Oh God, You are my God, And I will ever praise you
Oh God, You are my God, And I will ever praise you
And I will seek You in the morning, And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me, And I will follow You all of my days
Rich Mullins
These are the lyrics from one of my favorite Christian songs of all time, Step by Step. I appreciate this picture of the Christian life, spiritual growth that is step by step. It reminds me of the work ethic of old—where a person expected to work hard in order to make progress and succeed.
In the news, recently, was a story of criminals who sought to break into a local restaurant by cutting a hole in the side of the building. I appreciated the comment of the restaurant owner, “I always think there’s a lot of people who want to take the easy way instead of taking the hard way and working their way up.” Thankfully, for these crooks, the easy way turned out to be not that easy after-all, for they were unable to get in and were forced to drive away in an empty u-haul truck.
But the lack of a work ethic is not only reflected in crime, it is also sometimes evident in our attitudes toward spiritual growth. We would all like to experience tremendous spiritual growth, but investing the time and energy to make that spiritual growth a reality is another question altogether. Everyone wants the little book which will get me into spiritual shape or the simple prayer that will defeat my sin or the seven easy steps to becoming a spiritual giant!
However, spiritual growth doesn’t work that way. There are no little, simple, easy answers. Spiritual growth, like most things of value in life, takes effort. As Paul tells Timothy, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). There is no magic pill—spiritual growth requires pursuing God one step at a time.
Step by step spiritual growth recognizes that we are all in process. No one has arrived. We all may be at different stages in growth, but none of us will finish growing this side of heaven. Even Paul, as a grizzled old follower of Jesus, said:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12–14
Pressing on one step at a time--this is at the heart of our second vision point for 2015: pursuing passionate disciplemaking that is step by step.
Let’s get a little more specific. In step by step disciplemaking we recognize four major stages in spiritual growth:
1) Assurance: Fully embracing salvation and hope in Jesus
2) Daily Walk: Learning and incorporating spiritual disciplines
3) Ministry: Using spiritual gifts to serve in Christ’s church
4) Mission: Embracing a lifestyle driven by Kingdom purposes
None of these stages are mutually exclusive, for the person who is at step #1, assurance, can certainly also be getting engaged in ministry, step #3. But the point is recognizing that growth takes place step by step and to help people grow in whatever stage they are in toward the goal of increasing maturity in Jesus Christ.
Do you have a sense of the stage of growth that you are in? What might be a next step to help spur you on in your faith? Seek input from a leader or Christian you respect. And prayerfully look for opportunities to keep pressing on for Christ and His Kingdom!
Pastor Dan
RBC Vision 2015: Pursuing passionate disciplemaking that is life on life, step by step, inside & out.