Last week most of you completed a spiritual journey evaluation. Our goal was to have you reflect on your spiritual life by asking yourself some tough questions. If you were unable to complete a survey last week, you can complete one today. The surveys are on the back table and onlyrequire a few minutes to complete. We deeply appreciate your cooperation with the survey, but the real benefit is for you.
God wants all of us to become growing, life-giving Christians.
Our goal last week was to convey the God's vision that God wants all of us to be growing, life-giving Christians. He wants us to be Christians who multiply new life in everyone around them. The rest of this series is about achieving meaningful spiritual growth. To symbolize the growth that God wants us to experience, over each of the next six weeks we will be distributing a unique item to everyone attending worship. The first item you will be receiving is a small flowerpot. Then you will receive dirt, then a seed, etc.
As you receive each new item you are to go home and put the item to good use. If you are a parent you can use each new item as an object lesson to reinforce the Sunday message with your children. Our goal is to clearly communicate that spiritual growth is a gradual process that requires diligence and intentionality on our part. We cannot be passive or neutral or disengaged from the process. God wants to energize us with his grace as we put our hand to the plow, sow seeds, plant, water, carry the yoke of discipleship, and serve as faithful gardeners in his garden. We are co-laborers with God.
If you were like me last week, a seed of discontentment was planted in your soul. As you considered what it means to be a growing, life-giving Christian, you walked away with opened eyes, but also with a renewed desire to grow. Over the next six weeks we are going to lay out a comprehensive strategy to help you achieve the spiritual growth that you desire in Jesus Christ.
The comprehensive strategy for spiritual growth that we have in mind touches on every dimension of our spiritual existence. It is multi-dimensional. In Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV) Jesus defined true spirituality in all its dimensions when he said, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "
True spirituality means loving God with every dimension of our humanity. This encompasses our hearts, our minds, our feelings, our bodies, and our very souls. But true spirituality also means loving our neighbors as ourselves. So an effective strategy for our spiritual growth engages every dimension of our humanity as well as the all the relationships surrounding us. In contrast, an ineffective strategy for spiritual growth engages only one dimension of our spirituality, like only the intellect, or only the will, or just our emotions.
One-dimensional spirituality.
Let’s take a moment and talk about the weakness of one-dimensional spirituality. Sometimes we try loving God with only our heart. That is, we look within ourselves to muster up all the willpower necessary to live for God. We make pledges. We make promises. We rededicate ourselves over and over. We idolize our WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets. We focus on laws and rules and legalities. But the problem is that we never seem to move beyond good intentions into the spiritual realities that we had hoped to experience. Instead, our hearts get weighted down with a sense of guilt as our willpower fails us over and over again.
Sometimes we try loving God with only our mind's thoughts. So we fill our minds with knowledge. We tune in to sermons all day long on Christian radio. We absorb Bible trivia. We master Church doctrine. We attend in-depth Bible studies. We read the latest and greatest Christian works. We load our bookshelves with commentaries and theological textbooks. But for some reason, the cerebral pursuits of the mind never seem to transform our hearts. As our spiritual passion evaporates, we are left wrestling with our doubts.
Sometimes we try loving God with only our mind's feelings. So we anchor our spirituality to pure emotion and jubilation. We consume ourselves with intense sensory experiences, emotional drama, a heavy drum beat, and mood-altering praise and worship. We become dependent on intense campfire experiences to give us a spiritual lift. We become obsessed with how we feel spiritually. "I feel close to God, I feel far from God, I feel, I feel, I feel…"But for some reason when the emotion wears off and the music fades, we find ourselves empty. Our souls are still searching for satisfaction and assurance.
Sometimes we try loving God with only our bodies. We make the flesh the focus of our spirituality. We roll up our sleeves and declare war against our desires. We try to suppress our appetites and inclinations. We discipline our bodies. We fast. We exercise. We abstain. We work to make our bodies the slave of our wills. But for some reason we find that achieving self-mastery is like chasing a mirage on the horizon. Self-control constantly eludes us and we cannot force the growth we desire.
Sometimes we try loving God with only our souls. Our soul relates to our identity. In this scenario we embrace our identity in Christ while denying God access to our entire being. Spirituality becomes more a matter of what label we wear (Christian, child of God, born again, evangelical, protestant) and less a matter of genuine substance! But in the end, our false label only proves to be self-deception. We haven’t fooled God or anyone around us. We've only fooled ourselves.
And sometimes we try loving God with only our relationships. We opt for a kind of social gospel in which church attendance is the supreme sacrament. We cultivate a country club atmosphere that exalts our needs. We surround ourselves with relationships that carry little or no spiritual purpose. We avoid spiritual accountability and opt for individualism. But the moment someone challenges us to really grow spiritually, we feel threatened and start shopping around for a new church experience instead of being developed into a deeper disciple.
The truth is that one-dimensional spirituality isn’t really spirituality after all. It is pseudo-spirituality. It is the illusion and not the substance of spirituality. Isolating any one dimension to the exclusion of others always spells certain defeat.
Multi-dimensional spirituality.
In contrast, a holistic, multi-dimensional strategy appropriately engages every dimension of our humanity. A multi-dimensional strategy also encompasses all of our relationships. A multi-dimensional strategy for spiritual growth encompasses the heart, the mind (including thoughts and feelings), the body, the soul, and our relationships. That's everything! To achieve optimal spiritual growth, every dimension of our humanity must be aligned under the lordship of Jesus Christ. It cannot be heart or mind or body or soul or our relationships. It has to be heart and mind and body and soul and our relationships.
