As you think about the rise of interest among evangelicals in spiritual formation over the past twenty years, what do you think has contributed to such an interest? In other words, why is "spiritual formation" a catchword among evangelicals?

There is an unprecedented interest in "spirituality" in the culture as a whole. A number of books on spirituality have been at the top of the bestseller lists in the last decade. The rise of curiosity about angels, near-death experiences, psychics, etc., is further evidence. I read a survey where even a majority of atheists consider themselves "spiritual" people. Much of the reason for this interest is due to people getting more and more of the material prosperity they've always sought, and finding that it doesn't satisfy. The cost of this prosperity has also included a surge in the stress and complexity of life, and these pressures have caused increasing numbers of people to look for spiritual solutions.

During the past two decades, who would you consider some of the key influences in spiritual formation?

Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Jerry Bridges, Henry Blackaby, John Piper, Bill Hybels, Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Gary Thomas, and a few other names that escape me at the moment. I certainly do not endorse the teachings or the models set forth by all these dedicated folks, but I do think they are among the most influential voices regarding the spiritual practices and development of Christians in the past twenty years.

What differences, if any, do you see between a popular evangelical understanding of spiritual formation and what biblical spiritual formation is really about?

That will depend upon one's definition of the "popular evangelical understanding of spiritual formation." I think that evangelicals understand spiritual formation to deal almost exclusively with the personal spiritual disciplines to the exclusion of the congregational spiritual disciplines, that is, with the disciplines one practices alone as opposed to the ones practiced with the church. Jesus does not call us to practice our spirituality in isolation. We are not called to be evangelical monks. Our Christlikeness is measured not only in terms of our vertical relationship, but also in terms of the horizontal (see 1 John 1:3).

The popular evangelical understanding (given that it is focused almost entirely on the personal spiritual disciplines) is probably limited in most cases to Bible reading and prayer, but many evangelicals do understand that there are other forms of Bible intake than just reading, and they are also aware of many other Biblical disciplines than just these two.

Who or what is happening in the sphere of spiritual formation that causes you great concern for the church and gives you great hope for the church?

My greatest concerns in the sphere of spiritual formation today are (1) with the influence of mysticism upon evangelical spirituality (for more on my concerns, see the paper I delivered at the Evangelical Theological Society on "The Boundaries of Evangelical Spirituality" on the "Articles" page of my website, www.SpiritualDisciplines.org, and my chapter in "The Compromised Church," which can also be accessed on the website), and (2) with the influence of pop/secular spirituality, that is, the spirituality contained in the non-biblical, New Age, and otherwise non-Christian books of the type that are endorsed on Oprah, etc., and (3) with the tendency to think of spiritual formation apart from the influence of and relationships within the local church.

The most hopeful signs in relation to spiritual formation that I see are (1) the widespread interest in "spirituality" that I mentioned earlier, even that which is wrongly motivated, for such interest is an open door to introduce the truth of the Gospel to unbelievers (Spurgeon said if he were buying a farm, he'd rather buy one that grew weeds than one that grew nothing at all) as well as to teach the truth of Biblical spirituality to believers; (2) the widespread interest in "simplifying," which also presents similar opportunities, and (3) the increasing numbers of seminary graduates (and my knowledge is limited chiefly to SBC seminaries) who are committed to a biblically-driven ministry, which includes a biblically-driven spirituality.

What is your definition of spiritual formation?

Spiritual formation is the biblical process of being conformed inwardly and outwardly to the character of Christ (1 Tim. 4:7b).

What kind of effects (positive and/or negative) has Foster's Celebration of Discipline and/or Streams of Living Water had on Evangelicalism?

Foster's book has been the most influential book on spiritual formation in the last fifty years. I read it within the first few weeks after it came out and he was the first to help me think of certain Christian practices as "spiritual disciplines." The topics of the chapters in my Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life are very similar to the topics of his chapters.

But I hope my readers see my writings, and especially Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, as a more historic evangelical approach to spirituality than Foster. Indeed, that's the reason many pastors, as well as many of those in the 40+ seminaries, Bible colleges, etc., give me as the reason why they chose my book as a textbook instead of Foster.

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