Grow: The Race To Maturity

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen - 2 Peter 3:18

Different plants have different strategies for growth. Some are lean and tall; racing towards the sun. Others dig deep for water. Others spread broad leaves to catch each bit of sun that reaches them. Still others spread their roots wide. But all of them attempt to harness the resources of God to grow. That growth has a goal: maturity, the point at which a plant can begin to fruit and seed.

Peter reminds us to grow in both grace and knowledge. Paul describes this as a part of the development of every believer. 

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth - Colossians 1:6

In both cases there is this idea that growth is spurred on by access to two things: the grace of God and the truth of God. You can speed up the acquisition of information, but the speed of spiritual development is not in your hands. In many cases, it requires that truth and grace be experienced through different seasons of life. Just as some plants are ready to fruit in mere days (like grasses), others may require several years. As Paul wisely noted elsewhere, it is God who causes the growth. Much of that is built into the spiritual DNA which differs for each one of us.

The Truth Of God
We must admit that there is and always will be a gap between our understanding and God's. We are always the learner; He is always the teacher. Growing in this area means learning, through experience, what we have already been taught. Peter is a good example of this. At one point in Jesus' ministry, he began to tell his students that he was going to get in trouble with the authorities and die. Peter didn't like this and "...took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'" (Matt. 16:22)

Peter had the knowledge in his heart that Jesus was rabbi and that he was the disciple. But he also felt he knew what was going on, well enough to rebuke Jesus based his understanding of what was going on.  In turn, Jesus uses the strongest language he will ever use on any disciple except Judas, saying, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns" (vs. 23) Notice the gap both motive ("Satan") and the will of God ("concerns of God').

We want to take in copious quantities of the Word of God, from the Bible. Then we want the Spirit to take the Word of God through us, from life. Doing one without the other leaves us either shallow (from lack of the experience) or foolish (from lack of the Word).  Truth guides growth, and love fuels it.

The Grace of God

We must come to grips with how much God loves us and has give us that we don't deserve. We don't have any claim on God's affections other than His own promises (because he cannot lie). If we are sure of this, then a great many mountains can be climbed and difficult tasks ventured, because his opinion is secure. A healthy believer sinks his or her roots into the love of God to fuel growth.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:17b-19

Paul wants his "rooted" believers to take the next step: to discover the full extent of God's love and then experience that personally. Truth guides the growth, but love fuels it.

Growth Together

It is important to note that this growth is not designed to happen alone. Trees grow in groves. Grasses grow in fields and meadows. While each plant bears within it the full plan of God for the next generation, it does not mean that it was designed to do this alone, only that it can if absolutely necessary. We are better together with other believers. There is a nurturing environment created when those sharing the same spiritual DNA come together. That is why Paul says "together with all the Lord's holy people". It is a joint pilgrimage. A joint growth path.

Experience the truth by learning and teaching. You can learn from God. You can learn from others. But having to explain the truth yourself (to 'witness') from your own learning and experiences will cement it.

Experience grace by serving and being served.  Peter had that there is a grace in both receiving service from others (John 13:8) and giving that service to others (John 13:15). Experience growth. Foster thriving relationships with others in the church.

Jeremiah 17:9: Can You Trust Your Feelings?

This past Sunday I went to church here in Taipei at the Tagalog Fellowship of the Taipei International Church. There, Pastor Paul Ko asked us "Can you trust your feelings?" He pointed to this verse in the Bible:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9

I am proficient at self-deception. My judgement is not just ill-informed, but deliberately misdirected. The sad part is that I do this to myself, for lots of different reasons. Sometimes I want to believe that the way I am now is adequate. Sometimes I want to believe where I am headed is the way I should go. Sometimes I want to be comfortable and avoid choices that would conflict with that comfort. In all cases, my heart is not a reliable guide for direction. As Pastor Paul says, truth is the only basis for choice, not feelings. Feelings are not right or wrong, he says, but our choices can be.

2 Samuel 11. The story of David and Bathsheba is a famous one. It starts with David convincing himself that he doesn't need to be out with the army (vs. 1), then follows with lust after the wife of one of his best soldiers who is doing his job with the army (vs. 2-3), then taking that wife and using the army to kill her husband (vs. 15). But it is clear by the end of the story, when the prophet Nathan confronts him (12:13), that David had, up to that point, come to some measure of self-deception which allowed him to avoid the extent of his guilt or his role in the matter. How many times must God use drastic means to introduce us to our own failings?

