In this set of three blogs, I have chosen to look at what I see as three levels of growth in the life of the follower of Christ. In recognizing different levels of growth along with the good aspects as well as the areas to watch out for, we can be more aware of what this journey of maturity looks like and better able to manage our expectations as well as the expectations of those we lead on this journey.

In my last blog I outlined the “steady level” with its benefits as well as its potential pitfalls.

In this writing, I want to address what I am referring to as the “Giant Step” level. This level is the growth that is exciting and fun to be a part of, both for yourself as well as those you lead.

If you have been intentionally engaging in your journey of faith for any significant length of time, you are well of aware of those times when things seemed to click in what was a moment of revelation. It was as if God showed up in person and brought clarity to some aspect of faith that was so amazing.

I’ve had moments in reading scripture during my regular devotional time when it was as though the words from a verse rose off the page and came alive in ways that I had never experienced before. All of a sudden I understood something that changed my way of thinking and led to a new way of living. These scriptural revelations often resonate in my mind for weeks if not months as I am eager to share this new found insight with others. It is energy that you can live off for a long time.

I recall one of my seminary classes on the book of Luke. The prof who led us through it made it come alive in ways that I had never before realized. And in a way I felt like I had become a Christian all over again, like I had been re-saved. Now I know theologically speaking that that wasn’t the case, but I fell in love with Jesus in a whole new way – it was amazing, a giant step forward.

I’ve been able to experience these moments with the guys that I am privileged to come alongside. There will be moments when we get together that one of the guys will take over our meeting even before we’ve sat down. He just has to tell us about how God met him the past week, how the scriptures came alive in a new way, how his prayers went to a whole new level, how his marriage or parenting relationships moved in new and great direction as a result of our learning and praying together – a giant step forward.

I love these moments. I’d love to have them every day. To experience the emotional high that so often accompanies them. To live on these mountain tops, hopping to a new one on a regular basis. A let me be clear, these moments are so often springboards to new levels of faith and life, and they are meaningful and very relevant to our journey of faith. Embrace them fully.

And yet there are two “beware of” notes that I’d like to make here.

First, you can’t plan them, they just happen. You can’t manipulate them into taking place. I’ve watched many people try to create these “God moments”, to get one every week on a scheduled basis, to pretend that they are experiencing one just to enjoy the emotional high that can come from them. You can’t do this. They are God ordained that so often come from the simple ongoing commitment to regular spiritual disciplines. Fail to engage in these and you’ll miss out on the depth that a “giant step” can bring to you. At times these steps have occurred every few weeks for me, and at times they haven’t shown up for over a year, I just never know. Yet I am so amazed and thankful when they do jump out at me, they are fun to experience.

Second, mature from them, don’t waste them. Taking a giant step forward so often entails the hard work of building foundations under the new revelation, to learn to engage in new activities so that the reality of the learning becomes engrained in who you are. Too many people that I connect with have had some amazing God moments of growth that I truly do believe was the Spirit moving in them, and yet they so often don’t take the next step in doing the hard work of maturing, they just look for the next big revelation, the next emotional high to live off of. It is sad to watch people of faith live like this and miss out on the life change that really could have been theirs to experience.

The “Giant Step” level of growth, embrace them, learn from them, and move forward.

Next: Great Leap level.

For the Kingdom.

Beware of the dangers of growth in your relationship with God. If you don’t watch it, you may weaken your faith instead of growing deeper in it. Now this may sound like a strange statement and perhaps difficult to wrap your head around, but I believe that it is worth discussing. You may or may not agree with my thoughts, but I ask that you not disregard them too quickly before you reflect on them.

It has been my experience, both for myself and in coming alongside others that our faith develops at three different levels, let me call them the steady level, the giant step level and the great leap level (perhaps over time I’ll come up with some snappier labels).

Over these next three blogs, I want to take the time to outline what I have discovered about each one.

First, the “steady level.”

The steady level is difficult to notice on a day to day basis much like perhaps the act of choosing to lose weight. You engage in regular spiritual disciplines that increases your knowledge of God and your understanding of his ways and purposes, although in incremental steps. You pray regularly for things in your life, for your loved ones and issues around the country and the world. You participate in personal and corporate times of worship and express your thoughts and praise to God. And all of these activities (among others) are done often simply because you have committed to them, not necessarily that you “feel” like engaging with them each and every time.

If you think about it, you may not be sure that you are growing each time you engage in one of these tangible activities and it may never even cross your mind that you are growing. And yet, if you stop and reflect after a period of time (perhaps every six months or so) and look back on your life, you can honestly say that you have grown, you have changed how you act and think. Others around you may even make comments to this effect. And this is all good. I like to use the phrase, “an inch a day.”

When you commit to these regular and consistent growth actions, it is because in your heart you truly do wish to grow, and so you engage in activities that are designed to help with this and that have been used by Christians over the centuries. And hopefully overtime you become convinced that there is growth, steady growth, which gives you even more confidence to maintaining these disciplines.

This is always exciting for me as I come alongside others. Many begin the journey with me and as much as they are committed to the process, I know that they aren’t always convinced that it will make a huge impact on their lives. And yet, when I have them reflect on their lives after a period of time, more often than not they can point to growth in their lives that they weren’t expecting and they are encouraged. Often times, those that are close to them have made comments about good changes that they are seeing – this always adds increased energy to our conversations.

However, as encouraging as this can sound, there are dangers that lurk beneath the surface. If you don’t stop and reflect from time to time, you may not recognize any growth and wonder why you continue on this path. If life gets “busy” in ways you weren’t expecting and you suddenly miss your regular times of intentional activities that lead to growth, you may look back and think to yourself that you haven’t regressed to any great degree during this time, so how important can these activities really be.

In a culture that demands instant gratification, being committed to the “steady level” of growth may have its challenges and distractions. Give me a big event that embraces all my senses and that gives me a shot of spiritual adrenaline – perhaps this will carry me for a period. Why bother with the consistency of the regular? And while such events can create momentum, they will never capture or sustain that momentum, this requires the consistency of the spiritual disciplines.

As someone who leads others on the journey of discipleship, you are leading by example. You need to become convinced that the “steady level” is a good level. That growth is taking place. A big part of your role will be to encourage those you come alongside to enjoy to consistency of growth, an inch a day, and to always make this a priority in their lives.

Next time, the “giant step” level.

For the kingdom.