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Who Is Responsible for Spiritual Growth?

Growing spiritually is about changing. But creating an effective process to help people change can be challenging because people don’t always want to change. It’s challenging in a small group because people are at different places on their spiritual journeys. 

God of course is ultimately responsible for a person’s growth. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” But there are roles to be played by the individual, the small group, and the small-group leader, as well as the church. 

Let’s start with the obvious. Plain and simple, the individual has to own the process of personal growth. No one can make another person read truth, apply truth, and be changed by truth. The role of the individual is to stay engaged, stay curious, and stay in step with the Spirit along the way. 

The role of the group in an individual’s life is to support the growth process. We do this by applying the ABCs of group life: accountability, belonging, and care. We promote accountability by appropriately challenging one another. We encourage belonging by authentically connecting with one another. And we provide care by compassionately serving one another.

The group leader has the opportunity to encourage the growth process in the lives of fellow group members. They do this first by modeling how to grow. The apostle Paul encouraged the church at Corinth to “follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Leaders can also encourage growth by challenging group members to take the next step on their journeys. One of the best ways I’ve found to challenge people is by asking them open-ended questions like: How is God leading you right now? What are you doing about it? How can we help? 

Finally, the church partners in the growth process through training and equipping. Most people get this backward. They think it’s the church’s responsibility to own the growth process for people. But the problem with that way of thinking is that we can’t make people grow. All we can do is partner with them along the way—which is one of the greatest God-given privileges of our lives.

Why is it important that an individual take ownership for his or her spiritual growth?