A Journey of Growth

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-15 NIV)

I recently asked a student to tell me about her spiritual journey.  She responded, “You mean when I was saved?”  Well, not exactly.

So often people frame their spiritual journey in terms of when and how they became a believer in Jesus.  Their journeys have the same beginning and ending points.  For many, being saved is the goal and when that is accomplished, the journey basically ends.

But a journey’s end, by definition, is a long way from its beginning. There is much that happens in between.  For Paul that was a maturing process where we would increasingly move toward being more like Jesus in thought and deed.  The result would be a community of grown-up believers unified and submitted to the Lord.

I have long thought the emphasis on “getting people saved” rather than discipleship within the church is detrimental to the growth and maturity of God’s people, and every day I see its effects.  The student was sincere in her question, but the sad part for me is she had no concept of spiritual growth.  In her mind, it seems, her journey was basically complete as soon as it began.  And she is far from alone.

Churches today are full of people whose spiritual journeys can be summed up by the age at which they first came to know Jesus.  They have been coasting pretty much since and it shows.  But this is so contrary to what the Scriptures teach.  They speak of bearing fruit (John 15), going from drinking milk to solid food (Hebrews 5), and no longer being infants (Ephesians 4).  These are words implying growth.  

Today, if you are a follower of Jesus, realize your journey with Him is to be a journey of continued growth and is to end with you being far more like Him than when you first began.

© Jim Musser 2017