Essentials
So, as we begin the Essentials series, I am pausing to consider what is most important. I mean, there are so many things that demand our time, passion, and money. However, the convergence of all three tells us what we worship. So, what are we worshiping?
That is the crux of the series: what are we doing with what we believe? What does belief mean in the grand scheme of things? Does it mean Sunday/Wednesday and nothing else? Or is there something essential that we're missing?
Week 1 is looking at what is Essential 2: Grow. Week 2 we'll be looking at what is Essential 2: Know followed by week 3 in Essential 2: Show. Each of these weeks is an interactive experience in looking at who we are and who we can (and ought) to be.
If you missed week 1 (and you know who you are!), here's a brief synopsis:
What is essential for growth in a plant? A baby? An adult? Think about it, because there are certain foundational needs. A plant must have sunlight, carbon, and oxygen plus certain nutrients in the soil to grow. A baby needs breastmilk/formula and love. An adult needs 2000 calories (ish) a day, certain levels of vitamins and nutrients combined with regular exercise plus mental stimuli to maintain their body and mind. In each case, skipping on one of the items can lead to an imbalance and potentially death. In any of these situations, there is always room for growth. A plant ought to grow bear seeds and continue repeating. A baby ought to grow into a toddler and on into childhood/adolescence and eventually adulthood. An adult ought to be growing mentally (as physical growth tends to look like mine: horizontal) by reading, discussions, etc. If an adult thinks they are done growing, they might as well shut down and choose to die, because that is when our growth ends (although some shut down long before and choose stagnation). Paul had some things to say about growth:
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you…
Philippians 3:12-15 (NLT)
Now, he says he does one thing. That one thing is to continue pushing onward because he has not yet arrived. This is Paul, the dude who wrote most of the New Testament talking! If he hasn't "made it" why should we be happy thinking we know enough of God to be done? I mean, seriously! If we're not there yet, we need to grow so we can eventually get there. That's the goal, right? if that is the goal, we need to do something to get there, otherwise we'll hear something like this:
11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT)
Ouch! Not a lot of nice things to say... First that they are "spiritually dull" (meaning stoopid-ish), second that they don't listen, third that they are still babies when they ought to have grown into adults! That is a pretty harsh assessment don'tcha think? But, is it far off from where so many of us are? Ooooh, that's not a nice question is it? But in seriousness, so many people who say they are (or wear the name) Christian have this issue. We found out who Jesus was, thought the whole eternal life thing sounded a LOT better than hell, said a simple prayer and now we go to church, sometimes. That's not all there is! Even belief means jack squat, I mean Jesus said that "even the demons believe" and the downside is, they're smart enough to tremble in fear. If we claim to be someone who believes in Jesus, we must be growing.
As a parent, the idea of any of my kids staying small, and me being okay with it, is absurd. If my baby wasn't growing and maturing, I've be taking him to the hospital! If my 10 year old was the same as my 4 year old, there would be issues that I would need to have looked at! But, as spiritual life goes, we're more than happy to stay in baby phase because growth requires something of us. In fact, the author of Hebrews talks about a key difference: maturity means solid food, not milk. When he talks about that, I know what he means because of my kids. A baby cannot just hop in and dig into a steak and potato, but has to grow into it. That means starting with just the milk, then adding cereal, some veggies/fruits (baby food jars are just pureed veggies/fruits/food), and eventually adding in real food in small pieces they can handle. Then as they grow, they get to the point where they are eating the same foods as their parents/siblings. Now, to make the jump from the illustration to the point.
To grow spiritually we need to move on from the milk into solid foods. That means doing something. The simple answer to this growth is listening to God. Now, one thing that changed my life was the way I think about the Bible, from a simple thing Billy Graham said: "The Bible is God's 'love letter' to us, telling us not only that He loves us, but showing us what He has done to demonstrate His love." I mean, I know I always looked forward to the things Kathryn sent me or told me and the time I would get to see her again when we were dating and engaged and would never have thought of leaving a phone call unreturned or a gift/letter unopened. However, when we forget about the Bible, we're doing the same to God! Do you want to leave His love on a shelf? I hope not!
So, to encourage you to get out His love letter and read it, we're kicking off the Essential 100 Challenge. To start, go to YouVersion and signup for an account (it's free!). Then search for mattschaffner and follow me and then join the group FPCED. Once you've done all that, go to Bible and choose, "Reading Plans." Then select the Essential 100. Start it and post your thoughts (they call them notes) and read what others of us are saying as we read. Let's do this together and experience something that will change us (notice, I said will, not might because I can guarantee this will change you)...
