When I moved to Hawaii in 2006 I was forced to trade my skiing for surfing. This wasn’t an easy trade. I’m a decent skier, but eight-year-old Hawaiian kids were continually showing me up on the waves. Actually, that's an exaggeration; my first few times surfing I was lucky to even make it out to waves–who knew the hardest part of surfing was paddling out? 

Another surprise came later. I’d finally learned to paddle out; the next step was to get to the right spot. I would try to position myself where I’d just seen waves break, but when the next waves came, I was always at least twenty feet from where I needed to be. I initially blamed the ocean for this inconsistency, but soon I learned it was me, not the ocean. While waiting for the next wave I would drift. I quickly learned how important it was to pick a few landmarks on the shore to track my position in the water. Surfing was even harder than I’d thought. I didn’t just have to paddle out to the waves; once there, I had to continually paddle to stay in the right spot. 

As we enter this new year, I’ve been struck by how easy it is to drift as a Christian. Perhaps when you first came to faith, or during certain seasons of your life, you felt as if you were paddling for your life. It was hard, but rewarding. But slowly things change; you aren’t paddling as much as you used to, and you sit up on your board to take a break. Without realizing it you've drifted, and no one drifts towards Christian maturity. 

We don’t drift towards physical fitness. We don’t drift into a good diet. We don’t drift towards strong and healthy relationships. It’s the same with our spiritual growth. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, the Apostle Paul compared his Christian life to a runner racing for the prize, or an athlete in a strict training regimen. His reminder is helpful. How many of us make goals and plans for our fitness, our finances, or other areas of our lives? These things are good, but in the end Paul reminds us that all these prizes will turn to dust; it’s only the pursuit of God that will last forever. What are you pursuing this year? Is it something that will last or turn to dust? 

Lately, I’ve found the threefold division of head, heart and hands as a helpful way to think of Chrisitan maturity. Perhaps this is reflected in God’s command to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut 6:4). Our head represents our intellect. Just as we want to know those we love–what they like and don’t like–we should also want to know God. All beauty in the world is a reflection of him, so why would we not want to study the infinitely beautiful one? Our heart is the seat of our worship, what we desire, and long for. What do we daydream about and shift our schedules to accommodate? Our hands represent our actions. What do we spend our time doing?  The answers to these questions tell us what we worship, or what distracts us from worship.

Many of us are naturally drawn to one or two of these areas. Perhaps we find it easy to read theology, but shy away from serving. Perhaps we find it easy to serve, but are intimidated by the word “theology.” But if we stay in those comfortable areas, we will be lopsided Christians. (Think of the guy at the gym with biceps the size of cantaloupes and calves like celery stalks.) True Christian maturity is the harmony of our head, heart and hands. This year I decided to arrange my spiritual goals in terms of my head, heart and hands. Perhaps you’ll find this helpful as well. Here are some ideas for each area.
 

Head 

• Pick a Christian book that you are a bit intimidated to read. The books on the book wall are a good place to start. If you want a bigger challenge, try a section of Calvin’s Institutes, Bavinck’s The Wonderful Works of God, or any number of Puritan classics.

• Commit to reading through the Bible this year, to reading one section multiple times, or to doing additional Bible study on one or two interesting topics.

• If you just read seven pages a day, four days a week, you will read over 1400 pages!

Heart 

• Commit to writing in a journal once or twice a month and reflect on the state of your heart. What are you longing for? What are you worshipping by how you spend your time, money or thoughts? Tim Lane and Paul Tripp in their book How People Change have a list of helpful questions that you could work through.

• Pray through the Psalms. Each week, set aside fifteen minutes to pick a Psalm and pray through it. Read a verse at a time and let it guide your prayers.

Hands 

• Our landmarks at JVC are a good place to start. Are you worshipping, praying, disciplining and sharing?

• Have you been faithful in worshiping with God’s people?

• How is your prayer life? Try to get more comfortable praying with others. Try to attend the pre-worship prayer time once a month.

• Whom are you discipling (helping to follow Jesus more)? Pick some of these goals with one or two other people; encourage each other and hold one another accountable through the year. Are you teaching your children about Jesus? Consider signing up for Metanoia ministries and help grade Bible studies from inmates.

• Are you sharing the gifts God has given you? Are you regularly giving to God’s church? Are you serving others in the church? Consider serving in one of the many areas we have needs (sound, welcome team, music, etc.). There are plenty of less structured ways to serve as well. Take a meal to someone who is sick, write a note of encouragement, invite someone over for dinner.

Even as I write this, I feel a bit overwhelmed. How can I do all this? It’s easy to be paralyzed–I could never do all of this!–and so we do nothing. But remember, something is better than nothing. Perhaps just pick one area to work on this year. I’d encourage you to pick the one that feels most daunting; that’s probably where you need to grow the most. 

But remember: we don’t work to grow in our Christian life to earn God’s favor. You have already been accepted by God through Christ. Now you pursue him  because he is worth it; at his hand are endless pleasures. The goal of Christian growth is to reflect the infinitely beautiful one more and more, and that’s a goal worth pursuing!

In Christ,
Pastor Jon