to indicate that fasting is an expected and deeply formative practice for followers of
Christ, yet it is one that rarely gets much attention within evangelicalism today. More needs
to be said of this neglected discipline than can possibly be said here, but it should be noted
that fasting warrants renewed attention, particularly as we seek to live faithfully in a culture
of self-absorption and gluttony.
Service
One of the chief ways that God purges_ u~ of the self-serving orientation that characterizes us
as fallen people is by calling us to serve others. If Christian Spirituality is fundamentally
about loving God and loving our neighbors, one of the most important practices we can
engage in for Spiritual formation is sacrificially extending ourselves to help meet the needs
of those around us. Such sacrificial service both demonstrates our love of our neighbors and
enables us to love our neighbors at a deeper level. This sacrificial service takes various forms,
from sitting with a grieving friend to raising money to combating child slavery. As
individuals, we need to be attentive to how God is calling us to serve today.
Conclusion
We would do well to commit ourselves to the regular practice of the spiritual disciplines, not
as a rigid, legalistic demand, but as a plan for intentional, consistent practice of the
disciplines. The Spirit does his work in us as we regularly pay attention to his presence and
open ourselves up to his work in our lives. After concluding this session, you will complete
Life Inventory Exercise 4: Practice as a means of identifying several disciplines which you
already consistently practice and perhaps several which you would like to practice going
forward. In the fourth module of the SF curricula, Fidelity, we will revisit some of these
disciplines that reflect how you want to live as a Christ-follower. Disciplines and practices
are not legalism, but a form of worship we've been given as a way to grow in Christlikeness.

1. Jesus is depicted as engaging in various Spiritual practices on numerous occasions in the
Gospel accounts. Based upon your reading of the Gospels and your knowledge of Jewish
practices in Jesus' day, what were the various "Spiritual disciplines" that marked the life
of Jesus?
Identity I 43
2. What cultural factors make practicing the disciplines discussed above particularly
challenging? Why is hearing God in Scripture particularly difficult in our cultural context?
What about prayer, fasting or service? If you are from another culture, are there elements
of your home culture that assist or detract from practicing the disciplines?

3. What have been the most meaningful ways (both personally and corporately) you have
encountered the Bible? ·
4. What have been the most meaningful ways you have learned about and/ or engaged in
prayer, fasting, and/ or serving the needs of others? What other Spiritual practices have
been particularly important for your own Spiritual formation?
Digging Deeper:
Reflect upon Foundations of Spiritual Formation reading
5. What is one takeaway from your reading in Pettit's Foundations of Spiritual Formation
(Chapter 8, "Leadership and Spiritual Formation") that you can share with the group?
44 I Identity
Concluding Prayer
Fathe~ help us by your Spirit to be people of discipline. Help us to offer ourselves
to you., as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of
our bodies to you as instruments of righteousness. Help us to train ourselves to
be godly knowing that godliness has value for all things., holding promise for both
the present life and the life to come. As we go through our days., help us to be
mindful of the Spirit-'s presence and activity in our lives and to yield ourselves to
him so that he may accomplish his work of conforming us more and more to the
image ofyour Son.,for the praise ofyour glory. We pray this in Jesus-' name and
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
For Further Study:

Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. Downers Grove,
IL: Intervarsity Press, 2005.
Ford, Marcia. Traditions of the Ancients: Vintage Faith Practices for the 21st Century.
Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2006.
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. New York:
HarperCollins Publishing, 1988.
Whitney, Donald. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress,
1994.
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. San
Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991.
Identity I 45
Life Inventory Exercise 4: Practice
Consider the following list of spiritual practices and honestly assess your own devotional life.
Use the chart to indicate which practices are or are not consistently present in your life. Place
an X on the line indicating whether the practice is rarely present, present but not consistent,
or consistently present. As you consider the list, circle those practices that may not be
prominent in your life now but you aspire to know more about and/ or to engage in at a
deeper level.
1. Prayer - bringing ourselves before God to offer him our words of praise, thanks,
confession, and petition.
Rarely Present Present but not Consistently

consistent present
2. Meditating on Scripture - slow, attentive, repetitive reading of and reflection on

