Last blog, I reflected on the first Season of Faith: The Honeymoon Phase. After this comes the Growth Phase if faith is truly to survive the test that will inevitably come. This phase is marked by more rules and boundaries and black and whites. It’s a time of learning and putting new practices in place to reorient our old habits into new ones that help us live life with God at the center. It’s a time of learning, of trying new things, of developing a more disciplined spiritual life. Usually, we need more structure in this phase, and we often become a bit rigid and even judgmental of those not “getting serious” about God like we are.

When I was in this phase (before going through the next two phases) I was definitely feeling that “better than” or “good boy” sense of accomplishment from having regular (cannot miss) “quiet times” or “prayer times” or diligently studying or memorizing. This is actually good and important (we need to feel good about our diligence to persevere), but if we get stuck here, it can also lead to a kind of Religious Piety that is judged only by rules and outward appearances and looking-down-the-nose at those less inclined (Many of the Pharisees of Jesus day seemed to be stuck here).

I’ve seen people come to faith at Gateway who entered into this phase and became so black and white, they started feeling judgmental toward the very approach that helped them find faith, and left our church condemning us as heretical. I’ve since come to see that the first time we enter this phase (because these phases are not linear, but more cyclical in a spiraling upward kind of way), we need well defined paths and boundaries—it actually gives security to our faith. It’s okay for people to be more black and white first growing through this season.

It’s almost like the way children need rules and boundaries to feel secure, when they don’t have the maturity to see the deeper principles that govern the rules or boundaries. But that’s okay, it’s a phase. This is why we’ve clearly defined a spiritual formation path called Morph that helps people get intentional about growth (whether new to faith or those who have been “at it” for years, but who still do not have regular practices in place or a good working knowledge of the Scriptures). If the first growth phase is successful, we now understand more about who God is, who we are, and how life really works, so that the next phase does not sink our ship (though it almost always feels like it will!).

For me, I’ve realized that some of the practices I used to do almost legalistically, I have not done in years—like memorizing Scripture. I got a group of guys who I recently challenged to start memorizing, and it reminded me of how beneficial this has been over the years. Having God’s promises on your mind throughout the day—so I’m returning to that practice with them. What season are you in? Does this need to be a year of increased structure and discipline? Or have those structures become a legalistic act by which you judge yourself and others—is it time to give yourself permission to “chill” and pursue life with God outside the boundaries of the play-pen?