This morning we are going to discuss just one dimension of spirituality, our hearts. But I in no way want to imply that this area should be isolated to the exclusion of all the other dimensions of our spiritual life. Jesus said, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "
The heart.
In the Bible the heart is central to our entire existence. We live from our heart. Our heart is who we truly are. From the overflow of the heart our body acts, our mind thinks and feels, the destiny of our soul is determined, and our relationships are impacted. Consider Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 12:34-35 (NIV)."For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." In Matthew 15:19 (NIV) Jesus says, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." We live, we act, and we think out of the overflow of our heart. We are what is in our hearts.
In ancient cultures it was the heart that was always weighed and judged by God .Likewise, in the Bible it is the heart that God pays attention to. He sees the heart. This is why in Acts 1:24 (NIV) Peter prays, "Lord, you know everyone's heart."
In 1 Chronicles 28:9 (NIV) David instructs Solomon, "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts."
In Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV) we are told of God, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
God sees what is really in a man’s heart. He knows how we are wired up. He cannot be deceived by mere words or by petty acts of righteousness. Every week, perhaps dozens of times, I hear these commercials on the radio advertising coronary heart scans. The commercials change frequently, but usually it's some guy that says something like, "At just forty years of age I thought I was the epitome of health for men my age. But when a group of guys in my office invited me to go for a heart scan, the doctors told me that I needed a quadruple bypass heart surgery. I was shocked, but boy am I glad I got a heart scan. It saved my life and could save your life too."
What if doctors could perform a spiritual heart scan? What if just for a moment we could see our hearts just as God sees our hearts? What would our hearts look like?
The heart which God sees and from which we live is badly in need of renovation. It is one of several dimensions of our humanity that needs to be touched by grace. This last week I was thumbing through my Bible concordance and noticed dozens of verses that talk about God’s willingness to touch our hearts. Let’s just say that our hearts are in critical condition. They are hardened. They are calloused. Our arteries are blocked. We are darkened with sin. We need an overhaul. Then what can the great physician do for us? Can he do anything?
Consider a brief and somewhat random survey of scripture. In Acts 16:14 we are told that the Lord opened Lydia's heart to respond to the gospel. In Ezra 1:5 we find God moving the hearts of the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Throughout the Psalms we find prayers to God asking for a pure heart as in Psalm 51:10 and for an undivided heart as in Psalm 86:11.
One man prayed in Psalm 119:36 (NIV), "Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain." In Jeremiah 24:7 (NIV) God says, "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart." In Jeremiah 32:39 (NIV) he says, "I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them." In Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV) he says, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." In Ezekiel 18:31 (NIV) God says, "Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?"
Movements of the heart.
In his book Renovation of the Heart Dallas Willard traces four movements of the heart. First, our hearts reach a point of surrender. The point of surrender is the rebellious heart turning from evil to embrace goodness. This surrender may be small in scale. It may only be intellectual in scope. It may come with some reluctance. The body may complain and grumble about it. But nonetheless, the heart consents to let God have the supremacy in every area of life including heart, mind, body, soul, and relationships. And that moment of surrender may even be a prayer that says, "God, help me want to want you. God, help me even want to live your will. God, turn my hardened heart to desire and seek you. God, give me a heart to know you."
Then comes the second movement, abandonment. We stop focusing on God doing what we want and embrace God’s will for our life. Out of the overflow of our changing heart we begin to please God in small and then in great ways. Then comes the third movement, contentment. We experience joy and gratitude in doing God’s will. Grumbling and complaining vanishes. Then comes the fourth movement, participation. We actively engage in accomplishing God’s will throughout our circle of influence. We let Christ live his life through us. We devote ourselves to giving life to others. Last comes the fifth movement, full identification. Our will and God’s will become one. God’s heart becomes our heart. We are fully restored and fully redeemed. We desire and do what God desires.
So how do we move from surrender to abandonment, then to contentment, then to participation and then on into full identification? Philippians 2:13 (NIV) tells us that, "for itis God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." God can change the heart. God can give us a new heart and a new spirit.
Our first responsibility in growing spiritually is to want to want God. Our first responsibility is to turn to God and say, "Look, my heart is dark, my heart is ugly, my heart is sinful, and my heart is set on doing evil. My heart is wrecking my mind, my body, and my relationships. My heart is rebellious, my heart is impure, and my heart is hardened. God, give me a new heart. God, work in my heart so that I will and act according to your good purpose." God will honor a prayer of surrender like that .I know this is true because he has done it for me.
If you want God to open your heart, he will open up your heart in ways you can only begin to imagine. But you have to ask. Will you ask? The truth is that you cannot move from surrender to full identification by yourself. The good news is that God makes up for whatever you lack in sheer willpower. That way he gets the glory for the work he accomplishes in your life.
Sometime this week during a break or before you go to bed or after you send the kids off to school or in a moment of quietness, sit down and make a list of every area where your heart isn’t right before God. If no area immediately comes to mind, read some scripture and pray, asking God to show you an area of your heart that has not yet surrendered. Then commit that thing to God and ask him to work in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Ask him to give you a new heart, a pure heart, an undivided heart, and a heart that says "yes" to his will.
He will.
The heart is just one dimension of human spirituality. In the coming weeks we are going to talk about the mind, the body, the soul, and life’s relationships.