Grow With Pastor Joe

Growth. This issue is still at the frontlines of the battles of the theological world and debates about how to grow as Christians and, on a bigger scale, local churches. What is growth? Can it really be measured? I would argue that it can, but the issue I see is that we have been taught to measure Christian and church growth solely based on the exterior. For individual believers we typically, and incorrectly, say that a believer is growing because they go to church, read their bible, pray, give, or volunteer. While those things are nice and should accompany the walk of the believer, those exterior things can be disciplines of a person without Christ. They can be done sincerely, but for the wrong reasons. All of those things done half-heartedly or double-mindedly is not real growth. What about for a local church? If you pick up the typical book on pastoring, ecclesiology, church growth, or discipleship (etc.), then you will probably see that the underlying view that is actually practiced by most view church growth as nickels and noses. The focus for measuring “growth” is seen in how many people, programs, and projects are going. This view is rejected by many in theory, but they practice this very train of thought. The SBC among others, including independent Baptists, do this very thing. They measure attendance, raising of hands, decisions, programs, ministries, staff, number of members etc. Are these things really measures of growth? I would say to their credit, if there is no ministry in a local church then something is wrong. I would say that if the church is in decline or dying on the verge of closing its doors then there is something terrible going on. However, I believe that biblical growth for individual believers and local churches is not something that can be measured by a spreadsheet.

            Real growth is growing deeper in faith, wider in love, and higher in hope. This only happens when individuals and local churches see Christ as supreme and sufficient in all things. Genuine growth is by grace. Period. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” Then, Philippians 2:13 goes on to say, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” The source of the growth of the life of a Christian and local church is the work of God’s grace for, in, and through His people. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the chord of Christian living, but it has three strands; there is faith, hope, and love. These three things are seen and used together in the New Testament numerous times. Rom. 5:1-5 shows these three together and, of course, so well known they are seen in 1 Cor. 13:13. 1 Thess. 1:3 says, “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;” Then, 1 Thess. 5:8 goes on to say, “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” Today, we continue our new series studying the book of Colossians and today’s study will take us into Paul’s opening time of praising God for the growth of grace in the ‘saints” and “faithful brethren” who are at Colosse. It is not that they had the biggest church or best programs. Their growth was recognized by Paul as he praises God with a grateful heart for their growth of deeper faith, wider love, and higher hope. As a pastor, I have had to learn that I must go to God in gratitude over the little growth that is seen in the lives of His people. Constantly I am reminded that only weeds grow over night, but real fruitfulness and growth takes time, patience, and prayer. We must all learn to thank God for the growth that is there. We may not be all that we could be, but we aren’t what we were. Paul’s gratitude is expressed in Col. 1:3-8 which says, “³ We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, ⁵ For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; ⁶ Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: ⁷ As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; ⁸ Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” Today we will only focus on Col. 1:3-5 as we see how to be grateful for growth.

            Before we go any further, notice Col. 1:3. Paul begins by expressing his gratitude to God for the growth of grace that Epaphras has reported to him about the believers at Colosse. Paul even says that he gives thanks to God and continually remembers them in prayer. We must understand that the Christian life and life of the local church hinges on prayer and praise. We were designed to praise God. He deserves it and desires it. It is not merely a duty to praise God, but it is a privilege. The same is true for prayer. As Christians, we must see prayer and praise married together. Both prayer and praise have their source in gratitude, but gratitude has its source in grace. Where God’s grace abounds so should gratitude for His grace. The reason that I believe we see that real Christian growth is by grace is so that we would be grateful and not prideful. All the credit and glory of growth in our own lives and the church is to the praise of His glory and grace. Ultimately, as believers we have a litmus test to see if we are growing in grace. Are we growing in gratitude? Ungrateful Christians (that should be an oxymoron) are ungraceful Christians. They don’t live by grace, and they certainly don’t have any grace to show to others. If we are to grow like these believers in Colosse, then we must do so through praise and prayer. We will only grow as much as we depend upon grace and live with gratitude. We will only grow as much as we see Christ supreme and sufficient in all things. Now that we have established this, keep it in mind as we see what it means to be grateful for growth.

