Leadership Thought: Are You Maintained or Moving Forward like the Emu and the Kangaroo?

Dear Friends,

Let me ask you a personal question. “How’s your spiritual growth?” What are you doing today to be spiritually different than you were yesterday? 

The writer of Hebrews challenges us to “leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity”  (Hebrews 6:1). Preceding these words, the writer chides believers about their lack of spiritual growth with these rather harsh words: “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, by this time you ought to be teachers; you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil”  (Hebrews 5: 11- 14).

As I reflected on these comments, I wondered if we were to measure our spiritual growth beginning with our conversion, what would our spiritual growth chart reveal about our growth and development? Would we see a spiritual flatten line, or would we see upward growth, and if so, would it be minimal or dramatic? How much have we grown during the last few years of our spiritual life? Has our growth leveled off or are we still seeing a pattern of consistent spiritual growth? Only you and I can answer that question, but my hope is that each of us can say we are moving forward, and that our spiritual growth has not been stunted or arrested.

Believers' lives should be marked by forward progress. We should be accepting new challenges that  stretch our faith, rather than resting and reclining in some spiritual armchair. Our prayer life should be more effective, our study of the word should be more diligent, and our service of others should be more noticeable.

The believer will never make progress by looking back at where he has been, but he must be constantly looking forward to the goal of what he is to become, a mature saint who is daily being formed and fashioned into the likeness of his Savior.

The emu is an interesting bird. It is native to Australia. In fact, it is portrayed with the kangaroo on the Australian coat of arms. It is a large bird that cannot fly. Both the kangaroo and the emu were chosen to appear on the Australian coat of arms because of one common characteristic- neither can move backwards. If an emu, with its big three toed feet, tries to go backward, it will fall over. And the kangaroo is kept from going backwards by its long tail. As a result, they can only go forward, thus portraying the spirit of Australia.

Juan Carlos Ortiz, whose writing has significantly impacted my understanding of discipleship, shares the following story in his book Disciple. He tells of a university student who was saved in his church. The student related how he took off spiritually like a rocket. He said, “The first six months I was learning continually in the church. After six months I found out that I had got to the point that I knew everything that everyone else knew. I knew about the great tribulation, the new birth, the Trinity, but from then on I was only maintained.”

How sad it must be for Jesus to see his followers’ content with just being maintained. As Christians we are under construction. I want to be like the seasoned saint I knew who signed her letters, “Yours aged 83 and still growing.”

What would you like engraved on your tombstone? How about, “He finally ran out of breath.” I hope that when I die, it will be said of me, "Tom was still running, still growing, still learning, still serving, still moving forward like the Emu and the Kangaroo, for who in his right mind would want only to be maintained?

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S. "Sanctification is like riding a bicycle, either you keep moving forward or you fall down."