Spiritual Growth

The first Sunday following the beginning of the football season is an exciting time around the church, especially when the regional rivals compete. The 'esprit de corps' flows through the hallways and into the Sunday school rooms as teams and/or players are praised or vilified.

I imagine it is the same in churches across the country. Sporting events often draw out a passion that is incomparable to other group activities.

 In the eighth grade I ran cross country (440-yard dash). I was not the fastest runner, but I enjoyed the competition and the comradeship of being part of a team. The only negative was that I had to walk 3 ½ miles after practice to get home. In my freshman year I got a job at a bookstore where I worked seven days a week 6:00 - 8:00 a.m. before school, so I got up at 4:30 a.m., so I could walk the 3 ½ miles into town. Needless to say cross country ceased to be important. My passion was about working so I could buy a car.

I sometimes tell folks I grew up fast, but in truth I am still growing up. I do not run as fast or as often as I used to, but I still enjoy running long distance. I enjoy spending my early morning hours reading scripture and in prayer. I believe we are who we are because of our history. Our passions are formed by life events that help create our personalities. My father instilled in me strong work ethics and he got me my first job at fourteen and I have been working ever since. I enjoy sports, but I am not passionate about sports or any team. I compete against myself, which is why I enjoyed running; however, age and bad knees have made running more difficult.

I see running as a metaphor for our faith journey. One cannot run a race if one does not practice running. We will cease to grow in faith if we stop practicing or faith. In fact, in both cases we will lose the gift. Faith is not something we receive and then just have to use when we need it. Faith is a gift that requires nourishment as well as practice. Our faith needs to be nourished so it can flourish just as a runner needs to practice to win a race.

Tom Cocklereece believes Christians move in and out what he calls the four stages of spiritual growth. His philosophy is based on scripture and he believes we all begin in a pre-stage period and unless we are intentional about spiritual growth (practicing our faith) we will regress to an earlier stage of development or to the pre-stage period, what he calls the Carnal Christian. Whether or not we are intentional about progressing through the stages of spiritual growth depends upon our passion or desire to nourish our faith.

“Carnal Christian—a spiritually regressed and stagnant Christian seeking little spiritual nutrition (1 Corinthians 3:1, 3).

Stage one, Babe in Christ—a newborn Christian feeding on the ‘milk of the work’ and often fed by others; regresses easily (1 Corinthians 3:2).

Stage two, Growing Christian—a growing Christian feeding on solid spiritual food learning to feed [self] but still vulnerable to regression (Heb. 5:12-14).

Stage three, Advancing Christian—a growing Christian feeding [self] the ‘deep things of God,’ consistently led by the Holy Spirit, and less susceptible to regression (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Stage four, Maturing Christian—a growing Christian feeding self, others, and “bearing fruit,” and unlikely to regress” (John 15:8). (Tom Cocklereece, Simple Discipleship, How to Make Disciples in the 21^st Century)

Words to ponder…

Original publication in "The Morrow Mirror, Words to Ponder… September 7, 2014

Discipleship

How does one become a disciple of Jesus Christ? Christians have been asking this question since the Apostle Paul began sharing the gospel message throughout Judea and the known world in the first century. Paul dedicated his life to following Jesus’ command, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” (Matt.28:19-20). 

Drive-by evangelism was popularized in the 60s and 70s when church members would drive through a neighborhood, go house to house asking residents if they believed in Jesus, while handing them a religious tract; which was written by someone who believed the best way to get sinners’ attention was to scare the “H-ll out of them. The tract of course would have the church’s name and address stamped on the back so the sinner could find the church the following Sunday. This was the strategy for getting people to church so they could be baptized and then join other believers walking the neighborhoods to seek the lost for the Lord.

Drive-by evangelism may have been popular in the early-mid twentieth century, but I find it difficult to believe the success of the twentieth-century church, or any church throughout the generations had much to do with passing out tracts to strangers or by scaring them. I believe it had more to do with individuals sharing the gospel stories and how the stories changed their lives. These individuals were not trying to make disciples, they just wanted to share what they truly believed with people they truly cared about.

“More often than not, investing in authentic relationships precedes personal evangelism and is a key element in effective witnessing. People are open to the gospel when presented in the context of a genuine relationship by a Christian they view as authentic, because they have had the opportunity to get to know and trust the messenger. People desire friendship and authenticity and tend to reject the messenger who is simply trying to reach his [or her] evangelism quota.” (Tom Cocklereece, Simple Discipleship, How to Make Disciples in the 21^st Century)

How does one become a disciple of Jesus Christ? This is a good question but the question I want to address is how does one become an authentic Christian. A Christian who has a passion for sharing the gospel story with family and friends as well as their neighbors, because this is how we not only make disciples, it is how we truly become a disciple for Jesus Christ. Next week we will begin by looking at what Tom Cocklereece calls the four stages of spiritual growth. 

