There are tension points all along the path of Christian spiritual formation, where Scripture seems to present opposing ideas to us. We don’t get to choose whether we chart these waters, we have to. If I can summarize the call to faithfully navigate these tensions, I would simply say: we cannot choose one of these over the other, but we have to patiently consider how these fit together. Instead, there is a tendency to just gravitate to one side over the other. Let’s consider an example.

One such tension shows up frequently in discussions about spiritual formation: are we called to imitate Christ or to be united to him? The answer, of course, is “yes!” We are called to imitate Christ and we are called to be in him and be one with him. But we must order these well or else we will choose one over the other.

Too often, in discussions of spiritual formation, imitation is talked about instead of talking about union. We are, of course, called to imitate Jesus. We are called to follow him. But this following and imitating look different now that he has ascended back to the right hand of the Father. This looks different than following him around Galilee as the original disciples did.

The tension in our imitation of Jesus is that we must reimagine imitation through the category of union. We are united to Christ. We are in Christ. We are his, and we grow up into him who is our head, with a growth that is from God (Col. 2:19).

The one group most focused on this issue, as far as I can tell, are Reformed theologians. (thanks to my friend Anne for pointing this out to me!). In this work Horton writes,

Paul “calls us not simply to imitate Christ but to live out our union with him. But before he speaks an imperative, he announces the indicative of the gospel: Christ’s saving work has accomplished far more than we imagined. The Spirit’s work of uniting us to Christ makes us not mere imitators but living members of his body. We are incorporated-baptized-into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.”

In light of this, Horton writes, “Because he fulfilled the law in our place, bore our curse and was raised in glory to take his throne at the Father’s right hand, we can have a relationship with him — and with the Father — that is far more intimate than the relationship of a devotee to a guru, a student to a teacher, or a follower to a master.”

Importantly, none of this undermines our imitation of Christ. Whatever else we say about imitation, however, we have to say it through union. The primary categories, language and focus of the New Testament (after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost), is to ground us in Christ because of what he has done for us. As Paul writes,

“It is because of him [the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our holiness. Christ is our redemption. Christ is the first and last word of salvation because salvation is Christ himself.

That said, I see a real tendency in spiritual formation circles today to advance what I would call a “pre-Pentecost” spirituality. These teachings focus on following Jesus around (as if he were still wandering around Galilee). They prefer language of imitation, discipleship and learning specific practices, while never actually getting to union with Christ by the Spirit.

The problem with a pre-Pentecost kind of spirituality is that it will never make sense in the church. You will inevitably begin to judge the church for its failure to train you in the right ways, because you will assume that the church is first and primarily about learning to imitate rather than abiding in Christ.

This problem is not new, of course. Martin Luther, in his “Short Instruction: What Should be Sought and Expected in the Gospels,” engages this issue and writes,

“The main point and basis of the Gospel is that before you grasp Christ as an example, you first receive and apprehend him as a gift and present given to you by God to be your own. When you see or hear that he has done something or suffered something, do not doubt that Christ himself with his doing and suffering is yours. You can rely on him no less than if you had done it — indeed, as if you were Christ. That is truly apprehending the Gospel, that is, the superabundant goodness of God, which no prophet, no apostle, no angel has ever fully expressed, which no heart can ever sufficiently be amazed at and comprehend. That is the great fire of God’s love for us by which the heart and conscience become happy, certain and at peace; that is what preaching Christian faith means.”

Luther, rather than choosing union over imitation, claims that the gift of Christ to us is the ground of our imitation of Jesus. He writes, “When you now have Christ in that way as the basis and chief blessing of your salvation, then the second part follows, namely, that you take him as an example and devote yourself to serving your neighbor, just as you see that he devoted Himself to you.”

We don’t have to pick and choose between union and imitation, but we do have to order them properly. Furthermore, we never leave union to move on to something else. Imitation is never properly imitation if it pushes us back onto our own resources to try to generate the life of Christ in our own lives. Rather, we abide in him that his life would animate ours. Without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5). But why we say this is important. We say, “without Jesus we can do nothing,” because we imitate the one who said “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (John 5:19).

Imitation should always push us back to union. Grasp ahold of Christ, and seek him in all things, that you will bear the fruit of his life in your own.

For more from Kyle on spiritual formation, subscribe to his newsletter for free at, where you can also find his podcast, “” (also on YouTube, Apple, and Spotify). Kyle is the associate professor of spiritual theology at Talbot School of Theology, 51ÂÜŔň.