Blog PostsDiscipleship Elements: How to Grow in Christ
by Dan Day, Director
NAD Church Resource Center
January 28, 2010
There are three key discipleship challenges around which the upcoming discipleship curriculum from the Adventist Church in North America is constructed: (1) Discovering how to follow Jesus; (2) Learning how to grow in Christ; and (3) Experiencing how to become a nurturing community. In this segment, we'll look specifically at the second one.
Learning how to grow in Christ has to do with establishing the vital components for a vigorous spiritual life. Among them would be the role of key spiritual disciplines, such as Bible study, prayer, the role of stewardship in a balanced approach to Christian living, and the importance of Christian education. Not even all pastors are as well-established in these growth components as we might hope. And without them, there are often points of disconnect for the spiritual community, gaps which hinder our ability for the church to become all that it could be.
For example, many of the critical interpersonal challenges we face in the church, today, such as the breakdown of the family, the loss of our young people, and a lack of true engagement with the broader community, are tied to gaps in these areas. If a member of the church does not know how to grow in Christ, not only is he or she handicapped in developing true spiritual maturity, but the very character of church life itself can be compromised. For example, we may not know how to relate to one another as members of the body of Christ, how to resolve conflict, how to build one another up, how to embrace our young people, or how to carry out true evangelism where we live and work.
A healthy church is a growing church. But growth doesn't "just happen." It is shaped by learned behaviors. The rest is yet to come...
Previous Articles
The iFollow Journey (Jul. 2, 2010)
The iFollow Discipleship Resource (Mar. 10, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Become a Nurturing Community (Feb. 24, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Grow in Christ (Jan. 28, 2010)
Discipleship Elements: How to Follow Jesus (Jan. 13, 2010)
iFollow: What It Is, and How to Use It (Jan. 1, 2010)
Discipleship: Learning a New Language (Dec. 16, 2009)
Discipleship: What Is It, and Why Should We Care? (Dec. 9, 2009)
Discipleship: Just About Being Spiritually "Buff"? (Nov. 18, 2009)
Discipleship: If We Saw It Would We Recognize It? (Nov. 6, 2009)
