Let's Grow Up

A perceptive person observed, "The church is better at getting people saved than teaching them how to live saved lives."

True.

We enter our life with God through grace and by faith in Jesus Christ but too often remain as we entered spiritual -- infants. We don't grow up. There is little evidence of spiritual formation in our lives. Therefore, we become preoccupied with religious activities, or play follow-the-leader even when the leader goes in the wrong direction, or substitute ritual for relationship.

Paul spells out the way spiritual formation works in the middle of his letter to the church at Ephesus: Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1). Two words catch our attention: "walk" and "calling." Spiritual formation involves that we recognize that God does the calling; we do the walking. Another significant word is "worthy." It's a picture word. "Worthy" represents the midpoint of an old fashioned set of scales where two weights are balanced on one midpoint.

Spiritual formation, therefore, is not a balancing act, but the point at which God's calling and our walking come together to His glory and honor. Spiritual formation ("growing up into Jesus") is not a static life but a life lived in responsiveness to God's word and God's Spirit. The way we respond to God's call (his direction, his word, his summons) determines the way we 'walk' (live).

Calling is how we get a person's attention. God "called" Adam in the Garden. God "called" Abraham; Jesus "called" his disciples. In the same way, God calls you. And we either respond or ignore his call. If we respond, we respond to a Person, not a concept.

Spiritual formation happens Person to person. God to you. God to me. Spirit to spirit. The Holy Spirit to your spirit. The Holy Spirit to my spirit. It is a life-long journey, a deepening relationship that continues from our spiritual new birth all through life. It happens every day.

When it happens we grow up into Christ. His life is formed in us. We mature. When spiritual formation doesn't happen we remain infants, spiritually immature. God calls; we walk. And the result is a life worthy of His grace.

Guilt

Have you ever said, "I went ______ (to church, to visit someone, to a civic club meeting ... you fill in the blank) because I felt guilty?"

Is guilt a good thing?

Not necessarily.

There are two type of guilt: healthy guilt and unhealthy guilt. Healthy guilt comes from an objective reality -- I lied or cheated. I was envious, greedy, selfish, mean-spirited. Healthy guilt comes from the sin or sins I've committed.

Unhealthy guilt comes from feelings of "ought's," or "have-to's." Feelings of inadequacy, rejections, pain, insecurity, and fear -- feeling like a failure. Destructive guilt rides in on the tide of our low opinion of ourselves.

Unhealthy guilt entices us to make wrong choices. We do what we don't want to do. We fake our way through life and relationships. We say things we don't mean to people who don't want to hear them.

On the other hand, healthy guilt leads us to Jesus. It leads us to forgiveness, love, acceptance, and freedom. "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Unhealthy guilt ("worldly sorrow") turns me in on myself. I'm no good. What will people think about me? I'm a failure. I'll never change. Healthy guilt ("godly sorrow") focuses on Papa-God: Father, I've offended you. I own my sin. thank you for your mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Thank you for accepting me and restoring me to wholeness. Thank you for your patience. Please continue to form me into the image of your son, Jesus. In His name. Amen.

Healthy guilt releases me to confess my sin to God, claim his gracious forgiveness, and then move on to serve him, worship him, and enjoy his presence.

Fixed Or Formed?

Modern Christianity runs the danger of promoting a gospel that emphasises being 'fixed' by Jesus rather than 'growing' in Jesus. Our spirituality has taken on the language of psychology. We want to find ourselves, release the potential of our human spirit, center our core being, reach our potential, and be the best we can be. Sounds great.

But it's a me-centered spirituality sprinkled with God-words which puts me at the center and God at the circumference.

Our churches are full of Narcissus' on their knees instead of Davids' thirsting for God. And what makes this whole attitude even more foolish is that most of us think this is the way it's suppose to be. It's not!

It's not even close.

Paul understood with razor sharp clarity the essence of spiritual formation. "I urge you to live life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1). The Greek word "worthy" was also used to describe the balance point between a pair of scales. It is the point of tension where the scales will either balance or tip to one side of the other.

Therefore, when we hide behind "God-words" and avoid dealing with God, we live unworthy, off-centered lives. When we substitute religious ritual for a dynamic relationship with the living Christ, we live unworthy, off-centered lives.

True spirituality is learning to discern what either assists or impairs our growth in Christ. Do we even know?

Once we learn about spiritual formation, we won't do it perfectly, but we will do it better than we're doing now. It's not a method, a list, or a set of principles. Spiritual growth happens little by little as we open our spirit to God's Spirit. Spiritual formation is not a list of chores; it is spirit to Spirit.

So, we have a choice: spiritual formation or spiritual deformation. To live worthily or not. God won't coerce us. He invites us to walk the Jesus way. But the decision is ours.