Scripture in which we give special attention to its personal implications for our lives.

consistent present
3. Memorizing Scripture - committing portions of the Bible to memory so that we may

remember and access the words of Scripture in the midst of life.

consistent present
4. Studying Scripture - careful investigation into the meaning of Scripture, attentive to

language, genre, historical context, etc.

consistent present
46 I Identity
5. Evangelism - intentionally engaging others in conversations about spiritual matters in an
effort to share the good news of Christ and invite their response.

consistent present
6. Fasting - abstaining from food as an aid to prayer and/ or as a means of practicing self-
denial; sometimes involves abstaining from things other than food,

consistent present
7. Confession - openly admitting our faults to a trusted Christian friend or mentor.

consistent present
8. Service - giving of ourselves in order to help meet the needs of others.

consistent present
9. Corporate Worship - engaging in the gathering of the church for prayer, praise, the
proclamation of the Word, and participation in the church's-ordinances.

consistent present
10. Rest - intentionally disengaging from the busyness and productivity of life for the
purpose of being spiritually "recharged" and reorienting our lives to God.

consistent present
Identity I 4 7
11. Accountability - regularly engaging in intentional conversations about choices,
temptations, struggles, and failures with trusted friends for the purpose of mutual
encouragement.

consistent present
12. Spiritual Friendship - fostering intimate and authentic relationships; living "life
together;" following the many "one another'~ admonitions of the New Testament.

consistent present
13. Simplicity- cultivating an inner humility and contentedness that expresses itself in a life
free of inordinate attachment to ambition or material possessions.

consistent present
14. Silence - choosing to enter into a set period of time without speaking for the purpose of
prayer, reflection, and introspection.

consistent present
15. Solitude - intentionally disengaging from people and responsibility in order to engage
with God.

consistent present
48 I Identity
16. Self-examination - regularly giving careful attention to the patterns of behavior and
belief that characterize one's life in order to purge those things that are not honoring to God.

consistent present
1. Review your responses above and identify one or two practices that you engage in with
some consistency. In the space provided, reflect on why you believe these practices are a
regular part of your ongoing Spiritual formation. Consider how your "Design" and your
"Heritage" might impact your engagement in these practices.
2. Identify one or two practices that you do not practice with consistency but would like to
practice more regularly. In the space provided, reflect on why you believe these practices
may be difficult for you. Consider how your "Design" and your "Heritage" might impact
engagement in these practices.
Identity I 49
SO I Identity
Session 8: Virtue
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control
with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with
brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are
yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Our tutor Jesus exemplifies the true life and trains the one who is in Christ. ...
He gives commands and embodies the commands that we might be able to
accomplish them.
Clement of Alexandria
According to the definition offered in session one, the goal of Spiritual formation is the
formation of Christ's character in us. In various places throughout the New Testament, the
authors of Scripture offer lists of traits identifying the character patterns evident in the life
of Christ and expected in the lives of his followers. These lists include such qualities as love,
patience, humility, kindness, gentleness and compassion.
The traditional language used to describe such deep-seated patterns of character is the
language of virtue. 9 Sadly, discussion today has moved away from virtues (an objective term)
to values (a subjective term). Values can be anything from personal preference to law and
regulation. American historian Gertrude Himmelfarb describes values as "whatever any
individual, group, or society happens to value, at any time, for any reason." 10 In a very real
way, values have become "value-free." In this session we seek to reclaim the concept of
virtues. A virtue is an objective standard seen in an established disposition of
character to act in morally praiseworthy ways appropriate to the situation acquired
through habituated patterns of behavior. Let's unpack this definition. First, a virtue is an
9 Alasdair MacIntyre in his book After Virtue bemoans the reduction of the term "virtue" over time. The
classical virtues of faith, hope, love, prudence, temperance, courage, and justice have been lost. By the early
twentieth century the virtues had been reduced to a singular virtue dealing with issues of sexual purity. To
say someone "lost their virtue" no longer means they've been proven a liar, or unjust, or cruel-it means
they've lost their virginity.
10Gertrude Himmelfarb, The De-moralization ofSociety: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values (New
York: Knopf, 1995), 9.
Identity I 51
established disposition of character. Virtues focus our attention less on discrete decisions
and actions and more on the sort of people who make those decisions and engage in those
actions. Virtue refers to a kind of moral or ethical constancy. Therefore, a virtue cannot be
acquired quickly but is developed over an extended period of time.
Second, a virtue is a disposition of character to act in morally praiseworthy ways. Virtues are
dependent on a particular vision of "the good." A virtuous person is one who consistently
acts in accordance with this vision. Thus the Christian conception of virtue relies on an
understanding of the will of God and his design for human flourishing. To cultivate Christian
virtue is to become the kind of person whose established disposition of character
corresponds with God's designs and desires for his people and his world.
Third, a virtue is a disposition of character to act in morally praiseworthy ways that are
appropriate to the situation. Becoming virtuous means being shaped into the kind of people
who know how to act in a given situation. Virtue requires a kind of practical wisdom, an
ethical discernment that enables a person to know the right thing to do and then to do it.
Finally, a virtue is a disposition of character that is established through habituated patterns

