A Natural Growth Pattern for Christians- Part 2

Ephesians 4:11-16

Last week I shared with you some pictures of our grandchildren and discussed how amazing it is to watch them grow. They grow and change so quickly. We were talking about how natural it is for little ones to NATURALLY grow. It’s a part of nature. We can’t stop it. It’s a part of God’s creative plan.

Well I didn’t tell you that I have three grandchildren. All you have ever seen are pictures of the two we have in Ohio. Well, we have one in Alaska also. She’s not quite here yet. Jenny, my daughter-in-law is about 5 months along in her pregnancy.

The baby inside of her is growing about as naturally as anything possibly can. Talk about rapid natural development. Within 18 days a baby’s heart is beating. Within a month she has the physical shape of a human being. Within 3 months you can easily count her fingers and toes.

All of this occurs naturally. Now Jenny does what she can to nurture the baby growing inside of her. She eats right, exercises, takes her vitamins, but for the most part it is a completely NATURAL process.

Remember that concept – NATURAL, because that is also the way we were meant to grow as Christians. Being a Christian is a choice we make. We choose to say yes to Jesus. We confirm that he is indeed our Lord and Savior. We decide to become a Christian.

If you haven’t done that yet let me invite you to do it right now. Quietly, in your heart you can say YES Jesus; I want to build a relationship with you. I want you to lead my life for the rest of my life.

After you have done that, Christian growth is to come NATURALLY. It’s not meant to be hard or complicated. We often make it hard or complicated because we over think it. All we need to do is nurture it a little bit and it will mature within us.

Here’s what I mean about something growing naturally AND well with just a little nurturing from us: My father was a great gardener. He just loved to get outside and work among his vegetables and flowers. He had a vegetable garden every year and each year it got better and better.  He could feed us fresh or canned vegetables all winter long from his garden. That garden wasn’t much bigger than a double car garage but it produced a great harvest. What was his secret? He helped nurture the natural growth of those plants.

For example, my dad raised so many tomatoes that my mother canned dozens of jars worth, and they still gave away dozens more. My dad didn’t plant hundreds of tomato plants hoping to get a few hundred tomatoes. He usually only planted maybe 20 plants, but because he nurtured those he got hundreds of tomatoes.

Usually, when we nurture something it grows into a wonderful thing. That can be a plant, a person, an occupation, or a relationship. That can also be your Christian faith.

Today’s Bible lesson discusses this concept: “¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Verse 11 lists people who have a special talent or gift for helping nurture others in the faith. Apostles are today’s church leaders. Prophets are your wisdom people in a congregation. Evangelists are those who easily share the Good News of Jesus to get others excited about him. Pastors are any of you who love to reach out in care for your fellow human being. Teachers are all the rest of us who can explain things easily. Really, just about every one of us fits into one of those categories.

And what are we to do with that gift or skill? Verse 12 says – “equip God’s people” to help strengthen the church. To me that is the same as telling us that our job in the church is to NURTURE each other. There’s that word again – NURTURE. And verse 13 tells us why we should do that – “so that we will be mature in the Lord”.

Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost."

The same is true of Christianity. We must pass on its teachings, its wisdom, its passion, its good news or else it will be lost. As we teach – or as we nurture others, we become more mature and better Christians ourselves.

Last sermon I shared with you that I’ve come across some information that I want to present during the next few weeks. It comes from a book entitled “Color Your World with Natural Church Development. The concepts shared about the church in Natural Church Development becomes something we can call Natural Spiritual Development when lived out in an individual’s life. This can be pretty amazing stuff and can personally transform your life.

My father’s garden was pretty amazing to watch as it grew over the summer months. Your life can become something pretty amazing to watch as you try out some of these Natural Spiritual Development principles.

Last week I mentioned that there were 8. I shared a review of the first 4. They were empowered leadership, gift-based ministry, effective structures, and passionate spirituality. Today, let’s look at the last 4.

5. Inspiring Worship Services – Do you attend worship on a regular basis? Do you come to worship anticipating it to be inspiring? Do you help to make it inspiring? How you approach each week’s worship service will determine your growth as a Christian.

In the first church I served as a minister – 1979 – we had a church member who came to worship every week – even though he was almost completely deaf. This was before many of the neat hearing technology breakthroughs of the past 30 years. He could hear practically nothing. I asked him once why he came when he couldn’t hear a thing. He said for 2 reasons – so that he could continue to get inspired by the event alone, and so that he could be an inspiration to those around him. Do you let worship do the same thing for you?

6. Holistic small group or support group – Do you have a support group that helps you grow in your Christian faith? Many people don’t. It doesn’t have to be through the church but it could be. Face to face interaction with friends to discuss Christian lifestyle issues help us become informed Christians.

When you get together with your golfing buddies you discuss golfing, right? When you go out to lunch with “the gals” you discuss family and other friends, right? If you belong to the Plant City Garden Club or to the Chamber of Commerce, when you get together with other members you discuss gardening or commerce, right?

You intentionally schedule those things into your life, right? Do you also intentionally schedule time to be with other Christians to discuss Christ? That’s the value of a small group. With those discussions you nurture each other and grow in the faith.

7. Need-oriented evangelism – When I was a pastor in Punta Gorda I met a couple who had been unchurched for years. She was ill and in the last stages of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. I was invited to their house by church members who were close friends. Within a few days after my first visit the wife died. I did her funeral service and then some of us continued to visit the husband. He had lots of life and faith questions. He eventually became a part of a small group at the church and he eventually recommitted his life to Jesus.

Out of a need (the disease), came an opportunity for evangelism. That is need-oriented evangelism. And guess what? None of us ever asked the husband if he want to be saved. We just nurtured him into the decision. I believe these types of opportunities are all around us. Can you find a need, meet it, and let the evangelism do its thing in the process?

8. Loving Relationships – From my read on things there is a lot of anger out there in the world. Too much anger. I was at a store checkout the other day and overheard an argument at the service desk. The customer was way over the top – mad about a consumer item of all things. I was walking down the center of town a couple of weeks ago and passed a woman who was screaming over her cell phone. She didn’t care who was listening. She let the whole world know she was mad at someone. My office sits at the corner of Baker and Wheeler. I often hear brief moments of road rage as horns honk and voices yell. We need less of that and more expressions of love in the world.

We need even greater loving relationships. That takes time to nurture and we must choose to do it. I don’t think love is a natural response in life. It requires work. But, it is the greatest emotion to a healthy mindset and outlook on life. It’s part of the great commandment of Jesus – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” When you work at this, your life blossoms!

The church can help build relationship skills in your life. That’s the thrill of Christian nurture.

Now here’s the beauty of Natural Spiritual Development. If you begin to improve in just one of those areas your whole spiritual life will improve. Your relationship with Jesus will change for the better. You will walk more confidently in the faith. You will begin to feel better about yourself and others will notice.

So, now you have all of this knowledge. What are you going to do with it? Look at all 8. Choose one (only one) to work on during the next month. Become serious in making it better in your life. Nurture it. That’s the key. Nurture it and then watch how it helps you more NATURALLY become the Christian you had hoped to be. Improve the quality in one area of your life and you will improve the whole of your faith life. Give it a try. It works!