Staying in Rhythm, Part Eight: Growing In Grace
My love for dancing flows from my love of music. Music filled the house where I grew up. My grandparents introduced me to the sounds of big band and jazz standards. My parents, who grew up during the 1950s and 60s, introduced me to rock ‘n’ roll, Motown, and folk songs. My sister, brother, and I each had different tastes in music. I liked music with soul, such as hip hop and R & B. My sister liked heavy metal, and my brother favored alternative music. My family saturated our home with music.
I carried this love for music into adulthood, and I thought many times about learning to play a musical instrument. The idea only became a reality when my children began taking music lessons. I would drive them to the music store for their classes, and while they were with their teacher, I would sit with my calendar or a book and work.
It was my wife who first suggested that I take music lessons. She knew that I wanted to but that I was intimidated by the idea. I thought that I was too old to learn music. Also, I thought that people who played music possessed special abilities that I lacked. Thanks to my wife’s persistence, I soon learned that normal people, mere mortals, can learn to play an instrument. It is not magic.
However, it helps to have an experienced teacher who understands music methodology. Music methodology is nothing fancy. It is simply a matter of having a good strategy for learning the complex skill of playing a musical instrument. Good teachers know how to break a complex skill down into separate small skill sets. They also know in what order the student must master each set. This process of learning to play a musical instrument gives us a good analogy for understanding the process of growing in grace.
In the book of Acts, we read about the birth of the Christian church. Something changed in the lives of Jesus’ followers when they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. God added a supernatural dimension to their community. Yet, the early Christians were still ordinary human beings who had both the capacity for and the need to grow in their relationship with God. So, God gave them a way of life that would facilitate that growth. We read about it in chapter two.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had a need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying all the people’s favor. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:42-47. I want you to notice four things:
First, God, the Holy Spirit, provides the context for our growth. That context is the community of faith. Just as a music store provides a great atmosphere for learning and practicing music, the Christian community provides the best context for spiritual growth. When we participate in the community of faith, we have sisters and brothers who can aid us in our growth. They can encourage us, challenge us, and strengthen us. We can do the same for them. Notice that it was a life together that provided for the dynamic growth that was taking place among the early Christians. #spiritualgrowth #spiritualdevelopment
The Holy Spirit also provides the tools we need for growth. Historically, the church has called these tools means of grace, spiritual disciplines/practices, and sacraments. Corporate worship, prayer, the breaking of bread (known as Eucharist), and studying God’s word together are the practices that give shape to our lives as we grow in faith together. Just like a good music teacher, the Holy Spirit provides every tool we need for growth.
Most importantly, a good music teacher knows how much new information a student can handle, when to introduce new material, and what rate of learning is best for each student. In just this way, the Holy Spirit provides the timing for our growth. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
When it comes to learning to play a musical instrument, many people give up too easily. They don’t understand that learning to play music takes a lot of practice for most people. For me, it took more than two years of daily practice before my playing began to sound remotely like music. The art of music takes a lot of dedication and time.
The same phenomenon is true for people learning a second language. I mention language learning because it utilizes many of the same sections of the brain that a person uses when learning music. The process of learning a second language is very similar to learning to play a musical instrument. It takes time for the new neural pathways to form in the brain. Not understanding this fact leads many people to give up on learning a second language, concluding that they are just not smart enough to do it.
If you have ever given up on learning a second language, I want to ask you to consider the following questions: How long did it take you to master your first language? How good were you at speaking your first language, say at 18 months old? Chances are, for the first five or six years of life, the mastery of your first language was still in progress. If it took you five to ten years to master your first language, why would you expect to sound like a native Parisian after two semesters of college French?
Likewise, it is unwise and unrealistic for us to believe that God will finish his work in us quickly. God has eternity in view as he develops in us a Christ-like character. He knows how fast to move that work along as he molds and shapes us. And his goal is to make us into fully-alive-humans who have the image of God fully restored in our lives. A little patience is in order.
As we have said, a good teacher will provide everything the student needs to make progress – well, almost everything.
The student must put the instructions into practice. It is not enough to go to lessons and listen to the teacher. The student must imitate the teacher by investing time in practice. Good information alone will not turn a student into a musician. A student must follow the steps of the teacher to become a musician.
The same principle applies to our growth as Christians. The book of James says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at her face in the mirror and, after looking at herself, goes away and immediately forgets what she looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed.” – James 1:22-25.
It is God’s desire for us to grow in spiritual maturity. He provides all that we need to grow. But, we have a role to play in that growth and maturity. Speaking to the church in Philippi, Paul tells the people in the church to work together, to grow in their faith. He says, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence but now much more in my absence-keep working out your/y’all’s (the “you” is plural)salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 1:12-13. In other words, God has provided everything necessary for our growth – but our participation is required.
Finally, we must talk about growth. A human teacher can only facilitate growth, but The Holy Spirit is the one who gives the gift of growth in grace. The Apostle Paul speaks of the role human pastors play in developing Christian communities. However, notice what else he has to say. “Brothers and sisters, previously I could not address you as spiritually mature but as worldly, as mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready. Some of you are still not ready. You are still worldly. Since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly, acting like mere humans? When one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another says, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not acting like mere human beings? Who, after all, is Apollos? And who is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers, and you are God’s field.” – 1 Corinthians 3:1-9