            First, we must be grateful for growing in deeper faith as we see in Col. 1:4a which says, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” Faith doesn’t need to see, but it should be seen and heard in our lives. These believers had a testimony that they were growing by God’s grace in deeper faith. The book of Colossians shows us that the Christian life is inside out. It is deeper before it is ever wider or higher. Just as any real fruitful plant must grow deep roots before producing whatever fruit it is designed to produce so too must Christians. There are two things to note.

One, we must have an observation of faith. We must go deeper in faith if we are going to grow higher and wider in faithfulness. Heb. 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is active and actualizes what is unseen. Faith gives substance to what we cannot see and Heb. 11:6 goes on to say that apart from faith we cannot please God. It is faith that untethers us from the world and unites us to Christ. All of life is by grace through faith as we see that the believer is saved and sanctified by faith (Rom. 1:17). It is indeed how we are to live in all things. The idea of living by faith is contrary to man’s wisdom and work which Paul was combating. The heresy of their day and ours is that faith is blind and the way to God is through personal wisdom or works of the flesh. Faith is the word “pistis” which means to trust, believe, or the conviction based on evidence or revelation. Faith receives what grace reveals. Our faith is not blind, but rather it sees by believing that the revelation of Jesus Christ is supreme and sufficient. God’s word, work, and will for us is supreme and sufficient in Christ.

Two, we must have an object of faith. Everyone in the world has faith. The most religious to the most anti-religious practice faith for their worldview. Faith is not sufficient in and of itself. It must have a proper object. There are plenty of folks who put their faith in false gods, idols, or the belief that there is no deity; yet we see that they bow down to gods of their own creation that have eyes, but can’t see; hands, but can’t touch; ears, but can’t hear (See Ps. 115:1-8). Paul is grateful that they have received the gospel and put their faith “in Christ Jesus.” To put faith in something is to see it as a place of refuge, safety, or an anchor that holds oneself. John MacArthur writes, “Charles Spurgeon illustrated the importance of faith’s object by telling of two men in a boat. Caught in severe rapids, they were being swept toward a waterfall. Some men on shore tried to save them by throwing them a rope. One man caught hold of it and was pulled to safety on the shore. The other, in the panic of the moment, grabbed hold of a seemingly more substantial log that was floating by. That man was carried downstream, over the rapids, and was never seen again. Faith, represented by the rope linked to the shore, connects us to Jesus Christ and safety. Good works apart from true faith, represented in the story by the log, leads only to ruin.” Faith is how we receive our union with Christ and rest in our union and communion with Him. We must grow deeper in faith, but we must as well be grateful that God calls us to live by faith and not by our own works. Put your faith in the One who is always faithful!

            Second, we must be grateful for growing wider in love as we see in Col. 1:4b which says, “and of the love which ye have to all the saints.” If grace is the source and strength of life, then we see that it is growing in grace that produces love. Love is so misunderstood by the world, but I would say that it is mishandled within the lives of believers and churches. A Christian cannot say that they love Christ, but they do not love “all the saints.” I would say that a Christian cannot say that they are growing to love Christ more if they are not growing in love for “all the saints.” It is interestingly that we love the word “all” when it comes to the offer of salvation, but when it comes to us having to display love to others in our church that may have previously left and came back, hurt our feelings, gossiped about us, or have the personality of screws in a blender that we like to try to justify our lack of love. There are and can be no exclusions. The word “love” in this verse is the word “agape” which is a God centered sacrificial love that only cares about the benefit of another and not oneself. Ouch. By that very definition I would say that we aren’t as loving as we’d like to think. Love must be vertical before it is ever horizontal. However, because we have experienced the love of God in Christ then we should express the love of God in Christ to His Church. None can say that they aren’t equipped or expected to love others. You don’t have to be a “people person” to be someone who loves others. It is the love of Christ that unites us to Himself and one another. It is His love that allows us to commune with Him and His Church in loving fellowship. The gospel that draws us to and by the love of Christ then draws us to love the Church of Christ. When Christ becomes supreme and sufficient then the love of Christ will be shown and shared with others. Genuine faith should produce genuine love. We put our faith in Christ and display our love for Him by loving our fellow believers. Now, true Christian love is more than being sentimental, it is being sacrificial. I would say though that the more sacrificially we love others the more sentimental we will become toward them. Love is the mark and motivation of the Christian. Jesus’ words are recorded in John 13:34-35 saying, “³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” How do we know that we are growing in grace? We know we are growing by grace because we are growing in our love for Christ and it shows up in sacrificially loving all of the saints and faithful brethren that we know. If we are grateful for Christ’s love for us, then we should be grateful that we have others to love in Christ with the love of Christ.

