Growth in trees or believers

Posted on May 18, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

The Observation

I walked through our yard yesterday to check out the 25 Colorado Blue Spruce trees I planted a few weeks ago. They were bare root seedlings similar to what is shown in the picture to the left. I was looking at the trees to see if I could observe any growth.

Bare root trees come with no dirt around the roots and therefore, the root system endures a set back as they are shipped and then planted. The trees must expend a lot of energy into producing a healthy root system after being planted. In the first year or so, most of the growth will be below ground and not visible.

When we look at the Church, we have people in all stages of spiritual growth. Like the trees, it is sometimes difficult to assess how much growth is really taking place because we cannot see below the surface.

The Danger

In both trees and people there is danger in assessing the growth by what can be seen on the surface. Just because none can be seen does not mean that growth is not taking place.

In fact, it is the growth below the surface that is the more important. In trees, a strong, developed root system is necessary to sustain the growth above the surface. The developed root system can allow the tree to survive periods of drought, endure high winds and provide the nutrition that the tree requires.

Similarly, the spiritual development in the believer is crucial as a foundation for living the Christian life. Without this spiritual development, the believer will struggle to withstand periods of doubt and trial and will be acting out of superficial conformity rather than conviction.

True change in a person must happen from the inside out. External motivations tend to produce temporary results. The change brought about by external motivation only continues until a stronger motivation replaces it. Whereas internal conviction can withstand the pressures from the outside.

Understand that while we would like to be able to observe and measure the growth in both Christians and trees, without the invisible, subsurface , foundational growth, the external growth cannot be supported.

The Solution

As I see it the solution is quite simple. The solution is to understand that spiritual growth is all about relationship. It cannot be assessed by do’s and don’ts. It cannot be assessed by lists of “spiritual” disciplines. Spiritual growth can only be assessed by a deepening of the relationship with God.

In John 14:15, Jesus tells us that love for him will result in obedience to his commands. To be in obedience, one has to acknowledge that obedience is the proper response and then work toward understanding the desires of the master to whom obedience is due.

In Romans 15:14-17, Paul talks about the role of preaching / teaching in bringing about faith. So perhaps a good test of spiritual growth is the willingness to hear and interact with Scripture.

The Conclusion

The discipleship process has to be focused on deepening the relationship with God. Any process or program that does not have this focus will engender a false sense of maturity or worse yet, spiritual pride.

In focusing on the relationship with God and not on externals, the mentor must not rely too heavily on apparent external change. The external change will eventually show if there is growth, but there may be some lag. Don’t panic and don’t loose sight of the foundation.

If we keep the focus on Jesus Christ and Scripture, growth will come. Isaiah 55:11 says:

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Giving God Crap | Till He Comes Blog

Posted on May 17, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

I love the flowchart (shown above) that Jeremy Myers included in his post on his Till He Comes blog. Check out the post by clicking the link: Giving God Crap | Till He Comes.

A man once confessed to a pastor that there was no way that God could love him since he had spent the night pouring out his anger at God. The pastor wisely told him that the Christian name for this activity is prayer.

In any relationship, we can’t maintain anger and maintain the relationship, either the anger or the relationship has to end. Yet, there is something freeing about being real with God. We all have junk in our lives, so why do we try to hide it?

The word confess in Greek literally means to say the same thing. In other words, confession is acknowledging to God what he already knows. Since God knows already, the best we can to is to give it to him to see how he will use it to his glory.

Thanks Jeremy for the post, even though the title triggers a reaction since I am a recovering legalist. . . . are we allowed to use the “C” word in a Christian blog?

Weird – Because normal isn’t working – Book Review

Posted on May 16, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

A Weird Contest Won

One day I saw a tweet which announced a contest to win a new book called Weird. Since free is my favorite price and the title intrigued me, I decided to check it out. One of the ways to win a copy was to promise to write a review of the book as a blog post.

I promised, I won and now I write.

What Weird is About

In the introduction of this book, in a section called “Weird 101”, Craig gives us an idea of where the book is going when he writes:

After a Tuesday night Bible meeting, I walked alone to an empty softball field. NO matter what it cost me – even being normal – I had decided that I wanted to know Jesus and live for him. I wanted to do life his way and not mine. As I knelt beside the dugout and prayed, I left normal behind and embraced whatever it took – being different to the point of the God kind of weird – to follow Jesus. Something melted within me, and I waled away forever changed, with a sense of God’s grace I can’t describe.

To much of society, an all-or-nothing, totally-in following of Jesus looks weird. This is especially true in 21st Century America where we are taught to look after #1, do things our own way and not take direction from anyone.

