First, we need some clarity about this term. What do we mean by "spiritual teacher"? It's a term most often associated with Eastern and Near-Eastern religions, and not often used in Christianity. I am guessing that various people in Christian circles would define it differently. Here's how I define it:

A spiritual teacher - or spiritual guide - is someone who is helping you grow in your spiritual life by modeling that kind of life (even if imperfectly), by teaching you about it, helping answer questions, and showing you things about yourself that you might not have seen otherwise. He or she is one who helps you make sense of the deeper questions about meaning and purpose in life, who helps you sort out the problems and questions that you run into.

 

As you can see, this goes beyond the work that a pastor of a typical church can do. The "teaching" is not just presenting concepts in front of a group, but it's also working directly in peoples' lives to help them make sense of, and apply the concepts to daily life.

 

To do this requires time, and access to people. If the church numbers in the hundreds or thousands, there's no way the pastor can have enough interaction with people in the church to know what's going on in their lives and help them with their questions and challenges.

 

In some circles people would call this "discipling," others spiritual direction, still others "shepherding" or pastoring, and others spiritual teacher or master. In Jesus' time, serious spiritual students had "rabbis" or "teachers."

 

Ever since coming back into church ministry in 2011, after going through a time of spiritual disillusionment and then renewal, I've been reflecting a lot about the role of the pastor in churches and in people's spiritual lives. I've come to believe that, all too often, what churches look for from their pastors, does not really encompass this role -- the role of "spiritual teacher".

 

Churches look for pastors to do three things:

(a) provide teaching from the Bible in the form of sermons

(b) provide leadership for the church organization

(c) be available and compassionate in crisis situations, like hospitalizations or deaths.

 

Depending on the congregation, "preaching" and "leadership" are sometimes switched in order of priority, and "pastoral (crisis) care" is usually a distant third.

 

The role of spiritual teacher (or "discipler" to use the language some use in Christian circles) doesn't really fit here. Here's my concern:

 

As I see it, there are four alternatives here.

 

 

I'm not sure how much I like this option. I don't think it's working. In an excellent article based on a five-year study about why the next generation of young people and adults are leaving the church, Barna Research Group president David Kinnaman lists six reasons why people are dropping out. Although lack of access to a spiritual teacher is not specifically mentioned, I think it's integrally tied with several of the issues listed in the article.

 

One person described his frustration with church to me this way:

 

 

Do we really value the role of spiritual teacher? Of someone who has the expertise to help people navigate the ups and downs of the spiritual journey? Paul Brunton puts it this way:

 

 

 

OPTION 2: Delegate the "spiritual teacher" role to professionals outside the church

 

If this role is not being fulfilled in the church, people will look for it elsewhere. This is one of the reasons for the explosive growth of spiritual direction. I have gone to spiritual directors myself, and been very blessed by them. I also have a number of friends who are spiritual directors. I am a huge fan, and highly recommend that people work with spiritual directors. But they are an option for people outside of the mainstream life of most churches, and they cost money.

 

Also, one thing to be aware of is that spiritual directors are trained to help people listen to God, not to teach or exercise authority over their clients. A spiritual teacher will challenge you, and "hold your feet to the fire" if you are not following through on your commitments ... most spiritual directors don't do this. That's not their role.

 

Another place where people go to get help with specific questions or needs is Christian counselors. Once again, I'm not knocking counselors at all. My wife is one! But I am aware that sometimes people go to counselors to deal with problems and questions that could also be addressed with a spiritual teacher. Obviously there are many issues that a trained counselor can help people with that a spiritual teacher cannot. Both roles are important. But sometimes they overlap ... and in our culture, people seek the services of Christian counselors because they don't have access to a spiritual teacher -- because their church is either too big, or their pastor is not skilled in helping them with issues.

 

It's also true that most counselors are trained to be supportive listeners, and are not confrontational. And if they are confrontational, it's not on the basis of any kind of spiritual authority. That's not their area or expertise.

