We desire to become better people. I am not the me I want to be. Maybe you aren’t either. But what does “better” really mean? How do we become better, anyway? These are powerful questions we will study together in the 2019 Yates Summer Study of The Me I Want to Be, by John Ortberg.
Ortberg is pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California, and author of several good books, including All the Places to Go, which we read together a few summers ago. With wit and insight, he will lead us on a biblically based personal journey deep into our own hearts, listening for the ways the Holy Spirit is calling us to live transformed lives in our families, our church, and the world.
The Me I Want to Be is about spiritual formation — the process by which your inner self and character are shaped. Many people use the phrase “the spiritual life” as distinct from, or even contradictory to, our embodied, daily lives. But what good is a spiritual life that withholds devotion from the everyday? Your whole life is spiritual, not just the praying, Bible-reading, and church-going part. And while spiritual disciplines are indispensable, they are not the only way God forms you into God’s best version of you.
A deep personal and congregational challenge of our time is what Ortberg calls a “failure to thrive.” He is describing the many people walking around in a fog, unable to see their mission or purpose clearly. Life becomes stuck in a cycle of meaningless existence and yearning for meaning, with no sense of where to locate it. In response, we will explore how a spiritually formed person is a flourishing person. In Ortberg’s words: “Your deepest longing should be to be alive with God, to become the person God made you to be, and to be used to help God’s world flourish.” Spiritual formation involves your discipleship, your relationship with God, your growth in Christlikeness, and your mission to the world that God is redeeming.
Jesus says in John 7:37-38: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” The only way to become the person God made you to be is to live with the Spirit of God flowing through you like a river of living water. Spiritual formation is ultimately not about trying harder, which only results in fatigue, failure, and guilt. It is about discovering and moving with the flow of the Holy Spirit in your spirit, mind, use of time, relationships, and experiences. The Holy Spirit is not trying to replace you, but to redeem you — taking who you are now and refining you in God’s image.
I’m excited that Yates will dedicate the summer months to reflecting together on this. In June and July, we will read together. Several of our adult Sunday School classes and home-based small groups are offering opportunities for anyone and everyone to connect. I urge you to consider being part of one — or more — of these group experiences. They are opportunities to know others better, share questions and discoveries, pray for one another, and orient around some common thoughts and themes.
My prayer is that this season of study will help form us into a growing community willing to step out in faith, transformed and full of excitement for what lies ahead. I look forward to this season of study, reflection, and response!
Grace & Peace,