Brian McLaren || The 4 Stages of Faith Development

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Although our time with Brian McLaren has ended, I’m trying to get down some of my thoughts on some of the great conversations he’s led us in…

Today I’m thinking about our third session with him, on the 4 Stages of Faith Development  (If you want to read the first couple of posts you can find them by clicking here: Inherited Faith vs. the Faith We Will Live and/or Reading the Bible Naked).

I can foresee a number of future posts relating back to this one… as I will only attempt to summarize what he shared and give some initial thoughts on how it relates to our work with college students.

The Four Stages of Faith Development that Brian described (after briefly talking about a few of the other models/descriptions that other theologians, psychologists, etc. have put forth) are:

  1. Simplicity – You’re either for us or against us.  It’s all or nothing.
  2. Complexity — There’s more than one way to do things.
  3. Perplexity — Everyone has an opinion.  Who knows who is right?
  4. Harmony/Humility – Seek first God’s Kingdom… love God, love neighbors… in essentials unity… focus on a few grand essentials.

If you’d like to see how Brian further characterizes the 4 stages (according to the focus, motive, perception, beliefs, as well as how individuals at each stage will view authorities, life, identity and God) you can visit Brian’s slideshare site at: http://www.slideshare.net/brianmclaren/stages-of-faith-1920055).  I highly recommend viewing the presentation if you have the time… because my brief summarizations are just that… brief.

While the 4 stages themselves were not new to me, or to most of us involved with the faith development of students, what came next connected some dots for me in some ways that had not happened before.

Brian suggested that:

  • Many churches are Stage 1 or Stage 2 churches
  • Therefore, many of our students are coming to campus at Stage 1 or Stage 2 in their faith development
  • Stage 1 students will often have problems with their Stage 2 classmates
  • While there will be faculty at each of the four levels of faith development, many faculty are at Stage 3
  • Stage 3 (and 4) faculty (and staff) will make faith challenging for Stage 1 and 2 believers on campus (for differing reasons)
  • Students will likely need to journey through Stage 3 in order to arrive at Stage 4
  • Many students who enter Stage 3 won’t stick with it long enough to make it to Stage 4 (this likely speaks to why so many students walk away from their faith during their college years)
  • Students at Stage 3 need to see people at Stage 4 — that’s about the only thing that will help them to get from Stage 3 to 4
  • Stage 4 Christians are not perfect
  • Stage 3 and 4 believers have few places/churches they can find the necessary “space” to exist, question, learn and grow in

Hearing Brian express some of the strains that will naturally, and inevitably, occur between people at different stages shed some important light on some of the challenges I’ve sensed in my present work.

  • Students who are unwilling to “hear” you (Stage 1)
  • Students who desire to have you map out their spiritual growth for them (Stage 2)
  • Students lack of interest in their faith development (Stage 3)
  • Students struggle to find a new “home church” (any of the Stages)
  • Students who struggle when things don’t work out the way they think they should (Stages 1 or 3)

And I could go on… but I think you see what I’m saying.

Our big challenge, as I see it, is helping students to understand this process that they are going through… and to come alongside them as they journey forward… because as much as you can see the challenges, I hope you can also see all of the opportunity (a topic for a future post).

As our students move from a more clearly defined and/or protected faith, towards one that is more explored and then ‘owned,’ they will experience some of the pain, fear, excitement, struggle, etc. that often accompanies things that are  new, unknown and different.

Still a lot swimming around in my mind surrounding this… but I’ll stop for now.

Thoughts?

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About the Author

Guy Chmieleski

Guy is the Founder of FaithONCampus.com. He is also the University Minister, at Belmont University, located in Nashville, TN. FaithONCampus.com is designed with campus and college ministers in mind, and is here to serve as: a resource, catalyst for conversations and encouragement for our shared work with today’s college students.

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  • Anonymous

    To remind us, James Fowler’s seminal book was first released in 1981: http://www.amazon.com/Stages-Faith-Psychology-Development-Meaning/dp/0060628669

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Roger, thanks for this reminder! McLaren made reference to Fowler’s stuff, among a handful of others, in this theory of (or framework for) faith formation that he laid out.

  • Nathan Byrd

    I love McClaren’s ideas on this…I would add that the growth process is usually spiral, not linear. Often they move back and forth between the stages depending upon what is going on and who they are associating with. I think religious orgs (campus based and churches) often unwittingly push away those who are in different stages than the majority of our group members and especially those who are between stages (or solidly in stage 3) because many are uncomfortable with the inevitable questions. We also put a wall up when we declare that “unchurched” need to be “reached” as if everyone not in church is not a believer. I know many students and alumni of our collegiate ministry who find/create their own “church” with peers. They are deeply Christian and actively practice their faith, only do so outside of a normal church structure because they can’t find a fit. 

  • http://goinswriter.com/ Jeff Goins

    I listened to this on the RELEVANT podcast last night and have mixed feelings. I am suspicious of “new” methods to approaching a very ancient faith. Should we be looking backward, not forward, when it comes to methodologies?

    • http://faithoncampus.com Guy Chmieleski

      Hey Jeff! Thanks for weighing in!

      I’d like to hear more about your “suspicions.” I think McLaren is simply trying to give us some “handles” for better understanding the spiritual growth process. He’s not the first to do this — and he referenced some of the others who have influenced his own thinking in this area (like James Fowler, “Stages of Faith”). 

      As someone who has worked with college students ever since I ceased to be one; I can tell you that I found this both helpful and accurate in terms of the kinds of growth and transition I see students going through during their college years.

      Talk to me about what you read here, or what you heard on the podcast, that’s not sitting well with you. I can’t claim to know what McLaren thinks, but I might be able to give you a different perspective.

      Thanks again for your comment!

      • http://goinswriter.com/ Jeff Goins

        Hi guy. Best discussed over a cup of coffee, but the concern is mainly this: Are we devising new methods for new problems? If so, we are misled. I have no problem with creating spiritual constructs for how we deal with important issues, such as faith development. But to call it “new” or inventive seems at best disingenuous and at worst arrogant. Listening to McLaren, my concern was raised in how this was “new” problem that people all over the world are facing. The idea that we can’t look backward — to even the Early Church — bothers me. But maybe I am misinterpreting.

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