            Third, we must be grateful for growing higher in hope as we see in Col. 1:5 which says, “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” When we ask someone if they are hopeful what are we really asking? In the world we see hope as something like wishful thinking or what we would desire to come to pass. However, biblical hope that is produced by God’s grace is confidence and assurance. To be hopeful in the Bible is to have one’s faith anchored in God’s word, work, and will. Our only hope must be Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency. When Christ is not supreme and sufficient in my heart then my heart will be without hope, love, and faith. These three things work together and should be seen. Not everyone is naturally hopeful, just ask Eeyore. However, the believer should be hopeful because of the supernatural work of God’s grace seen in the gospel of Christ. There are two things to note about growing in hope.

One, we need to see our foundation of hope. What is your foundation of confidence? It must be Christ and that He alone is supreme and sufficient in all of life. When I lose my hope, it is because I see something or someone else as supreme and sufficient. This happens when we place our hope in someone or something else, oftentimes ourselves and then we get let down. We lose heart and hope. Yet, when we put our hope in Christ, we can’t be let down. Our hope is founded in the truth of the gospel. Have you ever heard someone say that something is “gospel truth?” The reason is that the gospel isn’t just associated with good news, but it is the best news because it is true. Nothing is as true or trustworthy as the gospel. The reason that believers have hope is because of what God has already spoken. His word gives us hope, confidence, and assurance. His word will not and cannot fail. The gospel gives us the hope of heaven which gives us hope to live on this earth.

Two, we need to see our focus of hope. Notice that the verse tells us that our hope is laid up in heaven. The idea is that it is being stored up for safekeeping. Hope is the eager expectation of eternity in heaven with Christ. Eph. 1:1-14 beautifully teaches us about what is in store for us because of our union with Christ. Colossians goes on to discuss the wonderful promises of what is to become our eternal reality. The reality is that what we are hoping in is sure and is already there waiting on us. We can be grateful that we can have hope because our eternal inheritance is promised, provided, and protected by the Lord Jesus Christ. With each passing day our hope should grow higher as we anticipate the actualization of the promises of God in Christ.

1 Pet. 1:3-8; 2 Pet. 1:3-8 both show the relationship of faith, love, and hope that the believer can enjoy by the grace of God. We should be grateful that we have our faith, love, and hope in Christ. We should be grateful that we have grown, are growing, and will continue to grow though we don’t often see the results that we want. What matters is not how fast or big you are growing, but that these fruits of grace are blossoming in your life. Where there are no deeper faith, wider love, and higher hope there is something missing. Christians should be growing in these things day-by-day. I believe that as Paul expresses his gratitude for God for the growth of grace in their lives, he is able to do the same in his own life. We must be a grateful people for what the grace of God has done, is doing, and will do. Where is your gratitude? Faith? Love? Hope? May we like Paul be grateful for the work of grace in our life, but may we like Paul continue to grow each day in these critical areas of life for our sake and the sake of our families and churches.