After I posted a series of ten questions we're exploring at Granger Community Church, Bud Brown, associate pastor, overseeing connections at the Heights Church in Prescott, AZ left this comment, reflecting the conversation among their leadership team:
Thanks, Bud, for entering the conversation.
What do you think of Bud's summary above?
- Does the 3-point definition of spiritual maturity resonate as true?
- Do the 4 "wins" paint a picture of a direction worth pursuing?
- Do the 5 aspects of transformation (the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, patterned behavior that becomes a habit, crisis events, accountable relationships) seem to be the incubators or vehicles of life-change/transformation? What would you add?
We have been reading, studying, praying and working on this question for some time now. At our last staff retreat in January the seven pastors on staff came to the realization that God was leading us together in an important direction. We want to be intentional about creating a culture and an atmosphere in which "consumers are turned into producers."
Working this out into a strategy involves coming up with a definition of what the "end product" looks like. What does the mature believer, transformed into the image of Christ, "look like?"
We are working with a simple definition:
1. Mature believers have a realistic view of self, of others, and of the world.
2. Mature believers live in the "here and now" while maintaining a kingdom focus.
3. Mature believers display an ever increasing presence of the marks of discipleship.
So a "win" comes on several levels:
- When one finally understands that worth is something we possess simply by being image bearers who have been redeemed by the most precious commodity in the universe.
- When one realizes that others are intrinsically valuable and are not to be treated as commodities from whom we extract pleasure.
- When one knows how to engage the world's message that worth is something we must acquire.
- When one finally comes to grips with the past hurts, incorporates them into the personality instead of trying to flee from them, and begins living in the "here and now" rather in the then and there.
- And a number of others.
There's a lot rolled up in all of this, of course, but as they are unpacked, they make sense, they're easy to remember, and IMHO, they have the added advantage of being true.
So what is the transformation process? What are the means that God uses to bring this about? As we've studied this, talked about our own spiritual journey, and consulted others, it seems that the following are pretty much universal:
1. The Word of God
2. The Holy Spirit
3. Patterned behavior that becomes habit
4. Crisis events
5. Accountable relationships
In order to begin moving in this direction we are betting the house on small groups, but of a different sort than one typically encounters in program driven churches. We are moving toward the recreation of authentic biblical communities that the Jerusalem church - and later the apostolic church in the Gentile world - acquired and modified from the ancient synagogue movement. We will rely heavily on shepherds of these groups who can say to the immature, "imitate me as I imitate Christ" (as Paul told the Corinthians) and to the mature, "Be imitators of God" (as Paul told the Ephesians).
Forgive me for the lengthy comment. But this is an issue we are working on feverishly, and it has fallen to me to put this together.