Growing in Godliness
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Growth
Introduction:
Fifty years ago, we began to orient our lives around one of the great growth avoidance inventions of all time: the Television. You didn’t have to think, focus your attention, or follow a closely reasoned chain of thought when you were watching “Leave It to Beaver.” But even then you had to get up out of your chair, walk all the way to the TV set and change the channel by hand? Finally came the invention of the ... remote control. Now mankind could change channels from the comfort of our Lazyboy. You want to see how devoted we are to comfort? Walk into the average American home and hide the remote control, and watch what happens. Life without the remote control is an unbearable burden for the average American family. Then someone invented a TV with a beeper so that when you clap your hands or press a button on the TV, the remote control will beep until you find it.
But too much comfort is dangerous. Literally. Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley did an experiment sometime ago that involved introducing an amoeba into a perfectly stress-free environment. The ideal temperature, optimal concentration of moisture, and constant food supply. The amoeba had an environment in which it had to make no adjustment whatsoever. So you would guess that, that was one happy little amoeba. Yet, oddly enough, it died. Apparently there is something about all living creatures, even amoebas, that demands challenge. We require change, adaptation, and challenge just as we require food and air to live.. Comfort alone will kill us. When teachers want students to grow, they don’t give them answers, they give them problems! It is only in the process of accepting and solving problems that our ability to think creatively is enhanced, our persistence is strengthened, and our self-confidence is deepened. If someone gives me the answers, I may get a good score on a test, but I will not have grown. Just as our bodies simply will not grow stronger without being challenged to the point of exertion, so it is with our mind and spirit.
Today I want to challenge you to take one more step towards spiritual growth. It begins with our growth towards Godliness. Yes; it’s time to exercise, time to get back in shape for God.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
I. The Need to Train
A. We are in a race to win.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1Cor. 9:24
-Paul contrast life to a race. In Roman and Greek culture competition was an important part of life.
-Competition is such a big part our modern lives as well.
-Our children are involved in baseball, football, basketball, soccer, track, volleyball, swim team, dance competitions, just to name a few.
-We may say that winning is not important, and that playing the game is the truly important thing, but you watch any game and hear the parents talking about their kids and you soon discover the passion for winning is alive and well.
-Paul says we are in a race and in a race the runners run, they don’t sit on the sidelines.
-Paul says we run to get the prize, we run to win, to cross that finish line.
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Eph. 6:12
-Our battle, or our race is of a spiritual nature, we are not competing against other Christians or those who need Jesus Christ.
-We are competing against Satan! The question you should ask yourself is; Do you want to loose to the devil? Because what is at stake is your eternal soul, where you will spend eternity will be determined by whether you win or lose.
*Let me put it in down to earth terms. You have just found out that you are in a race with the devil and the loser gives up their life. You laugh, yeah right, but you notice old Satan ain’t playing around; he is dead serious and your head is on the chopping block. Now what are you going to do? If you have any smarts at all you are going to run as though your life depended upon it, because it does.
B. We need to prepare ourselves
*You get a call one day from the Olympic committee, saying that you have been selected to carry the Olympic torch along a two mile stretch of road. Your first reaction is you can’t be serious. But imagine you a torch bearer running with your head held high. Then you realize the only running you have done is from the couch to the fridge during commercials. If you are serious about doing this you are going to have to make some changes in your life. You will have to alter your life, change your activities, you will have to go into strict training.
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.” 1Cor. 9:25,26
*Researchers have discovered certain people are genetically destined to excel in athletics. According to their studies, the A.C.E. gene is longer in athletes than in those who are not agile, fast, or well-coordinated in their movements. Researchers also observed that people who are born with a longer A.C.E. must work out to take advantage of their hereditary. Similarly, those who receive Christ are capable of a life of spiritual victory. When we become a Christian and receive the Holy Spirit, we have the power to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. But as with those genetically predisposed to athletic success, we must "work out."
C. We must have proper training
-With competition being so close, every athlete is looking for that edge to make them a little better then the next person. Our modern Olympic games have become plagued with scandal, from cheating to the use of drugs to enhance performance.
-Paul, however tells us we shouldn’t take short cuts and compromise our Christianity.
“Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Cor. 9:24b
“No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1Cor. 9:27
-There are a lot of people claiming to be Christians out there or claiming to know God; and the truth is they are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites and liars. Because their lives do not even reflect that of Christ. They are trees barren of fruit or filled with rotten fruit.
-What is worse is that by their hypocrisy; or their two faced life style; they are sending people to hell.
