Leave Room for Your People to Grow

A few weeks ago, I finished reading John Ortberg's new book Know Doubt, in which he makes a strong case for allowing for uncertainty in our people (and in us!) as they grow in Christ. I enjoyed it, wrote a blog about its best insights, and laid it aside.

What I was not expecting is that the Lord was not through teaching me on this subject.

The other day, I ran across a well-read and dog-eared copy of the 1980 book by Philip Yancey and Paul Brand which created quite a stir back then. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (the title is a reference to Psalm 139:14) celebrates the human body and the infinite wisdom of its Creator. Again and again, this medical doctor (Brand) and his outstanding writer (Yancey) reveal insights as to how our bodies are made and work and grow. They present spiritual truths and draw scriptural lessons from the miraculous aspects in the working of our bodies.

One insight in particular caught my attention, one that had to do with the Ortberg book on growing through our uncertainties.

Newborn babies have 350 bones in their body, according to Dr. Brand. Gradually, these fuse together until the adult human ends up with 206 bones. “But many of the baby's bones are soft and pliable, hardly showing the qualities of bone. The birth event would be impossible if a baby were not so compressible and flexible.”

Brand remembers the time when he came to Christ. “As a newborn Christian my faith was soft and pliable, consisting of vaguely understood beliefs about God and my need for Him. Over time God has used the Bible and other Christians to help ossify (harden) the framework of my faith.”

The problem here is that many churches will not allow newborn babies in Christ to grow and develop in ways that are natural and healthy. Anyone doubting the doctrines they espouse and preach is treated as a foreign object within the body (the church) and dealt with as the enemy. Brand says, “New believers need time for the bones of their faith to strengthen.”

New believers will frequently go through stages of doubt. New believers will try on various beliefs about God and the Bible, Christ and the Church. New believers will often interact with their friends who are unsaved and perhaps skeptical about religion, with professors who are frequently hostile to the possibility of God existing or the Bible being true, and with people of other religions whom they know and respect. New believers need room to think, time to grow, and a support team to help them work through matters.

What new believers in Christ do not need is to be rejected for their questions. As one friend of mine told her preacher, “I'm just a wondering sheep, not a wandering one. I hope you can tell the difference.” Not every pastor can.

What new believers in Christ do not need is to be made examples and to be fawned over too early before they get matters in their lives in proper order. If they stumble after being celebrated, they may become too embarrassed to return to church.

What new believers in Christ do not need is to be thrust into responsible positions of church leadership. Pastors should not be new converts or novices, Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 3:6. Again, he says, “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily” (1 Tim. 5:22).

Somewhere I read where a pastor in the Las Vegas community told how after he leads a showgirl to the Lord, often it's several months before she reaches the point in her spiritual growth where she makes the break with the old life and quits that line of work.

Our oldest son weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces when he was born. Growing up, he was always larger than other children his age. In his mid-teens, he grew so fast, his legs and arms hurt. The pediatrician told us the bones were growing faster than the ligaments and tendons could keep up, so the pressure at the joints was causing him pain. It's the first time I knew that “growing pains” could be literal and physical.

God's word commands us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). That's a command for us. It's also a reminder to us pastors to allow room and create conditions conducive to growth in Christ.

Joe McKeever is a retired Southern Baptist Pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He blogs regularly at www.joemckeever.com