Faith and Contentment

TITLE: FAITH AND CONTENTMENT
SCRIPTURE: Philippians 4:12-13
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: April 1st, 2016

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:12-13)

This week, I want to share three thoughts from my sabbatical.

It has been a strange sabbatical for me. After seven years of being in gainful employment, I took a 3-month sabbatical so as to take a step back from my routine, my regular work schedule, and my familiar activities. During this time, I preached at different churches. I traveled to the Far East. I spent more time with family and friends. When people asked me what I wanted to do during this time, I told them I wanted to write a book. That had not taken off. The ideas were there. The thoughts were there. However, the determination and discipline to do that were not there. After all, a sabbatical must be a sabbatical. Otherwise, call it a different kind of work or some activity-oriented break. One of the problems in modern society is that we have not really understood what rest means. We know how to work from 9 to 5. We know how to bring our projects home from the office. We know how to get connected to the Internet, carry our emails with us, and stay connected to work even when we are home. We have become so comfortable with working that we are increasingly uncomfortable with anything non-work. With such a work-saturated mindset, true rest is hard to find.

Many people have said good things about the sabbath. Let me share a few.

• Seven days of work makes one weak
• "It is not the Jews that kept the Sabbath but the Sabbath that kept the Jews." (Jewish Rabbi) 
• "He who cannot rest, cannot work; he who cannot let go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing, cannot go forward." (Harry Emerson Fosdick) 
• "As a man addicted to activity and anxiety, I could tell you story after story about how a restless lifestyle is everything from silly to stupid to soul killing." (Mark Galli)
• "Test the premise that you are worth more than you can produce – that even if you spent one whole day of being good for nothing you would still be precious in God’s sight. " (Barbara Brown Taylor)
• "No other behavioral change has brought so many unintended but welcome benefits to my life of faith and my work as a pastor." (Eugene Peterson)

This week, I want to share three thoughts about my sabbatical.

Am I Growing?

TITLE: AM I GROWING?
SCRIPTURE: Colossians 1:10
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: August 7th, 2015

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,” (Col 1:10)

Are we more interested in other people's spiritual growth? Or are we serious about our own? If we are, be prepared to deal with the ugly parts of ourselves. For spiritual growth has less to do with programs or activities. It has more to do with personal self-examination.

If you are like me, you would probably prefer to talk about other people than ourselves. Better to hide while others get exposed. We are comfortable about telling stories about someone else, or the plight of some unfortunate soul. By shining a spotlight on others, we avoid the limelight of being singled out as some kind of a mental guinea pig for others to talk about or comment on. Most people do not like unwarranted attention, especially the negative ones.

When I am preaching from the pulpit, it is a lot more comfortable to tell stories about other people from another place, another Church, another time, or another era. Sometimes, I would choose stories that would not embarrass any of my listeners. I would say things like:

“This story is about a man who is NOT from this congregation.”

Upon hearing this, people usually heave a sigh of relief. At least the pastor is not talking about any one of them. Whether it is good news or bad news, people are generally more at ease at looking through the windows of other people's lives. It is also easy to talk about a fictional story or some movie plots and to explain our ideas from there. It is not so easy to talk about ourselves, our warts, weaknesses, and wobbly works. Sharing about ourselves can be very risky. People may take it the wrong way or misinterpret our intent. If we share too much about ourselves, people might accuse us of self-glorification. If we share too little, people say we are too impersonal. We can choose to share a lot about other people and then make a convenient excuse that time does not permit us to share more about ourselves!

The fears of self-revelation are real. It might not be safe. Someone else may use our stories against us. We may say things only to regret later. That is why sharing about others remains a popular choice, even in prayer meetings.

