A disciples growth in Christ doesn’t happen by accident. We don’t coast into Christlikeness. Our sanctification results from a partnership with the Holy Spirit that began on Day One of our walk with the Lord.
Every Christian who reads that first paragraph probably agrees. But in practice, the vast majority of those who call themselves Christian do very little to live out their faith.
We’ve all read Jesus’ words:
If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
Mark 8:34
Reading Jesus’ words and obeying them are two different things. Like the crowds, many will listen to Jesus words and revere him as a good teacher, but very few obey Jesus’ words and submit to him as King.
But then, that’s true Christianity. You aren’t a disciple of Jesus if you aren’t living in submission to His rule.
In practice, what does it look like to deny ourselves? What does it look like to take up our cross? What does it look like to follow Jesus?
For each person that will look different.
But there are some ways to discover what that will look like for you, your family, and your church. I don’t know what you specifically might need to give up or take up but I do know that if a disciple is going to grow spiritually there are some habits that we need to cultivate.
Here are four communal habits every disciple needs to grow spiritually:
1. Worship Corporately
This is the habit everyone expected to be first. But again, in practice, not every Christian prioritizes corporate worship. Even some pastors have capitulated to the culture and have come to define “regular attendance” as once or twice a month.
You can raise or lower the standard all you want, but the fact remains that disciples will not grow spiritually if they are not gathering with other disciples regularly.
Pastors will quote Hebrews 10:24-25 to encourage their people to make worship a priority. But it’s not even the frequency of attendance that is the most concerning. It’s our approach to worship that is most concerning. If you’ve lost a sense of expectation or reverential awe as you meet with God then you could gather three times a week and still be missing out.
Our heart motivation and approach to corporate worship is the most important but frequency does also matter. Showing up late and leaving early once a month is not worshiping corporately. If it can even be called worship, then it is merely worshiping privately in a crowd. Corporate worship is only corporate when we are in fellowship with other worshipers. If you are trying to remain anonymous then you might as well listen to a sermon online (which sadly, some people think is enough). There are better preachers and better musicians that you can listen to alone. Corporate worship is different. If you want to grow spiritually, you will need to worship with brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Study Collaboratively
Many Christians only have time for a one hour service maybe once or twice a month. In the last point we saw that the standard should be higher if we are going to grow spiritually, but there’s another habit that we should cultivate on a weekly basis. That is, studying the Bible collaboratively.
Many churches offer a range of options for this practice. Some churches offer a Sunday School hour before corporate worship. Others encourage a mid-week Bible study. Still others encourage small groups to meet in homes for Bible study.
Of course, daily personal devotions are strongly encouraged, but our best context for studying the Bible is collaboratively with others. Ideally, this would be every week and there would be a mature believer who has prepared for the study so that the discussion doesn’t just become speculation. In other words, this isn’t a lecture but it also isn’t everyone’s opinions. A weekly communal Bible study should draw out the historical and canonical context, linguistics and grammar, and other hermeneutical disciplines. But not everyone can come prepared with all of that information. So, the teacher should guide the discussion with some explanation and observations regarding the text and encourage others to share their observations and personal applications.
The benefit of collaborative Bible study is that we hear how more mature and less mature brothers and sisters are processing what they are learning in real time and how they are applying it to their lives. Sometimes we will have wrong assumptions about what God is saying through His Word and that wrong assumption or distorted application can get corrected gently by the others.
But it’s not just the people in the room who are collaborating. Our modern translations from the Greek and Hebrew took entire committees to publish. Hopefully faithful commentators and theologians from diverse backgrounds were consulted. The basics of our faith can be understood by a child, but there have been so many distortions and deviations in the practice of our faith because most of us are barely getting a surface level reading in English and then speculating on the meaning.
Disciples grow spiritually as we study God’s Word collaboratively with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Reading the Bible privately may have some benefit (unless we are just checking it off a list). And hearing a sermon from the pastor every (other?) week will hopefully be edifying (unless we are hearing and not doing). But studying the Bible collaboratively goes even deeper. This practice allows our assumptions to be challenged and our applications to be encouraged or discouraged (when they are in error). This is a practice that is not optional for a growing Christian.
3. Pray Considerately
The third habit every disciple needs to grow spiritually is to pray considerately. Again, many churches offer a prayer service or encourage prayer in small groups. Additionally, we hear the pastor or song leaders pray in corporate worship. We pray with our children at home, before or after meals, and privately throughout the day. We know the importance of prayer in the life of a disciple (even if we are not in the habit of doing so regularly).
So, what does it mean to pray considerately? It means that there should be regular times in our life when we are joining together with others to consider the needs and concerns of others and in that moment to pray out loud for and with that person or group of people. Praying considerately means that there are brothers and sisters that I have a relationship with who know me and I know them. If three months goes by and I’ve had zero interaction with my church family, then how can I pray considerately?
The weekly prayer service might be a great place to start for this particular discipline. Or, if your church cultivates small groups in homes, that may be a great context to cultivate this practice. Praying out loud for someone who just shared a need with you is encouraging to them.
Do you regularly surface spiritual and practical needs in your own life and in others and do you immediately take those needs to God in prayer together? Or are you always saying, “I’ll pray for you!” and then forgetting do so because you don’t have a time set aside to intercede with your brothers and sisters in Christ?
If you want to grow spiritually, you need to be praying a) out loud b) in agreement c) with others d) on a regular basis. Pray continually but also pray considerately.
4. Eat Communally
You can pray alone, read your Bible alone, go bowling alone, and even eat alone, but a growing disciple will also intentionally look for opportunities to share meals with others. Sharing meals with coworkers or neighbors can be wonderful acts of hospitality that should be encouraged. But for the purpose of this post and for our spiritual growth, we need family meals with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This may seem like the least spiritual of the habits that I’m recommending for spiritual growth. But it is extremely important. Sharing a meal with brothers and sisters as a spiritual discipline is extremely important. A meal is a basic need. Providing for that basic need is an act of service. And serving is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. More than that, the conversation that happens during the meal deepens our relationship and helps us to better understand one another. Even further, the tendency toward isolation in our lives and our guests is broken as we intentionally extend ourselves in this way.
Once again, many churches encourage this practice by offering a church-wide potluck or coordinating weekly small groups (or both). But even if those organized opportunities aren’t available to you, you can still open your home at least once a week for this purpose. Opening our home to a few guests each week or interrupting our schedule to go to someone else’s home doesn’t happen without planning and intentionality.
Forcing ourselves out of isolation and into community by serving and sharing a meal with our brothers and sisters will help us grow spiritually.
Conclusion
I didn’t feel the need to sprinkle this article with Scripture references because these practices are so foundational and well attested that it should be obvious. Just a quick glance at the book of Acts and we quickly see how the disciples “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. (Acts 2:42). We see how the disciples were in awe of God (2:43), how they served and cared for one another (Acts 2:44-45), and how they met corporately (in the temple complex) and in each other’s homes (2:46-47). The visibility of their spiritual life together was what was most attractive to the lost (2:48).
There are many other disciplines and habits that we can cultivate as we partner with the Holy Spirit for our sanctification. There are things we may do personally and privately. But our faith is meant to be lived out and strengthened communally. Our faith is meant to be enacted and visible. If your faith is invisible to your church, your family, and your neighbor, then it might not even exist. It will certainly be hard to grow spiritually if your faith isn’t regularly practiced in community with other disciples.
Brothers and sisters, let us worship corporately, study the Word of God collaboratively, pray considerately, and eat communally for our good and for God’s glory until Christ’s glorious appearing.
For futher reading:
