In 2004, a team of researchers from the ministry staff of Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago began surveying their congregation to determine whether it is possible to measure spiritual growth. They tested and expanded their initial results by surveying congregations across the county.
They concluded that measuring spiritual growth is possible, and discovered a spiritual continuum, a framework that can serve as a powerful predictive description of how people grow spiritually. The four segments of the spiritual continuum are:
- Exploring Christ: These people have a basic belief in God, but they are unsure about Christ and his role in their lives.
- Growth in Christ: These people have a personal relationship with Christ, but they are just beginning to learn what it means and what it takes to develop a relationship with him.
- Close to Christ: These depend on Christ every day, and turn to him daily for help and guidance for the issues they face.
- Christ Centered: These people identify their relationship with Christ as the most important relationship in their entire lives and see their lives as fully surrendered to Jesus.
Now the drivers of this research, Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, have developed a new dimension to their research by exploring how people grow spiritually and move from one segment of the spiritual continuum to another. They have identified essential beliefs, attitudes, and practices that move people from one segment to the next. They explore these results in their book Move.
As our congregation has explored the ministry and teachings of Jesus this year from Luke’s Gospel, we have seen this kind of growth movement take place in the early followers of Jesus — his apostles and other disciples. Jesus called the likes of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew when they were spiritual novices. As they grew he gave them more responsibility, sending them out two-by-two to minister.
As the Twelve grew in their faith, others — people like Mary Magdalene and Zacchaeus — began to follow Jesus and their faith began to develop. Jesus would then send a group of seventy out to minister around the countryside. When we arrive at the end of the Gospels and the beginning of Acts, Jesus ascends into heaven and places the responsibility for ministry with his followers who minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now Jesus has placed that responsibility in our hands. We need to keep on growing in our faith, moving from one segment on the spiritual continuum to the next, without getting stuck in the middle someplace. I have only given you to the briefest of information into Move’s spiritual continuum, but you can pray and meditate over where you are in your spiritual growth. Don’t depend on others for your spiritual growth. Spend daily time in Bible study, devotions, and prayer. Move from exploring Christ to growing in Christ to getting close to Christ to becoming Christ centered.
