The Journey Map
The Journey Map is an integrated allegorical framework for individual and communal spiritual journey in the form of mission-saturated transformative movement. Drawing from ancient texts, centuries of spiritual practice, and hundreds of active case studies, the framework illustrates a “map” for change-agents to understand their position in the spiritual landscape and the possibilities for transformative experience and action.
Just like any map, The Journey Map should be interpreted as descriptive rather than prescriptive: it’s more useful for understanding the contours of the spiritual journey than it is for telling people how to have one or where to go. This means people may move freely any direction on the map, though there are “paths” that are historically “well worn” or typical, and the map can provide insight into how to get from point A to point B.
As an allegorical framework, The Journey Map describes personal development through pursuit of mission in a way that helps groups and individuals:
- position themselves on their spiritual journey
- discern what actions are critical
- learn and practice essential skills
- manage change towards greater incarnation of spiritual realities and greater manifestation of “the world that ought to be” both inwardly into our souls and outwardly into the world.
Three Lands (Phases)
There are three “lands” or phases of the spiritual journey the represent different experiences and relational orientations. These three phases can be thought of as The 3Bs: [3] Belong-Become-Believe
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
Seven Positions (Zones)
The Map includes seven positions and two transition zones.
The Land of Belonging
(Mercy Space)
opening space for
spiritual journey
The Land of Becoming
Commitment
irreversibly incarnating a
change in identity
In/Out Growth
patterns that build
relationship and
capacity
Flow Space
practices that hone style, gifting, and calling
The Land of Believing
Manifest Mission
manifesting the new reality of sentness in inhabitable ways
Exponential Message
broadcasting
seed-shaped experiences
the make space for
new people and places
to enter the story
Adaptations
[7] The Spiritual Journey
Adaptation of The Journey Map to the individual spiritual journey according to the Way of Jesus.
[7] The Promised Land
[Working on this one.]
Meta
The Journey Map was developed as a tool for discipleship and missional community by the UnusualKingdom PraxCom while working simultaneously on Mágoulo’s School for the Spiritually Gifted and the Awakened Village project. It was built from the foundation of The Way of Jesus framework for the life and ministry of Jesus, which allegorically identifies key movements for communities and individuals on a spiritual journey. Skills and activities were then developed to contextualize the allegory to missional-discipleship in post-church and post-modern contexts using the Frames of Systems VS and Universe VS. This contextualization also makes use of the Semantic Ontology Framework (SOF) for systems design and sustainability.
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).