That is the crux of the series: what are we doing with what we believe? What does belief mean in the grand scheme of things? Does it mean Sunday/Wednesday and nothing else? Or is there something essential that we're missing?
Week 1 is looking at what is Essential 2: Grow. Week 2 we'll be looking at what is Essential 2: Know followed by week 3 in Essential 2: Show. Each of these weeks is an interactive experience in looking at who we are and who we can (and ought) to be.
If you missed week 1 (and you know who you are!), here's a brief synopsis:
What is essential for growth in a plant? A baby? An adult? Think about it, because there are certain foundational needs. A plant must have sunlight, carbon, and oxygen plus certain nutrients in the soil to grow. A baby needs breastmilk/formula and love. An adult needs 2000 calories (ish) a day, certain levels of vitamins and nutrients combined with regular exercise plus mental stimuli to maintain their body and mind. In each case, skipping on one of the items can lead to an imbalance and potentially death. In any of these situations, there is always room for growth. A plant ought to grow bear seeds and continue repeating. A baby ought to grow into a toddler and on into childhood/adolescence and eventually adulthood. An adult ought to be growing mentally (as physical growth tends to look like mine: horizontal) by reading, discussions, etc. If an adult thinks they are done growing, they might as well shut down and choose to die, because that is when our growth ends (although some shut down long before and choose stagnation). Paul had some things to say about growth:
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you…
Philippians 3:12-15 (NLT)
Now, he says he does one thing. That one thing is to continue pushing onward because he has not yet arrived. This is Paul, the dude who wrote most of the New Testament talking! If he hasn't "made it" why should we be happy thinking we know enough of God to be done? I mean, seriously! If we're not there yet, we need to grow so we can eventually get there. That's the goal, right? if that is the goal, we need to do something to get there, otherwise we'll hear something like this:
11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT)
Ouch! Not a lot of nice things to say... First that they are "spiritually dull" (meaning stoopid-ish), second that they don't listen, third that they are still babies when they ought to have grown into adults! That is a pretty harsh assessment don'tcha think? But, is it far off from where so many of us are? Ooooh, that's not a nice question is it? But in seriousness, so many people who say they are (or wear the name) Christian have this issue. We found out who Jesus was, thought the whole eternal life thing sounded a LOT better than hell, said a simple prayer and now we go to church, sometimes. That's not all there is! Even belief means jack squat, I mean Jesus said that "even the demons believe" and the downside is, they're smart enough to tremble in fear. If we claim to be someone who believes in Jesus, we must be growing.
As a parent, the idea of any of my kids staying small, and me being okay with it, is absurd. If my baby wasn't growing and maturing, I've be taking him to the hospital! If my 10 year old was the same as my 4 year old, there would be issues that I would need to have looked at! But, as spiritual life goes, we're more than happy to stay in baby phase because growth requires something of us. In fact, the author of Hebrews talks about a key difference: maturity means solid food, not milk. When he talks about that, I know what he means because of my kids. A baby cannot just hop in and dig into a steak and potato, but has to grow into it. That means starting with just the milk, then adding cereal, some veggies/fruits (baby food jars are just pureed veggies/fruits/food), and eventually adding in real food in small pieces they can handle. Then as they grow, they get to the point where they are eating the same foods as their parents/siblings. Now, to make the jump from the illustration to the point.
To grow spiritually we need to move on from the milk into solid foods. That means doing something. The simple answer to this growth is listening to God. Now, one thing that changed my life was the way I think about the Bible, from a simple thing Billy Graham said: "The Bible is God's 'love letter' to us, telling us not only that He loves us, but showing us what He has done to demonstrate His love." I mean, I know I always looked forward to the things Kathryn sent me or told me and the time I would get to see her again when we were dating and engaged and would never have thought of leaving a phone call unreturned or a gift/letter unopened. However, when we forget about the Bible, we're doing the same to God! Do you want to leave His love on a shelf? I hope not!
So, to encourage you to get out His love letter and read it, we're kicking off the Essential 100 Challenge. To start, go to YouVersion and signup for an account (it's free!). Then search for mattschaffner and follow me and then join the group FPCED. Once you've done all that, go to Bible and choose, "Reading Plans." Then select the Essential 100. Start it and post your thoughts (they call them notes) and read what others of us are saying as we read. Let's do this together and experience something that will change us (notice, I said will, not might because I can guarantee this will change you)...
Thanks for sharing about the E100 on YouVersion. More material can be found at the e100challenge.com
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