You and Your Spiritual Director

A spiritual director is a relatively new vocation that one can claim these days. It's not exactly the same as a priest or a rabbi or an imam, but that is not to say that a priest or a rabbi or an imam is not a spiritual director, for in some capacity, certainly they are; to be a "Spiritual Director "one must earn a "Spiritual Director" certification. It seems that spiritual direction is not longer a particular way, but a form of art.

The title earned denotes one who is trained and experienced in helping a person (apparently of any faith or religious orientation) sort through ideas and feelings about the spiritual path they are on. Depending on the religious affiliation and beliefs of the people involved, a “spiritual director” will help another person “find deeper meaning in life;”or “help them hear and trust their own inner wisdom;” and “pray for and with the person they are “counseling.”

A spiritual director acts as a sort of midwife, helping a person give birth to their calling. He or she is one who is instrumental in helping "another person deepen prayer, especially the prayer of contemplation, or simple awareness of God.”

"Got your Spiritual Director Yet?" was the title of a Christian History Corner article by Chris Armstrong and Steven Gertz that appeared in Christianity Today Magazine, April 2003. In the article, the authors noted that many Christian leaders of today are looking at a myriad of ways to understand discipleship including silence and solitude, journalizing, and “spiritual direction.”

Armstrong and Gerts are advocates of such spiritual direction, which they say, is a “voluntary relationship between a person who seeks to grow in the Christian life and a director.” The director, of course, is one who is trained in doing so. The article was to inform the Christian reader that he needs one of these directors in his or her own life. (Note how you do not need God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit, to guide and direct you.. you need another human being in a spiritually hierarchical relationship over you. It's not your dad or mom, it's not a friend and you are of no equal status with this person either; it's your professionally trained, bonefied and certificated, Spiritual Director. Armstrong and Getz say the concept of a Spiritual Director, owes “it’s greatest debt” to the Society of Jesus. (a.k.a. the Jesuit order of priest in Roman Catholicism)

However, since most of Protestantism, many of whom would read this book for information and ideas, would see such a thing as an attempt of Rome to seize Protestant Christianity. Armstrong and Getz also made sure to note, that “several key Protestant writers” have also written on the subject in recent years to validate its “usefulness” to Christianity. Their list included Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Eugene Peterson. According the the article, these highly respected “Protestant” men are to be our example that “spiritual direction” is acceptable, something “Christians” should find useful and begin practicing.


Who are these "key Protestant writers?" More importantly who are "Protestants"? Do protestants call themselves Protestants or do they call themselves Christian?

Dallas Willard says that he believes the church today isn’t what it should be. He says that one problem in the church today is that, “the meaning of 'Trust Christ’ has changed. He explains this problem saying, it no longer means trusting Him; it means trust something He did. He continues…”In that way, one theory of the atonement was substituted for the Christian Gospel.” (Subversive Interview Part 1, for Relevant Magazine; accessed at www.dwillard.org.)

So what exactly does this protestant believe about the atonement of Christ? Does his remark infer that what Jesus did for us, ( the atonement of Jesus Christ) is not a central factor and key concept of our Christian faith? Moreover, is it really “a problem” in the church that people actually “trust in,” something Christ did, like… trust that his payment for our sin was sufficient? Willard says, this is one of the bigger problems in the church today. Is it?

Richard Foster has written many books that promote the Jesuit “spiritual disciplines.” of contemplative prayer, breathe prayers, examen and lecto divina; all practices intrinsically and traditionally tied to catholic mysticism. Foster also fanatically promotes catholic mystics, such as Thomas Merton, Ignatius Loyola, Brother Lawrence, and Miester Eckhart. Spiritual formation begins, Foster says, "first by our turning to the light of Jesus. For some, this is an excruciatingly slow turning, turning until we turn round right. For others, it is instantaneous and glorious. In either case, we are coming to trust in Jesus, to accept Jesus as our Life." He says, "Much intense formation work is necessary before we can stand the fires of heaven. Much training is necessary before we are the kind of persons who can safely and easily reign with God." (Spiritual Formation Agenda;Three priorities for the next 30 years by Richard Foster, Christianity Today Magazine,

d 2/04/2009 )

Christianity Today.com also published a two part interview with Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen titled, Deepening our Conversation with God. In the article Foster says of spiritual directorship, “It means having someone who can read my soul and give me guidance in my walk with Christ.” (But think about this, "Does another person read souls the way a clairvoyant reads tea leaves in a cup?") The point of the article was to show “what it takes for church leaders to know God. ”( Obviously Foster and friend think that all these church leaders, bible teachers, pastors, Sunday school leaders, do not really know God, but Foster and Nouwen do.)

On the subject of retreats, Foster asserted that the “Protestant world needs to rethink” their understanding of retreats. He then goes on to say that the catholic retreat centers are the only places that can accommodate individual people who want to go on retreats without a crowd. He asks, “Why can't we build places for this in our churches?” (Our churches? Foster is a writer, not a pastor with a church.) Foster, like Willard, also endorses Catholic practices like examen, lecto divina and having a spiritual director. He wants Protestants to rethink and begin to do everything Catholic.

Eugene Peterson, is the author of The Message, a book first made popular as a novel, not a Bible. It was presented as simply a retelling of the scriptures, but it has now been marketed as another valid version of the Bible. It is often quoted chapter and verse and it is even called the Message Bible, (MSG) instead of just The Message, as it was when it first became published.

Researchers at Kjos Ministries, maintain that anyone who is willing to studiously investigate and intelligently evaluate Peterson’s work and compare it with a scholarly translation will discover that Peterson’s rendering is full of “alarming deletions, distortions and additions to the original text.” Such additions, omissions and changes may be easily overlooked by a casual observer, but with time-tested scrutiny, such changes and omissions are not scholarly, they are more of a personal interpretation than a translation. Peterson’s version interestingly and deliberately interjects powerfully popular contemporary words like “purpose”… and even “The Message” into its own text.

Take for example John 10:30, Jesus speaking, “the Father is greater than I,” (KJV ) has been changed by Peterson to read, to “The Father is the goal and purpose of my life.” (Msg.)

Another example is Colossians 1:5. It reads, “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” (KJV) has been changed by Peterson to read, “The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope. The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time.”

Colossians 1:16 reads, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” (KJV) In The Message by Eugene Peterson the same verse has become, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels--everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.”

Peterson, Foster and Willard are no doubt devoted to leading Christians. They, like many other believe there is a deep need to communicate this concept of spiritual formation to Christians.
They want you to know that simply putting your faith in what Jesus did for you at Calvary, simply reading the word is not enough, nor is simply believing some theory of the atonement that has been substituted for the Christian Gospel. These believe instead that you need a trained spiritual director to help you in the formation of your soul, someone who cares about your soul and can direct you to God.

Well known Universities, Institutes, Theological Schools and Educational Centers now offer certification in Spiritual Directing. They even award diplomas for their two and sometimes four year programs. Certification requires many things including knowledge of Christian Mystical traditions, (and some study of mystics like Teilhard de Chardin,) proper Bible interpretation, studies in Jungian Psychology, and Leadership Training are usually part of the curriculum.