Formation Begins with Allegiance

Spiritual formation does not begin with practices, techniques, or behaviors. It begins with allegiance.

 

Every human being is being formed.

Not occasionally.
Not accidentally.
Every moment of every day.

The question is not whether we are being formed, but by whom and toward what.

Icebergology begins here.

Spiritual formation does not begin with practices, techniques, or behaviors. It begins with allegiance.

Before a person changes what they do, they have already given loyalty to someone or something. Before desires are healed, they are directed. Before thoughts are renewed, they are shaped by what is trusted. Before emotions are regulated, they are responding to a perceived authority or refuge.

Formation follows allegiance.

Scripture does not begin with self-examination or self-improvement. It begins with a proclamation:

Jesus Christ is Lord.

The gospel is not first an invitation to grow. It is an announcement of kingship.

When Paul entered Thessalonica, he did not lead with spiritual disciplines or moral reform. He reasoned from the Scriptures that the Messiah must suffer and rise—and that Jesus is that Messiah. Only after allegiance was established did formation begin.

The Thessalonians did not slowly form their way into faith. They turned from idols to serve the living and true God. And from that allegiance flowed endurance, holiness, love, quiet faithfulness, and hope.

Icebergology insists on this same order.

We do not ask people to manage their behaviors apart from Christ. We do not invite them to regulate emotions without reorienting desire. We do not encourage surrender without naming to whom surrender is offered.

At the deepest level of the iceberg lies allegiance—the ruling love, the trusted authority, the ultimate reference point.

What we love most shapes what we desire. What we desire shapes how we feel. How we feel shapes how we think. How we think shapes how we live.

Change the allegiance, and formation follows. Ignore allegiance, and formation still happens—just not toward Christ.

This is why Icebergology is not self-help baptized with Christian language. It is not technique-driven spirituality. It is not behavior management.

It is a Christ-centered, Spirit-dependent journey of re-alignment—from false refuges to the living God, from divided loyalties to wholehearted devotion, from anxious striving to quiet faithfulness.

Practices matter. Disciplines matter. Healing matters.

But none of them save. None of them reign. None of them deserve allegiance.

Only Christ does.

And when allegiance is settled, formation becomes possible. Not perfect. Not instant. But real.

True peace—with God, with self, and with others—begins not with trying harder, but with bowing deeper.