Don Demeter — Growing in
Grace
I am the real vine, my Father is the vine-dresser. He removes any of my branches which are not bearing fruit and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit to increase its yield. Now, you have already been pruned by my words. You must go on growing in me and I will grow in you. For just as the branch cannot bear any fruit unless it shares the life of the vine, so you can produce nothing unless you go on growing in me. I am the vine itself, you are the branches. It is the man who shares my life and whose life I share who proves fruitful. John 15:1-5
How do you grow in this Christian life?
First of all, you can't grow if you've never been born. Many people are trying to grow in the spirit who have never been born in the spirit. This is hard work and futile. Conversion is an absolute necessity. You must become "a new creature" through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the beginning.
But what then?
The Scriptures tell us that Jesus called His disciples "that they might be with him." And in fellowship with Him, they drew their strength. This is still the way Christians grow. They grow in and through their fellowship with Jesus Christ. This is not a static relationship. It is dynamic.
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As we move out in fellowship with Him to do His will, we find that even disappointments and difficulties help us to mature.
Many times during my baseball career, I've been tempted to be discouraged by setbacks. But God has made an occasion for spiritual growth out of each disappointment. ". . . The trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:3). I don't consider myself a natural-born orator. Far from it. Many times I've been tempted to back out of a speaking engagement in which I had an opportunity to witness for my faith. But I've been bolstered by God's words to Moses, "Who hath made man's mouth? . . . Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus 4:11-12). Every time I have gone ahead in spite of my fears, trusting Him, I've been blessed. And I believe I've grown in spirit.
Through the years God has used certain people to help me grow. Bill Stevens, a lifelong friend of mine, is one such person. Bill was a Christian when I met him. His life and his family led me to the Lord. I saw in Bill's family what I wanted for myself — a family united in Christ.
In recent years I've been blessed through my friendship with Bobby Malkmus, a teammate on the Phillies club. When we're on the road, we often get together to pray and talk about the things in life that are most important. We have found the greatest power for our lives in the Word of God.
My wife Betty has been a strong influence for good in my life. During the four years of our marriage, we have read the Bible and prayed together nearly every day I haven't been out of town.
Both of us have Sunday school classes in the
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Exchange Avenue Church in Oklahoma City and when we're home, we enjoy discussing the lesson for each upcoming Sunday. One of the regrets I have about professional baseball is the fact that I miss out on the fellowship of the home church for part of every year.
Bible study is another important aid to growth as a Christian. All one winter in Oklahoma City, a group of us met each morning at seven in the Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Mrs. W.O. Merrill, an elderly lady who is a real student of the Scriptures, took us verse by verse through the Book of Genesis. We were two and a half months getting through it. Then we went on to Exodus. During that winter, I realized how little I knew about the Bible. I determined to spend the rest of my life in a systematic study of it. The whole experience of that winter helped me to grow as a Christian and to yearn for more growth. I am convinced that Christians would do more if they knew more of God's Word. If young people have trouble understanding the Bible, they must remember that it was written by men inspired by the Holy Spirit. This means that we must also be in tune with the Holy Spirit to receive its riches for our lives.
Prayer is still another means of growth. As we confess our sins to God, praise Him and make our petitions, we get to know Him better. We grow in our appreciation of His ways. We learn to pray things through until He makes the matter clear.
One caution: some people feel that the Christian life is begun with a tremendous experience in which God "charges" us like a battery. Then we're on our own until we "run down." Prayer, witnessing, and Bible reading are thought of as separate exercises that "charge" us spiritually.
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Actually our spiritual growth is "organic." It depends upon a vital, living relationship, day by day, with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the vine itself, you are the branches" (John 15:5). It's hard to think of a more organic kind of union than the vine and its branches. It suggests that as branches we draw our very life from the main trunk of the vine.
And what, finally, is the purpose of all this growing? "It is the man who shares My life and whose life I share who proves fruitful" (John 15:5).
Fruitfulness!
If we are going to be Christians, we want to be effective Christians. We want our life to count. We want to influence others to join us in discipleship. We want to make an impact on the secular world around us. We want to glorify God during the short time we have been given on earth.
We can only do this as we grow spiritually!
Prayer
Lord, give me a greater desire to live a dedicated Christian life. Make my fellowship with Your Son a vivid reality in my life. Keep me in such union with Him in all that I do that I may experience spiritual growth and become more effective in my discipleship. I ask it in His name. Amen.
Don Demeter was an outfielder with the 1959 World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers; played with five other teams including the Philadelphia Phillies where he batted .307 in 1962 with 29 home runs. Advisory Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
