Cultivating Mysticism

We talk a lot about the church being a place of spiritual formation aimed at the cultivation of virtue. And I wholly agree with this focus. I think being a Christian demands cruciform discipline aimed at acquiring the fruit of the Spirit.

But more and more I'm convinced that this focus on virtue isn't enough. Lacking an experiential encounter with the living God, virtue formation can become a sterile, behavioral slog. Who would sign up for it? Or persist with it?

What I think we need to start doing in regards to spiritual formation is cultivating mysticism. Church should not only be a school of virtue, it should also be a school of mysticism.

Disenchantment--our increasing inability to experience God--is the greatest existential threat to the church. If you never encounter God in a deep, experiential way why would you submit to the rigors of virtue formation, or anything related to church and the Christian faith?

In this secular age, Christians need to become mystics and churches schools of mysticism.

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