Identity in the Church: Growth
What is our growth identity? We talked recently about our responsibility for growth as individuals within our marriages. Well, growth is a major component of our church life, too. Sunday attendance is not our penance or a favor to God, and it’s certainly not the sum of our Christian lives. Our Sunday attendance is our equipping for our Christian lives. It’s a lot like a cell phone charging station, really. Plug in and go forth.
In Tactics (which I’ll review here next week), Gregory Koukl highlights seven church friends that call themselves Women of Berea. Regular women, mostly housewives and moms, they meet for the purpose of encouraging each other in serious reading and study. Church was their launching pad from which they spur each other on in growth and knowledge of stuff that really matters.
Koukl writes, “You can’t start a fire with wet wood. You must begin with dry tinder. In nearly every church there are brothers and sisters who share your hunger, but have yet to share your discovery. They are dissatisfied, yearning for something more substantial, but do not know where to turn. These people are your dry tinder.”
Some churches do a better job than others at encouraging personal reading, mentorship, and individual growth. But as I like to tell Songbird, “you’re the boss of you.” When I say this to her, I usually mean that she is responsible to put on her shoes when asked without stopping to play with toys on the way, but I’m telling it to you now and here’s what I mean: don’t wait for someone else to say “let’s read more about sanctification,” or “let’s get together and talk about election,” or even just "What did you think of the sermon?" Be a fire starter in your church.
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