If faith becomes a list you are missing it. If faith and how we measure growth is ran through a grid of, “are you’s” we are of course. If we begin with questions, then we better know the goal or the desired picture were are working towards. Many times after students leave high school, church attendance drops, reading the scriptures slacks and many of the “to do’s” get jostled and end up on the back shelf. (This is true for adults… when life just gets busy…we are all in this when it comes to faith) If our question is, “are you going to Church” and the answer is no…then we assume their not growing…we assume they just are not doing very well…or they are really not taking their faith seriously. If questions like, bible reading, prayer and church attendance are the metric then its game over for Christianity. People miss Church! People may not read everyday! My friend says, “I read my Bible everyday..except the days I miss”
The practices of the faith are not the end game! They are important and matter, but they do not complete the final picture. Whats is the picture? What was Jesus all about? “The Kingdom of God is near…there are so many stories that Jesus told about the Kingdom. He uses farmers, seeds, plants, animals, business men, and the lowly things of the world. It seems like we don’t know what a “christian is. Many times we will define it with a, “to do list” that includes, bible. prayer, going to Church..and then we add a bunch of “do not do’s” Don’t do bad stuff and you are good…
Does that seem shallow? Did Jesus die so that we could read our Bibles and go to Church? Don’t you think His dream was bigger?