The Kingdom of God and Spiritual Growth (1)
Many new believers in Jesus have questions: "what are the ways for spiritual growth after believing in Jesus? Do you go to church more?"
However, some believers who have been to church for 10, 20 years or more, still show no signs of spiritual growth. On the other hand, many believers serve fervently; yet face spiritual dryness, or live double lives. "Thank God" or "praise the Lord" are often on their lips, but when they return home, they are beyond recognition.
What is the reason? Maybe because there are too many distractions. We want to love God, but also want to chase after money or fame. We know to have devotion and read the Bible, but also want to read more newspapers or much social media browsing like Facebook or Instagram. We hope to concentrate on prayers, but worry about dinner at the same time. In addition to distraction, many times Christian churches, in general, preach the gospel that forgives sins or gives blessings only. This leads to churches that cultivate church attendees who seek merely blessings or the assurance of heaven, but fail to nurture disciples that Jesus required!
What is it really to become a disciple of the Lord? What does this have to do with spiritual growth? Let's take a look at a common theme in the Old Testament. Different books of the Old Testament appear to have a similar saying: "I will be your God and you will be my people." (Exo 6:7; Lev 26:12; Jer 30:22; Eze 11:20; Zec 8: 8) The relationship between God and His people mentioned in the Old Testament extends all the way to us as believers today.
For us today, trusting in Jesus "has brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Col 1:13) and we have become "members of the household of God" (Eph 2:19). One of the main points of the Gospel books of the New Testament is talking about the Kingdom of God. There it mentions our priorities in life — "But seek first his kingdom" (Matt 6:33a). The Kingdom of God is also about God's presence — “And surely I am with you always" (Matt 28:18-20); and "the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luk 17: 20-21). All these show that the Kingdom of God has come, and we are already living in His Kingdom.
I hope in this series of pastoral letters to come, we will explore together the relationship between the Kingdom of God and discipleship.
神的國與靈命成長 (一)
許多初信耶穌的人都有疑問：「信了耶穌後，若靈命要成長，有哪些途徑？是否多到教會便是呢？」不過，倒有些到了教會十年、廿年或更久的信徒，靈命卻依然沒有長進。另一方面，也有不少熱心事奉的信徒，面對著靈命枯乾的情況，又或過著雙面人的生活；在教會裡常掛著「感謝神」、「讚美主」在咀邊，但回家後，卻面目全非。
原因是甚麼？可能因為有太多分心的事物。想愛神，但是又喜歡追逐金錢或名利；知道要靈修讀經，但又想多讀報章，或瀏覽Facebook或Instagram等社交媒體；希望專心祈禱，但卻為晚餐而煩惱。除了分心之外，很多時，一般基督教會所宣揚的，只是一個赦罪的福音，甚或是一個「幸福音」，以致養成很多只想尋求幸福，或得到上天堂憑據的「教堂參加者」，卻未能培育出耶穌所要求的門徒！
究竟成為主的門徒是甚麼一回事？這與靈命成長又有何關係？讓我們看看舊約聖經一個常見的主題。舊約不同的書卷，都出現差不多一樣的說話：「我要作你們的神，你們要作我的子民。」(出6:7; 利26:12; 耶30:22; 結11:20; 亞8:8) 舊約聖經提及神與祂子民的關係，一直延伸到我們現今信主的人。
對於今天的我們來說，信靠耶穌便被「遷到祂愛子的國裡」(西1:13)，成爲「神家裡的人了」(弗2:19)。新約福音書其中一個重點，是談及神的國。那裡提到我們的人生優次，「你們要先求祂的國」(太6:33)；神的國也關乎神的同在，「我就常與你們同在」(太28:18-20)；還有，「神的國就在你們心裡」(路17:20-21)。這些都說明神的國已來到，我們也已活在神的國裡。
盼望在這系列未來數篇的文章，與大家一同探討神的國與作主門徒的關係。
