Many Churches Keep Their Members From Growing up in the Lord

     This is a "picture" of a new Christian. The Bible says that when people believe in Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, they are given gifts. These gifts are besides the gift of salvation or the gift of Jesus in our life. These are supernatural gifts because even though believers get a new "operating system" for their life, they also get updates as they mature in the Lord.  Sometimes we get "updates" as we are reading the Bible, praying, receiving teaching or just living life -- these "downloads" will teach us spiritual truths. In the Bible these "upgrades" are called renewing our mind: Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23 or getting rid of every defilement of spirit: 2 Corinthians 7:1.

     Christians need to use that giftedness God has given them to mature into spiritual adults. If they don't use it they will stay in the baby stage of their Christian walk until they either start using it, and hopefully mature in that gift, or die as a baby Christian. Many believers may have years of teaching, but if they don't have opportunities to move in the giftedness that God has given them, most will stagnate and  have a spiritual death in their hearts. Many times this is a reason that people loose their first love.

     I have heard many people tell me that they don't have any gift at all. There are people that are gifted in knowing what a person's gift is. Many times they have an apostolic or prophetic gifting or just get words of knowledge. There are Christians that will receive a gift just because an apostle or prophet laid hands on them and imparted a gift, 1 Timothy 4:14. Sometimes believers are walking in those gifts and they are so much a part of their life, they don't even know it.

     Some Christians seem to think that if they were gifted they could do almost anything. When I was younger, many people including myself, thought I was a computer expert. That didn't mean I knew everything about computers, but the things I didn't know, it seemed easy to find the answers and apply them. There were also many things I didn't know but that didn't mean I wasn't gifted with computers. It's the same way in the Church. There are things we do better or very well and there are things we just can't do at all unless God gives us that gift in our life.

     A call to all leaders: No matter what size of church you have, house or mega church,  the church is meant to be a place where believers are equipped for ministry. This is not just giving those in your church a bunch of head knowledge, but practical experience along with it. Train yourselves to look at those in your church and see who they are even when they don't see it themselves. Then ask God to use you or other people in your church to gently carve away the marble to see the masterpiece underneath. This is a process, not necessarily an instant transformation.

 

Bruce Isom