Spiritual Direction in the Pentecostal, Wesleyan, Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Reformed Tradition
It is the work of the church to teach its faithful the word of God and encourage them to do God’s work. God’s work involves spreading the word to everyone, and helping in various ways. In order for anyone to do God’s work effectively, they need divine guidance from God. This divine guidance comes in the form of the Holy Spirit. For the faithful to receive the Holy Spirit and experience its power, they must seek spiritual direction. Spiritual direction is meant to help people develop a close relationship with God to enable them experience the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit. Different churches have adopted various ways of providing spiritual direction to their faithful. This is based on their interpretation of spirituality. However, there are underlying similarities amongst different churches in their approach to spiritual direction. The most important similarity is the belief that spiritual direction is necessary for someone to develop a closer relationship with God.
Pentecostals have a short history and tradition compared to other churches. They have been in existence for just over 100 years, having started at the onset of the twentieth century. In the early days, the church was common mainly amongst the poor neighborhoods of towns and in the rural areas. During its short existence, the Pentecostal church has actively sought renewal as it makes an effort to return to its original spiritual standing of believing and spirit baptism. Pentecostals and other religious groups believe that the Holy Spirit works in the life of the believer. Most of their activities revolve around the worship setting of the church. They associate spirituality within the realms of a church service rather than a devotional closet. In as much as they acknowledge the work of the spirit in the heart, they still value church worship as the best way to demonstrate spiritualism.
Pentecostals believe that spirituality involves a personal quest to acquire the spirit in its original form. This fixation with the past may be helpful, but it sometimes fosters a sense of denial. This is especially so for Pentecostals with a multigenerational heritage. They get to learn of the spirit as it was in the past rather than in the present. The impression they get is that worship was better back in the days when their movement was starting. They are led to believe that, in the old days, Pentecostals were more committed to worship and experienced more miracles than in the present.
The spirit of God is a remarkable experience for any believer. It sets the believer on a lifelong journey with God. The beginning of this journey is symbolized by the headwaters of a stream, with the headwaters being the source. This is where a new believer gets his or her first taste of the spiritual waters that are meant to see them through on this remarkable journey. For Pentecostals, the headwaters experience is represented by the baptism of the spirit. There are also other experiences of the spirit that will follow to mark fresh beginnings. These first experiences come when one initially believes. They feel God’s purifying power as they become aware of the work of the spirit.
Pentecostal believers can also undergo the above experiences during the revival of the flow of God’s spirit in their lives. They can also experience redemption through God’s grace during moments of crisis when they feel overwhelmed. In times of tragedy, the spirit of God acts as a wall of mercy that keeps off the perils of the world and supports one through the tragedy. Drinking of the spirit reminds the believers of the gospel message. Additionally, spirituality should bring revival and renewal of the believers’ faith. Pentecostals are usually in constant search of renewal to experience the freshness of the spirit. For Pentecostals, being filled with the spirit is referred to as spiritual baptism and may include the faithful speaking in tongues. From their tradition, Pentecostals believe that speaking in unknown tongues is the initial manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The language spoken at this time cannot be linked to any known language, and the full meaning is only known by God. People undergoing spirit baptism may be overwhelmed emotionally and even physically. It is common to see them shouting, crying, waving their arms and running.
Wesleyans believe that once a person receives new life in Christ, he or she is required to be holy in character and conduct. For one to live this way, they must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Wesleyans are expected to establish their faith and actions based on the bible’s teachings. They believe that it is God’s will for people everywhere to know him, and the work of the church is to tell people about God through worship, witness and good deeds. The bible represents God’s plan for his people and outlines how they are supposed to live out that plan as individuals and as a group. Christ is the symbol of God’s will for humankind. He represents the best example for holy living. For Wesleyans, Christ serves both as an example and as a source of strength as they pursue a life of faith, hope and love. Wesleyans are mandated by Christ to seek disciples and bring them to God. Making disciples requires training in holy living and spiritual growth, with a strong focus on evangelism. Local churches represent the best points of evangelism and discipleship. Wesleyans are encouraged to find the best means of serving and strengthening congregations. In order to achieve all these, they are encouraged to respect the leadership of the church. According to Wesleyans, spiritual leadership is not bestowed, but comes through having a loving and willing heart that serves God and mankind. Servant leadership is a key teaching amongst Wesleyans. They are also taught to value every person, regardless of the diversity that exists in terms of race, culture, perspectives and faith. The best way to foster unity and eliminate devaluation of others is to love each other as required by God through his teachings.
