As a part of my Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University I am to conduct a qualitative research project. I wrote about the master’s program in yesterday’s post. Read it HERE. I decided to survey the spiritual health of our church by asking a cross-section of people questions about their own spiritual maturity and growth.
Specifically this research will attempt to measure:
- What contributes to a person’s spiritual growth most?
- What has caused or will cause them to want to take next steps in their spiritual growth?
I am asking people to answer the following questions:
- What do you believe is spiritual growth?
- Do you feel you are growing spiritually now? Why?
- What has caused your life to improve spiritually in the past? Were there key events/people/times? Can you explain?
- How has Grace Community Church influenced your spiritual growth since you began attending?
- What would help you grow more spiritually mature?
- What changes do you need to make to grow more spiritually?
- Are there any comments or thoughts you have about the church and what we are doing to spur people to “become growing followers of Jesus Christ”?
I am getting great responses so far. I will share some of my results in future posts.
Feel free to play along. How would you answer these questions?
Twitter: joe_sewell
says:
Got referred here by your more recent post on spiritual growth, but I'd like to join in, too.
1. What do you believe is spiritual growth?
Spiritual growth is growing spiritually. It's maturing in life in Christ, drawing closer to God in a fashion similar to how a married couple draws closer to each other (or should be, at least).
2. Do you feel you are growing spiritually now? Why?
Honestly, right now I am unsure of the answer to this question. I feel I am, but I'm not satisfied with my current level of spiritual growth & maturity. Not sure what I'm missing or why.
3. What has caused your life to improve spiritually in the past? Were there key events/people/times? Can you explain?
Solid applicable teaching of God's Word at church without the focus on what you do, but rather who you are. Teaching that cares about the individual, that encourages rather than criticizes. Having a group of people with whom I can share my journey, and who are interested in what I have to say, who can identify with a software engineer (I are one 🙂 ).
4. How has Grace Community Church influenced your spiritual growth since you began attending?
Let me turn this around to the 3 churches I've attended in my life. (Disclaimer: I was not "raised in a Christian home." More precisely, I was raised in a home that rejected the only church in our small town after the church leadership rejected my parents for legalistic reasons.) The first church I attended was a highly "liturgical" church run by the congregation; until the "end" the only reason I stayed there was because God wanted me there as a light. The second church was a Calvary Chapel megachurch, where I grew under real Scriptural teaching. The third church is also a Calvary Chapel, though smaller; I'm still working through some issues from the second church and with my past to say that I've been able to grow spiritually during the past few years, in spite of my current pastor's help.
5. What would help you grow more spiritually mature?
I wish I knew. Right now something's out of balance, but I have no idea what it is, and neither my pastor nor my wife has been able to determine what it is.
6. What changes do you need to make to grow more spiritually?
See above. I suppose spending less time on Facebook & Twitter wouldn't hurt, though that does help me come down from the stress & anxiety of the day. (I do have physiological problems that contribute to stress & anxiety, FWIW.)
7. Are there any comments or thoughts you have about the church and what we are doing to spur people to “become growing followers of Jesus Christ”?
KEEP CHRIST FIRST! Anything else is idolatry. That includes programs, ministries, edicts from the denomination, flakoid thoughts from "respected leadership," and the like. One thing I would tell both my previous churches is to get over yourselves. The "order of worship" is not God, and neither are the "5 C's" or the "performance" (both in terms of what gets recorded and/or transmitted to the satellite video campi, and what people are "doing" in "service"). Some find meaning in those. In the first case, I suppose that's OK, though I cannot comprehend it. In the second case, it has caused a shift in focus that will not be healthy in the long run. Return to your first love!
Thanks for answering!
I like what Cate had to say: I have always grown more quickly in times of trouble or great responsibility.
Twitter: joe_sewell
says:
That's interesting. For me times of trouble or "great responsibility" have caused me to fear all the more. I think it has something to do with old notions thrust upon me as a child that I couldn't be "good enough" for anything on my own. I am still "working through" all that and the notion that God doesn't abandon me to the consequences of my own stupidity and failure in my responsibilities (and in knowing what my God-given responsibilities are, vs. what I think they are).
Interesting. I hadn't considered that perspective. Thanks for sharing. God certainly doesn't abandon us!