The Spiritual Dojo

In today's culture, "growing" seems to be a hot topic. Whether it's in business, through self help books, or physically in a gym, the idea of growing seems to be on the rise. Unfortunately, too many Christians and churches don't have the same passion for growth. We want to be "better" Christians but don't know where to start or don't want to do what it takes. When I talk about growing, I don't mean larger church attendance or becoming busier for God. I am talking about personal growth.

I have many hobbies but one of my favorites is combat sports. I train in jiu jitsu, judo, MMA, and kickboxing. A lesson that is learned early on is that there are three elements to each to be successful: defense, offense, and endurance. It is essential to train hard and regularly to prepare for a fight. If the work isn't put in and steps aren't taken to improve, the fight will be lost or that belt won't be earned.

In martial arts, defense is so important. In fact, my jiu jitsu coach reminds us that it is a white belt's job to survive. There is an emphasis in defending against attacks. In boxing, we are taught first to keep our guard and defend against blows. Defense is extremely important, but in a fight or tournament, defense alone won't win the match; there must also be a good offense and attack. And in addition, neither will be possible if you are gassed in the first minute or two. There must be endurance to push through the match.

Our spiritual growth is much the same. We are to grow to be more like Christ, but in our growth, we need to learn to fight the devil. If we cannot defend against Satan's temptations, we will never become more like Christ. If we don't learn to attack Satan, he will continue to attack us forcefully. And if we don't have the endurance, Satan will continue to attack until we wear down and break. If you have ever been in a fight, you know that if you just stand there in defense, the attacker will continue to hit harder until he breaks you, but if you fight back on the offense, he realises that you know how to fight and that is exactly how we should grow. Second Peter, chapter one gives step by step, what it takes to grow and the first thing it mentions is that all the steps must be done in diligence. If we aren't persistent in our spiritual training and don't spend every day in the spiritual dojo, we won't grow to the capacity we need to fight Satan.

This all sounds good, but we still can't grow without the decision to grow. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says "when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." It takes a conscious decision to put away being a spiritual child and growing into a spiritual man. We ought to strive to grow more and more into mature Christians, ready to fight the evils the come to us.