Book Excerpt - Growth, or Change? - from "Sold Out, or Selling Short?"

Sold Out... Or, Selling Short?
Book Excerpt

Growth, Or Change?
(from the chapter "Transformed")
Somehow, we have gotten this idea in the church that we are to mature as believers. You know the picture: a new believer is a baby, grows into a child, and eventually they become "mature." Unfortunately, mature is usually a euphemism for "dead."
I have always had a little bit of a problem with this metaphor. In the natural, it is easy to see the development of a child, as they grow to adulthood. We can tell their stages by a combination of their size, and their abilities. Eventually, we see that they have grown enough that they can be called an adult.
However, how do you tell the spiritual stages of a Christian's growth? Oh, yeah, we can draw some parallels between the natural growth of a child, and the spiritual growth of a believer. But, these are broad comparisons, not anything with a degree of accuracy that we can use to pinpoint where an individual is in their Christian life. Like any other metaphor, this one has limitations.
Besides, all someone has to do to fool other believers, is to learn how to talk the talk. Once you learn the "christianese" lingo, and how to act like a believer while you are in church, nobody can tell anything about how mature you are. It can all be an act.
In the natural, for a child to grow into an adult, there are two things required. First of all, they must learn. They must learn how to act, how to accomplish things, how to read and write, how to take care of themselves and others, how to make a living... All of this is part of a child's educational process, and the list goes on, and on, and on.
Learning alone won't make them an adult though. It is possible for someone to learn everything they need as an adult, but still have a child's body.
As a believer, we can learn lots and never grow. I've seen churches full of well-educated Christian babies. How do I know they are babies? Because they can't do anything for themselves! Every problem that comes along causes them to run to the pastor for help. They can't pray for themselves, they can't study for themselves, and they can't make godly decisions for themselves.
In fact, study doesn't even guarantee salvation. Yes, I know that God's Word won't return void, and I'm not disputing that in the least. But, there are lots of people out there in the world who can quote scriptures, and don't know a thing about having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In fact, the devil himself studies scripture. He's studied it for thousands of years; looking for a way that he can win against God. He knows scripture so well that he even quoted it to the Son of God to try and persuade Him to sin. I don't see where Satan's knowledge has helped him become a mature Christian, do you?
The other part of maturing in the natural is physical growth. Physical growth, most simply put, is adding more of the same. If you take a girl child, and add more to every part of her body, then she will have an adult body. Other than a few small changes that happen at puberty, that's the entire process. Add food and time, and a child's body becomes an adult's body.
Well, as Christians, if we are to follow this parallel, then to mature we need to add more of us. Once we get enough of us, we'll be mature. So, tell me, how much more of you do you need to be like Jesus?

We don't need to grow into mature Christians; we need to be transformed! We need to stop being us, and start being Christ-like. That's what it means to be a believer.
The life of a Christian is supposed to be one of ongoing, continual transformation. Not just a transformation at salvation, but a continuing work of being changed by the work of the Holy Spirit throughout our entire walk with the Lord.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. ² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 KJV

Part of the transformation process is one of renewing our minds. Just because we are saved, doesn't mean that our minds are different. In fact, a newly saved believer's mind is conformed to the world. But God tells us that our mind is supposed to be transformed, so that it is no longer conformed to the world.
Renewal is an interesting word. It means, quite literally, to make new again. Sometimes, this requires replacing parts, and sometimes it requires repairing parts. But, whatever work is required; it is done with the intention of making it new again.
I was an engineer for fifteen years. The last job I held as an engineer was as an engineering manager for a company that built buses. I was given the responsibility of starting a new division for the company that would remanufacture old buses, and make them like new again.
The buses would come in one end of the factory looking like they were ready for the junk heap. We would take them apart, clean them up, rebuild some parts, and put new parts in. When we were done, they looked and ran like new buses again. Those buses were renewed.
That's a picture of what God wants to do with our minds. Even though we come into Christ with old minds, He wants to take us through a process of repairing and replacing parts of our minds so that we have a new mind. Not just a new mind, but an improved mind. Not a mind conformed to the world, but a mind conformed to Jesus Christ. When He's finished, our mind should become like Christ's.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV

This is a process that takes time. We don't just go to God once and are suddenly made new. If we were, the process would probably be so drastic as to end our lives. Instead, we need to keep going back for more and more of our mind to be renewed. Each time He removes one part of us, and replaces it with a new part, made as an exact duplicate of Jesus'.
However, many believers never go through this process. They think they have received enough at salvation, and don't go back to God for more changing. They stop going to the altar, stop repenting, and remain stagnant, only partly conformed into His image.
While most Christians are satisfied with trying to grow and mature, a sold out person is satisfied with nothing less that being transformed by God. They are unwilling to accept anything less than God's best for their lives.