Spiritual Mother Tongue

What spiritual language do you speak? By that I mean the unique way you express your faith. It's easy to think there is only one or two ways to do this and as pastors we often hope that the majority of folks in our congregations speak the same language we do. However, in reality that is not the case. And in fact, according to Christian Schwarz, founder of Natural Church Development, he says there are at a minimum 9 different spiritual languages. Furthermore, EVERY church has each language represented! His research has shown that languages are not divided between traditions or styles but all exist simultaneously in every tradition or style. It has been easy for the mainline churches to dismiss the more enthusiastic style as belonging to the evangelical/mega church or for the evangelical to dismiss the more rational style of many mainline churches. Turns out those assumptions don't hold water! What we are dismissing is in our very own congregation.

Schwarz goes on to say that as individuals we tend to dismiss the type that is our opposite and that after identifying our type and using it to grow spiritually we can stretch ourselves into the opposite type to see what growth it would offer us. His book, The 3 Colors of Spirituality, is a fascinating study of his work with a mentor in each of the 9 types he identifies. Talk about stretching!!!!

So back to my original question...what is your spiritual mother tongue? The nine types he identifies are sensory, rational, doctrinal, scripture driven, sharing, ascetic, enthusiastic, mystical and sacramental. Of course, each of us speaks a bit of each of them but there is one language that really allows God to get through to you. This is where your spiritual antenna is tuned.

And chances are the person who drives you the craziest in your church is your opposite type.

The implications for worship leadership are huge when you consider how many languages need to be spoken on any given Sunday. If you find that your worship is centered all in your language and you dismiss other styles, you might want to reconsider that. If you find others complaining when you stretch into another style, it might be time for a study of this book by the congregation.