Some phrases or words or topics are commonly used in the Church:
- “We need to grow spiritually“
- “We want to make sure everyone is being discipled…”
- “We need to train people in evangelism“
- “Spiritual disciplines are important for every Christian”
But using these phrases often doesn’t mean people actually understand what we’re talking about. People might be able to use the terms in the right context and in the right ways, but if asked to define these things most would have a hard time doing so. Well, I’ve realized more than ever we have to make sure these types of things are defined clearly and simply. If not, all we do is train people in Christianese – a language we use that nobody really understands.
So, I thought I would do is provide the definitions I use in our church. You might already have your own definitions that are concise and effective. If that’s you, then maybe mine can just be something you compare/contrast yours with. If you don’t have these defined concisely, I would recommend doing so immediately. Leadership requires us to be clear.
The first word or phrase I will define in this series is: spiritual growth.
This phrase is tossed around a lot, but nobody really knows what we mean. So I have defined it. It may not be a perfect definitions, but I believe we can say we have grown spiritually
if the time it takes us to read scripture and embrace it is less than it used to be.
This definition does a number of things other than just providing a definition:
- It leans on Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:18-20 that says the goal of our teaching people about him and his ways is obedience. We cannot feel like we’ve grown spiritually simply because we can regurgitate scripture. Reading the bible makes us Christian as much as reading People Magazine makes us a celebrity.
- Implies that we need to be growing in our understanding of scripture.
- It insinuates actions need to be taken after reading.
How do you feel about that definition? See any holes in it? Any other benefits you see it having? If you have defined it for yourself and ministry, please share it so we can all learn.