A) The Strange Curiosity About Others

(Credit: http://comments.bmartin.cc/tag/schadenfreude/)

Humans tend toward Schadenfreude, where we take special interest in bad things happening to other people. Like a curious zoo visitor excited to watch how lions and crocodiles eat up their prey alive, humans are especially piqued by tragic events happening to others. That is one reason why news reports on tragedies, disasters, and accidents tend to be more widely read. Air disasters are extremely popular and seem to be picked up by most if not all news agencies. The missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is a case in point. When the ill-fated Boeing 777 was first reported missing on March 8th, 2014, many countries throughout the world reported on it. Although the plane was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with passengers hailing from 15 countries, interest in the missing plane garnered attention from more than these affected countries. This week, when part of the plane was washed ashore at a French territory called Reunion Island, the world took notice all over again. It is easy to talk and read news about others. It is not so easy to talk and read news about ourselves, especially bad news.

What about self-examination questions? What about asking ourselves about our own health, our own situation, and our own spiritual growth? This is the subject of this week’s Sabbath Walk.

Am I growing?

SPIRITUAL VIBRANCY (Fellowship of the People)

TITLE: SPIRITUAL VIBRANCY (Fellowship of the People)
SCRIPTURE: 1 John 2:9-11
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: May 22nd, 2015

"9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them." (1 John 2:9-11)

Spiritual Vibrancy #2:
Fellowship of the People

Last week, I wrote about the spiritual vibrancy of the Church that centers around the preaching of the Word. This week, I want to continue with the reflection on spiritual vibrancy by looking at the response to the preaching of the Word. If there is no response, the preaching will be in vain. If there is a response, not only will the people in the community be blessed, the Church will also be blessed. This week is Part Two of the Spiritual Vibrancy series.

In an talk show hosted by Anderson Cooper of CNN, famed marital expert Dr John Gottmann was asked about what was the #1 issue that couples fight about. He replied with a witty word: "Nothing."

The answer was hilarious but also spot on.

Spiritual Vibrancy (Preaching of the Word)

TITLE: SPIRITUAL VIBRANCY (Preaching of the Word)
SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 4:2
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: May 11th, 2015

"Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2)

Spiritual Vibrancy #1:
Biblical Preaching

Why is it that some churches are vibrant while others are simply dull? Is it because of the quality of the sermons? Or is it because of the warmth of the fellowship? Or is it because of something more practical like logistics, travel, or the convenience of something more unusual like parking? Starting this week, I like to launch a series of three reflections about spiritual vibrancy.

In conjunction with May 30th, 2015 as Global Outreach Day, I would like to say that vibrancy comes about with three things. First, the preaching of the Word. Second, the fellowship of the people. Third, the passion of outreach of the community. Both the second and third elements are active responses to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. With the preaching of the Word, there needs to be a response. Without any responses, the Word remains within the four walls of churches and Christian communities who gather each week for worship.

The Preaching of the Word

One of the most striking traits in any revivals is the strong preaching of the Word. In the 18th Century (1731-1755), in what we know as the first great awakening in North America, we have men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, whose powerful preaching revitalized the entire society to go forth in faith and witness of the gospel of Christ. In the nineteenth century (1790-1840), there is the American spiritual awakening with Francis Asbury (Methodist), Henry Ward Beecher (Presbyterian), Charles Finney, and others who inspired a new generation with powerful preaching against the ills of society. Then comes the 20th Century (1850-1900) spiritual awakening, thanks to the Pentecostal movement and the Holiness movement. People like Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey were household names. In the 21st Century, we will all recognize the names of Billy Graham, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and in our modern days, Chuck Swindoll, Rick Warren, and Tim Keller. Many of the megachurches all had one thing in common: Powerful preaching over the pulpit.

"Mining for Facts" vs "Aligning for Faith"

TITLE: "MINING FOR FACTS" vs "ALIGNING FOR FAITH"
SCRIPTURE: Ps 119:71
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: September 13th, 2014

“It is good for me to be afflicted so that I may learn your decrees.” (Ps 119:71)

Adam is worried sick about his exams. His mother enters the room and quotes Proverbs 3:5-6 to him to trust God for all things. Adam takes his mother’s advice and stops studying. He goes straight to bed without further worrying. He says: “God will make my paths straight right?” He fails his exams leaving him with a negative aftertaste that the Bible does not really work for him.