Wesleyans seek to help each other in their spiritual quests through various ways. These include family worship, faith mentoring, spiritual companionship, face-to-face groups and covenant groups. These structures and practices provide means of helping each other toward Christian perfection. The individual is also expected to observe personal spiritual discipline. Wesleyans seek spirituality so that they can experience sanctifying grace that cleanses their inner sins and restores the image of God. Their hearts become filled with divine love, making them love God absolutely, and their neighbors too. This state of grace is dynamic, and the believer must continue growing in Christ and learning to live with Christ. Sanctification comes both gradually and instantaneously.
The main goal of Wesleyan spirituality is the attainment of divine love that transcends the sinful self-centeredness of man. Wesleyans believe that love is the highest form of spirituality that one can reach. Anyone who believes that there is something more than love is considered to be lost. Once God has saved one from sin, the aim is to seek that love. Spirituality should cleanse the thoughts in one’s heart, their inner sin, through the Holy Spirit. This cleansing comes through baptism with the Holy Spirit. Wesleyans may be thought of as radical optimists in their belief that sanctifying grace will purge them of their original sin and set them free from self-domination in this life. Anyone can be made pure on the inside regardless of their original sin. This involves being set free from the inner sin nature, from which come sinful thoughts and acts.
Orthodox Christians believe that spirituality involves communion with God through prayer. The only way through which Christians can find and draw close to God is through prayer. Spirituality, according to the Orthodox Church, revolves around the healing of the soul and the restoration of the image and likeness of God in an individual. In the end, the person grows into a relationship with God that eventually comes to be described as a union. Spiritual direction is, therefore, the process of healing a person’s heart and leading them into a deep relationship with God. One can be led on this journey by a spiritual guide and in a sacramental context. Spirituality is supposed to bring a high level of consciousness and ethical awareness to a person. It is some form of mystical experience that transcends the boundaries of love and brotherhood. Spirituality brings a psychological adjustment to the individual and heals the traumas brought about by the person and the environment in which they live.
Orthodox faithful are supposed to seek spiritual experience of God as individuals and as a church corporate. They believe in mystical union of faithful in the body of Christ. The sacraments provide the basis for living a spiritual life. According to Orthodox tradition, a person starts his or her spiritual development at baptism. The experience continues with the Eucharistic communion, and is renewed and propelled by the sacrament of confession. A spiritual director provides specific guidance that helps in developing one’s spirituality further. The priest, who introduces the sacraments and teachings of the church to a member of the church, acts as their spiritual director. There are also church traditions and practices that foster and nature this spiritual development.
The priest presides over the sacrament of confession for the orthodox Christian. Confession provides the chance for one to renew the grace of forgiveness, and an opportunity to find direction in overcoming their sins. The aim is to provide healing for the heart that has been damaged by sin. The role of the priest during confession is to help with the healing of the soul. Spiritual direction can also be given by the laity outside the confines of sacrament as long as the person is filled with the spirit of God. He or she must have gone through the spiritual journey before and fulfilled all requirements. The person seeking spiritual direction must obey and submit to the director who is to lead them on their spiritual journey. One must be ready to reveal to the director all that is transpiring deep inside their heart, and accept correction and discipline from the director if their soul is to be saved. The Orthodox Christians are encouraged to identify a confessor or experienced teacher to leader them in the path to spirituality. Such a relationship is personal and unique, and the two parties aid in the spiritual progression of each other. Most of the time, spiritual direction involves an elder giving spiritual advice, correction and teaching to a disciple. There may be no experienced spiritual guide available in few cases. In such a situation, the faithful may submit to each other, forego their self will and give themselves to prayer. They should study the scriptures, embrace the liturgical tradition of the church and follow the spiritual writings of their church leaders. God will act as their director in such a situation.
Catholic spiritual direction involves one seeking help or guidance from another person, usually spiritual director, over time. In the process, a person grows in a loving relationship with God. This process unfolds continuously through inspiration and action of the Holy Spirit. For Catholics, spiritual direction involves three parties; the direction seeker, the director and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual direction is meant to help a person understand and establish a unique relationship with God. This is what God wants, and he continues to call on mankind to have a relationship with him. Spiritual direction requires living as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and adopting his mind and heart. The person seeking spiritual direction must learn how to nurture and strengthen the relationship through prayer and meditation. One must be ready to eliminate all sinful attitudes and behavior that may destroy this relationship. As they experience the power that comes with spiritualism, they should be ready to follow Christ’s gospel imperative to reach out to others and spread the word of God. Spiritual direction provides both human and divine guidance as disciples embark on a journey of transformation. The fundamental requirement of all baptized Christians to heed the call to be apostles of Jesus Christ, and they achieve this through the guidance of others.
