Why we don't grow spiritually

The Bible makes it very clear that all of us are sinners and must be born again. This is only the first step, the Bible is also very clear in commanding us Christians to grow into maturity. Hebrew 6:1 urges the believers to leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity. 1 Peter 2:2 ask to crave for pure spiritual milk so that we may grow up in our salvation.

There are many reasons why Christians do not grow spiritually. In 1 Cor. 1: 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. Paul said that we do not lack spiritual gift and so we cannot use that as an excuse.

Nevertheless, I believe all of us can very quickly come up with many reasons why a Christian does not grow spiritually. Some very obvious answer will be failure to read the bible, failure to pray often and then probably the care of the world out weight the care for the spiritual things. All of these are very valid reasons.

However, we will look into the question from a practical example. We will look into the life of one of the twelve disciples who had followed Jesus and why he did not grow, at least, at one stage in his life. That disciple is Philip.

There are at least 3 Philips that we can tell from the Bible. The accounts of Philip, the disciple can be found in all the gospels. Today, we will read about Philip in the gospel of John.

Let’s turn to John chapter 1, verse 43 and read about the calling of Philip. Jesus Christ called Philip to follow Him. Not only did he follow, he even told his neighbor Nathaneal. Here we know that Philip is accepting who Jesus claimed to be, his faith is genuine.

The next time we read about Philip, it is found in John chapter 6. Let me just quickly go through what has happened in between chapter 1 and chapter 6 to show you that 1 year has passed. You would expect that after 1 year of following Jesus, Philip’s faith would have grown. His faith and his understanding of the purpose of Jesus Christ’s mission should have been clear. Right?

John Chapter 2 records the first miracle of Jesus who turned the water into wine. In verse 1 and verse 11, it says that the disciples were there. In other words, they all witnessed the miracles. As we continue to read we see that they spent the Passover in Jerusalem (John2:13).

John 3, Jesus was with Nicodemus and in verse 22, together with the disciples they went to Judea. Then in John 4:3 They are back to Galelee but went through Samaria and saw Jesus with the woman at the well. In John 4:50, they witnessed Jesus healed the official’s son. In John 5:1. They are at Jerusalem again, this time Jesus healed the invalid at the pool.

Now we come to John 6:1, Jesus is at Galilee. There was a great crowd of people who had followed Jesus because they saw the miraculous sign done by Jesus. Verse 4 says Passover feast is near. This means since John 2;13, at least a year has passed.

Next we read about Jesus asking Philip where can we buy bread to feed these people? After following Jesus for one year and witnessing the many miracles that he had performed. We would expect Philip’s faith to be strong and that he has grown in his spiritual life. Instead we heard a very humanly logically answer from Philip. “Eight month’s wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”. When Jesus is looking for our faith and all we can do is give him the fact. Lord you know how many people you need? How much it will cost? How long it will take? Lord I am the only one! How often are we overwhelm with the circumstances and never show faith in Jesus. How often do we never saw beyond the circumstances and never took into consideration the power of God. The 1 year that Philip spent with Jesus and all that he had listened, seen, heard & witnessed was over powered by the circumstances. Like the story of the tortoise and the hare. Philip, the hare, started with a bang, but half way along the way, he fails asleep. By the way this sound very much like us, isn’t it. We become slack, we forgot about the day we were saved and the spiritual power that we have and the tremendous energy and zeal we have.

The next time we read about Philip, it is in John 12. Here Jesus was with the disciples and he predicted his death and a voice from heaven spoke loud and clear that God will be glorified and Jesus told the disciples that the voice is for their benefit. The disciples’ faith should be strong now.

The next and the last time we read about Philip is in John 14. Thomas asked how do we know the way and Jesus answered "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Duh! Jesus just told Philip that you want to know or access the Father, you look for me. You know the Father by knowing me. And the very next question he asked is show us the Father. Philip’s problem here is that there is a lack of appreciation of Jesus. Of all the times Philip was with Jesus, he had heard what Jesus had claimed to be. Very often, we as Christians took Jesus for granted. Yes we believe who he claimed he was especially when we first encountered Him. But along the year Jesus is just another person.