Teddy knows his Bible well. Since young, he has aced Bible quizzes and has won many Scripture memory competitions. He is literally a walking Bible. He has a quote for all occasions and people often look up to him for his level of Bible literacy. He participates actively in Bible discussions with his own ready answers. Sometimes, he can become quite disruptive during Bible discussions as he brings in verses from all over the Bible that distracts participants from properly understanding the verses in context. People are increasingly afraid of sharing deeper secrets with Teddy because every time they share something, Teddy would be so quick to quote a Bible verse that he would not listen to anything else at all. After all, how can anyone argue against the Word of God thrown at them? People call Teddy a Bible-rifle who uses Bible verses as bullets for everything in life. People avoid Teddy often by saying: “Thanks but no thanks. What’s right for you may not be right for me.”

Monique loves Bible studies. She approaches every study enthusiastically mining the Bible for all kinds of information. She plows through many commentaries and dictionaries, marking every word, every phrase, and every passage, even punctuation marks! Like a gold digger, she digs away diligently looking for Bible gems as if she is the one in control. She is more interested in Bible information than spiritual formation.

Adam, Teddy, and Monique present three different types of Christians. Adam lets his faith be dependent on what people say. Teddy tells people without listening to what people are saying. Monique digs the Bible as if she is telling the Bible what she wants rather than to let the Bible teach her what she needs.

This week, I want to discuss the difference between Bible information and spiritual formation. For the former, one mines the Bible for facts and knowledge. One is in control of the learning. One is in charge of what to learn. For the latter, one lets the Bible be the teacher, the guide, and the cultivator of faith. The chief question this week is this: Are we mining for facts or are we aligning for faith?

Good Old Days or Brave New Future?

TITLE: GOOD OLD DAYS or BRAVE NEW FUTURE?
SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 12:1
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: May 14th, 2014

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.”— (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

I was troubled this week after reading Thom Rainer's "Autopsy of a Deceased Church." In it, Rainer , the President of Lifeway Christian Resources shared some grim statistics about the American Church.

• Healthy churches: 10%
• Churches with sickness symptoms: 40%
• Churches that are very sick: 40%
• Dying churches: 10%

Rainer commented further that "though these numbers are not precise, I do believe they reflect the actual conditions of churches across America." The numbers are disturbing. We have 90% of churches that are either sick or dying. Is that not troubling?

Unforgiveness is Spiritually Deadly

TITLE: UNFORGIVENESS IS SPIRITUALLY DEADLY
SCRIPTURE:  Mark 11:20-25
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: April 4th, 2014

20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:20-25)

It is enshrined in the Lord's Prayer. It has been spoken about in parables. It has been put through a mathematical formula that ends in infinity. It is also the lubricant of relationships, the essence of living, and the vital ingredient in the spiritual vitality of anyone. It requires the biggest step of faith anyone can possibly undertake. It is the bridge over all waters, not just troubled ones. The Hebrew language has three different words to describe it. Biblical Greek has two.
Forgiveness.

It is something easy to blurt out, but incredibly hard to put into action. The deeper the thorn, the more painful the act of forgiveness. This week, I like to suggest the following. Forgiving others is hard, difficult, and may even be impossible. Not to forgive is harder, more difficult, and will become spiritually deadly. 

A) Child's Play

I remember hearing about gender differences in young children's behaviour. A study was shown about a group of kindergarten boys playing out in the field. Invariably, as kids push and shove one another in ball games, running in the park, or just having fun, there will be fights and nasty situations. The boys played in their special corner while the girls at another. At each fighting or quarreling, it was observed that the boys are more physical. They argued and soon teachers needed to separate them and forced them to apologize. Grudgingly they would shake hands and utter out a reluctant "Sorry." Soon after, their focus turned to the games and toys they were playing, and things amazingly returned to normal.

The girls were a little different. If there was a fight or tiff, even after the apology, any games or playing would come to an abrupt halt. It seemed like the girls tended to take a much longer time to be recover, if it ever were normal again. While the boys returned to their open games, the girls returned to their closed corners.

