Growing Up vs. Growing Fat
Spiritual Growth

Hebrews 5:12-6:3 February 10, 2008

Audio Link: Growing Up Spiritually Printable Word Document: Growing Spiritually.doc

This morning I brought two pieces of clothing to show you. Do you know whose these are? One is for me, and the other is for GaHye, my daughter. What do you think? What do they have in common with each other? The point of similarity is that these are too small to wear for GaHye and me. The difference is that Gahye’s clothing is too small for her because she grew up rapidly in the last five years. What about mine? Yes, this is also too small for me. However, my case is totally different from Gahye’s because I have been gradually growing fatter in the last five years.

I brought these to show you what a big difference there is between growing up and growing fat. Even though my size gets bigger or larger, it is not from growing, it is from growing fat. Unfortunately, we misunderstand that getting bigger or larger means maturing or growing. It is the same in spiritual things. Even though we don’t agree that a big church or a big churchgoer is more faithful or mature than a small church or its member, we easily delude ourselves that we grow spiritually no matter what as we attend church over a span of time.

One of the most frequently asked questions of little children is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It is a good question for us at any stage of life. Everyone has to grow up. We must be constantly growing, developing, and maturing. We especially must never stop growing spiritually; and all along the way, we must ask ourselves, “What kind of Christian do you want to be when you grow up?” As much as we grow physically, we must grow up spiritually too. As Christians, we need to grow up and not grow fat in the journey of faith.

In today’s epistle lesson, the writer of Hebrews stresses the importance of growing spiritually. There are a few basic areas elementary to the Christian faith: repentance from sin, confessing Jesus Christ as personal Savior, baptism and empowering by the Holy Spirit, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. The Apostle’s Creed we recite every Sunday morning contains these basics of Christian faith. Of course, believers don’t leave these teachings behind as if they didn’t need them anymore; the elementary teachings are essential for all believers to hold until he or she sees God in heaven. Everyone certainly needs to first learn the ABC’s before being able to read complex books. Maturity definitely will be developed on a firm foundation.

However, there is a big difference between being faithful to elementary teaching and to remaining there without growing. Christians shouldn’t stay at the basic level of faith for a lifetime. Mature Christians have to grow from the elementary teachings of the gospel to the deeper and wider levels of righteous living. To be mature Christians, we need to move beyond, but not away from, the elementary teachings to a deeper level of faith. We learn to know and discern what the differences are between the good, better, and best ways of living out our faith. We should feel compelled to examine the word of God and put it into practice in our everyday lives.

SunAe and I have grown tremendously in our relationship over the past 25 years. We began our relationship during our freshman year at college in 1983, and married in1989. Since we married, we have exchanged millions of words of conversation, made thousands of decisions together, and cooperated in the guidance of our two children. Imagine how odd it would have been for us to assume that once we said our wedding vows, there was nothing else we needed to do. What if we said, “Okay, that’s it. We made the decision. We are in this position for the rest of our lives. We don’t need to nurture our relationship.” When we look back on our relationship, the wedding day is, in fact, the starting point of our mutual growing to build a mature relationship.

It is the same with our journey of faith. Because we are saved, because we have faith in Christ, should we just not do anything else? I don’t think so. Salvation is the first step in the journey of a lifetime. The new believer who experiences new birth through trusting Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior takes but a moment. However, spiritual maturity takes a lifetime. We call it “Sanctification.” Sanctification is the long process of becoming perfect. It is necessary for faith to grow every day. In nature, anything that is alive is growing, for to cease to grow means to die. Likewise, a faith that is alive should grow and mature day by day. Yes, we should be growing spiritually.

Young parents become excited to see the development of their first child. Milk quickly is replaced by baby food and the first words, soon give way to counting to ten, and repeating some of the alphabet. Parents would feel devastated if the child never progressed beyond one-syllable words or if the child remained on a milk diet until the teenage years. In fact, the slow or non-development of a child is a danger sign that something is seriously wrong. Our heavenly Father would feel devastated if we too never grew up spiritually.

Unfortunately, many Christians who should be on the front lines are still in basic training. They live on milk, and they don’t grow in their faith. They remain and are satisfied as infants of faith and hesitate to apply the grace and knowledge of the Lord to their lives. They have received enough instructions and should be able to teach others the elementary truths of the faith, but they are still acting like babies, not moving ahead, not digging deeper, and not applying what they learned to enhance a life of righteousness. They have been raised, nurtured, taken care of, and educated, but they refuse to grow and never try to pay it forward to others.

