I have been spending a ton of time lately thinking about the contours of spiritual reformation in the 21st century.  Let me suggest that there are four main areas of human life in which the church in every age (family by family, and also as a communal whole) is called to work out reformation.

(1) Contemplation: This is the sphere of human thinking, of homo sapiens. As individuals, as households, and as a whole church, we need to be engaged in deep reflection/meditation on our scriptures, on our theological and ecclesiastical traditions, and on contemporary theological and ideological trajectories, as well as on the works of our God in nature and history.

(2) Consecration: This is the sphere of human worshipping, of homo adorans. As individuals and households daily, and as a whole church weekly, we need to be engaged in worship that is both vibrant and “formed” (liturgical).

(3) Cultivation: This is the sphere of human building, of homo faber. As individuals, as households, and as a whole church, we need in everyday life to fully embody and enact the gospel (the metanarrative of redemptive history). The rule (kingdom) of God takes shape in every sphere of human living; it is always worked out, manifested, instantiated. This involves both constructive elements (culture building, dominion taking) and defensive elements (vigilance against defilements).

(4) Confrontation: This is the sphere of engagement with the “world” (human life in rebellion against God). Here our work is both missional and militant; it involves robust interaction with ideas and cultures, both for purpose of bringing others into the sphere of God’s kingdom (here we must learn how to communicate the gospel in an idiom accessible to the unbeliever), and for the purpose of throwing down high places of evil and deception.