A Long "Becoming"

When I was growing up, I was blessed to have a best friend who was a giant of faith: my grandfather. For three years of my childhood, my family lived out-of-state, and when we finally relocated back home, we lived with my grandparents for a few months while searching for a new house. I can clearly remember being with my grandfather at church any time the doors were open and watching him spend the early morning in the Word daily. Looking back, I can still remember how proud he was the day I was baptized as a 7-year-old. He passed away shortly after we moved into our new home.

Many of us have a person we looked to that helped us understand how to live life as a Christian. But do you think that person considered him or herself the “giant of faith” that we did? It’s not likely. As long as we have breath, we will compare ourselves to others in some way or another. When we’re young, we compare our Christian life to an older saint, realizing how far we have to go. This person becomes our model. And as we get older, the tendency to compare our spiritual life to others remains. While the enemy can use this to discourage us, wouldn’t it be better to shift the comparison? Rather than comparing ourselves to others, why consider the difference between who we used to be and who we are becoming? Much of the Christian life is one big becoming. How is your life in Christ different today from 10, 20, or 30 years ago? A growing Christian will have remembrance of “God moments” throughout life that serve to further anchor him in Jesus.

Even as a boy, Jesus prioritized his relationship with God above any other relationship. Recall the story of twelve-year-old Jesus going M.I.A. for three days, only to be found in the Temple, hanging out with the priests? I can imagine Mary and Joseph shaking their head in wonder…who was this kid going to become, anyway!? As a veteran youth pastor, I can tell you from experience that when kids go missing, it’s not because they’re hanging out at church with their pastor. But this is exactly what Jesus is doing.

In church, we often focus on Jesus’ divinity…he was the God-man. But let’s not lose sight of his humanity. According to Luke 2:52, it took time for Jesus to grow and mature as a young man, and this also included growth in his relationship with God. Becoming was a part of His story, too. While this may seem like a mystery, let’s not get lost in the details. The point I’m trying to make is that if Jesus had to intentionally take time to grow in relationship to the Father, so do we. In the Gospels, Jesus continually seeks out solitude for prayer and time with God (Matthew 14:13, Mark 1:35, Luke 6:12, John 6:15). Knowing God is a lifelong pursuit—Jesus demonstrates this both as a boy and a man. When we were young, many of our “faith giants” were older. Maybe it’s just because they had been doing life with Christ a long time. Let this encourage us to know that if we truly pursue Him daily, we will develop a faith that is more like Jesus’.

So, consider, who is there in your life that needs an example to follow? The Bible continually demonstrates examples of spiritual mentorship. And most of the time, it’s nothing fancier than having a younger person in whom you invest for the purpose of helping them know Jesus. For me, at times it was as simple as being in the room with my grandfather while he was living-out his faith by example. At other times, ordinary people came alongside me, teaching me by their example, or encouraging me to serve the church. Some simply told me stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives or were consistently present, serving in the background of the children’s and youth ministries at church. As a kid, when adults you trust exemplify a faithful day-to-day walk with Christ, you’re given an example to follow. As they get older, kids can get intimidated and overwhelmed by the Bible. Isn’t it the instruction book with all the “supposed-tos” for the Chrisitan life? While growing up with Biblical literacy is a big deal, it’s also a big deal for every kid to have a person (or group of people) to emulate.

This week, as you inch forward into knowing God more, becoming less like your old self, and more like the new, consider who’s in your shadow that you can pull along with you. For some of us, it’s obvious—our kids or grandkids. For others of us, we may have to begin a relationship with a young person or new believer. No matter your life stage, Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19 has no expiration date. As long as we have breath, there is work to be done.