God provides for our needs, feeding us with whatever nourishment we need and are most ready for.
In the Stage of Simplicity, God feeds us with clear and easy answers. In Complexity and Perplexity, God gives us questions, paradoxes, mysteries that our old categories couldn’t handle. In the Stage of Harmony, we receive the rest in the experience of silence in surrendering and experiencing a Yes to God.

McLaren concluded his series of talks on the 4 Stages of spiritual or faith development by explaining that there is always a risk of cramming all of life into artificial constructs.  But McLaren feels that this examination of different stages helps us to understand the doubts that we go through.

McLaren says that each time we move through a developmental stage in our spiritual growth, we experience doubt.  It’s much like a young child, he explained, who becomes cranky when they reach the point of almost moving to the next stage of development – of growing from sitting to crawling or from crawling to standing.  It’s a point of discomfort that leaves us uneasy.  Many groups or cults may respond to this feeling of doubt that we have by inviting us back into a permanent Stage 1 – back to following the orders of the leader who’s needs may be best served by having everyone in the group conform.   Parachurch organizations, McLaren explains, often specialize in certain stages and when we are not in that stage, they don’t have much to offer.

We need more Stage 4 leaders, McLaren pleads, who have become better at knowing how to lead Stage 1, 2 and 3 Christians and who can speak the language of simplicity. The apostle Paul spoke of himself “becoming all things to all people in order that I may liberate some”.

McLaren poses the question:  “How can we learn to help or minister to people in these various stages?”

McLaren poses the question:  “How can we learn to help or minister to people in these various stages?”  He explores the practices of Jesus as Master Teacher – able to meet people where they are, but bring them further on in their journey; providing clear instructions, but always allowing room to question and to doubt.  The goal isn’t to rush people through stages;  there are lessons to learn at each stage.  People can’t move on until they are ready and leaders need to be equipped to assist more people at more levels.  The formation of a disciple, McLaren reminds us, involves learning and growing throughout life.

McLaren addressed the concern of some people at the constriction of the notion of linear stages.  But McLaren explained we could conceptualize the stages as being like the growth rings on a tree.  New growth doesn’t replace old growth, it just expands it and develops and matures the tree further.   As we wander through our life’s wilderness, our path may be a very circuitous one.  We may have different experiences and catch glimpses along the way that something more is possible.  We may move in and out of various stages more than once.  We then need to spend time developing the practises that help us to move on to the next Stage.

McLaren teaches about Jesus’ bold words in John 6:  “I am the bread of life – my flesh for the life of the world”.  This is a bold statement and must have been confusing since some may have understood it as referring to cannibalism.  But McLaren says we should think of this statement about the Body of Christ as being the embodiment of Christ – seeing ourselves as we partake in the Eucharist as taking on the embodiment of Christ.  We feed on Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. McLaren says God provides for our needs, feeding us with whatever nourishment we need and are most ready for.   In the Stage of Simplicity, God feeds us with clear and easy answers. In Complexity and Perplexity, God gives us questions, paradoxes, mysteries that our old categories couldn’t handle.  In the Stage of Harmony, we receive the rest in the experience of silence in surrendering and experiencing a Yes to God.

God has been good to us.  We can ask and expect God to prepare us for the journey and through us to feed others.

The series “A New way of Thinking about Church” is written by Nancy Phillips.
This is the concluding article in the series.