BP 170
Have you ever taken time to identify the obstacles that interfere with your growth in Christ? Are you aware of what things might get in the way of your personal transformation spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
One obstacle to growth might be inaccurate assumptions you entertain about growth as a Christian. They might originate in hell itself. Let’s make a list of some of these expectations or faulty beliefs that might discourage you in your journey with Christ.
+ You might believe that justification and sanctification are one and the same. Scripture makes it clear that at one point in time, we are delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of light. Romans 10:9,10 says: “. . . because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
We are saved in a moment’s time. The thief on the cross who embraced Jesus was saved the instant He spoke to His Savior in faith. Those of you who like to study the original language of the New Testament, the experience of being saved often appears in the aorist tense in koine Greek pointing to a distinct moment in time when a person receives salvation.
Once we are saved (justified) in an instant, then we begin our lifelong journey of sanctification. What is sanctification? I like the verse mentioned above from 2 Corinthians that says we are being transformed into God’s image. Sanctification is our daily journey during which we are becoming more like God until that amazing day when we see Him face to face.
1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
The main point here is that some people or churches seem to be so behavior driven in their post salvation doctrine that they do not allow time for heart change. Justification and sanctification collapse into the same concept and there is no grace or mercy for those who are struggling with mental illness, addictions, sin, doubt, etc. Sanctification becomes an issue of being good instead of growing in trust and love for God.
Equating justification and sanctification in the Christian journey can be very defeating for some believers who then feel shame or condemnation when they fail to be good or to demonstrate holy behaviors consistently.
I like the biblical truth that we are already saved (justification) in position or status and that we are being saved (sanctification) in experience. The phrase, now but not yet, expresses the same spiritual reality: our names are already written in the Book of Life but we still fight every day to grow in our walk with Jesus. Like marriage, we start our spiritual journey in kindergarten and then spend the rest of our lives practicing His presence and becoming more like Him.
Growth in Christ is a process, so give grace to others (and yourself) instead of demanding some type of behavioral perfection as a sign of salvation. Such an external definition of salvation lends itself much more to legalism than grace and mercy. True salvation begins in the heart and then slowly manifests itself in external evidence of maturity.
+ Another false belief in Christian growth is the belief that your journey is or should be the same as everyone else’s journey. One example here is the person who struggles with anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, or OCD so intensely that he or she experiences delays in their spiritual, vocational, or relational growth.
These individuals will often report that they feel behind other believers because others seem more confident or mature than they are. Are there some individuals who feel behind who actually do need to be challenged to grow? For sure. However, the message here is for those people who need to hear that God has a unique journey for everyone. No journey of growth is the same. So, don’t compare your path to anyone else’s path.
We have a clear biblical example of this truth of journey uniqueness. Just look at John 21:20ff: “Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
Jesus does not want us to compare our journey of faith growth with anyone else’s journey. One man may become a Tim Keller who will influence millions of people over his lifetime while another man might be janitor in the church who quietly and without external recognition prays for people. One woman may be an eye in the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12) while another may be a foot who feels unseen and unimportant. One person may blossom quickly spiritually, emotionally, and relationally while another may feel insecure and anxious and socially awkward until he or she arrives in heaven.
So, do not compare your journey with anyone else’s journey. If you do, you may view yourself as ahead of others which may lead to pride or you may perceive yourself as behind others which may prompt a belief that you are less than others, behind them, not as good as your peers. Do not look at others because if you do, you are not looking at Jesus who is the One who knows your path and the plan He has for your life.
If you follow Jesus, you will never be behind or late. He will direct your steps. Do you remember the familiar admonition in the Old Testament?
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil ~ Proverbs 3:5,6.
+ You might believe that messiness is bad and a sign of immaturity. Not true. Yes, not all messiness is a sign of growth, but all growth will occur with messiness emotionally and relationally.
+ You might be discouraged that things in your life are getting worse as you walk longer with Jesus. Never forget that if you choose to grow, it usually gets worse (more difficult) before it gets easier. Do you remember an earlier post that mentioned that life will always be hard. You just get to choose if you want it easy now and hard later or hard now and easier later.
+ Another faulty belief in your journey of Christian growth is that victory lies primarily in not sinning. You might obsessively count the days that you have not looked at pornography and masturbated or counted the hours you have not been jealous of the friend who got engaged and married before you, but such record keeping is not the way of the gospel.
It may seem like a victory to not sin, but if you achieve that victory by your own grit and by white knuckling the steering wheel, it does not even qualify as a Pyric victory. You are not growing in reliance on God but in self-sufficiency which tragically takes you farther and farther from God. Faith is about loving, trusting, and running toward God for help. Behavior change without a growing relationship with Jesus gains nothing. Nothing.
+ Moving away from others is easier so it must be the better path, some will say. Yes, it is “easier”, but it is certainly not better. The fruit of moving away from others, avoiding others, is aloneness and filling the emptiness with impersonal fleeting pleasures.
Being with other humans is always more exposing and hurtful and downright uncomfortable, and you will be tempted to keep people at arm’s length. But how, then, do you live out the second great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself if you love God and avoid people? You don’t. Growth requires you to be part of the body of Christ.
+ Already alluded to obliquely above, another misbelief is that growth in Christ will be smooth and easy. Far from it. Growth as a Christian is always uphill, against the current, against the wind of this current culture. You not only are struggling with your own sinful flesh but against a dark enemy who seeks to devour you as we see in 1 Peter 5.
In summary, if you are committed to living a godly life in Christ Jesus, Satan will throw many lies (deceptions, strategies, accusations, lies) at you to steal your joy and undermine your determination to keep walking forward toward the Promised Land. Recognize hell’s “methods” and resist them, firm in your faith.
Approach the throne of God for mercy and grace, and let other believers know that you need help. After all, God instructs us to “bear one another’s burdens.” It is always easier to identify twisted and distorted misinformation from the pit of hell in someone else’s life than one’s own. We all need faithful and loving objective spotters who know us well enough to help us identify the strongholds and false arguments that are intended to entangle us as we run the race of faith.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” ~ Colossians 2:6,7s we will not be able to rebuild the wall [we cannot grow on our own].” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work [Sin and Satan desire to undermine our growth].” At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes [we need the members of the body of Christ to have our backs as we grow]” ~ Nehemiah 4:10ff
