Mandy's Musings

Saturday, March 31, 2007

The myth of 'growing as Christian'


I get to interact with lots of wise Christian women here at the Cathedral. A conversation I had with one of these women on Thursday has really had me thinking.

She said:
I don't understand why we always talk about growing as a Christian. Either you are a Christian or you aren't.

My first thought was - what about all the language in the Bible that talks about maturity, no longer being infants and being transformed into the likeness of Christ? Surely that is the language of growth.

But as she pointed out these are images that apply to those who are already Christian. We are not growing as a Christian, but growing in Christian maturity. By the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, the Father is transforming and molding us to be more like his Son. We are not becoming 'better Christians' which seems to infer that there is something lacking in us when we were converted.

It makes me wonder whether talking of growing as a Christian puts an emphasis on our work rather than God's work in us. Is it unhelpful? Does it make us think that somehow we've not yet made it and have to add something to the completed work of Christ?

Is it a fuss about nothing, or a helpful corrective to the way that we speak and think?

Photo by Alicia Jo McMahan; Burnsville, nc, United States; www.macphotostudios.com

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posted by Mandy at Saturday, March 31, 2007

5 Comments:

  • Are there any measurable outcomes that can be identified as being evidence of "growing as a Christian"?

    By Blogger Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight), at Saturday, March 31, 2007 10:39:00 am  

  • I've always understood to mean 'growing in maturity as a Christian'. I don't think anyone really means to say that some are 'more Christian' than others. It's just (sloppy) shorthand.

    By Blogger Ros, at Saturday, March 31, 2007 10:54:00 pm  

  • Sorry, meant to say that 'as a Christian' implies to me that we don't mean 'growing in becoming a Christian' but as a Christian (i.e. this is the given prerequisite for the kind of growth we're talking about), growing in maturity, godliness, etc.

    And why, onesalientoversight, must the outcomes be measurable?

    By Blogger Ros, at Saturday, March 31, 2007 10:57:00 pm  

  • And why, onesalientoversight, must the outcomes be measurable?

    That's actually my point. The whole notion of "growth" seems to imply some level of change in an individual... but oftentimes it is subtle and only visible over a long period.

    I mean, you can give a list like this:

    - No longer swearing.
    - No longer committing adultery.
    - No longer beating people up.

    All those sorts of things can be measured. But you can't measure:

    - A greater sense of love for other people.
    - A greater understanding of God's grace.

    By Blogger Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight), at Sunday, April 01, 2007 8:18:00 am  

  • OSO said: But you can't measure
    I think that is the point my wise friend was making. We talk about Christian growth in such a way as to make it sound measurable and achievable, yet that is not always the case. However, I want to be careful not to deny the sense of making 'progress' in the Christian life, as we live out our calling as believers, being transformed to be more and more like Christ.

    Ros I like the idea of that our status as Christians is the prerequisite for this type of growth. But it is the sloppyness of this shorthand that makes me think it may be worth re-thinking how I speak.

    Somewhere in here I thought I might get to speak about sanctification and whether it is progressive or punctilliar (just so I could use that phrase in a sentance), but I'm not sure it really fits in.

    By Blogger Mandy, at Sunday, April 01, 2007 4:46:00 pm  

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