To grow means to mature spiritually and it can be described as follows: evaluating self rather than criticizing others, seeking the glory of God rather than self, seeking unity rather than promoting disunity, desiring spiritual challenge rather than desiring entertainment, studying and observing carefully rather than accepting opinions and halfhearted efforts, having an active faith rather than cautious indifference and doubt; living with freedom in Jesus Christ rather than in fear of final judgment; living with sharing and giving rather than holding and possessing.

Last year, if you weren’t enthusiastic about attending church worship, why don’t you now praise God every Sunday? Last year, if you weren’t enthusiastic about being involved in church mission and ministry, why don’t you participate in Sunday school, senior choir, praise band, small group ministry, Stephen Ministry, and Welcoming Ministry this year? Last year, if you didn’t show your financial commitment to God, why don’t you try this year? Last year, if you were satisfied to learn God’s word from someone, why don’t you try to read and study Bible so that you teach or lead a newcomer this year? Last year, if you had any particular person in mind you didn’t want to communicate with, this year, why don’t you reconcile in the name of God, and not be hindered by your honor or pride?

Last year, if you didn’t pray much, why don’t you try to set up a designated time to pray? If you just prayed for yourself, why don’t you try to pray for other people or even an enemy this year? Last year, if you criticized a lot, why don’t you evaluate yourself first this year? Last year, if you were a complainer, this year why don’t you change your attitude to be a thankful person? Last year, if you enjoyed giving to just your family or friends, this year, why don’t you extend your giving and sharing to a wider community or even to the world? Last year, if you focused on the pastor, this year why don’t you rely on Christ Jesus, our Lord?

We have to grow continually not only as individual Christians but also as a community of faith. Moore’s Chapel has been growing and now is in a transition period into another type of growth. We have new families, an increased annual budget to operate, and an expansion in space and facility. Certainly, this is one part of our growth. However, this is not the whole picture of growth. Another important factor is our faith and spirituality. I have a dream that years from now when I come back to Moore’s Chapel as a guest speaker for Homecoming, I will see how much you’ve all grown spiritually. I want to see Moore’s Chapel’s spiritual clothes that will be too small to wear years later.

When you decided to be a Christian, you probably started out with a personal encounter with Jesus. After you met Jesus, you recognized your sinfulness and need for a Savior, you asked God to forgive your sins. And then, you became the forgiven sinner and received the gift of eternal life. By God’s amazing grace and your faith in Christ, you now are a child of God and you are promised an eternal home in heaven with Him. This is the basis for what every Christian celebrates. But don’t stop there!
Salvation must be followed by spiritual growth. We must go beyond belief and seek out the truths of the moment of salvation or be born again. We have to continually seek out to be better and best Christians through growth in faith. If we are born again as a new baby in Christ, we must grow up. This is a mandate, requirement, and assignment for every Christian. We strive to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Most of us begin our careers by filling entry-level positions. These are the lowest paying jobs in the workplace. After we have been around for a while and proven ourselves, we generally move up to jobs with increased responsibility and compensation. Good employees do not usually stay at the entry level very long. A man, after 25 years with one company, was still doing the same old job and drawing the same salary. Finally he went to his boss and told him he felt he had been neglected. “After all,” he said, “I’ve had a quarter of a century of experience.” “My dear fellow,” sighed the boss, “you haven’t had a quarter of a century of experience, you’ve had one experience for a quarter of a century.”

Good Christians shouldn’t stay at the entry level for long either. I sometimes imagine this scene that happens in front of the gate of heaven. When we all get to heaven without any growth spiritually, God will probably be surprised for our not growing up. When God asks St. Peter, “What happened?” Peter probably will answer, “Lord, It wasn’t what happened but what didn’t happen. It has been sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, or twenty years, a long period of time in this journey of faith—and they still haven’t grown. They have simply gained weight, but they hadn’t really grown up.” This would be the most tragic scene we could imagine during our journey of faith.

We are now in the Lenten season. I believe Lent is one of the best times to reflect on our growth in the journey of faith. Do you believe you have grown spiritually since you were saved? How much have you grown up? Are you still growing up or just growing fat? Let’s not stay at the entry level. Instead, let’s grow to the highest levels and in deep faith. Let’s go where God wants us to be.

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