[3] Belong-Become-Believe
Belong-Become-Believe (3Bs) illustrates three zones of experience individuals and communities encounter in the process of a Spiritual Journey, as outlined on the The Journey Map. The 3Bs can be illustrated as version of both [3] The Trifold and [3] The Trinity Tensel — forms of [3] The Trinity, the third systems shape of the Semantic Ontology Framework (SOF).
As a Process
For those following The Way of Jesus, the three phases could be described as:
Belonging
Do I feel I have a place with Jesus and his people and do they belong in my story?
Idenity: Seeker
Growing in Jesus: Lordship
Becoming
How do I become the person who I want to be in Christ and what is he causing my situation to become?
Idenity: Servant
Growing in Jesus: Likeness
Believing
Where is Jesus leading me to manifest his Kingdom, exercising and demonstrating increasing faith?
Identity: Heir
Growing in Jesus: Life-on-Life
For those who see their journey as less Christian-specific, the three Phases could be described as:
Belonging
Do I feel I have a place with this community and do they belong in my story? Does this spiritual path/Mythos belong in my life?
Becoming
How do I become the person who I want to be in this community and on this path? What does this cause my situation to become?
Believing
Where do I manifest the world that ought to be, exercising and demonstrating increasing faith?
When applied to community development or leading change in communities or organizations, the lands/phases may look like:
Belonging
Can we be a part of this change, and can this change be a part of our life?
Becoming
How can we grow into the kind of people who can bring this change through our unique calling?
Believing
Where will we manifest this change for others to experience and to what extent will they take it with them?
While a person or community does not have to navigate the three phases sequentially, and there is a natural “spiraling” of these phases that combines the linear and cyclical experience of them, people facilitating MisComs should treat the Phases as sequential spaces in the Belong > Become > Believe order to avoid the Carts Before Horses problem that leads to Institutional Tyranny, among other dehumanizing and unsustainable problems.1
As a Tensel
The 3Bs can also be thought of as a Tensel — a system of creative or generative tensions — at the center of every zone, step, and component of the spiritual journey. Belong is the Prime: the absolute center of people’s experience is the sense of God belonging to them and they belonging to God. Become is the experience of people growing in Jesus towards their highest aspiration — the Alpha objective they are pushing to reach. Believe is the experience of living with Jesus in faith on mission, manifesting his Kingdom in people’s situations.
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References & Notes
- There’s a lot of controversy about the correct order of these “phases” of the spiritual journey. In our case, we recommend following the “Celtic Model” practiced by the monks in the British Isles that emphasized community-in-process and organic growth into faith-identity and societal transformation. This is in contrast to the “Roman Model” that was trying to defend a “perfected” Christendom institution from contamination: thus “Believe” came first and doctrinal fidelity was the initiation that proceeded access to growth resources (Become) and community (Belong).