How does one write about Spiritual Success and preserve any sense of humility? "Spiritual Success and How I Achieved It" has been the tongue in cheek working title of this book. It serves to remind me that I know so very little. The irreverence serves to caution against the arrogance of pretending to know anything at all. None of this book is actually new. As Robert Webber used to remind us, the ancient is the future.1 Those to whom I am indebted include a long line of teachers reaching back to the early church fathers. I have had several excellent mentors and many tremendous teachers and professors. They all have helped connect me to the rich heritage that we have in Jesus Christ.
Developing Spiritual Success
The journey of discipleship, the path of spiritual and relational vitality, and the future of the churchBy Arthur JaggardAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Arthur Jaggard
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4634-3151-8Contents
Preface.....................................................................xiForeword....................................................................xvIntroduction................................................................xixChapter 1 The Foundation of Success.........................................1Chapter 2 The Growth Path of Success........................................29Chapter 3 Courting the Holy Spirit..........................................67Chapter 4 Measuring Your Ability to Succeed Spiritually.....................107Chapter 5 Spiritual Analysis and Worship....................................133Chapter 6 Applied Spirituality..............................................175Chapter 7 Discerning the Spirits............................................243Bibliography................................................................297Appendix A An Accountability Covenant.......................................305Appendix B Seven Sided Geometry.............................................307Appendix C Seven in other places............................................313Appendix D Canonical Wheel..................................................317Appendix E Stars............................................................323Index of Subjects and Authors...............................................327
Chapter One
The Foundation of Success
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18
Thought Starter:
When you think of someone who is spiritually mature, what three words come to mind?
Spiritual Maturity: The Missing Link for Vibrant Christians
People are tired. They are overwhelmed with bills, Doctors visits, personal relationships that drain them, and spiritually caustic work places. How does anyone get through life and actually enjoy living? As we ask the question we also hear the promises answering from the Bible. Jesus came that we might have an abundant life. In Jesus Christ we have power, health, joy, righteousness and victory. Why do we miss the best that God has for us?
II Peter 1:2-4
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
The key to these verses is the Knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. That key unlocks some very wonderful treasure chests. We actually participate in the divine nature and escape our own evil desires. And as we mature into the image of our Lord Jesus, by the knowledge of Him who has called us from darkness into His marvelous light, we receive everything we need for life and godliness.
Why would anyone pass up the opportunity to become spiritually mature when everything we have ever wanted is connected to that endeavor? Perhaps Christians have grown weary in well doing. Perhaps they did not know there was more to receive from the Lord. Perhaps they suspected there was something else but did not know how to pursue it?
But perhaps you are one of the people who want everything Jesus has for you. Your commitment to Spiritual Maturity is a quest you will not want to miss.
Spiritual Maturity: The Missing Link to Successful Churches.
In the 1970's the notion grew that a successful church was doing evangelism. Explosive numbers were achieved with a simple program getting people to ask friends, neighbors, even strangers, two questions.
1. "If you died tonight do you know where you would go?"
2. "Why do you think you would go there?"
In the 1970's we lived in an age where some might have responded to this approach.
On the other hand the 70's also saw the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Hippies and Hollywood and the popular mainstream turned to a form of Gnostic new age, expanded consciousness, and spirituality. But the mainline religion was still understood to be the big steeple on the corner by most Americans, even ones who didn't attend.
In the 1980's evangelism became relational. Instead of impersonal witnessing strategies which included knocking on the doors of perfect strangers, people were trained to draw upon their friendships to bring others to church. Winn Arn's 'web sharing' and Kenneth Haugck's Stephen's Ministries encouraged witnessing through caring, and helped churches fulfill their mission. Still, with a growing emphasis on evangelism, overall church attendance failed to keep up to the population growth. Some denominations actually saw numbers decrease!
In the 1990's church consultants realized that all the witnessing in the world would not cause churches to grow if the church was not prepared. The church growth movement gained steam and eventually transformed into the healthy church movement. (Healthy churches grow and are therefore successful.)
As the new millennium was dawning, transformation became the new by-word of success. It was not always clear what sort of transformation was taking place, but the concept was that successful churches would be able to adapt to post modern structures in the world. Transformation was to be centered around relational and spiritual vitality, but getting to that vitality was a presumption and not part of the process.
