Matt wrote this blog post last year…thankfully he is now through his Catatonia phase…but the reflection still stands. We need to keep digging deep into the treasure trove of God’s word and sharing that with whomever your primary audience may be today, this week or this month.
I’ve recently rediscovered one of my favourite 90s bands.* Listening to them takes me back to being a teenager and listening to their albums on CD over and over again. One of them was even on cassette, which I played loads…on a Walkman! Feeling old right now…
The Good Stuff
When I find a band or artist I really like I tend to dive down deep into their back catalogue so I can discover all of their music. I don’t think I’m wired to just like one song and then move on to something completely different. My theory is that if I like something by someone then chances are I might like more of their work, because I’ve found something good. So I stick with them. And it’ll take more than a weaker album or two to put me off them because they’ve got my loyalty; to me, they are still good.
Back to the title of this blog post: “How can I grow as a Christian?” Simply put, what I mean by this is how we can become more like Jesus. I reckon some of my listening habits might help us think about how this can work.
The Word
Sticking with the music theme, you could say that God has a ‘back catalogue’ in the Bible – what we call the Old Testament – and that his newer material is the New Testament. There’s plenty to go at right there that will help us to grow as Christians. There is no substitute for reading God’s word, not just to gain information but in order to meet with God. We can recommend great apps, reading plans and podcasts if anyone would like a bit of help with this – please get in touch if you’re interested
When I’ve been listening to the ‘90s music recently I’ve discovered incredible depth in the lyrics that I hadn’t noticed years ago, and I’ve come to appreciate some of the music that I didn’t rate back then. Maybe this is because I’m older, so I’m hearing it all from a different perspective now. There is a principle about Bible reading here – coming back to one passage again and again can help us rediscover things we’ve seen before, or even see things for the first time we’d never ever noticed until now. After all, God’s word is living and active, and the Holy Spirit longs to reveal more truth to us.
The New Material
But, growing as a Christian isn’t just about the Bible – as essential as that is. We also need to notice what God is doing in the world today, because in a sense we are still living in New Testament times.
Jesus promised that he came to bring life, and life in all its fullness (John 10:10). There is a LOT more of him, his goodness and his kingdom to discover if we’re open to looking!
This means there is the stuff that Jesus is STILL doing in the world today, by his Spirit – in your street, your workplace, your life, your home, and we could see more of it if we ask! It’s sad when Christians sometimes seem to live off what he did in their life X many years ago, when he is STILL active today. Going back to music, some of my favourite artists make some of their best music (in my opinion) later on in their career, way after what some might call their ‘heyday’. Many may have forgotten them but they are still going, still creating, still telling their story, no matter the audience.
Some of us need to keep telling our story of who we know Jesus to be, regardless of how much the audience may change. It helps to notice and remember what he has done recently: down at Tesco’s, on the school run, in our friendship group, or wherever we are.
Let’s remember the treasure trove that we have in the Old Testament and the rest of the Bible. Let’s embrace the joy of knowing Jesus’s presence by the Holy Spirit here with us now where ever we are in the UK or indeed the world. We pray that each of us and our churches can enjoy getting to know Jesus better than we ever have before.