Of course, there are many other studies that show gender differences in other ways. One such study of 1400 college students shows us that men found it harder to forgive. One striking comment made by the researcher is this.

“Offenses are easier to forgive to the extent that they seem small and understandable and when we see ourselves as similar or close to the offender.” (Julie Juola Exline, Western Reserve University)

This comment is particularly revealing as our ability to forgive or not forgive, is a reflection of who we truly are. If we see ourselves larger and more righteous than others, it is much harder to forgive. A guest speaker at Regent College recently broached this question: "Do you want to be right or do you want to be loving?"

Whether we are kids or adults, male or female, we all have to decide. 

Five Signs Your Church Is On Life Support

TITLE: FIVE SIGNS YOUR CHURCH IS ON LIFE-SUPPORT
SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:42-47
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: March 14th, 2014

"42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)

This week, I ponder on the question of Church and especially those that claim to be on "maintenance mode." I want to argue that "maintenance mode" churches are actually churches on life-support, not maintenance.

In "Mourning the Death of a Church," the writer Angie Mabry-Nauta began with a grim picture of the American Church scene where nine churches close down daily.  Her church was one of them. In fact, one of the comments in the article disturbed me. That person said: "Can't we figure out a way to save our church?" It makes me wonder theologically. Is it not the Church who will be the vehicle to share the message of salvation? If the Church herself needs saving, what hope will there be for others who need to hear the gospel? Mabry-Nauta then compared the dying of the church to the dying of an individual, asking the same kind of questions pertaining to death and dying. How does one desire to die? What is the quality of death? What does it mean to call it quits? It was a tough and emotional struggle for her and for her church that decided to shut down.

Idols R'Us

TITLE: IDOLS R'US
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 10:7
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap 
Date: February 7th, 2014

"Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.'" (1 Cor 10:7)

Do idols have power? Are they able to wield a hypnotizing effect on people near them? Can they enter into our souls and take over our lives? Can Christians be demon-possessed?

Not unless we let them.  Sometimes, people give idols too much credit. They think that the idols have inherent power within them that they can simply zap someone into oblivion. They conjure up images of horror movies whereby the evil spirits somehow possess a person and render them zombie-like. Many Christians have also asked whether Christians can be demon possessed. Those who say "yes" will point to the many instances of "impure spirits" and exorcism done by Jesus in the gospels. The disciples also dealt with lots of cases where evil spirits were cast out of people. However, that does not quite answer the question about believers. People can be demon-possessed, but what about Christians?

In pointing out the passage of Matthew 12:43-45 where Jesus teaches us about an unclean spirit having been exorcised out of a man, goes on searching for a place to dwell in. When he finds an empty house, he will then take refuge in it. The logic follows is that there can be only one occupant. If the Holy Spirit is in a believer, how then can an evil spirit reside in an already occupied house?
According to pastors Brian Borgman and Rob Ventura, there is no way the evil spirit can come in unless we let them. Thus, their recent book on spiritual warfare argues for the armour of God to be constantly worn by believers, so that evil will not have any foothold in the lives of believers. My take is, evil spirits cannot reside in the lives of believers unless believers let them. The power of idols is large only if we empower them.

In popular culture, science fiction movies like the Terminator, The Matrix and Battlestar Galactica, are prime examples of how humans let machines run amok, after teaching the machines all the knowledge and information they need. In these movies, we see how machines began innocently as slaves to the human race. Slowly, as the intelligence of the machines grew, as they perfect their self-learning and survival instincts, the machines turned power hungry and started to see human beings as threats to their own existence. Even before these movies, we have the classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which essentially is a dark prophecy of how eventually machines became more manlike while man turned more machine like.

