Growing with a Growth that Comes from God

"Grow with a growth that is from God." (Col 2:19, NRSV)

I love this phrase. Its a challenge from the author to the Colossian church to never ever stop growing, learning, studying, reading, praying, probing, thinking, interrogating, believing, inquiring, prying, analyzing, questioning, learning, building, and trying.

And coming from a guy who never wants to NOT be in school, it makes sense I would love this portion of the text. But there’s more here than my narcissistic admiration. It’s a call to become more.

Become better.

Become more godly.

More holy.

More spiritual.

Its time for us and Christians all over this world to hear this message: “We must never stop growing with the growth that is from God.”

It’s a common misunderstanding really . . . people believe once they emerge from the rolling waters of the baptismal pool that Christianity, eternity, life and access to all measures of love are somehow miraculously obtained. This is simply not true.

We must be people who never stop growing. We must be a people who see life as an opportunity to learn. Christ, church, scripture, love, prayer, evangelism, missions, and life in general must become our new subjects in school. We can always learn more. Do more. Attempt more.

And why must you do all of this? To have fullness of life.

That’s what this is all about. God wants you to feel whole. To feel loved. To feel as if you have a purpose and a destiny – because you do. Wholeness can be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m convinced the leading reason we avoid growing in our faith is because we fear of what may change. Our conventional and methodological normalcy will become altered. And we don’t want that. We fear our routines will shift. And we don’t want that. Our lives will head in a more uncomfortable direction. And we don’t want that.

This fear binds us to the same pew each week never asking questions we know we need to be asking. Never praying prayers we know we need to be praying. Why? Because of where we fear it will lead. What if we do grow in our faith? What will that mean for the current life?

When our faith becomes cold and stale, when we refuse to grow, then we are letting the fear of the unknown take away our quest for wholeness. We settle for the familiar instead of the holy.

The command to grow is not idealistic rhetoric. God wants us to grow. God wants us to mature. It’s not enough to just believe. It’s not enough just to get baptized. We and God are now in a relationship.

A lifestyle.

A commitment.

And for better or for worse or until death do us part – we and God are growing together.

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