-Just has people are becoming fed up with all the cheating and steroid use in the Olympics; there are many out there in our own communities that won’t come to church, they have been turned off of having a relationship with Jesus Christ by the religiosity and hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christians.
-Don’t put your faith in men, don’t gauge God by people’s behavior. If your faith rest upon people then you will be disappointed.
-This is a sad comment on the high calling that God calls His people to as we are to be ambassadors for Christ.
-Paul says to run in such a way that we are not disqualified for the very prize we seek; which is ultimately an eternity spent with our savior in heaven.
II. The Work out Plan
-How you ask do I train for living a spiritual life? How do I prepare myself to walk like Christ?
-Well I’m going to tell you. So get your pens ready, because I am going to give you a work out plan, a prescription for growing spirituality in your life.
A. Reading and Meditating on Scripture
-The first step is reading and meditating on scripture.
*A door-to-door salesman from a publishing house asked a lady if she owned a copy of the Bible. "I certainly do!" she replied with some pride. To his next question, did she read it regularly, she responded, "Oh, yes!" and sent her little daughter to get the Bible from the table drawer. As she showed it to the man, her spectacles fell from between the pages. Without thinking, she exclaimed, "Oh, here are my glasses! I’ve been looking for these for 3 years!"
-We need to make reading God’s Word a regular practice, not pretending to read it.
-And not reading to gain information, but reading that we may so transform our lives and conform to the attitude of Christ.
-We must study that we may know the mind of Christ, that His Words constantly remind us and give wisdom as to how we should respond to the decisions we make daily.
Skit #1: [Act out a person who is doing a Bible Study on Psalm 1:1,2. Read a little from a commentary, act confused, try to meditate, put the Bible on your forehead. Then stop frustrated and look at list of what else needs done today.]
-When we think of meditation, we often think of some cult group, incense, and someone humming to themselves.
-Or we try to surround ourselves with books and commentaries, and God’s Word becomes just another college course we have to master, or for many of us get through.
-Meditating on scripture is simply taking a passage of scripture and chewing on it like a cow chews on cud. It is focusing on what that verse means to you.
-Turn with me to Psalm 23:1,2; “The Lord is my shepherd.”
-Let’s meditate on that first verse for a bit.
-Put away all distractions, close your eyes if it helps, but don’t go to sleep.
-What does it mean to have the Lord – the God of the Universe – as my shepherd?
-How would this day with all its anxieties, be different if I really believed that the Lord is my Shepherd?
-What would it feel like to cease my frantic activity long enough to let my Shepherd restore my soul?
-Meditating on scripture is simply spending time reading God’s Word and focusing your mind on how what you have just read has application in your life, and the changes you need to make.
-If you get into a daily habit of reading scripture and meditating upon it, you will find a hunger growing inside of you to know God better, to crave his word.
-Developing good habits take practice and commitment; just like getting into good physical shape.
B. Solitude and Prayer
Skit #2: “Boy, that was a good sermon today on prayer. You know I think I am going improve my spiritual life, by taking time out for prayer. [Pull out prayer list, start out with some big words; get tired of praying for people; phone interrupts, tell them “I’ll pray for you” then check out what is on TV, I’ll pray during the commercial, then change mind and get a snack. “Sorry God, I’m busy.]
-Is your life too busy for God, are there too many distractions to keep you from a successful prayer life.
-Prayer is communication with God.
-All of us know that you can’t build a personal relationship with someone, unless you first spend time with them.
“Very early the next morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35
-Jesus had just spent a busy day. The crowds at this point followed him all over. Everyone wanted some of his time. But Jesus knew that giving God your time came first.
-Just as we should find a little quality time for those who are most important in our lives like our wives, children, and family.
-We should see God as more deserving of that quiet time alone together.
C. Corporate Learning and Worship
-Finally in our training plan it is important to train with other athletes.
-It is much easier to get up early and run when you have someone to run with.
-That is why we spend time studying the Bible together and attending worship service together.
-We need the accountability and fellowship of community to stand firm against the devils schemes.
-This corporate learning and worship should not replace our personal training, but enhance our personal spiritual walk with Christ and spur us on to grow in Christ likeness.
God has in his wisdom given us great freedom in developing our spiritual training plan. Some pray at night, others early in the morning, some with hands folded and upon their knees, while others sitting in their easy chair. Some of us follow a rigid Bible reading plan, while others do the closed eyes and pick method of study. The important thing is that if you desire to grow spiritually, to grow closer to God, then you must alter your life and train for Godliness.
What is the unit of measure for spiritual growth? It is nothing less then Christlike character. As we become more loving, honorable, courageous, and integrity-filled people, we know that spiritual growth is taking place, inch by inch.
