Overcoming a Poor Environment for Growth
Of all the obstacles that inhibit us from growing closer to God, this may be one of the easier obstacles to address. For sure, many will have an especially difficult time overcoming this obstacle if the people closest to them are the ones setting up roadblocks. But even here, your power to beat this obstacle is largely in your hands. It’s a choice. You can, starting today, minimize the size and strength of this obstacle.
The “solution” here may seem too simplistic, but unless you’re living in a situation of severe religious persecution, there are churches, mentors, and technologies available to you that will collectively form your support group for growth.
Churches: Bible-believing churches that have active Christian growth programs are a primary source of strength for you. They exist in large part for people like you who have few or no mature believers around them. Don’t be shy about this. Pick up the phone and call several churches in the area to ask what the church does for Christians who need support in their spiritual growth. You’ll be able to tell from their level of enthusiasm (as well as the amount of time they make for you on the phone) whether this may be a potential church home for you.
Mentors: God speaks through people and puts us on this earth to help others along in our spiritual pilgrimage. So, many folks are willing to serve as spiritual mentors for less mature believers. Search them out. Such people will be relatively easy to find if you are in a church that makes a priority of spiritual formation – of helping people grow in Christ-likeness. Once you’ve found such a church, identifying a spiritual mentor should be a natural next step.
This is an important element of growth. Whereas classes and other group settings within a church will undoubtedly assist you, often it’s that one-on-one mentoring from a friend that produces real breakthrough. So don’t neglect this element of the growth process. Ask someone to coach you, to mentor you, to walk with you in your journey toward knowing and loving God. You’ll surely be glad you did.
Technology:
How can something as impersonal as technology improve your environment for
growth? Hint: you’re using it now! The Internet is full of “communities,”
support groups, and other resources to help people just like you, people who
desire care and encouragement from other Christians. Increasingly, churches and
para-church organizations are launching Internet
ministries to reach out to the world, to provide free resources – sermons,
study materials, chat rooms, online “christian coffeehouses,” even personal spiritual
mentors – to disciple people who will never enter the physical doors of that
church. We live in a time like no other in history, a time when someone in
To find some of the most current resources and Internet
communities, search the web using terms like “online discipleship” and “internet-based
discipleship,” or see the discipleship / spiritual growth pages of popular
Christian portals like www.Crosswalk.com,
www.Gospelcom.net or www.Christianity.com