more ramblings on growth
As mentioned a few posts ago I am taking a class on spiritual formation which is basically a class that asks, ‘what is spiritual maturity and how does one grow towards that end?’ This question continues to capture my attention in both blog world and the real world. Something that I heard in my one of my last lectures has stuck in my mind.
Sidenote: These are some thoughts have been marinating for some time now and for the most part have taken a hiatus due to one of God’s gift to us – March Madness but that is for another post.
On one of the lectures I have to listen to talks about part of I Corinthians and Paul’s call to grow to maturity. In this context and when understood in the Greek, a phrase that I am at times suspicious of, Paul uses the plural to talk about maturity and without going too much into the interpretation of the text, the conclusion is that maturity should not be understood as a individual journey but instead a community goal. This idea has challenged the way I see growth as it appears to me to have a number of implications
Implications
1. If we want to grow as an individual we must care about the growth of the people around us. This means that Christians are not part of a church or serve merely so that they can grow, as if they are consuming a helpful product. Instead maturity should be seen in the context of the body and the body is only healthy or mature if all its parts are working and developed as they were created to be. This means thinking with a community mindset and move away from an individualistic mindset, something that is hard for any Western mind to grasp.
2. Spiritual maturity can’t be reached outside of community. This is not just an apologetic for being part of a local church as exists in many of our minds. Instead I think it means that we must be part of a group of people who are striving together to be like Jesus. If this understanding of the scripture is right then without other people we can’t grow fully into the man or woman we were created to be. We need others and they need us. This again means we must not be consumers but also that we can’t critique the church without participating it and hope to grow to maturity. This is often hard for me to agree with as the Church is a mess and is made up of a lot of people who are also a mess and often don’t want to admit it.
3. Finally, if this is true then we will never reach maturity in its completeness, at least this side of eternity with Abba. If maturity is about community and not just the individual and a sign of maturity is having a heart for the lost and the least, then the community will always have people who are new to the community. This does not mean that it is just about evangelizing. Instead the church is made up of people who authentically care for the whole person and in doing so moves towards all kinds of people. Our churches should not just be full of ‘churched’ people but instead it should be an amazing mosaic of broken, yet remade souls.
So those are some of my thoughts as I continue to process how I would answer, ‘how does a Christian grow?’
Sidenote: These are some thoughts have been marinating for some time now and for the most part have taken a hiatus due to one of God’s gift to us – March Madness but that is for another post.
On one of the lectures I have to listen to talks about part of I Corinthians and Paul’s call to grow to maturity. In this context and when understood in the Greek, a phrase that I am at times suspicious of, Paul uses the plural to talk about maturity and without going too much into the interpretation of the text, the conclusion is that maturity should not be understood as a individual journey but instead a community goal. This idea has challenged the way I see growth as it appears to me to have a number of implications
Implications
1. If we want to grow as an individual we must care about the growth of the people around us. This means that Christians are not part of a church or serve merely so that they can grow, as if they are consuming a helpful product. Instead maturity should be seen in the context of the body and the body is only healthy or mature if all its parts are working and developed as they were created to be. This means thinking with a community mindset and move away from an individualistic mindset, something that is hard for any Western mind to grasp.
2. Spiritual maturity can’t be reached outside of community. This is not just an apologetic for being part of a local church as exists in many of our minds. Instead I think it means that we must be part of a group of people who are striving together to be like Jesus. If this understanding of the scripture is right then without other people we can’t grow fully into the man or woman we were created to be. We need others and they need us. This again means we must not be consumers but also that we can’t critique the church without participating it and hope to grow to maturity. This is often hard for me to agree with as the Church is a mess and is made up of a lot of people who are also a mess and often don’t want to admit it.
3. Finally, if this is true then we will never reach maturity in its completeness, at least this side of eternity with Abba. If maturity is about community and not just the individual and a sign of maturity is having a heart for the lost and the least, then the community will always have people who are new to the community. This does not mean that it is just about evangelizing. Instead the church is made up of people who authentically care for the whole person and in doing so moves towards all kinds of people. Our churches should not just be full of ‘churched’ people but instead it should be an amazing mosaic of broken, yet remade souls.
So those are some of my thoughts as I continue to process how I would answer, ‘how does a Christian grow?’
posted by Jon at
11:58 AM
4 Comments:
Jon,
interesting thoughts. i might agree that maturity requires communal agreement and arrival. my dad once frustratingly told me that I didn't understand ministry to people the way he did it because he valued bringing people along so much. there must be something to this as looking at Jesus' "loyalty" (if I may describe it that way) to his disciples and the way that He required loyalty from them makes me believe that community is key.
i agree, and i appreciate how you worded implication #1.
i find that i am often disappointed by my own behaviors, frustrated that i fall so short of what i deem is "mature," christ-like living. and i find that a lot of what disgusts me about me is the cause of selfish motivations.
what i wouldn't do to honestly consider others before myself. that thought alone seems to breathe freedom into my thinking. less rigid and rule-obsessed, and more loving. maybe turning off self-scrutiny for awhile will allow more freedom for jesus to work in my heart. maybe my voice will stop getting so loud and jesus can get a word in. maybe i can enjoy loving on people without looking to them only for their approval of me.
i miss the church. i miss corporate prayer. i miss worshiping with other people, serving with other people.
god's provided for me for four years here, and i've never been alone. but i haven't committed to a community. i'm thankful he's gracious. but your point is well-taken. and it makes me eager to embrace a mosaic "society of possible gods and goddesses."
and i'll just reiterate c.s.lewis' words again just to remind me of it cause i love to hear it: because "next to the blessed sacrament itself, [my] neighbor is the holiest object presented to [my] senses," i can bear no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption against him.
i get to LOVE him ...
okay, i'm getting totally tangential. sorry ... but good post. thanks.
i totally understand you suspicion with the whole, "in the original greek it really says..." thing. however, i think i'm way more suspicious of the "the bible clearly teaches..." thing. regardless, i love the communal growth idea, and it totally makes sense to me, especially in its not-really-western cultural context. i fear that the individual growth model can lead to people getting wacky. for instance, i know too many people who get to the point where they feel like they know so much that they are forced to become experts these extremely non-essential issues, like end-times stuff, the bible codes, or emergent-ology for that matter. the point is, with communal growth, you don't really get to "move on" until you get it, and practice it regularly. and you don't choose your area of growth from a buffet line of self-help books at the family bookstore. in community, your programs become death to self, loving others, and more and more and more obedience to Christ.
yep, you got it. blog patrol.
i'll bet you write pretty soon ...
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