Spiritual direction in the Catholic Church is done based on their understanding of scripture, and is connected to their sacraments. It is based on the teachings and guidance of the church that have been used to foster spirituality over centuries of the church’s history. The director helps the disciple to realize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as they seek spiritual direction. It should not be mistaken for a program aimed at mastering theology, or exploring theories about spirituality. It involves more than just being trained about virtues and moral discipline. Spiritual direction helps one discover things that promote or hinder response to the action of the Holy Spirit. It is designed to help one achieve holiness and a deeper spiritual life. It involves a series of experiences that are aimed at fostering one’s relationship with God. It should not be treated as a speculative venture, but as a commitment to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual direction only comes with religious experience. It is not an intellectual inquiry into God, but a commitment to recognize and accept God and all his complexities. Spiritual direction aims at bringing about a loving response through faith. One must believe and trust that the Trinity is at work in their life if they want to find spiritual direction. The role of the spiritual director is to help the seeker to be attentive and responsive to the power of the spirit and invitation to transformation. The seeker acquires a new way of seeing and being aware of things so that they respond appropriately to God. Spiritual direction in the Catholic Church comes from men and women who are gifted and inspired by the Holy Spirit. The church believes that there is no one specific template for spiritual direction, but all forms of spiritual direction must be based on biblical teachings.
In the Reformed Tradition church, spiritual direction is not as developed as it is in other churches. Most members of the church do not discern the spiritual direction needed. This was because of the reasons developed after the Reformation witnessed within protestant reformed circles. In the Reformed tradition church, spiritual direction was seen differently. During the Reformation period, guidance in the spiritual direction was shunned as an appropriate means of spiritual guidance. This is because it communicated an authoritative relationship. Confession was also frowned upon for the same reasons. For reformers, the most important thing was one’s relationship with God through reading the bible and listening to preaching. Reformed tradition church members also relied on prayer and the fulfilling Holy Spirit to offer direction and enlightenment to every Christian. In essence, the reformers had the opinion that the respected Holy Spirit and the writings were adequate in providing spiritual guidance. Their aim was to minimize the power that fellow human beings had as far as reaching out to God was concerned.
However, this holds no relation that the Reformed Tradition church neglected the spiritual nurture of its followers. What is lacking is the appointment of spiritual directors; otherwise, the Reformed church has a rich tradition of encouraging members to seek piety. For those who grew up and were educated in Presbyterian set-ups before 1980, they were never introduced to the concepts of spiritual director and spiritual discipline. However, recent years have seen a resurgence of appetite for spirituality amongst many members of the congregation. There are writers like Richard Foster, Kathleen Norris and Dallas Willard who have sparked renewed interest in spirituality with their writings. Evangelical seminaries have come to recognize that spiritual development is vital in a person who seeks to serve God. Spiritual development is now being addressed in new ways. The Reformed tradition church has taken steps to address this growing spiritual hunger amongst its faithful and the general population.
Many evangelical seminaries now offer courses that deal with spiritual arrangement and spiritual bearing. The Reformed Tradition church prefers to use the old term ‘piety’ instead of ‘spirituality’. In developing spiritual direction, the church has blended counseling and spiritual interests. This is a new approach towards spiritual direction and spiritual formation. The nineteenth century saw the rise of interests in natural and social sciences, and their rapidly increasing influence. The church was forced to address this new phenomenon, and some Christians accommodated the ideas from these disciplines. The result was liberal theology. This liberal theology was to clash later with historic Christian theology in the second fraction of the nineteenth century and the start of the developed twentieth century as witnessed. The result was the fragmentation of major denominations and the creation of a long-lasting chasm between evangelical and liberal theology. These divisions left deep emotional scars on all Christians. The evangelicals chose to associate liberal theology with sociology and psychology, and liberal theology was seen as a rejection of the scripture. It took time before these suspicions waned, and evangelicals came to accept Christian counseling. This acceptance is now widespread and has opened up avenues for spiritual direction. As spiritual direction grows in the Reformed Tradition church, the Christian psychoanalysis societies is articulating new measures for discussions across existing boundaries that were once seen to be hostile.
From all these church traditions analyzed above, there are certain lessons that can be drawn regarding spirituality and spiritual direction. First, it is the work of the church to spread the word of God and teach its faithful about God. These teachings are based on the bible, and are supplemented by various spiritual writings from authors in the respective churches. In order to prepare the faithful for the development of a close relationship with God, the church has the responsibility of providing spiritual guidance. In all the above church traditions, it is recognized that the church must play an active role in providing spiritual direction to its faithful. They may differ in their definitions and approach to spiritual direction, but the aim is basically the same. Spiritual direction is meant to help the faithful draw closer to God so that they can fully experience the powers of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual direction helps the faithful understand Gods and prepares them to do his work. The work of God involves spreading the gospel and helping people through good deeds.