of behavior. A virtuous person cultivates virtue over an extended period of time by engaging
in habits and practices that shape character. In the Bible the prophet Daniel exemplifies the
virtue of courage when faced with the lion's den, but his ability to demonstrate courage in
this instance was formed in him through many years of courageous decisions to follow God
no matter the cost. Exercising courage in the small things allowed him to be courageous in
the big things-even when his life was on the line! This draws attention once again to the
relationship between virtues and practices, between cultivating the character of Christ and
engaging in spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are divinely ordained habituated patterns
of behavior that have been given to the church for the purpose of cultivating Christian
character. For example, over time we learn to become persons whose lives are characterized
by "taking up our cross and following Jesus" as we regularly practice disciplines of self-denial
and sacrificial service.
With this definition of virtue in hand, let's consider three aspects of the process of acquiring
virtue that we need to consider: our vision, our communities, and our stories.
Our Vision
The cultivation of virtue is dependent on our seeing a pattern-having a model that we can
imitate. "Before we can become doers, we first must be spectators." 11 The early church
emphasized the lives of the martyrs and saints as models worthy of imitation. But throughout
the church's history, the essence of Christian moral formation has been the imitatio Christi,
"the imitation of Christ." Clement of Alexandria called Jesus "our tutor" in Christian virtue.
Jesus perfectly exemplified the kind of life to which God calls us. If we desire to become
people whose lives exemplify the character of Christ, we must be serious students of the way
11 Robert Wilken, Remembering the Christian Past (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 121.
52 I Identity
he lived, the way he loved, and the way he served. With all of our emphasis on the death
Christ died for our redemption, we must never neglect the life he lived as our model of the
"with-God life." The virtues displayed in the life of Jesus provide both our pattern and our
goal, our vision in Spiritual formation.
Our Communities
One theme that has been central to the discussion of Spiritual formation throughout this
semester is that Spiritual formation is an irreducibly relational process. In considering the
acquisition of virtue, we must recognize the reality that our character is deeply shaped by
the Spirit's use of our communities. Therefore, if we desire to embody authentically Christian
virtues, we must be committed to live in authentic Christian community. As we have seen
from the outset, this is part of the way that God has wired us. Christian ethicist David Gill
writes, "It is not just for good sociological or psychological functional reasons that character
building needs community, it is because of the basic reality of our being-what we are made
of. We cannot become what we were meant to be, unless it is in community. That is the
-bottom-line reality." 12 The virtues of Christ are formed in us and displayed in our lives as we
live "life together" in deep, honest, mutually dependent relationships with the Spirit-indwelt
community of faith.
Our Stories
In the next module of Spiritual Formation, Community, we will focus significant attention on
writing and telling our "life stories." An important conviction that guides that process is the
belief that God as the divine author of each of our stories uses those stories in profound ways
to shape our character. So an important question for each of us to ask is, "How does God
desire to make me more like Jesus through the circumstances he is providentially taking me
through?" God may form in us the virtue of humility through an experience of personal
failure. He may cultivate the virtue of compassion in us through an experience of suffering.
Or he may seek to cultivate generosity in us through our experience of some kind of deep
need. Our heritage, heroes, high points and hard times throughout life are all part of God's
sovereign plan to shape us in progressively greater measure into the image of his Son.
Conclusion
A genuinely Christian account of virtue must always draw attention to the reality that
the cultivation of Christlike virtues is not ultimately within our power. One of the most
famous "virtue lists" in the New Testament is found in Galatians 5:22-23 where Paul lists
nine virtues that he refers to as "the fruit of the Spirit." The Spirit of God uses models, habits,
communities and life circumstances to produce in us the established dispositions of
character that !llarked the life of Jesus. We cannot be passive, but neither are we in control.
Instead, we are instructed to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling"
12 David Gill, Becoming Good: Building Moral Character (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2000), 50.
Identity I 53
remembering that "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose" (Philippians 2:12-13).

