Introduction

A FEW YEARS AGO, I was feeling frustrated with the lack of spiritual growth in my life. At the time, I had been a Christian for thirty-five years and a local church[1] pastor for over twenty years, but there was still a huge gap between where I was and where I thought I should be in Christ. Truth be told, the fruit of the Spirit was woefully lacking in my life.

I struggled to love others, I lacked joy, peace, patience, and kindness, especially while driving or when I experienced any inconvenience. I caught myself engaging in dehumanizing practices—sizing up the cashiers at the grocery store, for example, to decide which could get me out the door the fastest. I’d noticed an insufficient display of goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness in my life, and an ongoing problem with anger.

As for self-control, it was pretty much out the window—especially if there was a gallon of vanilla ice cream in the freezer.

That gives you a snapshot of some of my struggles and why I was feeling so frustrated. But things have been changing.

Six years ago, I was terminated from my position as a senior pastor. The elders decided I lacked the leadership skills to take the church to the next level. This devastating experience became the catalyst for a season of unprecedented spiritual/emotional growth.[2] I felt like I had been born again, again.

This difficult season has been a personal laboratory for me to work out the principles in this book. It has produced some significant breakthroughs for me. Don’t get me wrong: I’m still a work in progress. I still struggle with criticism, feelings of insecurity, and fear. I still have a few too many masks in my closet to help me present the right image in a given situation. I still struggle at times with inconsiderate drivers and get frustrated when I’m in a hurry and the line at the grocery store is too long. But I’m experiencing new freedom from spiritual/emotional conflicts that have caused problems for me throughout my life. These problems acted like barriers to my formation in Christ, but they are becoming less and less a hindrance as I put the principles found in this book into practice.

The more I study the Bible, the more I understand that God’s will for my life is to become more like Jesus in his character and to experience his quality of life. The character traits of Jesus are most easily recognized as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), while Jesus’ quality of life is represented by the abundant life he mentions in John 10:10: a life characterized by love, joy, peace, and hope (to name a few).

The apostle Paul refers to our formation into the image of Christ when he writes: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Scholars and spiritual leaders refer to this process variously as progressive sanctification, spiritual formation, or spiritual growth. Personally, I like the term Christ-formation.

What Is Christ-Formation?

Christ-formation is the overarching goal of the Christian life. It’s the result of a partnership between us and the Holy Spirit and is the practical outcome of what Jesus invited people to when he called them (and us) to be his disciples.

But if you’re like me, sometimes you feel like you’re not making much progress in becoming like Jesus. To be honest, the whole idea of living an abundant life seems impossible. So, what’s the problem?

The problem is sin—less an act of outright rebellion against God and more a desperate attempt to avoid shame and numb unresolved emotional pain with behavior that is contrary to the will of God. Regardless of why we sin, sin itself hinders the Christ-formation process because it grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and quenches his work in our lives (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

When emotional pain is allowed to linger in the heart, it can not only drive sinful behavior but also promote spiritual/emotional conflicts that distort our perception of God, self, and others, hindering our ability to experience the abundant life. Identifying and resolving these spiritual/emotional conflicts is what this book is all about. It’s an interactive guide that will help you understand your direct involvement in the Holy Spirit’s work to grow you in Christ. None of us will become fully formed in Christ in this life, but I believe that more transformation is possible than we realize.

What Makes This Book Unique?

The principles for Christ-formation found in this book are grounded in a robust biblical theology—but that’s not necessarily new or different. What makes this book unique is its holistic approach to progressive sanctification: the lifelong process of being formed into the image of Christ. The progressive sanctification I’m laying out here is based on a robust biblical theology and infused with findings from psychology and neurology. These findings deepen our understanding about how Christ-formation works and the changes you can expect.[3] Sadly, many people think science and Scripture are at odds with each other. I believe there are points of intersection, as the regular reference to Scripture in the book will reflect.

As you study the information and apply the biblical principles in Unhindered Abundance, you will discover that Christ-formation is not a passive process. Like any relationship, our discipleship to Jesus is dynamic and interactive—God at work in us, and us participating in that work with God. Neither does Christ-formation happen in isolation; you need to join with others on the same journey. So I encourage you to work through this material with a friend or in a small group. (At the end of each chapter, you will find questions for personal reflection and questions you can use with a small group.)

This material has been forged in the fires of my own life experiences. You will find some chapters fairly rigorous as we explore and apply findings from theology, psychology, and neurology to our understanding of Christ-formation, but I promise I will walk you through the practical implications, step by step.

My greatest desire is that this book will help you identify and resolve the spiritual/emotional conflicts that have hindered your Christ-formation so that you will experience a greater degree of the abundant life that Jesus has made possible for you.

[1] I like to make the distinction between “local church” (which is a building) and “the church” as the body of Christ. As believers, we are the church.

[2] I’m intentionally writing spiritual/emotional conflicts to read as one to avoid implying they are two separate and unrelated experiences. A spiritual problem promotes an emotional problem and vice versa.

[3] The principles and basic premise of this book were first published in my doctoral dissertation: “Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: A Process for Resolving the Spiritual and Emotional Conflicts that Hinder Sanctification” (DMin diss., Biola University, 2016), https://search.proquest.com/openview/73b9d3be7148e65bd47bc2d6927bd3bb/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y.