I’m a relatively new grandfather. Last November, on my birthday of all days, my oldest daughter gave birth to our first grandchild - a girl named Frances (Frankie) Rose. I couldn’t have been more excited by her birth and and blown away that she and I get to celebrate the same birthday. Crazy.
Frankie is now seven months old and she is growing daily. Just two weeks ago, she was sitting upright and leaning over to crawl. Today, she is a sprinter in the area of crawling. In just two weeks, and all of that changed. We see her growth happening right in front of our eyes.
When I think of my granddaughter and the progress she is making in her little life… it’s hard for me not to think about the progress that my daughter has experienced going from an adult to a parent… and for me and my wife going from parents to becoming grandparents!
Look, I know you might get this but, we’re all aging even though we all may not be maturing. And I think herein lies part of the challenge we face as followers of Jesus and our own spiritual growth. Time following Jesus does not equate to being transformed or changed by Jesus. Many can say they have been following Jesus a long time without ever becoming more like Jesus.
This is why we as a church have felt led to encourage everyone to become more like Jesus. To not simply be known as a Christian, but as a disciple.
See, we are all on a spiritual journey. Much like our biological life, this journey has different stages of spiritual maturity. In fact, consider how scripture describes our spiritual lives…
EPHESIANS 2:1,5
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins...†“even when we were dead in our transgressionsâ€
JOHN 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.â€
1 PETER 2:2
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.
2 TIMOTHY 2:1
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 JOHN 2:14
I write to you, fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil.
All throughout Scriptures we see that when the New Testament writers refer to our spiritual growth, they primarily use language that mirrors our own development as humans. I believe they did this (under the power of the Holy Spirit, of course) so that we would have a clear and easily understandable picture of what it means to grow spiritually.
Spiritually, we start off as unborn and become born (again) as infants and babies, and grow to be young adults who become mature adults, and eventually become parents and grandparents.
This is the biblical picture (and expectation) for someone who is following Jesus. In fact, in several of these passages, the Apostle Paul is arguing that certain people are not growing in their faith and instead are infants when they should be adults. This is confounding to Paul! He is saying you are a grown human being - yet you are an infant. That would be the equivalent of me as a grandfather only learning how to walk like my granddaughter - now!
So, why is this important? I believe if we understood our core identity as a follower of Jesus to be a disciple over simply being a Christian, we would find ourselves experiencing more of the fullness of life in Jesus.
Would we not agree that all of life is better when it is in communion with Jesus and done the way He designed it to be? Then to the degree that you and I encounter Jesus and become more like Him as a disciple, I believe we will experience the love, peace, joy and fulfillment in life in the here and now.
Disciples are not ones who follow Jesus from afar. Those were the crowds. And the crowds weren’t committed - they were consumers. They just wanted the benefit of being close to Jesus but didn’t want to become like Jesus. And its not much different now than when Jesus walked the earth in bodily form. There are many who follow Jesus from afar, but few who desire to be a disciple.
Disciples are ones who follow Jesus (as in make a commitment to reorient their life around His way of life), who are being changed by Jesus (transformed to become like Him), and on mission with Jesus (both to reach the lost and to make more disciples).
At Bay Area , we believe this is our highest calling - to be disciples who make disciples . And this is why we are inviting you to not get lost in the crowds, but genuinely seek Jesus as a disciple who is growing and eventually becoming a grandparent . This is becoming more like Jesus.
When I think of my granddaughter and the progress she is making in her little life… it’s hard for me not to think about the progress that my daughter has experienced going from an adult to a parent… and for me and my wife going from parents to becoming grandparents!
Look, I know you might get this but, we’re all aging even though we all may not be maturing. And I think herein lies part of the challenge we face as followers of Jesus and our own spiritual growth. Time following Jesus does not equate to being transformed or changed by Jesus. Many can say they have been following Jesus a long time without ever becoming more like Jesus.
This is why we as a church have felt led to encourage everyone to become more like Jesus. To not simply be known as a Christian, but as a disciple.
See, we are all on a spiritual journey. Much like our biological life, this journey has different stages of spiritual maturity. In fact, consider how scripture describes our spiritual lives…
EPHESIANS 2:1,5
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins...†“even when we were dead in our transgressionsâ€
JOHN 3:3
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.â€
1 PETER 2:2
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.
2 TIMOTHY 2:1
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 JOHN 2:14
I write to you, fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil.
All throughout Scriptures we see that when the New Testament writers refer to our spiritual growth, they primarily use language that mirrors our own development as humans. I believe they did this (under the power of the Holy Spirit, of course) so that we would have a clear and easily understandable picture of what it means to grow spiritually.
Spiritually, we start off as unborn and become born (again) as infants and babies, and grow to be young adults who become mature adults, and eventually become parents and grandparents.
This is the biblical picture (and expectation) for someone who is following Jesus. In fact, in several of these passages, the Apostle Paul is arguing that certain people are not growing in their faith and instead are infants when they should be adults. This is confounding to Paul! He is saying you are a grown human being - yet you are an infant. That would be the equivalent of me as a grandfather only learning how to walk like my granddaughter - now!
So, why is this important? I believe if we understood our core identity as a follower of Jesus to be a disciple over simply being a Christian, we would find ourselves experiencing more of the fullness of life in Jesus.
Would we not agree that all of life is better when it is in communion with Jesus and done the way He designed it to be? Then to the degree that you and I encounter Jesus and become more like Him as a disciple, I believe we will experience the love, peace, joy and fulfillment in life in the here and now.
Disciples are not ones who follow Jesus from afar. Those were the crowds. And the crowds weren’t committed - they were consumers. They just wanted the benefit of being close to Jesus but didn’t want to become like Jesus. And its not much different now than when Jesus walked the earth in bodily form. There are many who follow Jesus from afar, but few who desire to be a disciple.
Disciples are ones who follow Jesus (as in make a commitment to reorient their life around His way of life), who are being changed by Jesus (transformed to become like Him), and on mission with Jesus (both to reach the lost and to make more disciples).
At Bay Area , we believe this is our highest calling - to be disciples who make disciples . And this is why we are inviting you to not get lost in the crowds, but genuinely seek Jesus as a disciple who is growing and eventually becoming a grandparent . This is becoming more like Jesus.
