Wise preachers and teachers in every age understand that growth in faith happens gradually, one step at a time. Today we turn to the apostle Paul, the most successful Christian preacher of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul\u2019s life and message can be summed up in one word: conversion<\/em>. He experienced a profound\nconversion to Jesus, not only once on the road to Damascus, but each and every\nday of his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul boldly proclaims, \u201cI have been crucified with Christ; I\nlive no longer I, but Christ lives in me\u201d (Galatians 2:20-21). For Paul, every\nday was a dying and rising with Jesus: Christ living in him and he living in\nChrist. Saul of Tarsus encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He\ntook on a new name and new identity, and his life would never be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This new identity is not simply a \u201cme-and-Jesus\u201d existence. We become fellow members of the one Body of Christ. Notice what Jesus says to Saul on the road: \u201cSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?\u201d (Acts 9:4). He does not say \u201cmy followers\u201d or \u201cmy friends\u201d\u00a0 but me<\/strong><\/u>. To be a disciple of Jesus is to co-exist in Christ as one whole person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We exist organically as members of the one risen and\nascended Body of Christ. Little by little, we become fully alive as members of that\nBody. It is a gradual and lifelong process. Paul understood that point. His\nprimary task was always his own conversion: \u201cIt is not that I have\nreceived it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my\npursuit in hope that I may receive it, since I have indeed been received by\nChrist Jesus\u201d (Phil 3:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Letter to the Ephesians speaks often of the \u201cfullness\u201d\nof Christ. There is a gradual and dynamic growth into that fullness, until at\nlast God\u2019s plan of salvation comes to perfect completion. The entire human race\n(those willing anyway) and the whole cosmos will be brought into perfect unity\nunder the headship of Christ. He will become all in all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, conversion is all about growing reception and receptivity. We earnestly strive to receive more and more from on high. We receive and give help from and to each other. And most importantly, we are received, taken up into this heavenly Body of Christ that is always beyond us, beckoning us daily to come further up and further in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At any given moment, each of us receives and is received\ninto this fullness as much as we can. But our capacity for reception depends\nupon our depth of desire, our freedom, and our willingness to cut out the\nthings that are blocking our receptivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means that we need different kinds of care and\ndifferent moments. Paul explains the gentle nurturing that is so often needed\nin the early stages of conversion. While we are still spiritual infants, we\nneed milk rather than solid food (1 Cor 3:1-2). And hopefully we remember the\nsame when it is our turn to nurture the faith of others, whether our own\nchildren or the adult members of our churches who are only just beginning to relate\nto Jesus as a real person. Paul explains to the Corinthians that he guided\nthem, not \u201cwith a stick,\u201d but \u201cwith love in a spirit of gentleness\u201d (1 Cor\n4:21), for he is their father in Christ Jesus through his preaching of the\nGospel to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But notice the next point. As Paul proceeds in a spirit of\nlove and gentleness, he urges them to use a stick \u2013 figuratively anyway \u2013 by\ncasting out from their midst the man who is living with his father\u2019s wife. And\nhe urges them not to associate with the sexually immoral, idolaters, revilers,\ndrunkards, or robbers. He concludes pointedly, \u201cDrive out the wicked person\nfrom among you\u201d (1 Corinthians 5:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This whole “gradualness” thing is complex! On the one hand, our shared membership in Christ constantly impels us to receive one another as Christ has received us (Romans 15:7),\u00a0 and to be receptive to those who are weak (Romans 14:1, 15:1). Yet there are also moments when we have a duty to hold others accountable and impose consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n