ABCs of Spiritual Formation: J is for Joy in the Journey

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

-- Philippians 1:6

J is for Joy in the Journey

I'm cheating this week with two words, but they go together and are also our family motto.

Any talk of journey, however, must include David Benner's sagacious explanation in his Christian Spirituality trilogy, "When applied to the spiritual life, the metaphor of a journey is both helpful and somewhat misleading. Helpfully it reflects the fact that the essence of spirituality is a process - specifically, a process of transformation. Unhelpfully it obscures the fact that we are already what we seek and where we long to arrive - specifically, in God. Once we realize this, the nature of the journey reveals itself to be more one of awakening than accomplishment, more one of spiritual awareness than spiritual achievement." (Surrender to Love)

Benner captures the already and not yet tension inherent in the gospel and in spiritual formation. We are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), we have the Holy Spirit and exhibit the Spirit's fruit (Gal. 5:22-26), we are in Christ (Rom. 6:11), we are redeemed and justified and beloved, AND we are incomplete (Philippians 1:6), still need to confess and repent (1 Jn 1:9), and are being sanctified (Heb.10:14) just to give a few examples.

Thus, as Benner said, we are in a process, on a journey with Jesus, abiding in him, becoming more and more who he made us to be as we experience awakenings by his grace.

But this sounds a bit paradisiacal and airy. I find myself getting caught up in superlatives as if the journey is one of holy smiles when, in reality, the experience for most of us involves quite a bit of time in the valleys and dirt roads and pits and sloughs. There is a reason Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress has been read and appreciated by so many generations of Christians. So many of us relate to the “Slough of Despond” and “Doubting Castle” and “Vanity Fair”. We see ourselves in Christian's journey.

THE NECESSITY AND PROBLEM OF COMMUNITY

Yet, the journey involves much joy as well, and here is where we need to pivot a bit and encourage a countercultural bent. I don't think speaking of the spiritual life as a journey is controversial, but if we want to experience joy in the journey, we must be engaging in community; we can’t make the journey alone.

The problem is that anyone who has spent time in close-knit community has been hurt. They have been hurt and/or offended by someone else in the community, and/or they have been impacted by an immature or abusive leader, and/or they have been forced to deal with people who aren't easy to be around. If you've been in community, this resonates with you. If this doesn't sound familiar, you haven't been in close community, but I am sure you have dealt with it in your family.

Here's the key...although this is true of community, the other side of the coin is true as well. True joy and growth and help and learning and love only comes through community.

This means I find myself in one of several places:

• COMMUNITY - I am participating in a community of people in which I can use my gifts and experience love and support. I am dealing with conflict and deepening relationships and experiencing the deep joy that comes from relationship as God intended it.

• PAINFUL ISOLATION - I am isolating myself because I have been hurt and separated myself (note this hurt could have come from a community or from family of origin or something else). Sometimes, after experiencing the pain of abuse or other kinds of unhealthy community, we need time to heal. I must be careful this doesn't go too long and be intentional about getting the help I need. It can feel quite risky to re-engage in a new community, but we are made to be in relationship and community is the soil of sanctification.

• TRANSITION - I am in transition or have not been able to find a community. In this case I am missing out, know it, and want to fix it. If this is you, I pray you can find something soon. One suggestion is to attend and fully engage in a local church no more than 15 minutes from your home or at least find a group of families from your church in your neighborhood.

• BUSY SEPARATION - I never returned to community after Covid, do church virtually, don't have a real, in-person community, and I’m not seeking to be in one with people who help me grow in Christlikeness. This seems to be sadly normal in America. (I don't know about other countries.) Joy in the journey will be a foreign concept for you. Of course, you can pretend, but the counterfeit you are experiencing is a poor substitute for the kind of community God created you to enjoy.

Which option describes you and what conversation can you have with God about it?

If none of them do, please write me and give me more options to fill in my understanding.

EXPERIENCING JOY

As I wrote about in the Attachment post, joy comes from secure attachment. When we are securely attached, we experience joy when we are with those who love us. Of course, nobody loves us more than God, so experiencing his loving gaze is the ultimate joy. Therefore, as we continue this journey with Jesus, our capacity to experience joy increases and deepens. But this is maximized in community.

Why? Each of us is in process, developing and growing. If we are healthy and in community, we are regularly experiencing new revelation and awakening, being faced with our brokenness and weakness, and becoming more like Jesus by his grace. This means our capacity for secure attachment with God and people is increasing which means our joy is increasing.

Does this sound right to you?

What would you change or say differently?

How have you seen consistent revelation and growth outside of community?

How are you being loved and supported and encouraged and using your gifts if you are not in community?

I started writing about joy in the journey but focused quite a bit on community. I've become more and more convinced that community is a loss we must recover in the West. This means our journey towards Christlikeness can't be discussed without emphasizing community. In the past it would have been assumed but not today.

I pray each of us can be part of a healthy community and experience joy in our up and down and all-around journey with Jesus.

"Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant."

– Robert Louis Stevenson