1. In Colossians 3:12, Paul mentions five specific virtues that are central to the Christian
life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Consider the life of Jesus,
our ultimate model of Christian virtue. In what specific ways can you recall Jesus
demonstrating each of these five virtues?

2. · Considering the same five virtues mentioned in Colossians 3:12, what aspects of your
heritage make the cultivation of each of these five virtues particularly challenging today?
In what ways does your particular culture value and reinforce these virtues?

3. Who were the most important models of these five virtues in your life? In what specific
ways can you recall these people demonstrating these established dispositions of
character?

4. When you consider your present life circumstances, what virtues do you think God may
be trying to cultivate in you as he authors your life story?
54 I Identity
Concluding Prayer
Father in Heaven, your desire for each of our lives is that we might bring you
glory by exhibiting the character ofyour Son in our daily lives. Help us to pay
attention to the example that Christ left us and to diligently seek to live our lives
in imitation of him. May your Spirit work in each of us to produce his fruit, so
that we may be people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Through Christ our Lord, amen.
For Further Study:

Edwards, Jonathan. The Nature of True Virtue. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press,
1988.
Gill, David W. Becoming Good: Building Moral Character. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity
Press, 2000.
Himmelfarb, Gertrude. The De-Moralization of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern

Values. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1995.
Kenneson, Phillip. Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community.
Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1999.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 3 rd ed. Notre Dame: University of
Notre Dame Press, 2007.
Thomas, Gary. The Glorious Pursuit: Embracing the Virtues of Christ. Colorado Springs:
NavPress, 1998.
Wells, David F. Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover its Moral Vision. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
Identity I 55
Life Inventory Exercise 5: Virtue
Consider the following list of Christian virtues and honestly assess your own life. Use the
chart to indicate which practices are or are not consistently present in your life. Place an X
on the line indicating whether the practice is rarely present, present but not consistent or
consistently present. As you consider the list, circle those practices that may not be
prominent in your life now but you aspire to know more about and/ or to engage in at a
deeper level.
1. Authenticity - willingly sharing your honest thoughts, feelings, successes and failures
without pretense or selfish motives.

consistent present
2. Chastity - maintaining sexual purity in thoughts, words and deeds, and preserving
appropriate boundaries with members of the opposite sex.

consistent present
3. Compassion - sharing in another's suffering through both empathetic feeling and a

willingness to act on their behalf.

consistent present
4. Courage - facing opposition, confronting wrongdoing and remaining steadfast in the face
of difficulty with confidence and inner fortitude.

consistent present
5 6 I Identity
5. Even-temperedness - controlling anger and maintaining steadiness in the face of difficult
circumstances.

consistent present
6. Faithfulness - remaining loyal and steadfast in your commitments to God, others, and
tasks.

