Title: Growing Christians/Colossians 2:6-7
The word “growth” is originally a biological term. If you look at the Korean language, it is said that the growth of an organism as it grows larger is called growth. He adds that maturity is also growth. All living things are bound to grow and mature. If you look at the wild grass sprouting in spring, buds will appear, stems will be stretched, and leaves will grow. But it doesn't keep growing. Once it is as big as its own size, it will not grow any further. There is no way to grow like a pine tree in Namsan with wild grass mutation. When it grows properly, it blooms. Flowers are proof of maturity.
It is similar to when a newborn is born and grows up. Although there are individual differences, the average weight of newborn babies is 3.3kg and height of about 50cm. And the child continues to grow. Robert Wedlow of Illinois, USA, was the tallest man in the world, at about 272 cm. In 1987, Walter Hudson, living in New York City, weighed 650 kg and was the fattest man in the world. He had to live in the house for 27 years, and when he got stuck in the door, 8 firefighters were mobilized to rescue him.
He eventually died in 1991 weighing 466 kg. His weight or height does not become heavier or taller, but his character, knowledge, and life experience can be developed infinitely. That's what I call maturity. Paul said in Ephesians 4:13, “to the full measure of the stature of the stature of Christ.” It means that the Christian must grow to the measure set by Christ. As mentioned above, growing up as a Christian doesn't mean getting taller or gaining weight. It means conforming to the person and life of a Christian, and to become like Christ.
There are conditions necessary for plants to grow. It is seed, soil and cultivation. If the seed is rotten or bad, it cannot grow, and if the soil is bad, it will not grow. And it must be cultivated scientifically by intensive farming technology to grow well.
Conditions must be met for a person to grow.
First, genetics are important. Swedes and Tenmacs are tall, but French and Spaniards are short even if they are Europeans. The reason is because of the genes passed down from our ancestors. In other words, the bigger the parents, the bigger the children.
The second is nutritional conditions. If you do not eat during the growth and development period, you suffer from malnutrition, or if you do not meet the growth conditions, growth will be difficult. The reason that the body shape of Korean adolescents is almost westernized compared to the 60s is because they consume a lot of high-protein calories. If you eat well, you will grow taller and gain weight.
There are conditions for growth in faith.
1. We must live in Jesus.
Verse 6 of the text says, “Walk in him,” and verse 7 says, “Be rooted in him.” In John 15:4, the Lord said, "Abide in me," and he said, "Except you are not in me, you cannot bear fruit." In verse 5, he said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." And in verse 6 it says, "If you do not abide in me, it is thrown out like a branch and withers away." And in verse 7, it says, "You abide in me." In a nutshell, you have to be attached to Jesus to live and to stay in Jesus to not die.
The text says, “Walk in him,” “root in him,” and “build up in him.” To walk in him is to live, work, and come and go in Jesus. When it takes root in a field, it becomes a weed, and when it takes root in a garden, it becomes a garden tree. If it is built on sand, it will collapse; if it is built on a rock, it will not fall. If you take root in a place other than Jesus, you become a weed life, but if you take root in Jesus and build a house on it, you will have a noble life. Should we live and wither like weeds? Or should we live like the flowers that bloom in the garden God has made? Which life do you think is the happiest life?
Even in the case of success, you have to choose the method right away. In other words, if you don't line up right, your success will become a bubble of water. There is a command to success in business given by Eric Trish of Yorkshire, England. ① Don't get excited or afraid
② Don't value your business more than your home
③ Share responsibility
④ learn temperance
⑤ Don't be prejudiced
⑥ Think and look to the future
⑦ Don't covet someone else's house, car, wife, or secretary
⑧ Don't waste your energy on useless things
You can find out in Trish's motto that you can succeed in business only when you keep what you keep and let go of what you throw away. We must stand on the side of Jesus. You shouldn't be an Outsider who revolves around the outskirts. You need to be in Jesus to be successful and happy. And that success and happiness can be maintained and developed for a long time.
2. It must be well nourished.
When the stomach function is strong, the food can be digested, and when the metabolism is good, the calories can display their own calories. Our religious life is the same. If you can't eat and go hungry, you can't use your strength and you can't grow due to malnutrition.
An article about the talent Hye-ja Kim traveling to North Korea as a member of the Sun Myung-hoe Goodwill Team was reported all at once in the Doha media. He said it was so sad to see the sheep scraping the noodles from the bowl with a spoon and eating the noodles without a side dish, he said. Is it only North Korea? African children are also dying like wooden chopsticks because they cannot eat. They don't have extravagant complaints about how the noodles taste or the side dishes are dry. The fact that food passes through your throat alone makes you feel good.