Original publication in "The Morrow Mirror, Words to Ponder… August 31, 2014

Love

Some people believe life would be just great if they could only do as they pleased. You know, get up when they want to, go to bed when they want to, work only when they want to, and of course still have enough to eat, a place to live as well as plenty of toys to play with.

I wonder what the world would really look like if we lived in the Star Trek world Captain Jean-Luc Picard aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise describes. You know the world where people only work to edify themselves, because everyone has a place to live and plenty of food to eat and no one needs or wants silver or gold (money). Don’t get me wrong I pray for the day when poverty is removed from all cultures upon the earth. But I wonder if society as a whole would really work hard, sometimes even putting one’s life in danger to accomplish the great tasks required to improve the world or to help their neighbors. I want to believe “I” would and that others would work hard to make life better for others out of love for neighbor, but I still wonder.

Several years ago a religious writer asked this question, what does it mean to “love, and do as you please”? This is an interesting question but is it a logical question considering our human tendency to protect what we determine to be our own, whether it is family or our stuff. Even though love is an action verb, it is also a powerful emotion, for good or ill it has great power over us. So can we really do as we please when it comes to love?

“We could think of the attitude of a mother caring for her sick child whom she loves. She is not concerned with doing her ‘duty’ or merely fulfilling a parental obligation. Is she thinking, ‘What am I required to do for my child in this situation?’ No! Motivated by love she does not want to know the minimum she is obliged to do, but rather the maximum she can do for the good of her child. She looks for the most competent doctor, consults other parents, and obtains the most effective medicines. Why? Because she is motivated by love and not mere obligation.” (Thomas Williams, “What does love have to do with it?” Regnum ChristiWeb Site, regnumchristi.org, September 2, 2004). Love motivates us to do the impossible, to work harder then we normally would for self and to jump in front of a bullet for those we love.

I wonder if we can draw a parallel between this story and the human divine relationship we have or should with God as our heavenly parent. Christianity, to my knowledge, is the only faith that sees God as a divine parent; as a parent who loves each of us in spite of our ‘sins’. If we believe, as our faith proclaims, then we should see God like the mother in the above story who would do anything for her children and we as the child should do likewise even sell everything we have to gain the prize (the great pearl) which is a loving relationship with God.

Christianity teaches that God sent his Son into the world to save us from all the dark forces that wish to destroy our spiritual essence, whether that force is the evil personified in the demonic i.e. the devil, or the force of our own selfish nature.  Jesus came into the world to save us; this is the teaching of our faith. It is not a teaching formed out of doctrine, or mandates and laws, but out of love. The love of God who would do the unbelievable to save humanity, even sacrifice His only begotten Son.  Words to ponder…

Original publication in "The Morrow Mirror, Words to Ponder… August 24, 2014

Salvation, A Lifetime Experience

Dwight L. Moody in a sermon on Grace told the following story:

“A friend called my attention to the fact that God has put the offer of salvation in such a way that the whole world can lay hold of it. All [people] can believe. A lame man might not perhaps be able to visit the sick; but he can believe. A blind man by reason of his infirmity cannot do many things; but he can believe. A deaf man can believe. A dying man can believe. God has put salvation so simply that the young and the old, the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, can all believe if they will.

Do you think that Christ would have come down from heaven, would have gone to Gethsemane and to Golgotha, would have suffered as He did, if [humanity] could have worked [his or her] way up to heaven.” (Dwight Lyman Moody, evangelist [1837 – 1899].)

The Bible says Christ died on the cross to save humanity from their sins.  On the cross Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them.” This is the Gospel story; on the cross Christ forgave all of humanity for their sins. All we have to do is accept Jesus’ forgiveness and we are saved, it is our choice, we call this “free will”.  

The questions I often hear are “if we are already saved then why do I need the church?  Why do I need to support the church with my gifts and talents? Why do I need to do service projects, support missionaries, or to help the poor? If all I have to do is accept Jesus’ forgiveness then I have my eternal ticket.  So why do I need to do anything else? Isn’t all this church stuff just religious propaganda?

I believe the church has failed to provide a good response to these questions. I cannot guarantee my response is any better. I do believe these questions are important, but I believe a better question to ask is, what do I do now, after I accept Jesus’ forgiveness.  The answer to this question may be simple, but the doing is not so simple.  

To accept Jesus’ forgiveness means we accept the reality that Jesus has the power to forgive us of our sins. Once we accept this reality we are also saying we believe Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnated in the world because only God the creator can forgive the created. In faith if we accept Jesus as God incarnate we are also saying we accept Jesus’ teachings as God’s teachings and Jesus’ call to love God and neighbor.

