Reader,

When N.T. Wright was working on Simply Jesus, his wife wanted to know why he was writing another book on Jesus. It was a reasonable question: he had already written a couple of lengthy books about Christ. "Has Jesus changed?" she asked him.

His response was simple: “No. But I have.”

Any kind of healthy growth happens in stages. Babies don’t come out of the womb walking, reading the news, and day trading. For a while, they just lie there, completely dependent on others for everything. Then they learn to roll over, crawl, walk, and run. They learn to clap, stack, and say words. One stage leads to the next.

It is not wrong for a baby to be in a less advanced stage. In fact, each stage is appropriate and necessary for the baby to develop in a healthy way. It's only a problem when a child gets stuck in a stage or does not properly advance to subsequent stages.

The same is true of our spiritual growth: we can get stuck in our developmental stages or perhaps skip them all together. If either case happens, the opportunity for us to emerge into our fullness may be at risk. We must progress through each stage with full engagement to ensure we're ready to reveal what we reveal about who God is.

The reality that we develop in stages is a concept known as stage theory. It's actually an age-old concept that Christians have taught time and again throughout Christian history:

• Augustine (354-430) described three unique conversations that we experience in the course of our lives
• Saint Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167), a Cistercian monk, listed four phases of relationship between God and each person
• Julian of Norwich (14th century) spoke of "sixteen shewings"
• James W. Fowler (1940-2015) articulated a seven-stage faith development process, similar to Piaget’s cognitive development theory

Personally, my favorite stage framework is from stage theorist and spiritual director Janet Hagberg. She and Robert Guelich referenced the desired outcome of spiritual formation:

Hagberg and Guelich’s theory of faith development suggests that our faith journey has six stages.

It begins with our recognition of God (stage one) and continues with life of discipleship (stage two). That, in turn, leads to a productive life (stage three). These seminal stages are referred to as the external stages because the energy of the practices and the outcomes are directed towards others.

The internal stages begin in stage four: that's when we begin to explore our selves. That journey inward eventually leads us outward again (stage five). Only when we've made both treks can we finally reaching the life of love (stage six).

Notice that, in the first three stages of Hagberg and Guelich’s framework, our spirituality is expressed in ways that are prescribed by external standards — a specific church, perhaps, or a spiritual leader, a book, or a set of principles. Regardless of whichever standards we subscribe to, we eventually represent them in our own behavior. That leads us to the final three stages, which are more mysterious. Hagberg and Guelich describe these as

These latter stages are vital for those of us who want to become our true selves and live life with no regrets. That is to say, if we want to honor God's design in our lives and reveal that thing about him that only we can reveal, we must travel inward.

That may sound backwards to you. Maybe even dangerous. Much of the teaching in our North American evangelical churches focuses on the external stages. How do we know that we're good Christians? Because we read our Bibles, attend worship regularly, and even volunteer at church. To spend time reflecting on ourselves and sit with questions like "Who am I?" might seem like a waste of time, a self-centered pursuit that keeps us from living out our faith.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Unless we do this inner work, the things we have to offer the world will always be limited. We won't understand what God has uniquely created us to do. We won't be able to reveal the unique truth about God that only we can reveal. Conversely, once we travel through these stages, we won't be able to stay quiet and buried in ourselves. We'll be compelled to bear witness to the marvelous truth that God has given us.

If you want to learn more about Hagberg's model, you can check out her explanation here. Consider what stages you've been through and what stage you're in right now. And if you need help parsing that out, hit reply and let me know. Because I want you to know that:

You are loved.

I'm for you.

You've got this.

Jake