consistent present
7. Generosity - giving to others liberally and willingly in order to meet their needs using the
resources that God has entrusted to you.

consistent present
8. Gentleness - treating others with sensitivity, responding to them with mercy and
tenderness rather than anger and aggression.

consistent present
9. Honesty - tactfully speaking the truth in love regardless of the personal repercussions.

consistent present
Identity I 5 7
10. Humility - showing deference to others while maintaining an appropriate perspective
on yourself.

consistent present
11. Joy- maintaining inner contentment despite the surrounding circumstances.

consistent present
12. Kindness - acting in a friendly, gracious and generous manner often involving a
willingness to cause burden or inconvenience to oneself for the good of others.

consistent present
13. Loyalty - displaying constant devotion in relationships.

consistent present
14. Patience - possessing and demonstrating a quiet resolve to endure inconvenience or

distress and peacefully await resolution.

consistent present
15. Peace - pursuing and promoting wholeness, harmony and reconciliation.

consistent present
58 I Identity
16. Perseverance - relentlessly striving toward a goal or vision with optimism despite
having to endure hardships.

consistent present
17. Self-control - allowing the Spirit of God to control our actions and attitudes in ways that
cause us to restrain our natural tendencies to carry out the desires of the flesh.

consistent present
18. Self-sacrifice - displaying a willingness to set aside oneself for the sake of others in ways
that are personally costly.

consistent present
Reflection
1. Review your responses above and identify one or two virtues that are consistently
demonstrated in your life. In the space provided, reflect on how you believe those virtues
have been developed in you. Consider how your "Design" and "Heritage" might impact your
development of these virtues.
2. Identify one or two virtues that are not consistently demonstrated in your life but you
aspire to cultivate. In the space provided, reflect on why you believe those virtues may be
difficult for you. Consider how your "Design" and "Heritage" might impact the cultivation of
such virtues.
Identity I 59
60 I Identity
Sessions 9 & 10: Identity Foundations
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a
price.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20a
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you
are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much
fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from
God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
1 Corinthians 1:30
Throughout this study we have emphasized that Spiritual formation is primarily about
matters of the heart. As Scripture declares and Augustine, Calvin, and other great theologians
of the Christian faith observed, our hearts are bent toward loving the wrong things. Spiritual
formation is the process by which the Holy Spirit gradually transforms the hearts of Christ-
followers, reorienting our affections and forming Christ's character in us. As we follow Christ
in an intentional and sustained way, submitting to the Spirit and allowing him to do his work,
we will find ourselves growing in our relationship with God, increasing in love for God and
others, and increasingly pursuing God's purposes in the world.
The formation of Christ's character in us is the lifelong endeavor of the Holy Spirit. As Christ-
followers, we have the assurance that the Spirit is presently working to bring about this
transformation of heart (2 Corinthians 3:18). Our destiny as believers is to be conformed
into the image of Christ joining him in the family of God, where he holds the position of
highest honor (Romans 8:29).
A Reliable Foundation
Before we complete this first module of the Spiritual Formation curricula, you will be given
an opportunity to wrestle through many of the concepts and issues brought up thus far. The
narrative of Creation ➔ Fall ➔ Redemption ➔ Renewal informs all of human history and
provides hope for the church despite the wretchedness and brokenness of our condition and
the fallen world as a whole. Thanks to the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, we are now
in the difficult life-long process of moving from the defacement of the imago dei to a life
reflective of Christ.
We briefly discussed how each individual has been uniquely shaped and gifted by God for
the good of the church. We also explored how our diverse backgrounds-be they ethnic,
Identity I 61
familial, sociological or cultural-inform the way we view the world and interact with others.
As a result of all the above, we often ground our identity in where we come from or what we
do. All of us fall into the trap of defining ourselves solely or primarily by what we see as our
most significant responsibilities or roles. As a Christian, to say your identity is defined by
your marriage or your ministry sounds like an appropriate and virtuous claim!
But the reality is your role as a spouse or a minister is temporal. It is assuredly a part of your
identity, but it should not be the core. As difficult as it is to consider, your job as a pastor or
a counselor could be gone tomorrow. Even more painful to think about is your role as a
spouse or parent could also be gone tomorrow. If the central aspect of your identity is rooted
in what is temporal, what will you be standing on when it is taken away? The only foundation
that endures is that of who we are in Christ. That doesn't mean losing a precious role or
responsibility will not be difficult. But it does give us something to which we may cling when
the storms come. All may pass away-but our identity in Christ is certain and sure. When we
define ourselves by our race, experience, passions-or worse yet-our sin, we risk division
_in the body of Christ and flirt with idolatry.
It's another one of the beautiful paradoxes of the faith. Where you ground your identity
speaks to where you place your priorities. If I make the work of ministry my top priority, as
admirable as that may sound, my family will ultimately suffer and my spiritual growth
(ironically) will likely slow or stagnate. If I make my family my top priority, my performance
in the workplace will either never be what it could have been, or it could stagnate or die, as
may my service to the church and my spiritual growth. But if we make Christ our top priority
something counterintuitive occurs. By responding to his call (John 1:43; 21:19, 22) with a
willingness to leave all personal interests behind (Luke 5:11, 27-28), willing to walk in the
light of Christ's life (John 8:12) with all the risk and sacrifice such a commitment entails
(Luke 9:23; 14:26-27), everything changes. With Christ as your priority and foundation your
relationship with your spouse deepens. Your performance in the workplace skyrockets. Your
heart for ministry grows. And most significantly, your desire to pursue Christlikeness
through the empowering work of the Spirit intensifies. If your priority is anything other than
Christ, everything else suffers to some measure. If your priority is Christ, everything else is
made that much richer. Praise God for the gift of faith!

