Recently I
was involved in a training event for a group of church leaders. What I thought
would be “old hat” material became a time for new realizations and self-application.
It was a time for spiritual and ministry growth.
It is mid-winter.
Outside it is eight degrees with three inches of freshly fallen snow, balmy in
comparison to regions north and west of here. Schools and the office are closed
due to road conditions. Work will have to continue from home.
Growth like
my work doesn’t stop because it is winter and the schools are closed. Nature
uses this time to strengthen roots and prepare for the coming spring explosion
of new life. Perennials will be preparing to send up new shoots and trees and
shrubs will have used the time to prepare what is below ground to nurture what
is above ground. At the training conference ministry growth took place
regardless of the age or experience of the participants.
Growth in
life begins with conception. We are growing physically from the time that first
cell is formed. We change. Unique differences appear among individuals. A
variety of influences bring about different results. Growth never stops. Until
death comes.
Speculation
about the size of some of the largest dinosaurs includes the idea their growth
inhibitor code or whatever didn’t work so well. For whatever reason they kept
growing until death took them. They got longer, or taller, or heavier until
some organ failed, they couldn’t get unstuck from the mud, or some gang of
carnivores saw them as a buffet beyond resistance. Whatever ended their growth,
the possibility existed that it continued until death stopped it.
Such
continuous growth is not a welcome thing in most matters. We enjoy seeing it in
trees like the great redwoods of California, but we are not happy about it when
it refers to our waistline. It’s fully acceptable when it refers to our bank account,
but it scares us into sleeplessness when it appears on our credit card
statement.
A place
where it should and must occur is in the context of church leaders, in our
ability to minister to others in the name of Christ. Growth must continue in
the areas of our personal walk with God and in our ability to use the gifts he
has given us in our service for his Kingdom. (Ephesians 4:15)
Growth takes
place in two critical areas, knowledge and skill. The former we gain through
study and experience. The latter we gain by simply doing. We practice. We are
involved in situations where the knowledge is used over and over. We grow
through using what we have learned. (II Timothy 2:15)
To ask when
we can stop growing is a question having no meaning for the Master of our
lives. Followers of Christ are allowed no vacations from ministering to the
world. We are always on the job. Retirement is a part of our eternal rest, not
a time when we can tell the world and God we have done our part and now the
next generation has to take responsibility. We are to be growing always.
When we stop
learning we turn inward and become cold and indifferent to a world that needs
the hope we have to give. When we stop sharing, our hearts become hardened and
no longer can feel the compassion we are called to express. When we stop
growing as followers of Christ, spiritual death sets in and destroys our
relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Growth is
spurred by dissatisfaction with the status quo. Growth is spurred by
inspiration from those who have grown before us. Growth is spurred by a vision
of what can be through the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed in our lives.
(Matthew 9:36-38; I Timothy 4:11-16)
The Lord is
too big for us to ever feel we have grown in all we need to learn of him or of
his plan for us. When death does come, then we will continue our growing, but
we will do it at his feet.