The key to having a successful church that is often overlooked is a real commitment to spiritual maturity. If we seek the things of the Kingdom of God first, everything else will be added to us. This is a new emphasis for churches as this new millennium begins. Often it is incorporated in the 'missional' church movement. This movement seeks to move the vision of local churches from being self-focused to outward focused in their immediate context.
Outside of church things are different. Now that a new millennium has dawned, the one area of spirituality that has prospered is the Gnostic, new age spirituality. Though rarely meeting in church most Americans believe in God and report that they frequently pray. They say that spiritual things are important to them. However, they are not finding their spiritual needs met in church.
What they need to see is real spirituality in real Christians. They need to see the power and the presence of God. They need to see Christians who are really demonstrating sacrificial mission in their own lives. And Christians want to see it as well. In ourselves and in others we long for a taste of spiritual maturity. But just what does that mean?
When People Think of Spiritual Maturity, What Do They Mean?
We started with a simple informal survey to find out what people think about spiritual maturity. The survey was not extensive. It was not statistically analyzed. It was not randomly sampled. It was just a simple question asked of a little over two hundred people. "When you think of spiritual maturity, what are three things that come to mind?" We asked members of the clergy, members of the laity, and people who admitted that they do not go to church.
We had 42 members of the clergy in our informal survey. They were all serving a church with some form of congregational government. The members of the clergy listed a variety of answers that include: Intimacy with God, selflessness, peace, Biblical literacy, sacrificial giving, servant's heart, not easily troubled, not angry, someone who has persevered, not judgmental, shares their faith, a person of prayer, listens to the Holy Spirit, and is patient.
Our survey polled four congregations and 57 individuals responding in a non church setting but who claimed church attendance. This totaled 142 people. The four congregations were polled during Wednesday evening Bible Study time. It was presumed that committed church members would more likely be in attendance at those meetings.
The number one answer of church members was, 'I don't know, or no answer', (65 responses). This was true in the congregations as well as for the individuals. Other common answers included: At peace, knows the Bible, goes to church, teaches Sunday school, and serves on a church board. There were several that offered answers from the clergy list, though their numbers were startling few.
The survey of non-churched people had 35 respondents. People who do not go to church reported as their number one answer, Peace or Serenity. (17 responses) The number two response was 'I don't care, or it's not important to me.' (8 responses) After that the common responses included: prays, lives a good life, does the right thing, honesty, kindness, doesn't judge and "I don't know."
Obviously our survey is not scientifically valid. Results would undoubtedly vary from region to region. But these lists teach us something anecdotally. Many people do not know why they should go to church. If they do go to church, many do not know what they come to church for. And while clergy may have some idea, for some reason they are not getting the idea across to those they serve.
When God Speaks of Spiritual Success, What Does He Mean?
First, let's be clear. It is not going to church for so long no one can remember you not being there. Or teaching school or holding a position of deacon or trustee. In fact nearly everything from the list supplied by church members misses the mark.
When adults speak of maturity to their children, they often have seven specific things in mind. These seven areas of maturity are easily understood in the natural world:
1. One key feature of maturity is responsibility. Nearly every teenager has heard an exasperated voice proclaim, "I wish you would be more responsible!"
2. Maturity means being able to subordinate our will. It includes the notion of delayed gratification and extends to the practice of sacrificial living.
3. People who are mature can adapt to changes.
4. Maturity also means being able to dialog appropriately and interact with the world.
5. The ability to make commitments and keep promises is something children are not born with. Like other aspects of maturity it must be learned and developed.
6. One lesson parents wish children would learn is to admit when they are wrong, and learn from their mistakes. This might be thought of in terms of repentance.
7. Finally, the ability to reproduce usually accompanies maturity.
These seven areas of maturity in the natural world form a basis for beginning to think about spiritual maturity. And as you will soon see, God uses all seven when He speaks of successful disciples.
Personal responsibility:
We've mentioned the refrain that frustrates youth: "I wish you would be more responsible!" And youth do not appreciate the frustration of parents when they discover a situation where the refrain is all that is left to be said. Walking into a kitchen covered with Rice Krispies may be annoying, but looking past the disaster at a room full of children happily watching television while the mess is unattended is even more so. "Why is there breakfast cereal all over the floor?" I asked. The chorus on the couch said, "I didn't do it".
