Foundational Principles for Spiritual GrowthSample

PRINCIPLE#4 - HOW - RELATIONSHIP TRANSFORMS MORE THAN INFORMATION OR WILLPOWER

The principle of how asks the question, "How do we grow?"

Perhaps, this is the most important question. We believe that what transforms human beings more than anything else is relationships. Christians have been employing a very ineffective growth model that goes something like this: INFORMATION + WILLPOWER = TRANSFORMATION. It has not worked. Very disciplined and strong-willed persons have seen results in some areas, but it certainly has not worked for everyone, not all the time and not in every aspect of their lives. We need a different model. 

The strongest change agent in the universe is love. Specifically, when we are bonded with God and others in a covenant based on unconditional love. People will do amazing things for their closest loved ones. Fathers will run into blazing buildings. Mothers will run in front of tigers. But more to the point, we imitate the behaviour of those we love. Like a child learns behaviours unconsciously from observing his/her parents. Like married couples who even begin to look alike. Instead of focusing on getting more doctrine/theology (and these are necessary) and becoming more disciplined, we are proposing to focus our growth efforts more on building better relationships with God and others. 

This is a fundamental shift. Our church engines are built around a belief that sermons and bible study and church attendance is what causes growth. We will need to re-focus on deep personal connections with God and others in radical ways that were common in the first-century church but are very counter-cultural today. It is a shift from a left-brained Christianity to a right-brained Christianity.

When we encounter God daily like a son or daughter interacting with a loving Father, we change. When we live in a God-centred, healthy, loving, community where we feel safe, accepted and a sense of belonging and where we are actively sharing our lives deeply and meaningfully with others, we change.