Jesus told Philip, “How can you said that?” But this is not Philip’s only problem.

In verse 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Here Jesus is saying that 1) I have access to the Father, 2) The words I said are from the Father and 3) the Father through me is doing His work. So not only was Philip failed to appreciate the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he failed to appreciate the words that Jesus had spoken and lastly, he failed to appreciate the work that Jesus had done and all this are related to the Father, God.

Jesus had said many things, Jesus had made many claims.

- - I give living water that will never thirst (John 4:14).
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
- I am light of the world (John 8:12)
- Before Abraham was born, I am (John 8:58)
- I am the gate (John10:9)
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11)
- I am the resurrection and life (John 11:25)
- I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)

During these claims, Philip was there. In addition, there were many parables and teaching Jesus had shared with them. But Philip failed to heed the word of Jesus and did not take to heart the word spoken by Jesus. If he had listen carefully to what the master taught, he would have known the Master better. We get to know the Lord by believing the words he says. We trust the word of God said by the Son of God. The word Jesus said was the word of God. By listening and following his instruction, we would have been better followers.

The third problem as mentioned is that even though Philip had hung around Jesus for about 3 years and witnessed all the work carried out by Jesus, it did not appreciate it. As a result, we saw him asked questions that revealed his lack of faith and immaturity. Philip has walked with Jesus day by day since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He has seen miracles: Turn water into wine (John 2), Heal official’s son (John 4), Heal the lame at the pool (John 5), Feeds 5000 and walks on water (John 6), Heals the Blind (John 9), Raised Lazarus (John 11). He has witnessed Jesus’ incredible and inexplicable authority. Yet, his question illustrates his immaturity.

Learn from Philip. He hung out around Jesus for 3 years, yet he did not appreciate the person of Jesus, the word of Jesus and the work of Jesus. With attitude like that, how do you expect to grow?

Unfortunately, this is the last time we read about Philip. The good news is that based on historical record, Philip did well. After the death of Jesus, Philip went on to carry the gospel to Asia Minor where he even died a martyr. Our only guess is that he learned his lessons and probably with the help of the other disciples, he grew in his spiritual walk.

Before I conclude, I want to share with you the story of the hare and the tortoise that we spoke about earlier. In the story of the hare and the tortoise, the hare started well and assuming all well, he was getting too comfortable and begin to slack down and even took a nap. By the time he woke up, he lose the race.

But the story does not end here. The hare was not happy, so he calls up the tortoise and ask for another race. The tortoise agreed and the next day they met at the same starting point and begin the race. This time, the hare was diligent and he keep on running. When he reached the area where he had built the comfortable resting place, he makes sure he went over, ruffle it and continue his run. He learned his lesson to press on. As expected, this time he won the race handsomely.

However, the tortoise was not happy. He challenges the hare to another race, only this time, it is on a different route. The hare, feeling good and confident, accepted the challenge. The next day, they met and the race begins. The hare did not want to slow down and start the race with pace and confidence. Suddenly, the path lead him to a stream, he was not able to cross. Pacing along the bank, he could not find a way to cross the stream. Then came the tortoise, of course without much problem, although slow in pace, he was able to complete the race.

But the is not the end of the story. The hare then called the tortoise and suggested another race. This time the rule will change again. He told the tortoise, when on dry land, I will carry you and when in the stream, you will carry me, together not only will we complete the race, we will complete in better time. The tortoise thinks it was a good idea and together they completed the race in record time.

Now we can apply this story to our spiritual growth. We can be like the hare, started with a bang but like Philip, faltered along the way. We can likewise experience road block that prevent our progress. But all these are internal that depends on ourselves. Spiritual growth can be enhance with the help of our fellow believers too. We should be like the hare and the tortoise, utilize each other strength and gifts to help each other to grow.

Yes, we must grow spiritually. In order to achieve this, we much first remember that the key link is Jesus Christ our Lord. We must first appreciate who he is, follow His words and appreciate His works. This is very much a personal and internal work. Externally, we must help each other. Remember the hare and the tortoise. Utilizing our different gifts to teach, encourage, correct, direct, support and help each other to grow spiritually.