Discussion Question

I had a discussion question from my online class this week that I found particularly interesting. I decided to post it for you guys. What do you think about this subject? How can you apply it to your own life??


What shortcuts have you attempted on your journey towards spiritual maturity? What shortcuts have you observed in the practices or teachings of others (individuals or groups)? What did you learn from your observations?

It's interesting when you start talking about taking shortcuts in reaching "spiritual maturity". For one I think "shortcuts" is just another word for pride, because we're again taking control from God and thinking that His ways of growing us are unneccesary, and maybe even pointless. Also, we have to be careful when talking about spiritual maturity as if it was a destination, meaning we get there and then we're done. Especially within western culture, we have a crazy obsession with time, and especially getting things done on time. We work tirelessly for a goal and then feel the utmost sense of accomplishment whenever we can check that box off and move to the next. But caution, our relationship with the living, breathing, Creator of all things, is not this way. Just as in relationships with human beings, there is always something to work on, always another conversation to be had, always new things to learn about each other. In our case, we have been given the rest of our lives (if we are believers) to get to know our Jesus. In fact the Word likens our relationship to Christ with that of a bride and groom. How intimate and exciting!

Just think of how your marriage (if you're not married, think of your best friend or someone of great importance to you) would fair if one day you just decided, "hey I think we're as good as we're going to get, so I'm not going to keep investing time in getting to know you, your dreams, fears, likes, dislikes..etc, in fact I'm going to limit our conversations to a few minutes a day, of which I'm just going to vent to you, and then to maybe an hour or so on 'really special days', how's that??" I think we all know how that would go (right guys? talk about dodging all kinds of debris flying at your head). It's the same with God, and for those that have been walking with Him for a while and are pressing on towards that "maturity", I think it's safe to say that the sentiment is always "the more I know about God, the less I know about God, but the more I experience of God, the more I want."

Personally, I take shortcuts (pride flair-ups) all of the time without realizing it. I'm just going to be transparent with you guys, I love being busy. There is something about having a full schedule and not a whole lot of "time to breathe" that gives me a (i know this is going to sound bad, again, being transparent) great sense of accomplishment, even importance and self-worth. So for one, it is hard for me to sit down and enjoy God, even though I love that time so much. This is a shortcut that I am taking, I mean I'm a Worship Pastor, I'm doing all of this stuff FOR God, but often miss out on God. He has really brought this to my attention lately and I'm earnestly releasing it to Him. Especially when I read books like Jeremiah, and Isaiah and Malachi (which talk about empty and lifeless worship rituals, and how God detests them). I don't want to miss out on God, on just experiencing Him, on knowing what its like to just stand in magnificent awe of Him and rest in His presence. Doing stuff for God, but not spending time with God is in a sense is telling God, "I got this one, you just sit back and watch." Pride, pride, pride. It's the dirtiest word in life, and it's absolutely crippling to a believer. There's no cross-bearing with pride, there's no life-giving with pride, there's no life-tranformation with pride. there's no light-bearing with pride. It's a shortcut we all take, and I don't want to take it anymore. Glory to Christ who forgives, and to His abundant and overwhelming grace that covers us!! I'll end with this:


Ecc. 8:3

"Do not be in a hurry to leave the King's presence."

May it be Jesus, in our lives