To Grow or Not To Grow…

This morning I participated in four conversations in four hours that dealt with the growth and development of Christians.  There are a lot of books written on the subject.  If you are not in that arena and looking for them you may not be aware of that.  If you are a believer you are probably aware that there are a ton of books and “Bible Studies” published on line, in books, and on video each year.  Churches spend an enormous amount of money each year buying them to fill up their schedule with programs for the people in their communities.  The idea is that these programs will cause people to grow in their walk with God.  Not sure that they do.

Peter tells us that there is one essential for us to grow in 1 Peter 2:2.  He says we have to crave the Word of God as a newborn craves its mother’s milk.  You ever negotiated a feeding with a newborn?  You know the little tyke is hungry and is letting you know that in their normal manner, so you saunter over to the infant and say something like, “Junior, we are in the middle of a conversation here, we will be through in about 30 minutes, just be patient and we will get your bottle then.”  How would that work out for you?

In my experience the immediate world stops until that child is fed.  That is what Peter says, that attitude, that demand, that craving for God’s word is required for a believer’s growth in their faith.  As Prof Hendricks so succinctly put it, it is not optional, it is a requirement for survival.

The programs, books, recorded messages, etc. that we obtain to grow, while based on someone else’s study of the Word of God, are not the Word of God.  So that seems to beg the question, are those things going to cause us to grow like Peter says the Word of God will.

I have doubts.