Lectionary:
If you really loved me…
Recently I was listening to a presentation by Jim Rohn, where he was talking about measuring our personal progress – about how each of us, no matter how young or old, should be growing and progressing. We need to be realistic, look at ourselves and our lives carefully, asking regularly – am I really growing? He put it this way:
“How many years do you want your child to spend in fourth grade? About one.
Well, if they’re nice kids, would you give them three or four years? No. You can’t give your child four years to get through fourth grade. That’s too much time …
And that got me thinking about our spiritual lives, spiritual growth and church growth (not the numbers – the actual heart and soul of our congregation).
There’s a saying in business:
Measured performance is improved performance.
When we want to improve something, we measure it – can I run 5 KM, 10 KM, 15 KM, a half marathon? Can I do 50 sit-ups? Can I play Concerto No. 5 in D Major?
What about your life? How are you ensuring that you continue to grow each year? How will I (or others) know if, and when, I am growing toward a more full experience of faith? What is the real difference between someone who has only been a Christian for one year, and someone that has been a lifelong follower of Christ – a person devoted to Christ and his vision, for say 30 years? What does this look like?
With so many devotionals out there, online courses, causes that we could take up, programs that we could implement in Balboa Union Church, how is what we are doing today, this week, this month, this year, lead us toward becoming more Christlike? When I look at my life and my beliefs, do I want to be influenced by and glean insight from the emergent church? The seeker movement? Am I looking for a house church? A bible study?
Can you, individually – can we collectively, as a church – afford the luxury of an unchanged life and vision?
Spiritual life is not just about doing things – being busy – it’s about doing the right things. And when you are looking at the results and measuring your progress – it’s about measuring the right things too!
Individually:
- Am I more patient?
- Am I learning to love people that are hard to love?
- Do I desire to be more like Christ today than I once desired?
Obviously, it’s hard to put numbers on these intangibles – it’s so much more satisfying to look at something “measurable” – On some levels, it’s much better to say “I want to lose 10 pounds” than “I want to lose weight” – we need to know if we’ve arrived. But how do you know you’re growing? By what criteria do you objectively quantify the growth?
In some instances, there is a measurable criteria (the 3 “B”s – bodies, budgets & buildings):
- Does the Church have more income today than it did a year ago?
- Are we within budget?
- How much are we spending on missions and serving the community?
- Do we have a bigger membership?
- Have we increased attendance?
But when we shift this to spiritual pursuits, and we say “my goal is to grow in the knowledge and grace of Christ” (2 Peter 3: 18) – How do we measure progress? For some years, the practice of spiritual discipline was used: growth is happening if the person was reading the Bible each day, praying, attending church, generously giving, fasting, meditating, serving in some capacity. But, then we discover that these actions might not actually lead to spiritual maturity. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were great rule keepers, but they completely missed the point!
Maybe it’s knowledge: how’s your spiritual vocabulary? How many books have you read? How many retreats have we attended? How many seminars are we organising as a Church? But while it’s good to grow in our knowledge, this isn’t really a measure of spiritual maturity either – just look at the Pharisees – it’s hard to get more learned than them!
Going to the other extreme – “I feel closer to Jesus” – does that convince you? Too subjective?
John 14 presents us with an easy litmus test: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Do we love God? Do we love others? We can measure our love for God according to how we love and treat others.
So – what if, we measure service?
To be like Christ, means a life of service. BUT…. Doing something because we feel guilty or because we are worried about what others will think of us if we don’t do it, is all the wrong kind of motivation. It’s not enough to look at attendance & giving, if we are overlooking anger, contempt, honesty and the degree to which we are simply guided by our fears!
I agree totally – if we are to grow spiritually -individually and collectively – we need to be reading books, listening to sermons and seminars, studying the Bible (personally and in groups) – but if we want to mature spiritually, then we must also become passionate about serving. We need to BE the Church in the community.
Christian maturity is when we stand still long enough to perceive God’s amazing love for us, and so, in turn, begin to love and serve others because we just can’t imagine it any other way. There’s a special vitality to this – it’s not the tempo of the music or the emotional response in a worship service. Instead, there is an expectancy, and enthusiasm, a sense of hope, a feeling that “life” itself is present.
Crissi Jami says:
“Good works is giving to the poor and the helpless, but divine works is showing them their worth to the One who matters.”
John 14 reminds us:
“All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, …24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Do you love the world like Jesus?
I don’t – I usually have a conditional, temporal love – what I mean is:
I see love in my heart: for God, my daughter, family, and others. But I also see other things: fear, despair, jealously, and even resentment.
Jesus says that we are left with a gift: peace of mind and heart, a peace that the world cannot give. We are not to be troubled or afraid. But I don’t always feel this way!
For a moment, I want us to focus on why do some people feel this and others struggle with this? Why is this easy for some, and so difficult for another person? Do you know that person that loves unconditionally? That just radiates love? That always seems to have enough?
I believe the answer lies in our beliefs and perceptions: You and I may differ in our views – the glass is half full, the glass is half empty. We are both missing the whole point! It doesn’t matter whether the glass is half full or half empty, Jesus says that the Father loves us, and is sending the Advocate, with gifts of peace of mind and heart – the glass can ALWAYS be refilled!
The real question should be: do I truly believe that God is love, and that in this world and Universe there is enough love, if I would simply open my heart and allow my soul and spirit to be filled to overflowing with this love? If I would be willing to simply become a vessel that could be filled and not depend on how much I have, but rather to allow all of God’s peace and love to flow through me – there would always be enough!
Let me ask you one more time – how would you measure your growth and progress as a Christian?
Let us pray:
Creator and all-knowing Spirit: help us to stop measuring our spiritual growth by checklists and numbers. Give us the grace and peace to measure our lives by love and love alone. Help us to receive your love, and teach us to love. Create in us clean spirits, that live out amazing love stories so that others are drawn to You.
Amen.