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This week, Ed began a discussion in church about the stages we think people progress through as they grow in their walk with God.  The five stages we have identified are spectator, passenger, voyager, hiker and trail blazer.  These are descriptions of a process that we have seen.  We recognized, for example, that people who are new to the idea of a faith community don’t come to a church, decide they want to continue on their journey with God, sign up for 15 ministries, join a Journey Group, establish a covenant group and ask about mentoring opportunities all in their first week.  Aren’t we brilliant?

Seriously, though, when a person first starts thinking through what he believes about God, he often starts by watching.  He starts noticing who in his community identifies themselves as a person of faith.  He might come to a worship service or two.  He might visit different houses of worship from different faiths or in different cultures.  He might ask a question or two to someone he knows and trusts. 

At some point, our spectator will likely identify a need in his life.  Either something will rise to the surface, or a crisis will occur.  If he finds that God seems to have some of the answers, or that those who claim to be followers of Christ understand and are willing and able to help him with his need, then he often will begin to learn more about that community of faith.  He might begin attending worship services more frequently.  He will usually begin developing friendships with people he meets on Sunday mornings or at Journey Group.  As he learns a little more about being on a journey with God, he might decide, “Yes, that’s something I want to do.  I want to see how this God who met my need works.  What does He want?  What is He like?”

Our spectator just became a passenger.  No one told him, “Hey, you really need to get a move on and ascend the ladder of holiness and perfection so you can be a passenger.”  The transition from spectator to passenger was one that he made as he grew in his walk with God.  We recognized a change and gave it a name.  The concerns I heard on Sunday morning included: we are putting people into a box and we’re judging people by giving them labels.

Not at all.  What we’re trying to do is to identify what Spiritual Growth looks like.  We want to recognize what triggers people to want to grow closer to God.  And as people grow closer with God, what are the milestones?  What decisions or changes or discoveries can we celebrate?  What opportunities can we, as a community, offer to encourage growth?  What can we encourage each person in our community to do on their own to discover where they want to grow and what that will look like?

What do you think about the spectator to trail blazer idea?  Can you identify points in your life or events that encouraged you to seek after God in a way you had never done before?  Will you share them here?

- Written by Alicia Hemphill

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.