Grow
One of the marks of a mature Christian is that you are more like Christ today than you were a year ago at this time. We hope that the resources and ideas listed here will become a source of help and encouragement to you as you choose to grow.
With this in mind we have included here several secrets of profound spiritual growth.
#1 – Ball Peen Hammer Theory.
If you are hitting yourself in the head with a ball peen hammer and it starts to hurt…stop. If its not working, stop for a minute. The definition of insanity is doing something over and over and expecting something different to happen. How many of you have more than one remote control. Have you ever caught yourself pressing harder on the buttons only to discover you were using the wrong remote control?
If something is not working, then stop for a second. Get some perspective. And do something different.
Secret #2 – Learn what you need to grow.
All plants require the same basic things to survive. They require sunlight – essential to photosynthesis, they require carbon di-oxide (they breathe), they require water, and nutrients from the soil. But not all plants require the same basic things in the same amounts do they. The same sun that makes lilies grow might kill something else. Some plants require water daily, cactuses will drown. Some require fertilizer, others will be burnt. Plants are different, and so are people. This is why it is so absolutely critical that each one of us begins to develop our own spirituality that allows us to be different from one another.
I want you to be assured that this chart is not the definitive work on human beings. We are multi dimensional and multifaceted beings. We are incredibly complex. There is no chart that can accurately map out our personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and spiritualities. There is more than one way to look at the variety of our spiritualities. One book lists nine different kinds of spiritualities. Another lists seven. This chart lists four. The purpose here is to merely help you see that we are different, and to help to begin to isolate for you some of the key differences so that you can find something that works.
We essentially have four quadrants. The top two have more to do with the intellect, the bottom two have more to do with the heart. Keep in mind if you lean more to one than the other, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have the other. Heart people still have heads and vice versa. I am more of a head person but I am also very emotional – especially up here. However, when it comes to me and God, it is more up here.
The left two have more to do with mystery and messiness, and a God that is hard to understand – transcendant over His creation and wholly other. The right more about a God who has revealed Himself in scripture, through His son, and manifests Himself often. None of these quadrants is any more right about who God is than any other.
Secret 3 – God’s Pleasure.
Where do you feel closest to God. What are you doing when you feel most alive. To honest, I feel most alive here. I feel God’s pleasure here on the stage. I feel Him so powerfully when I share – or when I meet with some of you over coffee. Love brain stimulation. I love questions – anybody here figure that out yet? I love em!
Eric Liddell, the main character in the movie “chariots of fire” says – when I run, I feel God’s pleasure. Where do you feel God’s pleasure? Is it outdoors? With people or by yourself? Where does His spirit just seem to yell at you – around hurting or suffering, when you see art or music, in rituals and symbols? Do you hear God in solitude and simplicity and quiet? What are you doing during the times that God has been the most evident to you? Do those things again…but don’t only do those things!
Secret #4 – Means of Grace.
Listen to Jesus in John 15:
1 ¶ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
How do I remain in Him and allow that life to flow through me.We have all spent time frustrated with my spiritualities trying to do all of the things that we thought that we were supposed to expecting to grow – trying as hard as we could to push out the fruit and nothing was coming.
There are things that every Christian needs to survive – just like a plant. You will not make it without them. Prayer, Scripture (man does not live), Community, Worship, Service. This might not be an exhaustive list, but you get the picture. But these things do not force growth. Instead they expose us to the life of Christ. Do you remember the question that we started with? What makes Christians grow? The truth is that God does.
Philippians 1.3-6:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Your growth is being supervised by a master gardener. You have some responsibilities, but growth is not one of them. Your role is to place yourself in the vine. To put yourself close to Jesus so that His life can be in you. Let’s look at a few really quickly – but remember – we will all encounter these things differently – and that is how God designed us to be.
OUT OF THE BOX WAYS OF GROWING SPIRITUALLY
A Gentle Reminder
While some of the ideas listed below may strike home in a profound way, please allow me to remind you that none of these exist as a replacement to prayer and Bible study. Rather, they serve as an addition that may be helpful, as God has wired each of us differently, for his glory and our benefit.
Spiritual Director – it can be easy to become complacent on one’s spiritual journey. A regular interaction with a spiritual director, or even a mentor alerts us to areas we can grow and stretch ourselves.
The Great Outdoors– have you ever taken a long walk, by yourself, preferably in silence? Smelled the freshness after a rain, found the highest point outdoors, sat and stared at a mountain for hours on end? You may enjoy worship our Creator through being in his creation.
Intellectual– some people cannot worship better than being engrossed in a deep theological or biblical treatise, even diving deep into discussion of the finer points, ideas and nuances of the sacred texts. You are not alone.
Silence and Solitude – while extroverts may cringe at this title, introverts rejoice at this spiritual exercise. Take your Bible, a notebook, and a pen and go to a place where no one can get a hold of you for a set period of time.
Service – understanding that many people serve on a regular basis within the church, there can be something wonderful about serving in a way that is new and fresh and out of the ordinary.
Spiritual Director – it can be easy to become complacent on one’s spiritual journey. A regular interaction with a spiritual director, or even a mentor alerts us to areas we can grow and stretch ourselves.
Conference – when is the last time you really fed yourself with an abundance of teaching? You may find that a number of ideas over two or three days is food for your soul.
Contemplatives – have you ever found yourself spending hours just thinking? Perhaps it was about a picture you saw or a story you heard, even a chapter in a book. Dwell upon that – search the richness of what God wants to say to you.
Spiritual Retreat– this can be seen in all sorts of shapes and forms. Maybe there’s a speaker, maybe you’d like to go to a monastery and practice the daily office, maybe you just want to escape the busyness of your life for a day. Whatever the case, a break may be essential.
