How did the church make its mark?

Sociologist Rodney Stark begins his book, The Rise Of Christianity by concluding, “Finally, all questions concerning the rise of Christianity are one: How was it done? How did a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and become the dominant faith of Western civilization.?” Fundamentally, something took hold of people on the inside and it created a revolution. [i]What took hold was the life of God invaded humans and took up residence inside.The process of that life taking over a person is what many now call Spiritual formation. It is a change that is deeper and more revolutionary than mere conformity. It seemed to occupy the Apostle Paul’s deepest thoughts. The process of forming people in Christ was more painful and protracted than he had imagined. It seemed so much harder than getting people to externally conform,something in which he seemed to be an expert. [ii]. “Oh my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.” [iii]Revolution requires more than a series of external behaviors, the change must take hold on the inside. But the prospect that people change automatically is deeply flawed, real change is supernatural, it requires intentionality, and is anything but passive. Paul found leading others into change maddening, he confessed to be perplexed by their slowness, dullness, and propensity to regress. Whatever must be done, it is not quick and easy. If it were,then a commitment to discipleship and spiritual formation would be commonplace. It is actually slow and difficult, that is why efforts to form people in Christ lose their way. A real investment of one’s own life comes with a commitment to others. It is my observation that our consumerism hyper-active impatient church has hijacked the idea of spiritual formation We have a habit of co-opting virtually anything to try and reach our real goals, bigger churches,a growing business, or to maintain control of our dreams and goals. When we walk into the door of a church it seems as though we are in a negotiation mode, “God, how much of my life can I still control but still reap all the benefits of submission?” This has been done with evangelism, prayer, service to the community, and now with developing a stalwart inner person who will be showered with noticeable blessing from God. Is there a way to address the inner life without it being selfish? Is there a way to move the church from predominately consumers focused on self to committed followers who are predominately serving others?  I think there is, and it begins with how we define what we call the gospel. More Later ...........[i] Stark,Rodney The Rise of Christianity, Harper and Row 1996 San Francisco page 3[ii] Philippians3:4-6[iii] Galatians4:19 NLT