Is this true?

We have failed our strongest believers. Across the nation, churches are participating in a carefully researched study called Reveal. It details how the church is at its strongest and most influential when it is involved with people who are exploring who God is and who are just getting started in their faith. Yet, as people grow in their faith, the church shrinks in it is influence and impact in the life of a follower of Christ. Does that mean we have failed? I say, “yes” and “no.”

I say yes, because the cry of people who have faithfully walked with Christ and are living it out every day (this is different from people who have been a part of the church for a long time and have made very little spiritual progress), want more from their church. They want more food, more challenge, more opportunities, etc. And the church as it has focused on those younger or stalled in the faith have quite often presumed upon the maturity and commitment of their best people. This needs to change or the best people in our church will grow hardened or take their investments elsewhere. They may leave altogether. Or, they will probably stay in the pew but in their maturity and influence will model a passive version of mature spirituality that is dangerous in the life of a church.

I say “no” because of the principle of parenting. Paul uses this metaphor and it is helpful for us to understand the relationship between a church and a person in the church. The leadership in a church is often paralleled to parenting. Those who are new to the faith require a lot of attention--like infants and children. As believers grow their relationship to the church needs to parallel that of an individual within a family. Just as children and adolescents grow in their responsibility to share in the tasks of the home, so do young believers in the task of the church. Maturity in both should be marked by a growing independence (in personal management) and interdependence (or partnership in the family business). Just as a young adult needs to discipline him or herself to personally manage his responsibilities in partnership with his parents, so does a mature believer need to take personal responsibility to be a “self-feeder” and rely less and less on others for spiritual growth.

Check out more about the REVEAL Study at http://www.revealnow.com/readBlog.asp?pageid=13