1. In saving us, God did so much more than just pardon our sin-he changed our hearts.
Reflect on the promise of God made over 600 years before the death of Christ in Ezekiel
36:26-27. With that in mind read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 6:1-14. What does the
text teach about what God has done by bringing us, to use Paul's favorite phrase, "in
Christ"?
62 I Identity
2. How does the world encourage us to define our identity? What cultural ramifications and
consequences can we observe due to finding our identity outside of Christ? What can we
learn from this and how can we respond?

3. How have you seen your concept of identity morph over time? Have you struggled with
"false identity" either now or in the past? If so, what have you learned from that
experience?

4. In what ways are you tempted to define yourself by your roles here at seminary? How
can you guard against false identities usurping the reality of your being in Christ? How
can you encourage others in this regard?
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, we are not worthy of the next breath we take, let alone the
amazing gift of being "in Christ." Enable us, through the work of the Spirit to
ground ourselves in the reality of who you have called us to be. May our lives be
like the life ofJesus-one that seeks to make you known to this lost and fallen
world. We pray this in His name and by the power of the Spirit. Amen.
For Further Study:

Beale, G. K. We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry. Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Academic, 2008.
Bridges, Jerry. Who Am I: Identity in Christ. Adelphi, MD: Cruciform Press, 2012.
Gorman, Michael J. Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the Cross. Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2001.
Reeves, Rodney. Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ. Downers
Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011.
Identity I 63
Life Inventory Exercise 6: Identity Foundations Position Paper
Over the next two sessions, each member of your SF group will be sharing Identity
Foundations Position Papers with one another. As per the syllabus, the paper is to be a 3-5
page paper on the theological and biblical foundations of identity, with an emphasis on the
personal implications of what it means to be "in Christ."
This paper should be your personal position statement on what significance the concept of
being "in Christ" has for the life of the church generally, and for you specifically. In addition to
what it means to be "in Christ" both individually and corporately, it could include elements such
as: Places other than Christ where the group member is _tempted to put his/her identity, "false
selves" the group member tries to present to others and areas where the group member has had
victory in identity issues.
As this is a personal position paper, there is no requirement dictating the number of sources
that must be cited. Use as many sources as you deem necessary to make your presentation.
This is your position paper. Throughout your time at DTS and beyond, you may want to
revisit this statement as you continue to study the rich concept of the imago dei and our
identity-corporately and individually-in Christ.
Creative Option: For students whose learning style benefits from creative projects, a second
option for this assignment is available. It consists of two parts, both of which must be completed
to receive credit.
1. Complete a 2 page paper as described above.
2. Complete a creative project to elaborate on the meaning of being "in Christ" both
individually and corporately. Some creative examples might include: write and
perform a song, write a short story or poem, create an art project, photography, or
other medium of choice. This project will need to be shared with and explained to the
group.
If you are struggling with the concept of identity or with this specific assignment, the
questions for discussion and reflection in sessions 9 & 10 can serve as excellent writing
prompts for this project. If you need additional help, seek guidance from your SF leader, or
