Are We Making a Difference?

Are we helping our members grow spiritually? Are they moving along the spiritual continuum as identified in the Reveal study:

• Exploring Christianity
• Growing in Christ
• Close to Christ
• Christ Centered

The Reveal study identified six key discoveries regarding the spiritual growth of their members.

1. Church activity alone made no impact on spiritual growth
2. Spiritual growth is about increasing closeness to Christ
3. The church’s role as a primary influence on spiritual growth becomes secondary as people move closer to Christ
   • Personal spiritual practices become more important than church for those more spiritually mature
     • Prayer
     • Journaling
     • Solitude
     • Bible study
4. Personal spiritual practices are key to a Christ-centered life
5. The more one grows, the more one tithes, serves and evangelizes
6. More than 25% of those surveyed considered themselves stalled or dissatisfied with the role of the church in their spiritual growth
   • Most dissatisfied members tend to be more Christ-focused
   • Most dissatisfied members were more likely to consider leaving the church
   • Most dissatisfied members want the church to hold them accountable and to keep them challenged

For the church to be able to better serve its members may mean to simply become better spiritual “parents” by showing them how to grow spiritually.

1. Help members realize that they have to look beyond the church to grow spiritually
2. Provide “coaching” in the development of spiritual practices
3. Incorporate life applications and week long activities into the sermon

If the church is to make a difference by helping its members grow spiritually, it will need to use impact on spiritual growth when evaluating programs. Questions that might be asked during the evaluation process might include:

• Go beyond asking “How many?”
  • How did this event/activity help people grow?
  • Which segment of people was this event/activity expected to help and did it actually help them
• Ask more than “How are you?
  • What’s helping you grow spiritually these days?
  • How is the church making a difference in your life?
  • What changes in the church would you like to see in order for you to grow more?
• Evaluate ministry based on perceived level of impact it is having on spiritual growth

I am one of those “dissatisfied” people. Fortunately, I have found Internet sermons that are helping me grow spiritually. I believe that our church could adapt some of the practices of those churches in order to make a difference with our congragation, including myself.

• Weekly memory verse
• Thoughts to ponder — two or three questions to discuss with others regarding the sermon
• Daily Bible study related to sermon topic
• Daily prayers related to sermon topic

Let’s make a difference!