Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 English Standard Version

Christianity is a wild faith.

Read the Acts of the Apostles and you will discover the apostles and early believers were living very adventurous lives for God and His Kingdom mission. We have somehow domesticated our faith into a religion of convenience and comfort. Instead of intentionally pursuing Jesus’ call to follow Him and walking in obedience, we are becoming enamoured consumers and connoisseurs of sensational spiritual hype and gimmicks.

Obedience is our love response to God’s gift of grace in Christ.

I have seen plenty of eager and enthusiastic believers lose their passion and forget their purpose. They settle down for a tame faith that doesn’t impact or influence their surrounding world but cosily adapts to it. They often give the excuse of changing priorities to justify losing their spiritual cutting edge. In doing so, they become anaemic in faith and vulnerable to Satan’s schemes.

Stagnancy and indifference are personal choices that limit God from doing what He can do with your life. This explains why the Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthians to imitate him as he imitates Christ. To be like Jesus is both the essence and expression of our Christian faith.

While the Corinthians love their large community and have a penchant for brilliant preachers, many remained spiritually stunted because they were more fascinated with spiritual gifts and experiences than knowing and appreciating what Jesus has done and developing a personal relationship with Him. This led to distrust, divisions and discords in the church.

If you are not growing as well as you want to, ask for help from other Christians. None of us will ever mature by ourselves. We need each other and we need community to grow healthily and faithfully. In learning to invest in each other’s lives and in each other’s calling—we become the kind of people God wants us to be.

It is only when Christ is at the very heart of our individual and corporate lives of faith that we are truly transformed into a welcoming community as His hands and His feet and His voice in the world.