Acts 24:24-25. In this case, Felix listens to Paul's defense against the charges brought by those Jews angry with his ministry. During his defense, Paul describes the gospel, including the judgment to come and it says that Felix was afraid. Rather than responding to the truth, he sends Paul away, promising to listen again to Paul when there is a convenient time. Well, it turns out there is never a convenient time and, after two years, Felix is replaced with another official. Felix's fear (perhaps of judgment) leads him to deliberately avoid hearing the truth.  How many times have we avoided people so that we could avoid the unpleasant truth?

But then, in Acts 2, we see a different response to feelings. Here the crowds have just witnessed a miracle of God (the tongues of fire and the speaking in many languages) and Peter speaks. It says that they were "cut to the heart". What was the crowds response? Did they leave? Did they attack Peter? No, it says they wanted to know what to do? When Peter told them, they did it and the thousands came into the church. Their feelings prompted them to act, but truth gave them their direction.

Feelings prompt you to act. Truth gives you direction. Anger. Bitterness. Disappointment. Attraction. Excitement. Amazement. All feelings. All can be deceptive. Choices must be made on something more reliable. The Bible provides a consistent vision of God's truth to use when making choices. What will you choose.

(from notes on a sermon by Pastor Paul Ko, 16 January 2011)

The Four Churches (Internal vs. External Focus)

In the book "The Externally Focused Church" (Group, 2004), authors Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson show a diagram similar to this one to evaluate whether your church is internally focused or externally focused. They list some interesting qualities about how we normally go about church and the underlying assumptions we are making.

Internally Focus (Lower Left) - These churches are good at preaching and teahing, worship and serving the needs of those inside the church. These churches are "come to" churches.

Serving Churches (Upper Left) - These churches are really good at demonstrating love for their communities. These churches have been at the forefront of bringing change to their communities, but are weak in proclaiming the gospel.

Evangelistic Churches (Lower Right) - In these churches it's all about going after the lost. But they do little or nothing to serve or be a blessing to their community apart from evangelism.

Externally Focused Churches (Upper Right) - These churches are effective in proclaiming good news and showing good news to their communities, both "show" and "tell".

Take a look at your own church. Which category does it fit in now? Which category do you think it belongs in? How can you both "show" and "tell" the gospel where God has placed you?
Externally Focused Churches

Psalm 128: Could It Be That Much Better?

Reading the story of the return by the Israeli captives in Psalm 126 provides insight into the emotional undercurrent of God's story for those of us who suffer and struggle and persevere:

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. - Psalm 126:1-2

There is a sense of unreality when there is a reprieve from the oppresiveness of the day-to-day. Laughter bubbles up from deep within; dancing erupts; singing comes unbidden from the deep wells of our soul.

Some of this relief comes from knowing that our trust in God was well-placed. Choices we made are reconsidered at length, every day a reminder of where we went off the path. All supports have been removed. We are forced to either trust God or else capitulate to helplessness and despair.  And this decision happens in the spotlight:

Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. - Psalm 126:2b-3

The final consolation for those returning from a period of sorrow was it was worth it all.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. - Psalm 126:5-6

Each farmer must take out the paltry offering of seed and place it within the ground and trust that there will be a harvest. For those who follow Jesus, each tear is a seed sown against the promise of a future harvest of joy. There is hope based on the promise of God. Do I trust?

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  - 2 Corinthians 4:17

Grow: Striving For Maturity

In the previous few posts, I've been talking about the process of being rooted in the faith. The rooting process starts when a person encounters the word of God and ends when the person's is depending on God. The parable of the sower shows that this process may begin several times before the word of God finally does take root. But when it does, watch out!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:16-19 

After being rooted, a new plant itself has all the tools it needs to draw nourishment from the sun and soil, in order to grow. Leaves develop and multiply. Roots spread and seek. Stems become sturdy and branch. Some quickly, others at a more measured pace, but all stretching up to the sun and down to the soil.

Likewise, as believers, when we begin to draw upon the resources of God, we begin to recognize the vastness of God, his love, and its power to change us at a fundamental level. This power ignites growth, as the ramifications of new life in Christ begin to work their way out.

Growth has a goal. For a plant, the goal is maturity: the condition where that plant will produce fruit; each fruit with seeds; and each seed representing new life. It's sun-given energy is not for hanging around the garden, but for producing the next generation. For a believer, the goal is the 'fullness of God' or, as it says in other places in the Bible, the 'image of the Messiah'. The fullness leads to fruitfulness (Gal. 5:22-23), with the fruit acting as seed bearers, and each seed the word of God for new life.

My spiritual life is sometimes like the life of a confused plant: lots of resources, but no direction; no goal.  Just hanging around, just existing. Need a little reorientation; a little refocusing on the real goal: changing lives.