I would like to introduce this situation into our religious life. We have too many grievances. The Word of God is called the food of life or the food of the soul. And preaching is the proclamation of the word that is delivered by reinterpreting it. A person who does not enjoy preaching is a person who has no taste. If you eat a lot of stuffing before eating, the rice doesn't taste good. There is a saying that Sicbo is the best medicine. It means that the best medicine is to enjoy a certain amount of food at the right time rather than to eat expensive medicine on a seasonal basis.
If your sermons aren't interesting, you suffer from spiritual malnutrition. Spiritual malnutrition weakens the soul and loses strength. When the soul loses strength, the church is not fun, prayers are disappointing, and hymns become cumbersome.
A long time ago, I visited the home of a church member who runs a high-end bakery. The store was full of high-quality pastries, breads and sweets on display. But the house's five-year-old son was beating his mother. It's whining and asking for money. The reason is that I want to buy a snack made of fried ramen, so I have to pay. Watching the youngest son of a high-end confectionery shop lined up with unhealthy ramen and scolding him for snacking, I discovered again that everyone has a snack mentality.
If there is a person who enjoys sleeping in someone else's house after leaving his house, if there is a person who puts his husband aside and crosses his husband's arms, if there is a person who leaves his wife at home and spends time with other women, the housewife makes it If there are people who are languid because the food they give is neither tasteful nor stylish, and street restaurant food is sweet, if there are people who hide their life problems from their parents and confide in them to the wanderers they meet, the church they attend treats like a shack If there are people who can't forget the church and say something...
I hope there is no such thing, but if there is such a person, even if you ask Samcheok-dongsa, he will answer that it is not normal. In order for the soul to be nourished and not to die of starvation, one must acknowledge and be satisfied with one's church. And we have to give up our snacking mentality and habit and eat deliciously the word given that day.
It should be noted that no matter how healthy a person is, if they do not eat properly for a month, they will become malnourished. Some say that even if you skip every meal for a month, your head will spin and the stars will twinkle in front of you. I hope you receive the nourishment of the Word for your soul to live.
3. Be healthy.
It's related to nutrition, but trees, animals, and people can't grow when they get sick. Long ago, on the way to a meeting in Mt. Songni, I passed by a pine tree in Jeongipom standing at the entrance. Trees were being injected with Ningel's bottles hanging here and there. When I asked the reason, the answer was that the tree was sick and being treated. All living things stop growing when they get sick. Faith is no exception. When faith becomes sick, the soul dies, the body dies, and the life dies. Health is more important than money, fame, business, and power.
Even President Yeltsin, who has been called a pioneer in Russia's reforms, has always been concerned about his health. It was about to go out until getting off the road. But more important than that health is the health of the soul. That is why the Apostle John said that when the soul prospers, all things prosper and the body becomes healthy. Paul introduces two secrets to a healthy soul in the text.
The first is to stand firm in the faith. At the end of verse 7, he says, "Stand firm in the faith." In the original Bible, the word “stand firm” is a present participle. That means the action continues. Believe it or not, it's not about standing firm. It is not about standing still. It means to keep the faith without being shaken.
It is said that there are three types of members in the church.
① They are members of the jawbones. These are members who make noise in the church by making fun of their lower jaw all the time.
② I am a drybones member. A member of the church that is dry and lifeless like a fossil
③ Backbone. These are the members of the church who act as the pillars of the church, just as the backbones stand so that the body stands. In other words, it refers to a strong member of the church who stands firm. A person who stands firm in the faith and is not shaken can grow only when he is healthy.
Second, you should be grateful. At the end of verse 7, it says, “Let your thanksgiving overflow.” To overflow with gratitude is not to give thanks once or twice, but to keep overflowing. Paul said in Thessalonians 5:16, “Give thanks in everything.” There are several principles of gratitude.
① The more you give thanks, the richer you become.
② The more you give thanks, the more things to be grateful for.
③ Gratitude makes you and others happy.
Conversely, there is a principle in resentment and complaining.
① The more we complain, the more we get.
② The more you complain, the more frustrated you become.
③ The more you complain, the worse you feel.
④ The more you complain, the worse things get.
We must come to the conclusion. There are growing Christians and non-growing Christians. Some people strive for growth, while others are indifferent to growth or development. Some people live each day with gratitude and emotion, while others live with resentment and complaints. Let's become a growing Christian, a Christian who strives for growth, and a Christian who lives each day with gratitude and emotion. The reason is that they are happy people.
I will close the door of the Word with the 7 commandments of a sick bed that a poet said.
① Do not set your own treatment time
② Let go of household chores and worry about yourself
③ Don't be interested in world affairs or science
④ Let go of disappointment and hold on to hope until the end
⑤ Let go of pride or pride
⑥ Have a believing heart
⑦ Always have a grateful heart.