How do we love as Christ loves? We cannot love as Christ loves, at least not on our own. We need God’s help; a help that God provides with gifts of grace. Gifts that help us love as Christ loves. We call these gifts “the Means of Grace.” The power behind these gifts is the Holy Spirit. When we do a selfless act of service in Jesus’ name we grow more like Christ, when we worship God in community we grow more like Christ, when we study scripture with an open heart to the Holy Spirit we grow more like Christ. When practicing the Means of Grace the Spirit helps us grow in faith and into the image of Christ.

Salvation may be ours the moment we believe, but salvation is a lifetime experience of living out our belief as we grow into the image of Christ.  

© Edward E. Judy, Original publication The Morrow Mirror, Morrow First United Methodist Church. June 22, 2014

Unconditional Love

Henry Nouwen wrote, “Drinking the cup that Jesus drank is living a life in and with the Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of unconditional love. The intimacy between Jesus and Abba, his Father, is an intimacy of complex trust, in which there are no power games, no mutually agreed upon promises, no advance guarantees. It is only love—pure, unrestrained, and unlimited love. Completely open, completely free. That intimacy gave Jesus the strength to drink his cup. That same intimacy Jesus wants to give us so that we can drink ours. That intimacy has a Name, a Divine Name. It is called Holy Spirit. Living a spiritual life is living a life in which the Holy Spirit will guide us and give us the strength and courage to keep saying yes to the great question. (Can You Drink the Cup? Henri J. M. Nouwen: p. 119).

Nouwen’s words were penned with a deep desire to be faithful, a faithfulness that cannot be achieved without an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God. I imagine we can empathize with Bishop Rueben Job’s words in his book on prayer life: “I have seen failure and success, loss and gain, and more times than I wish I have failed to live up to my own prayer, to be faithful.” 

Praying is a spiritual discipline that is not just about the time set aside to connect to the Divine, but about all the moments in between when God’s divine presence and unconditional love encourages and strengthens us. I find great comfort in knowing Jesus is praying for me and even though I sometimes fail to be all God wants me to be, the Holy Spirit is with me every step of the way not judging, but encouraging me in the journey.

© Edward E. Judy, Original publication The Morrow Mirror, Morrow First United Methodist Church May 18, 2014

The Strongest Force in Creation

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Luke, "to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who abuse us" (Luke 6:27-28). History has proven that this is not an easy command to follow. It is our human nature to retaliate. To protect ourselves. It is also a human characteristic to defend our reputations and when someone slanders us we want to set things right. Culturally and historically retaliation has been considered a strength.    

I recall my father telling me as a child, "if someone hits you, hit them back and if they are bigger than you are, pick up a stick.”  My father was one of eight children, he learned to fight when he was learning to walk.  His father was an alcoholic and an abusive parent and husband. Alcohol eventually put him in the ground at the age of 55. How we are raised affects how we raise our own children. We can either continue the pattern or we can say no. It is possible to change; Jesus assures us that it is possible to be a new creation. Children do not have to suffer the sins of their parents (Jeremiah 32:17).  It takes a greater strength to ignore hate then it does to retaliate with like actions.  Rob Bell in his book writes:

"There is a weakness that is actually strength.

And there is a strength that is actually weakness.

Take, for example, a parent who yells at their children and holds them accountable for all sorts of random tasks they were supposed to have known to do, and who allows their mood to dictate the mood of the whole house. This kind of parent dominates their family with manipulative behavior and petty punishments that create chaos and insecurity for those around them. This kind of parent is using their strength, but they are actually weak. They do this because in truth, they're broken, confused and insecure. They have no idea what they're doing, as a parent or as a person.

The same is true for managers and bosses and teachers and anyone who uses their position of authority to coerce or manipulate or bully others. They can get people to do what they want, but it's only because of the position they hold. Their authority is rooted in nothing larger or stronger or higher than their rank. And that can be taken away tomorrow. They may appear strong, but they are actually weak.

Contrast this with people who appear weak but are actually quite strong. It's when someone says something mean or cutting about us and everything within us wants to one-up them with an even nastier comment in return, thus winning the exchange, but we hold our tongue. We "lose" the round, but what we did took tremendous strength. And it would take even more strength to forgive them and then maybe even love them. It would all appear quite weak to the observer, unless they understood that what they were witnessing was actually strength in action." [Rob Bell, Sex God (Zondervan, 2008), 102-03].

Love transforms both the giver and the recipient. It is the strongest force in all creation. God is love…  

© Edward E. Judy, Original publication The Morrow Mirror, Morrow First United Methodist Church April 6, 2014