Growing as a Christian

I don’t think I have ever asked a Christian the question, “Do you want to grow in your faith?” and received back a negative response. Sure, affirmation of the desire to grow is more convincing in some than in others, but every follower of Jesus Christ wants improvement in their walk. The places they want to grow and the motivation for change can run the gamut of possibilities. Some are significant changes and others less so, at least from the perspective of the person not struggling in that area. But if there’s a persistent issue or pattern in your life that you want to alter or eliminate, a mole hill can seem like a mountain. (This is a good place to resist the clichéd Christian retort, “Faith as small as a mustard seed will cast mountains into the sea!” Well, in 12 years of ministry, I have yet to see that splashdown.)

So, where do you want to grow? Or rather, where do you need to grow? Maybe you need to better understand God’s Word and how it directly relates to your life. A popular New Year’s resolution is to commit to reading through the Bible in a year. Two comments on that discipline: 1) Consuming large chunks of Scripture is vitally important to understanding the entire God Story. If you find this practice difficult because you want to slow down and savor every morsel, then you should seriously consider the Big Bite Commitment. And, 2) Expect to get bogged down in Leviticus and 1 Chronicles, even in some of the more repetitive prophets. If this is the case, start by committing to follow through regardless of how you feel. And something that works for some people is to use an audio Bible. I recommend listening while tracking in your study Bible, highlighting and marking anything that you find “meaningful” in the moment. If you come across something that generates more questions than answers, jot it down on a notepad and talk it over with someone when you have a chance.

Now, you knew there was going to be a plug in here somewhere for community. Here it is. (I hate to disappoint!) Bible reading is seen as a personal, private discipline. But that was not the context of all of the biblical admonitions to consume God’s Word. In fact, personal ownership of Bibles didn’t begin to come into play until the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. Here are some things that you get when you think of Bible reading as a corporate discipline:

You have other people with whom to discuss the meaning of the passage. Face it, there are some passages of Scripture that are downright confusing. Still others we think we understand, but we are disconnected from the author’s cultural context so we end up with a wrong interpretation. When it comes to understanding Scripture, generally speaking you are better off with more minds applied to the task.

You can hold one another accountable as you corporately commit to reading at the same place. Listen, you don’t have to be in the same room to read “together.” There’s a group I know that’s taking the month of January and reading through Matthew one chapter each day. But they are doing this privately. Then, they email and text one another about their understanding and reflections on each day’s reading. It’s a great way to keep daily “touches” within your group while also encouraging one another concerning the commitment to read and the value of meditation upon God’s Word.

And corporate commitment to the reading/study of God’s Word is significantly more likely to produce transformed perspective and behaviors in your life. Groups tend to reflect at a much deeper level and then hold one another accountable for following through on application of God’s precepts.

So, how are you doing with spending time in God’s Word, allowing it to penetrate deep into your heart, transforming your perspective and your behaviors? I’ll confess that I let my spiritual disciplines get out of control during the holiday season. It took getting back to devotions in a serious way to quiet my soul. The good news is that I started sleeping better and have much less back pain. The better news is that I’m seeing things in a more positive way than I did before. Same circumstances. Better constitution. Dare I say it? Even peace.