Measuring Our Spiritual Growth

TITLE: MEASURING OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
SCRIPTURE: 2 Peter 1:5-9
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: 13 April 2013

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins." (2 Peter 1:5-9)

You have been going to Church these years. You have been attending Bible studies. You have also been serving in different ways for the Kingdom. Does that mean that you have been growing spiritually? What does it mean then to grow? How do we measure spiritual growth? This week, I want to take some time to ponder upon how we measure ourselves and to provide some tips on how to get a snapshot of where we are, and what we can do henceforth.

 A) The Four-Dimensional Spiritual Measurements

During my varsity days, I remember two popular methods of ensuring we maintain a balance of various spiritual disciplines. The first is P.O.S.B, which I learn from the Christian Fellowship. It's a nice acronym to remember what the basic spiritual exercises we need to do. We need to pray regularly. Even better, to adopt a prayerful life. This makes our relationship with God a dynamic one. In prayer, we can share anything with God. In Outreach, we need to go forth and share the gospel with all, especially non-believers. This enables us to be witnesses as salt and light to the world. In Social, we remember that we are called to form communities of faith, coming together to encourage, to exhort, and to experience the joys of koinonia. We need to read the Bible regularly so that we can let the Word of God guide all of our lives. If we keep all four disciplines well, we are on the way to a healthy spiritual life.

The second model is also a four dimensional picture, which some churches have adopted. That is the 4Ws model: Worship, Welcome, Word, and Works. Although the words are different, it basically highlights the dual-horizontal and dual-vertical aspects of Christian living. Vertically speaking, worship and word is about our upper relationship with God through praying, reading the Bible, and worshiping together. Welcome is about the way we invite friends to walk with us, and works is about our living out of the goodness of God in our daily lives, sharing the gospel in words and in works.

So, if one is using the POSB model, when you ask them how is their spiritual life, they will give you a rough estimate of where they are right now. One example will be that of John, who tells me:

"My spiritual life? Well, I read the Bible regularly, I pray as much as I can, and I reach out whenever I can. Socially I think I am strong. Bible and Prayer, I will put myself as average. What is perhaps lacking is my Outreach. That's where I am spiritually."

When using the 4Ws, one can summarize the spiritual position likewise. If one can live with all four W-cylinders firing away, one will comfortably say they are healthy.

B) Not Enough

Such models have helped me in the past and they are still popularly used in many Christian circles. Unfortunately, I find them more and more inadequate as the years go by. For P=Prayer, how much praying is a good level of praying? One can pray through the motions and still not feel close to God. For O=Outreach, do we measure in terms of quantity or quality? One can reach out a lot and produce no fruit. For S=Social, how much fellowship do we need and is there really a way to estimate it? For B=Bible, do we use the amount of Bible knowledge we have as a yardstick? One can know lots of Bible, and still be immature. The above models are useful, but they are most elementary. They are easy to remember, but they are not enough.

Let me give three reasons. Firstly, the models themselves are mainly focusing on works. Essentially, it tells us that if WE do not do it, we are not growing. It comes from an expectation to do these stuff in order to get something. The underlying assumption is that if we pray so much, outreach so much, read the Bible so much, and socialize so much, naturally we will grow. Where then is the grace of God? Is it not true that our whole spiritual life is a gift for us to cherish and to enjoy? What if we are unable to spend time cultivating these good works? Does that mean we are not growing? Are we then saying that if we DO NOT do all of these works, we have ourselves to blame? Then where is God's role in empowering and energizing us to live humbly, fruitfully, faithfully, and gratefully?

Secondly, the models only represent a small part of the Bible. The four aspects of each model will receive the same criticisms leveled at the four spiritual laws of evangelism. Are they not a pick-n-choose kind of a spiritual yardstick? Remember, that whether we use the 4Ws or POSB, they are only representing a small part of the Bible. We have the whole Bible that we have not really applied. Just like reading a summary of the Bible versus reading the Bible itself. The summary only gives you the gist of a certain belief or argument. The actual Bible provides the texts, the contexts, and the whole syntax of the faith. If we still try to adopt the two models even after 20 years of belief, then we are doing ourselves a disfavour. A wrong yardstick can render us measuring ourselves inadequately, just like trying to measure our own height with a primitive stick that only has the feet and the meters, but does not have the finer inches or centimeters in between. The better our measuring yardstick, the more accurate will be our measurement of our own spiritual growth.