schedule an appointment to meet with either the SF Fellow assigned to your group or any
member of our SF team. We'd love to work with you!
Looking Ahead
This module has served to set the theological foundation for the next three modules:
Community, Integrity and Fidelity. With the foundation of our identity established as being
in Christ, we move ahead to see how that impacts how we do life together. In the second
module, Community, we use a tool called "Life Story" to look back at God's authorship in our
lives and how we can learn more of God from one another as we share these stories.
64 I Identity
We've examined the idea that the story of the Bible is the story of God. It is one large,
sweeping drama of creation,fall, redemption and renewal. In exploring the concept of identity
we noted that we can only understand who God is and who we are as we come to understand
ourselves as a part of his story. We only understand our true identity when we understand
ourselves as created, fallen and redeemed. In this next module, we will explore how the
reality that we are all in Christ unites us and brings our stories together. God has called us
not to an individual faith, but into the body of Christ-into community.
Please submit a copy of your Identity Foundations Position paper to your group leader
after you have shared it with your group.
Identity I 65
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Identity

Session 1: Introduction to Identity 1

Session 2: Image of God 7

Session 5: Our Identity in Christ 25

Sessions 9 & 10: Identity Foundations 61

Devout conversation on spiritual matters greatly helps our progress,

An Overview of the Four Semesters

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your

What is Spiritual Formation?

What Does "Identity" Have to Do with Spiritual Formation?

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Reflect upon our world

Reflect upon your Spiritual journey

Reflect upon your life now

For Further Study:

Creation in the Image of God

An Intimate Relationship with God

An Unmatched Dignfty in Creation

The Image of God and the Fall

Creation, Redemption, and Spiritual Formation

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Reflect upon our world

Reflect on your Spiritual journey

Reflect on your life now

For Further Study:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's

The essence of Christian Spirituality is captured in Jesus' well-known interaction with an

In the context of a discussion on Spiritual formation, the subject of temperament is relevant

It is worth drawing attention to two potentially negative aspects of our consideration of

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Reflect on your life now

Please complete Life Inventory Exercise 1.

For Further Study:

1. Record your personality blend here: _ __

3. How might they affect your relationship with God?

2. To help clarify your Spiritual gifting, consider the following questions:

a. What do I consider to be the most pressing need in the Church today?

b. What am I most passionate about doing to contribute to the Church?

Spiritual Formation and Heritage

Race and Ethnicity

Reflect on our world

Reflect on your Spiritual journey

Reflect on your life now

Please complete Life Inventory Exercise 2.

2. What is the religious background of the key figures in your.family heritage?

3. Identify some of the significant aspects of your family background.

4. What were the dominant values?

5. How did your family define gender roles?

3. How has your cultural background affected your Spiritual formation?

Racial and Ethnic Heritage

4. What racial or ethnic tensions have you experienced while in seminary?

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former

Holiness is not a condition into which we drift.

• we receive grace in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:4)

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

Reflect on our world

Reflect on your Spiritual journey

For Further Study:

Final Project Check Point

The Struggle to Believe

Second, we may struggle to believe because of unmet expectations. Sometimes the

Responding to Our Doubts and Disconnects