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Form Faith
How is Faith Formed?
In true Lutheran understanding, friends, parents, and
teachers can not shape or form faith in others. Only God
can. Often, God surprises us, nudging, shaping, freeing,
loving, and confronting us. It is God who calls, gathers,
and sustains us as we discover God’s love made known
through Jesus Christ.
Through effective Christian education we can partner with
God to provide the space and the place for the Holy Spirit
to inspire maturing disciples to a deeper appreciation and
understanding of the faith planted in them. We are not to
be passive spectators of God.
Instead, Jesus commands “Go and make disciples. . .” There
is an urgency in Jesus’ parting words to his first century
disciples that continues to be the guiding mandate of
Jesus’ 21st century disciples! Our commission remains
keeping Jesus’ last command among the church’s first and
primary orders of business!
It is not without significance that the word “disciple”
occurs 269 times in the New Testament. The word “member”
never appears once. In many of our churches we have it
backwards. The task of the church is not to make members,
but disciples! The word disciple means a “learner,” but
Jesus infused into that word a wealth of profound meaning.
When Jesus, and later Paul, used this word it meant a
leaner or pupil who accepts the teaching of Christ, not
only in belief but also in lifestyle.
By the grace of God, faith is being formed and re-formed
throughout our life. Life-long learning has long been one
way to talk about Christian education from a Lutheran
perspective. Grounded in baptism and nurtured over time,
this kind of learning finds its best expression in a
balance between the sharing of faith content and the
encouragement to live a lifestyle that is Christ’s style.
What does it mean to disciple children, youth and adults in
this day and time? For many ELCA congregations it means
passing on more than knowledge and content. It means
inviting people to live, practice, and share their faith
365 days a year, 7 days a week, and 24 hours a day.
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