Thirdly, and more seriously, the disciplines are reflective of an increasingly individualistic mindset. On the one hand, it raises the bar for personal accountability and action. On the other hand, where is the community aspect? Where is the link of one's spiritual life to the rest of the community? If a community is not well spiritually, can an individual in the community dare say his own spiritual life is well? I don't think so. A proper understanding of Christian faith is that the individual and the community is intricately linked to each other. If one hurts, the whole body hurts. If one rejoices, the whole body rejoices. If one fails to grow, the whole body fails to grow. This is an important aspect of the Trinitarian model.

On these three counts, the models lose their effectiveness as spiritual yardsticks.

C) A Better Spiritual Measurement

There are several models that can be developed from different parts of the Bible. One model is the fruit of the Spirit model in Galatians 5. Another model is the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. We can also use the combination of the Ten Commandments and the exhortation from Paul to live a life of love according to 1 Corinthians 13. There are a lot more. Let me describe one according to 2 Peter 1:5-9.

Firstly, the Christian life essentially begins at faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. In faith through grace, we are made new and given a new leash of life. Such faith is a gift of God, that we can be empowered to "make every effort" as well as to "add" to to "supplement" our faith the various spiritual attributes of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, and godliness. Secondly, there is a movement from individual to community. Are our spiritual disciplines leading us more inward looking? Then we are not growing. If our disciplines are moving toward becoming more like Christ to one another, we are growing. Just like Jesus who reaches out to ordinary folks in order to touch them.  All of these attributes basically provide the foundations of a bigger idea: brotherly kindness. Thirdly, we read about the overall purpose of it all: Love. For me, when I read this passage, there are basically three parts. The beginning is faith. The end is love. Everything else is in the middle leading forward from individual faith to community living. When we are called to faith in Christ, our Christian disciplines must lead us somewhere, and more importantly to Someone. It is never to be an end in itself.

Fourthly, we grow by continuously growing. Peter adds:

"For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8)

Note that we ought to understand the word "knowledge" not in terms of knowing more about God, but knowing God more intimately. As my Professor, Dr J.I. Packer has said, "Knowledge about God is not the same as knowledge of God. We can have a systematic theology of God memorized, and still not grow in our knowledge of God." True knowledge of God is not mere head knowledge. True knowledge means a holistic understanding of theory and practice, head and heart, words and works. When we grow more into Christ, our lives in Christ become Christlike for Christ. Our knowledge in God leads to our living out of this knowledge in God, in increasing measure. Continuously growing is a healthy sign.

D) Putting it in Concrete Terms

How then do we measure our spiritual growth according to 2 Peter 1:5-9? Maybe the following questions can give us a fair indication.

• Is our spirituality based self-motivation or upon faith in God's Word? 
• Is our spiritual growth based on what we do, rather than a response to what God has done?
• Is our spiritual growth measured primarily in individual terms, or growing in community AND individual terms?
• Have we grown in brotherly kindness and love?
• Have we given up trying to find ways to learn, to grow, and to love?
• Are we content with doing good works, or are we only satisfied when we see Christ, know Christ, and to live like Christ?

Perhaps, what we need most is not how well we have done, but what kind of spiritual measurements we are using.

THOUGHT: "It is not the number of books you read, nor the variety of sermons you hear, nor the amount of religious conversation in which you mix, but it is the frequency and earnestness with which you meditate on these things till the truth in them becomes your own and part of your being, that ensures your growth." (Frederick W. Robertson)

sabbathwalk

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Copyright by SabbathWalk. This devotional is sent to you free of charge. If you feel blessed or ministered to by SabbathWalk weekly devotionals, feel free to forward to friends, or to invite them to subscribe online at http://blog.sabbathwalk.org . You can also send me an email at cyap@sabbathwalk.org for comments or enquiries. Note that views expressed are personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization.