Soul Shepherds: 7 Spiritual Guides
Today: The Desert Fathers and Mothers
Did you know that 88% of American Christians have progressed no further than the spiritual 'toddler' stage? Or that, despite this, there’s a spike in hunger for a deeper connection with God? These shocking truths point to a critical gap in how the church is helping hungry people grow spiritually—one that needs urgent attention. This data comes from two sources: Grey Matter Research and Barna.
First, Grey Matter Research’s 2022 study reveals a harsh reality: the Western church is failing to help Christians grow spiritually. By measuring spiritual growth like physical development, the data reveals that 88% of American Christians have not progressed beyond a spiritual toddler stage:
The second statistical snapshot was produced by Barna, also conducted in 2022. The study shows rising spiritual hunger across the U.S., signaling a hunger for deeper connection with God that the church is ill-prepared to meet:
In light of this troubling data about spiritual maturity and the hopeful data about growing desire for deeper connection with God, I feel an urgent calling to revive ancient models of spiritual formation—models that birthed wise guides who possessed proven and tested ability to guide people into deeper lives with Jesus. This is why I’m launching a spiritual direction training program in mid-March, to help fill communities with spiritual guides possessing the capacity to help others grow deeply in their faith. You can find out more about this training program HERE.
Part of my own preparation process for this training has been to immerse myself in the rich tradition of spiritual direction within Christian spirituality. I’m sharing seven spiritual guides who have caught my attention and helped spark my own journey into this beautiful ministry. The first guide I highlighted was Julian of Norwich. Today, I’m drawing attention to the Desert Fathers and Mothers.
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The Desert Fathers and Mothers
Roman culture in the 3rd and 4th centuries was a potent force, filled with the distractions of wealth, power, and worldly pleasure, all of which stifled the Christian longing for deeper spiritual vitality and integrity. In response to this threat, the Desert Fathers and Mothers withdrew into the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, choosing isolation to protect their spiritual hunger from the suffocating influence of a culture that drowned out God’s voice. Their radical withdrawal was a bold response to the overwhelming influence of a culture that dulled the soul’s longing for the divine. Their commitment to lives of solitude, prayer, and simplicity were aimed at deepening their relationship with God above all else, and their wisdom has had a lasting influence on Christian spiritual direction.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers offer a timeless example of what true spiritual direction looks like. For them, spiritual guidance wasn’t about structured lessons—it was about living examples of seeking God. They didn’t just teach; they embodied a life of deep communion with God. Their way of guiding wasn’t about giving lectures—it was about inviting seekers to walk alongside them on a transformative journey of faith.
At the heart of the guidance offered by these spiritual guides was the awareness that the only true teacher was Living God. Not surprising, then, was the central emphasis on stillness that seekers gained from desert spirituality. The Desert Fathers and Mothers recognized that to hear and pay attention to the leading of God, stillness of heart was necessary. Anthony, whose desert life has caught the attention and imagination of seekers then and now, famously said, “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” In that place of interior stillness, inner struggles, distractions, and temptations can be confronted. Places like the desert, or deliberate quiet places of retreat, were necessary then if you wanted to make progress towards robust spiritual communion with God in the bustling, power-soaked, and sensuous Roman Empire. In the unending noise and distraction of our digitally driven culture, places of stillness are as necessary now as then, if one is going to travel far on the way to spiritual vitality and growth.
I learned this in a painful lesson just yesterday. I enjoy baking, and becoming a credible baker is a goal of mine, but I am far from skilled. Yesterday, I made a meringue for a pie my wife loves. I followed each step—crust and filling—carefully until—and this is critical—I got to the crowning stage: the meringue. I lost my place in the preparatory stage. Instead of asking for help or taking time to start over, I kept pushing forward, covered the filling and placed it in the oven for a few minutes. Here is what came out of the oven:
To my “rookie-ish” eyes, the appearance looked amazing. I haven’t made many successful meringues, but I was happy with this one’s appearance. I took pictures and sent them to children, grandchildren, and bro and sis. But even a rookie baker knows appearance is nothing without taste. When my wife and I took our first bite, it was immediately clear I had not whipped the meringue long enough. My wife, ever the encourager and an accomplished baker, said, as she was discarding the pie, “It takes lots of failed meringues to make a great meringue!”
So, what happened? I lost a place of interior stillness. I quit being attentive to what I was doing. More succintly, I got distracted. Had I paid attention to the spiritual example of how one grows spiritually, I would have also made a better meringue!
One thing that strikes me over and over about these Desert Fathers and Mothers when it comes to spiritual guidance is the fact that guidance flowed organically from hearts familiar with the ways and experience of communion with God. They knew personally, not theorietically, the interior struggle with distractions and temptations as they sought deepening intimacy with God. Their guidance to seekers flowed organically and conversationally from that experiential base of knowledge rather than out of studied, textbook mastery of spirituality in structured sessions. Diadochus of Photiki, a 5th-century guide, perhaps in a conversation with an urbane, upscale member of Roman culture about the need to build a life of interior stillness, said, “When the door to the steambath is continually left open, the heat inside it rapidly escapes through it.” Brilliant! That is the kind of discernment I have needed many times in my life. If I’m humble enough, as a seeker, to live under that guidance, I’m convinced communion with God—and meringue-making—will become richer and more satisfying.
Later developments in spiritual direction would add useful structure. In the spiritual guidance training I’m preparing, a portion will be devoted to the practices that allows a guide, or director, to “acquire” the depth of spirituality that will make informal, conversational guidance a mark of the guide’s life.
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If you're ready to become the kind of guide who can help others cultivate a deeper relationship with God, I invite you to explore our upcoming spiritual direction training program. Reach out with questions or requests for more information. Together, we can revive the timeless wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and help others journey toward true spiritual transformation.