Momentum in Spiritual Formation: The prospect of someday

P = mv

Momentum equals mass times velocity.

Spiritual formation begins with halting my trajectory toward destruction. If following Christ is motion based on my new identity in Christ, we must first stop moving in the direction defined by my old identity in myself. Basically, stop doing the things I have always done. The problem is that at the moment I start following Christ, I've been moving in a direction, and the law of inertia tells me that I'll continue moving in that direction until something stops me. I think recognition of my direction is a major part. When I begin to recognize the thoughts and attitudes that keep me moving in a direction away from Christ, I can begin to halt the spiritual inertia that keeps me from being the raging Christ follower that I so desperately long to be.

So let's assume for a second that I've stopped my spiritual inertia that was leading me toward trouble (big assumption). Simply stopping is no good, because (as I said before) I'm still left among the rubble and ruin that my old life created. Not to mention that I'm still in a state of bad inertia, because I'm simply not moving. Following Christ implies motion, or a new sort of inertia.

So let's further assume that I've begun the journey of following Christ well. I've recognized the faulty thought patterns that have led to faulty behaviors and I'm sputtering down the road toward "the healthy Christian life." (I don't like that phrase, it sounds too trite and canned, but go with me). This is the kind of spiritual inertia frequently referred to as "the camp high." Back from a mission trip or a retreat, and I'm ready to lay down my life for the movement. My life, marriage, family, home, work, and thought life is going to be different. Or is it?

Where the camp high (or any emotional response) leaves us wanting is that it fails to sustain itself. The friction of life and responsibility slows progress until it's first stopped, and then picks up the road where it left off.

This is where momentum comes in. Momentum is what you get when mass is moving in a direction. It's momentum that makes our initial spiritual inertia so difficult to break. The silver lining is that spiritual momentum in a God-ward direction can be equally as difficult to break.

Mass. Size, substance, weight, density... All the components of the substance of what we are. I think of people with spiritual mass as "deep" people. They always have an interesting take on what God is doing. They're unshaken by the circumstances and situations in life. There's a calm about their demeanor, because the weight (rock) they are tethered too isn't easily moved. It's big. It's got mass.

Velocity. Speed in a given direction. Speed is important. Like Ricky Bobby, "I wanna go fast!" Have you ever known someone who always seems to have a fresh insight from God? Speedy spiritualists seem to be hyper-tuned to God around them. They're receptive to God whispers, so they can move fast and seem to be ahead of the curve. Direction may be the key term here. I've known frantic people who are always chasing something, and never chasing the same thing two days in a row. People with spiritual direction know where they're going and they're able to walk toward it most days in an intentional and direct path.

Momentum. It's not enough to simply get started. It's important to get the whole thing moving somewhere worth going. The camp high becomes a spiritual thing to marvel at when it continues beyond the ecstasy of the experience and into the reality of every day. As they move, the substance of what they are picks up speed toward their destination. Spiritual momentum is a beautiful thing, because it looks like a life in order.

The parable of the sower speaks to momentum, and frankly it drives me crazy sometimes. I hate to see the seeds in my life fall on rocky soil or among the thorns. I'm tangled up in life and not able to break free to run forward with all that I am toward a God ready and waiting to receive me. I build momentum when I begin the tedious work of digging out my reservoir. The spiritual disciplines that I love to hate help me find the stillness and silence that I need to recognize God's voice. I gain spiritual girth when I replace the flab of self with the muscle of my identification with Christ. I pick up speed as the decisions and habits become ingrained and instinctive. My direction remains firm as the weight of who I am becoming moves faster and faster.

When it's so difficult to build momentum in ourselves, how do we call those around us to do what we've not done well? I think about my small group. Most of them are relatively fresh in their journey, and they frequenly find great fits of energy squelched by an energy bill that's larger than they expected or a particularly bad day with their kids. We talk of faithfulness and continuing the path toward where they are going, reassuring them that the stuff of life is building a depth and a faith that can sustain them. But what do we put in their hands? What girth can we impart to them to help them carry forward, even if it's simply rumblin' bumblin' stumblin' forward. How do communities of like minded people become transformed by new momentum?

Orginizationally speaking, that's really hard to do. Relationally speaking, there is hope. I have to be willing to lean in and lend whatever measley girth to the process. I'll get dirty when I do that, because many times the problems aren't mine and the journey is one that I specifically and decidedly wouldn't have chosen. The Church is never more alive than at these times. The paradigm that crashes the whole thing to the ground is the framework of individualism. The fact that I see the problems of others as the problems of "others" means that I'll always be limited to whatever weight or velocity I can muster. But the context of lives lived together on purpose pours a heavenly light into the shadows of difficulty that I always wrestle with. Maybe the first inertia I have to set out to break is the movement of individualism. Two is greater than one. In a friendship, the mass is automatically doubled. Momentum builds. And you can't program it. You have to choose it. We as the Church have to go there first, and grab as many others as we can possibly get our mits on. Those are the important decisions, and they are every decision. Spiritual momentum is made up of the mundane and commonplace choices that I make. To bring or not to bring... that is the question