Different churches are in agreement that spiritual direction is a process, and not a one-time occurrence. A gradual process draws one to God through various stages. The different stages of spiritual direction may differ from one church to another, but they all represent a gradual drawing closer to God and growing awareness of the power of the Holy Spirit. This process starts when one gets saved or baptized, depending on their church. After this, they will receive periodic teachings from a spiritual director, church leader or fellow Christians. These teachings are aimed at helping them develop a closer relationship with God through better understanding of his teachings. The seeker not only learns about the teachings, but also actively applies them in his or her life. They have to live a life of piety and expunge all forms of sin from their system. Spiritual direction will help them banish all sinful thoughts and deeds so that they can live a righteous life. It is only through living a righteous life that one can develop a close relationship with God. This relationship will enable them to experience the full power of the Holy Spirit.
It is clear that those seeking spiritual direction need some guidance. This guidance can only come from someone who has experienced spirituality themselves. In most churches, spiritual direction is given by the church leaders, priests, preachers, church elders and so on. The laity who has received spiritual direction can also guide members on this journey. The work of the spiritual director is to teach the seeker the ways of the lord, to help them live a pious life and to prepare them for the full experience of the power of the Holy Spirit. Church groups and the congregation can also provide some form of corporate spiritual direction. Most of spiritual direction is given through one-on-one interaction between the seeker and the spiritual director. They study the bible and other religious writings, review the teachings of the church and work on weak areas that the seeker may be experiencing. The spiritual director is one who has undergone spiritual direction before, and has formed a close relationship with God. They understand what one is supposed to do to experience the full power of the Holy Spirit. They are, therefore, qualified to guide others on this spiritual journey of awareness and discovery. Spiritual direction can also be given in groups, where one spiritual director takes charge of a small group of seekers. Even in such a setting, the spiritual director has to create some time for one-on-one sessions with each member of the group.
Part of spiritual direction involves confession. The seeker must confess all his or her sins without hiding anything. In case they sin after they have started the journey of spiritual direction, they must confess and ask God for forgiveness. One can only form a close relationship with God after they have cleansed themselves of all sins. For some churches like the Catholic Church, spiritual direction is tied to the sacraments. This means that one must receive all the sacraments for them to achieve full spiritual enlightenment. Awareness of the power of the Holy Spirit comes gradually as a person gains spiritual enlightenment. The Holy Spirit will serve the seeker in several ways. It provides protection and inner strength when one is going through different tribulations in life. It takes away the pain and fills the seeker with hope. Being filled with the Holy Spirit enables one to survive and overcome all the tribulations that may come their way here on earth. The Holy Spirit can manifest itself in a person in several ways. In some churches, those who are filled with the Holy Spirit can sometimes be overwhelmed emotionally and physically. During worship or church service, the Holy Spirit overcomes these people, and they may start shouting and speaking in unknown tongues. They may also throw their limbs in the air in response to the power of the Holy Spirit. Such manifestations are acceptable in some churches but are not seen in others.
There has been an increased interest in spirituality in recent times. Many people are now expressing a certain hunger for spiritual nourishment to complete their lives. Spirituality calls for a deep personal engagement with God and surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit. Those tasked with providing spiritual direction must understand the rich history of the fulfilling spiritual guidance in the church since its formation. It is by understanding the existing diversities that they will be able to nurture spiritual growth in members. In as much as spiritual direction seems well established in some churches than others, what is important is the recognition of its role in bringing people closer to God and promoting God’s work. Nurturing spiritual growth is important to all Christian churches and traditions, regardless of how they call it or go about it.
One serendipitous outcome of this study is that spirituality is being taken more seriously in the world today, despite the different interpretations amongst churches. The fact that people are actively seeking spirituality is good for the society. The teachings of spirituality impart benevolence on the seekers. Even scientists in the fields of psychology and sociology have recognized the important role that spirituality plays in people’s lives. The spiritual teachings of the church help people live wholesome lives. In their bid to be pure and holy before God, they bring psychological enrichment to themselves. Furthermore, spirituality has a big impact on the mind, and spiritual nourishment can help one deal with different psychological pressures in a healthy way. It is not easy for one to seek spiritual growth on their own without seeking the support of others. From the history of the church, spiritual direction is a communal matter. One needs support, encouragement and guidance as they go through this journey of spirituality. Spiritual counsel can come from a church leader, family member or a peer in the church. The process can also be formal or informal, mutual or single-directional. What matters is the act of bringing a person closer to God so that they can experience the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides and protects the Christian as he goes about living a righteous life and doing God’s work. It is only after receiving the Holy Spirit that a Christian can fulfill all the requirements of God.
