“…but am I growing?”
So you’re Life Group is going great!!!
Everyone is sharing and participating (well, almost everyone), and you look forward to your time together! You feel closer to each other, you have created a really safe space, and there is a real balance of fellowship and Bible Study, doing life together and getting to know Jesus!
That’s AWESOME! But there’s this itch somewhere that has started after a few months or years of meeting together, and you’re just wondering (on the odd occasion), “Are we actually “Growing in Christ together”?
Great question!
But first, lets get it clear that our role as LG leaders is nurturing growth (removing barriers and giving growth a great opportunity). It is NOT the task of a Life Group leader, coach, pastor or preacher to create growth: God makes spiritual growth possible (John 3:16-18, Eph 2:8-10, I Cor 2:14-16), makes it happen (John 16:3, I Cor 3:5-9) and completes the work (Phil 1:3-6).
“So… OK, I get that. We can nurture growth, but only God can make it happen. How a person actually grows is always between them and God simply because that is where the choices are made. I cannot repent for another person, and they cannot choose to honor God for me. Got it. Granted that, I’d still like to know, am I/ are we growing?”
Great question!
Turns out, healthy things do grow, so let’s take a look at this...
Jesus said, “You will know a tree by it’s fruit” (Luke 6:43-45) and He made it very clear that if we “abide in him” we will indeed “bear much fruit.” (John 15). So,
Was He talking just about counting the number of people I/we led to Jesus?
Was He talking about the number of days that we got every single aspect of our life correct?
Was He talking about a sinless state we can achieve by willpower if we just… try… harder?
Was ‘that preacher’ actually right when he said, “God is good. You’re not. Do better (or else).”
No. He was talking about being transformed from the inside out in this born-again, new creation, faith-filled life (John 3:16; 2 Cor 5:17; John 6:29; Col 3:10; Gal 4:9; Rom 8; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4).
When Jesus referred to a grape vine as HIs metaphor, and said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches… if you abide in Me you will bear much fruit… apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15) He was essentially saying, “Either I do it in you, or this is not going to work! When I do it in you, you will indeed be productive in My purposes in you and through you.”
Paul takes the same theme of ‘fruit’ further when he talks metaphorically about the “fruits of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-25. Take a minute to read it now.
So, are you growing? Well,
Are you (personal and plural for your LG) more loving than you were a few years ago to people who are hard to love?
After the initial shock of a crisis, are you more quickly able to find a rest that comes not from circumstances (or kicking caffeine) but one that comes from casting your worries on Him?
Is self-discipline making you less of a victim of passion or circumstance than you were in the past?
Do you have a peace that’s a little more deeply rooted beyond the limits of your understanding of a situation, grounded even more deeply in your life in Christ?
Does your hope in tough times have a little more of a “substance” to it that comes from a closer, more personal, spiritual relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ?
If those “fruits of the Spirit” are increasing in your life, making you more productive in your life in Him, then yes, you are growing. Like tending a vine, bench-pressing a little more weight in the gym, or swimming a little further, growth is about getting healthier and thus being able to be more productive in the things God has in store! (John 16:13, Heb 5:14, Eph 2:10)
Notice that this is not about “my branch is stronger, better, more XYZ… than your branch.” A branch is a part of the whole, and has no identity apart from the Vine— if broken off, it’s just another piece of firewood. When we compare ourselves with each other, we are essentially breaking off our “branch” and making comparisons that do not acknowledge the Vine; pointless, dangerous.
That’s not what we were made for! The point is that the Vine (Jesus life in His people, The Kingdom of God in the world) grows with a growth that comes from Him;
We were made to bear fruit, and MUCH fruit (John 15:8)!
We were made for joy, ABUNDANT joy (John 10:10)!
We were made to love and be loved by a GOD Who “IS love” (1 John 4:16).
By the Spirit, our Faith has a SUBSTANCE (Heb 11:1)!
Our Hope is not a timid whimper as ‘…the enemy comes in like a flood’; it is a DECLARATION as God “…raises a standard” (standard = military flag of arms used in ancient battles) (Is 59:19).
Even in dry times, there is a core confidence, knowing that no one can separate us from that love of God (Rom 8:35-39)!
That is only possible in this “Born again”, “Spirit-filled” life in Jesus Christ (John 3:16, Rom 8)! The Christian life is not just about what we are saved FROM; it’s even more about what we are saved FOR!!
If all that resonates a little deeper than it did in years past, if you are a little hungrier for your time in the Word, if you are a little more like Jesus in ways you weren’t in the recent past, then yes, you are growing. Like Paul, you’re not perfect; but you are pressing on (Phil 3:12-14)!