Who did it was not the issue at this point. Who was going to be responsible for taking care of it was. "Isn't there an adult around here?" I wondered. The plea from the children was that they not grow up, that they not be responsible, that someone else take care of the mess. The plea of the parent is that children begin to show enough maturity to take responsibility for the kitchen that we all share.
This Dynamic plays out in the Gospels as well:
Mark 6:34-37
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?"
We often read the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 and miss an underlying dynamic. Imagine the situation. On a beautiful blue-skied afternoon, two miles from the village of Capernaum, in a bowl formed by several small rises on a large hill, people gathered to listen to the fellow from Nazareth. It was the big event. The Sea of Galilee sparkled behind the speaker and His words washed over the crowd.
The morning ran over into afternoon and soon the day was nearly spent. Thousands of people, miles from food were beginning to feel hungry. No one had planned for this. They hadn't intended to stay all day.
So Jesus took His disciples to the side and told them to feed the crowd. Jesus called the disciples to a personal level of responsibility that went far beyond reasonable. The disciples were as unprepared for the event as any. And just finding food for themselves would have been a task in itself.
"Why us?" they must have thought. Out loud they asked, "Do you know how much that would cost? And how will we manage the delivery? Just send them away to get their own food."
"We didn't create this situation", the disciples must have thought. Why do you want us to take care of it? Jesus wanted them to demonstrate responsibility.
This is part of what we mean by 'imputational faith'. How do we intervene spiritually for those who are unable to rescue themselves? Jesus is the model. For a world in captivity, He took our sin upon Himself and delivered it to the cross bodily on our behalf. He imputed salvation upon us, believing for us when we were unable to believe for ourselves. The faith that He demonstrated on the cross resonates within those who are saved and His faith becomes our salvation. Scripture says we love because He first loved us. We also believe because He first believed for us. On the cross, before we were even born, He had faith that we would come to Him and be cleansed by His blood. He took responsibility for providing a way for us. By this act He imputed a measure of faith to us that makes it possible for us to come to Him
We exercise imputational faith when we believe on behalf of someone who, like the father of the convulsing boy, does not have the faith to believe for themselves. Someone who does not have faith, receives the benefit of someone who has faith for them. Nearly everyone who has prayed for an unsaved friend or family member has exercised this kind of faith. We pray believing that our loved one will surrender to the Lord. While they are without faith, we impute faith to them and when successful, their imputed faith leads them to the Lord.
We ask ourselves, "Who is responsible for our living a life beautiful before the Lord? Who is responsible for carrying the Holy Spirit into a world of suffering and death? Who is responsible for the spiritual condition of our homes, our communities and our nation? Who is responsible for our neighbor who doesn't know the Lord?" Ultimately, the answer is Jesus. As we mature spiritually, we become responsible as well. When we answer by saying "Here I am Lord, send me" we extend ourselves to fulfill the faith that Jesus had in us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Subordination of will:
Go to any large store and listen. It only takes a minute or two before you hear the cries of a child who thinks they should have 'something'. They want it. They saw it. They have to have it now. Parents of children cringe, get frustrated, and pray that their children will learn what all adults are supposed to know: You don't always get what you want. Good things are worth waiting for. What we want isn't always what we should try to get. Our wills must be subject to something higher.
Sadly many of the children voicing their loud demands have parents who never learned this key feature of maturity. We have become a nation committed to eliminating delayed gratification. What we want right now gets elevated to the level of the urgent. Fast food, microwave ovens and already prepared freezer food take the wait out of our meals. They also take the conversation, the preparation, and the community of eating out of our meal time. 66% of our population eats their fast food in front of the television.
Credit cards offer immediate possession of nearly any notion that comes along. 'Gotta have it' is the shopping slogan of the day. Spend to the end, buy till you die, shop till you drop. Saving for what we want, let alone for what we need, has fallen to an all time low.
In the mean time the national debt continues to grow. Even the political leaders allegedly looking out for our national welfare have borrowed beyond our ability to repay.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Developing Spiritual Successby Arthur Jaggard Copyright © 2011 by Arthur Jaggard. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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