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