 

3. Delegate the "spiritual teacher" role to others within the local church

 

This is the way that many larger churches deal with the need for personalized spiritual teaching. Get people into small groups, or discipleship groups, or care groups, or support groups ... whatever you want to call them. These groups are really helpful, but they have their limitations too.

 

Let's assume the church is divided into active small group Bible studies, or support groups. Do the small group leaders fulfill this role of being spiritual teachers for people in their groups? Are they trained for this? Do they have the knowledge and credibility to help people take further steps of spiritual growth? Sometimes yes, but usually no. Usually the leader's role is more that of facilitator or host.

 

Plus, small groups shift around so much, and fizzle out so often, that the percentage of church attendees with a long term relationship in a small group -- let alone with a small group leader who functions as a spiritual teacher for them -- is rare indeed.

 

I'm not saying this is impossible, just that it's hard.

 

Advocates of discipleship ministry say that, if done right (especially if the leaders of groups are supported and coached well), the group itself can function like a spiritual teacher, providing a place for questions to get answered, for accountability to be established, etc. The idea is that group, when it's healthy, becomes greater than the sum of its parts, and can provide help and support to people that can be equal -- or at least nearly equal -- to what a skilled spiritual teacher can provide.

 

I agree that there are exciting possibilities with using small groups to function like spiritual teachers. But for that to happen, we'll need more training and support for groups and their leaders.

 

OPTION 4: Re-envision the role of the pastor to include the function of spiritual teacher
 
This approach intrigues me, but also has its challenges. The biggest, of course, is time. Most pastors find that their time is so filled with the demands of "running the organization" of the church, as well as preparing sermons, and offering crisis pastoral care, that there is precious time left over for the work of spiritual teaching with individuals in the church.

 

The late Eugene Peterson, a pastor and prolific author, reflected often about this issue. One of his most popular articles in Leadership Journal was called "The Unbusy Pastor."
 

Peterson wrote in several of his books about a decision he made midway through his ministry to step back from administrative work in the church to be more attentive to the needs of his own soul, and to be more available to people in the church.

 

If a pastor makes the decision to undertake personally the task of being a spiritual teacher to people in his or her church, that will limit the size of the church. It's a question of time and mathematics. How much time do you have? How many people can you meaningfully connect with?

 

One of my own heroes in ministry is Richard Baxter, pastor and author from the 16th century. He wrote about his struggle with this very issue in his book "The Reformed Pastor." He recognized that his work in peoples' lives could only reach so far from preaching a sermon once a week.

 

Baxter changed his practice to include a significant amount of his time in personal meeting with people in the church to inquire about their spiritual well-being. He set aside two days a week for this purpose, and arranged a systematic process where he met with everyone in his church (in family groups) at least once a year, for personal consultation and instruction. Baxter was extraordinary and organized ... his church numbered over 1000, yet he was able to keep this close connection with the people in it.

 

Obviously, for this to work, the pastor needs to be good at personal spiritual work with people. Taking on the role of spiritual teacher requires not only theological knowledge, but a depth of wisdom about how the spiritual life unfolds, and also a skill in working with people directly. I remember talking with one mega-church pastor about these issues, and he said that he could never do this. He's comfortable and very skilled at teaching in front of a crowd, but not one on one, or in a small group.

 

I think it's fair to say that most large-church (and certainly mega-church) pastors are highly skilled speakers and leaders ... but probably not as gifted at helping individuals or small groups work through the finer points of moving to spiritual maturity. We have a system in place right now that puts a premium on leadership and management for pastors, and that's a different skill set than being "shepherds of people's souls."

 

Maybe that's okay ... as long as somebody is shepherding those peoples' souls.

 

All of this comes back around to the question that Paul Brunton raises in the various quotes I've listed: Do we recognize the need for spiritual teachers? Do we believe that role is important for the development of people in our churches? Do we believe that people need it? If so, what is our plan for making it happen?