Too often the church has worked hard at appearing “normal” to the outside world. We try to do things in the way that corporations, civic groups or social clubs do them. We attempt to rely on programs, marketing and techniques, all the normal stuff.

As Groeshel points out, “normal isn’t working.” The churches and individuals that do things the normal way, do not experience the personal and corporate growth (not measured only in numbers) that God wants to provide.

My Perception of Weird

This book convinced me that I may be weird, but not weird enough.

In the book, Craig discusses the impact that a relationship with Jesus should have on our view of time, money, relationships, sex and values. The discussion has challenged me to reexamine the way I approach these topics.

I appreciated the way Craig issued the challenges, even when my initial gut reaction was that he was going a little overboard. For each topic, Groeschel presented principles that apply and gave some clues as to how this worked out in his own life. Craig does this without giving me the sense that he thinks he has it wired and if we only did it his way, things would be OK. By his writing style and the principles he presented, Craig created an environment conducive to considering new points of view.

This isn’t a how-to book. It does not lay out “x steps to spiritual maturity.” What it does provide is thought provoking analysis of what a follower of Jesus should consider as he responds to the challenges of the surrounding culture. The principles are presented and it is up to the reader to work through the principles to figure out how the principles should be applied in his own situation.

Why You Should Get Weird

Near the end of the book, Groeschel writes:

If you have just enough of Christ to satisfy you but not enough to change you, answer his knock and let him make himself at home with you. You’ve purposefully chosen to leave the broad path. You’re gladly traveling the narrow road. Your journey may seem weird to others, but your destination will be infinitely better than anything a settle-for-normal world can offer.

The number one reason I would recommend this book is that it will challenge you in areas where you unconsciously or unknowingly have imbibed the surrounding culture. These areas need to be exposed to the light of Scripture so that we can be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:1-2).

This book would be excellent as a small group study resource. The way the material is presented would be conducive to small group discussion.

In Conclusion

Craig Groeschel is right, normal isn’t working. Much of Christendom is disarray and decline. For change to take place, we have to get over our fear of being weird. Weird (the book) is a good place to start.

Weird is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon in both paper (DTB, Dead Tree Book) and electronic formats.

Irresponsible Shepherds Bring Desolation

Posted on May 14, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

Ed Stetzer recently wrote an article regarding the decline of the United Methodists. This decline is not unique to that denomination, other “main-line” denominations share this experience.

These denominations have been in the news for abandonment of standards that held sway in Christendom for 2000 years. For example, The Presbyterian Church USA recently enacted rules that will open up ordination to homosexuals. As bad as this is, I would argue that this failure is a symptom of a larger problem.

The larger problem is the abandonment of Scripture as the authority upon which the Church should build its belief and practice. With the rejection of the inspiration of the original manuscripts, the church has lost her moral foundation. With the claim that Scripture is man-made comes the notion that Scriptural commands and principles can be set aside at will. This is done to the detriment of the church.

The pastors and leaders in these denominations, and those who have trained them, must bear a majority of the responsibility for the decline. By rejecting Scripture, they have also rejected Jesus Christ, no matter that they still use his name. Those who reject Scripture are irresponsible shepherds who are not providing proper spiritual care to their flocks.

Yes, I am aware of the attempts to explain that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality. In their attempts, these shepherds perform exegetical gymnastics to stretch words into meanings that the writers and original readers never would have understood. This ploy has been in play since the beginning and is a variation on the theme of “did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1-7)

I recently read these words in Jeremiah 12:10:

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness. (ESV)

God, through Jeremiah, condemned the shepherds of Israel that led that nation into rebellion against God. As the verse above states, that rebellion turned the Nation of Israel into a desolate wilderness. Rebellion against God and his commands and principles always carries negative consequences. Just as when one is on the top of a sky-scraper, one ignores gravity to his peril.

Later on in Jeremiah 23:2, he writes;

² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

As in ancient Israel, the shepherds today will be held accountable for what they feed their sheep. James 3:1 tells us that teachers will be held to a higher standard. God has given the gifts that enable the shepherds to lead and he expects that those gifts be used wisely and for good purpose.

The point of this is not to bash the main-line denominations, but to encourage those who are committed to the study, teaching and application of Scripture to stay the course. To care for the flocks that God has brought into your congregations requires that the flocks be fed good spiritual nutrition which can only be found in Scripture. Anything else is junk food at best and poison at worst.

If there is any temptation to stray from accurately teaching Scripture, I’d like to remind you of the words of Peter when asked if he was going to leave Jesus. When Jesus asked Peter if he would leave him, Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68)

The Apostle Paul instructs us to “hold fast to the word of life” in Philippians 2:16.To do so will reverse the decline.

Remember that the drowning man needs a life preserver, not more water.