Stretch pants.  I hate them!  I just have to say that on the front end of this blog.  I don’t understand the concept behind stretch pants.  I picture some guy in a creative meeting saying, “Okay, I’ve got this idea for pants.  These aren’t normal pants.  These are special pants.  These are pants that anyone can wear.  They move with you…I call them stretch pants.  And the best part is that one size fits all.“  Now don’t get me wrong, certainly some folks can rock them and they wear them well, but then there’s the rest of the world that shouldn’t be caught dead in them.  It doesn’t matter how much spandex you put in them suckers one size can never fit all.

This past week I spoke about spiritual growth during our weekend series.  As I was on stage speaking I found the words, “stretch pant spirituality” coming out of my mouth.  I was explaining how there is no “one size fits all” approach to growing spiritually.

There are many myths floating around about spiritual growth.  Some people treat spiritual growth as an education where the focus is to complete consecutive classes.  If you pass 101, 201, 301, & 401 then you are mature.  What happens to the dropouts?

Some believe that spiritual growth is a formula.  20 minutes of prayer + 1 chapter of Bible reading - rock n roll music = spiritually mature.  I’m not sure that is it either.

Call me crazy but I believe we can learn alot from Jesus.  He took 12 ordinary guys and launched a revolution that has crossed continents, languages, traditions, and absolutely rocked the face of the world as we know it.  The question becomes, “how did Jesus take these 12 goobers and turn them into guys who were willing to risk life and limb for the cause?”  In other words, “how did Jesus grow these guys into mature believers?”

On The Job Training 

That’s it!  Jesus never sat them down and took them through a class.  He never spelled out a formula.  He simply said, “follow me.”  The disciples apprenticed Jesus.  They saw how he prayed.  They saw how he loved.  They saw how he fasted.  They saw how he reacted to challenges and opposition.  They walked step by step with Jesus and in the process began to reflect more of Jesus and less of themselves.

The more I learn about people the more convinced I am that there is no “one size fits all” approach to growing as a believer.  At Lifepoint, our goal is not to standardize everyone into one mold but to embrace our unique identities and to help people get into relationships where they can walk with others toward becoming like Jesus.

And…please, please, please…no more stretch pants!

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