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. - John 15:2

Root: Sprout Mortality (Mark 4)

The farmer sows the word. Some people are like... - Mark 4:14

Jesus told a story of a farmer who went out to sow seeds. Each of the seeds were identical-a nutrient-packed bundle of vitality-but the results were quite different. Four seeds-three deaths. One seed never even makes it off the starting block--the birds come and carry it away. Two more seeds start well, breaking dormancy quickly and sending a sprouts sky-ward and roots earth-ward. But the tough conditions prevent the sprout from ever reaching viability--the initial supply of sustenance from the seed gone, they wither and die. Only the fourth seed germinates, matures and thrives.

Jesus parallels this with the response of people to God's message. God reveals himself ("sows"). The seed is his message ("the word"). Each person treats the message differently.

And, in most case, the seed dies. Sprout mortality is high.  The human heart is not a supportive environment. Each seed is full of the life-giving spiritual DNA of the savior, who lavishes it on the unwelcoming soil.

So what are the causes of sprout mortality?

1. If the seed lands upon the path, where the hard soil and exposed conditions insure a quick death, it never sprouts. Jesus said: "As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them"  (vs. 15) The heart never hears; the word is not welcomed; it is discounted and ridiculed and unconsidered and forgotten.
2. If the seed lands in the rocky places, there is a thin veneer of soil. The seed sprouts as the word of God takes root. During this period, it is dependent on the nutrients that are in the seed itself. The sprout is tender and unable to bear up under environmental stress, especially lack of water. The roots must deepen. But, if the soil is rocky, they cannot and the heat of the sun kills the sprout. This is the period of testing. The testing shows whether the plant is viable-truly a new life. In the journey of faith, rooting is a change from self-dependence to God-dependence, so that in the scorching, we draw upon the sustenance of God.
3. If the seed lands in the fertile but uncultivated places, there is rich soil and plenty of weeds to share it with. This is the period of priorities. The uncultivated heart does not clear enough space--enough priority--for the word of God to flourish. Many weeds are good plant in the wrong place. Others are just nasty, spiny bullies. Without clearing them,  they will suck up nutrients, moisture and sunlight  You must clear the real estate of your heart for the word of God to flourish. Other priorities will suck up your time, attention and ambitions.

Sprout mortality is far too common. People start the journey of faith each time God confronts them with a word about himself. But it is aborted when the word is discounted, scorched or crowded out of their life. So their journey must start again.

But if the people can make it past this phase--if they are rooted and established--then they can draw upon the vastness of the love of God and grow. Paul talks about it this way:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ - Ephesians 3:17b-18

In the fertile and cultivated places, there are nutrients, there is moisture and there is sunlight. The result is growth. The result is fruit (Gal. 5:22-23). The result is a new harvest of seed:

Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown. - Mark 4:20

Root. Grow. Fruit. Seed. It all starts with drawing upon the grace of God.

Root: Established In God's Family

Oak Seedling

^"Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." - Mark 4:5-6

Each seed that germinates has a certain measure of growth potential built into the seed and the fruit that contains the seed. There is enough nutrition there for a sprout to seek the sun and for the roots to seek the soil. By the time those initial resources have run out, the new sprout must be viable on its own, or else it will wither and die.

Jesus applied the same principle to the word of God-the "seed" planted by God: 

"But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away." - Mark 4:17

Each seed has within it the full potential for germination and life. Many seeds never reach that potential because, in horticulture as in life, the environment is harsh towards young sprouts. Likewise many people have heard the word of God, felt the power of God, and started to sprout spiritually, based on the life-giving resources of the seed itself, yet they never root and never become viable.

I call this the real world test and have seen it repeatedly in the lives of those introduced to God, who then respond enthusiastically to the Word, often with supernatural encouragement. Then comes the first test. It might be the return of a habit, or a relationship, or a circumstance. But it is the world attempting to assert its dominance again in a person's life. The test always involves a choice: to trust the Word or to return to the previous pattern. Trusting God's word deepens the roots. The other choice leaves them stunted.

How do we engineer the environment to foster healthy rooting? Cultivation. Paul talked about it, saying:

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow." - 1 Cor. 3:6

There was a care in the planting. There was a care in the nurturing. There was a dependence on God.

Much of this process lies in the heart, where each person receives the word. But the church also has a responsibility of cultivation, in at least three ways:

• Planting. People in this rooting phase need to have established relationships with other followers of Jesus. During the rooting phase, they must come to publicly identify with the church, through the ordinances of communion and baptism.
• Nurturing. The rooting phase is all about drawing sustenance from the words of God. Encouraging good habits early of hearing, reading, memorizing, meditating and apply the word of God guarantee a viable believer who can thrive.
• Dependence. God gives the growth. It is his seed that is planted. It is his spiritual DNA that is being born in our life. Healthy believers use prayer to reinforce our habit of dependence on God.