Growing in Favor with God and Others

Introduction

After reading Luke 2:52 in different Bible translations, I settled on a favorite rendition of the verse: “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52 Amp. I love the fact that this rendition shows the continuous growth process that Jesus went through. John Gill, in his exposition of this passage, expresses the same sentiment saying, “as he grew in body, the faculties of his soul opened and received gradually large measures of wisdom and knowledge, in things natural and spiritual, through the indwelling of his divine nature in him, and the Holy Spirit that was, without measure, on him”[1]

George Hillman presents the concepts of primary and functional callings or purposes. Hillman says our primary calling is to a living and dynamic relationship with God while our functional calling is how we live out the primary calling in daily life.[2] Hillman’s callings provide a framework for the creation of my guiding purpose statement.

Pamela King’s piece helped shape my vision of being and becoming the unique human being that God has created me by living in relationship with God and others. She says, “Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God, and becoming like Christ as distinct persons is God’s intention for all of humanity. How humans are conformed to Christ occurs through and results in mutual, reciprocal relations with God, humans, and creation.”[3]

Continuing to build within this framework, John Ortberg opened my eyes to see practical ways of moving from “the me that I am today” to “the me I want to be.” He encourages us to stop trying to grow like the preacher who teaches us but find out how to grow us. He beautifully brings this point across when he writes, “Trying to grow spiritually without taking who you are into account is like trying to raise children on an assembly line.”[4] Ortberg’s rich text provides wide ranching guidance from being vulnerable in relationships to demystifying walking with the Holy Spirit.

R. Jason Brunt reminds us that the “body, mind, and spirit are interdependent”[5] when it comes to spiritual transformation. Considering the fact that spiritual transformation involves ongoing change brought about by renewing the mind and learning to behave in life-giving ways within the context of relationships with God and others, Andrew Sidel’s exhortation on the role of leadership in spiritual formation reminds that personal leadership (at an individual level) and servant leadership (at an interpersonal level) are indispensable to my growth and maturation into the image of Christ.[6]

Bob Kellemen’s piece helped me make sure I neither was flying on the wind of corporate imitation approaching my sanctification process as a business project nor was I being too dogmatic and trying to use only terms and processes that have precedence in the Bible. Instead, when faced with “extra-biblical terms,” I was of asking myself and of my teachers who were presenting new ideas to me, “Is the person defining their word/phrase biblically and providing biblical support for their usage?”[7] That is important because at first glance, having a guiding purpose statement and seeking to grow very intentionally may seem like something that is not modeled clearly in the Bible as much as simply following the leading of the Holy Spirit. However, a closer examination shows that such an approach is very biblical. As Dr. Kellemen would advise, I engage my teacher’s work specifically from the definitions and the developments of the terms they use.[8]

The above together with SMC #1, the video lecture by Dr. Rice, and the video lecture by Dr. Nichols helped me in creating the following guiding purpose statement and definition of growing in favor with God and others.

1) My Guiding Purpose Statement

A) The guiding purpose statement sentence.

• Guiding purpose statement (GPS) for primarily growing in favor with God: I want to be an imitator of Christ
• Complete the GPS draft including Hillman’s notion of functional purpose-calling: “Seeking to be an imitator of Christ, I am committed to becoming a supportive husband.”

B) The guiding purpose statement explanation.

How will my GPS govern and support my process of growing in favor with God within this predetermined relationship?

• My guiding purpose statement will provide orientation, direction, and order in the pursuit of growth in my relationship with my wife.
• The fact that it starts with Hillman’s primary calling will help remind me that my most important calling is to belong to God and live in an ever-growing relationship with him.[9] As Jesus taught in Matthew 22:36-40, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. All the law and the prophets hang on that truth. From that love for God then flows love for others (including my wife in this case).
• The second part is Hillman’s functional calling and helps guide my relationship with my wife.
• For the last several years, I went through a medical residency and then started a busy medical practice. In the process, I have sometimes by necessity not been able to support and serve my wife as I should. Without a guiding purpose statement and deliberate process to achieve that goal, it may never happen.

 2) My Definition for Growing in Favor with God & Others

 A) The definition.

What does it mean to grow in favor with God and others?

Growing in favor with God and others means:

• Living in a right relationship with God. This is primary calling, as Hillman calls it.
• Living in right relationships with others and with the rest of creation. This is Hillman’s secondary calling.
• Learning to live by his design rather than my defaults. This is living a life that flows from my relationship to Christ and involves fully using the gifts and talents that God has given me as discussed by Hillman.
• Moving towards the Me God has designed that I should become.

To grow in favor with God and others requires a consistent integration of the following:

• An intentional guiding purpose statement
• Diligent process of growth (i.e., a 4-phase story-tuning framework)
• Divine provisions such as the body, the word of God, the Spirit of God, and meaningful fellowship with others.

   B) A brief explanation of the terms used.

Growing in favor with God and others, in other words, means to grow spiritually and socially. This is part of the four dimensions growth; the others being growing physically and psychologically (mentally and emotionally). As Dr. Rice mentions in SMC #1, this transformation must be of the total person, not just one aspect.

Hillman says, “Your divine design reveals God’s call on your life.”[10] He contends that our uniqueness, talents (natural and spiritual gifts), personality, and passions help us know our calling. He even says, “ministering out of who you are is the only real key to Spirit-empowered effectiveness and joy.”[11] God has a unique design for each of us that includes how he has shaped and gifted each of us. Yet, God’s design for how we live and grow and become conformed to the image of Christ is not limited to how he has made it. Beyond that, as Dr. Rice mentions in his SMC #1 PowerPoint, “primarily, we have been designed to be in a relationship with Jesus.”

To grow consistently into the image of Christ within a specific relationship, I need a guiding purpose statement that inspires and guides me, a diligent process that involves a 4-phase story-tuning framework, and divine provisions such as the body, the word of God, the spirit of God, and meaningful company.

Bibliography

Brunt, R. Jason. “The Role of Embodied Cognition in Performing the Word of God.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 35, no. 3 (2016), 242-253.

Gill, John. “An Exposition of the New Testament.” Bible Hub. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/luke/2.htm.

Kellemen, Bob. “Ask the Counselor: What About ‘Spiritual Formation? and ‘Spiritual Disciplines??” RPM Ministries. Last modified March 9, 2012. https://www.rpmministries.org/2012/03/ask-the-counselor-what-about-spiritual-formation-and-spiritual-disciplines/.

King, Pamela E. “The Reciprocating Self: Trinitarian and Christological Anthropologies of Being and Becoming.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 35, no. 3 (2016):  215-232.

Ortberg, John. The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010.

Pettit, Paul. Foundations of Spiritual Formation: A Community Approach to Becoming Like Christ. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2008.