Goal of Discipleship - Becoming a Self-feeder

Trinity Presbyterian Church exists to do everything within our power to grow new Christ-followers, and to help all Christ-followers become fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.

That's why we do what we do.

But there's something that the church and the maturing Christ-follower must understand.

There comes a point when the church can no longer be the primary way for a maturing disciples to continue growing. In fact, if that maturing disciple is dependent upon the church for providing the spiritual experiences and the tools necessary for continued growth, they will always find that church lacking.

You see, after a certain point in one's journey with Jesus Christ, one must learn to become a self-feeder.

When a baby is born, all their needs to be met by others. They need to be fed, they need to be taken care of. But as that baby grows up to be a child, he needs to learn to feed himself. And certainly by the time he is an adult, if he has not learned how to feed himself, and learn the skills to know how to provide for himself, he will go hungry and will be a leech to society.

It's no different with a Christian. A new Christian will need to be fed and cared for. But that new Christian will have to learn the skills necessary to start feeding themselves. And as they continue to mature, they will have to learn the skills necessary to provide for himself. And by the time the maturing Christian reaches the maturity level of being a self-feeder, the church becomes less important for their spiritual growth. In fact, the church becomes the place where they begin serving and giving. And it is through the serving and giving that they mature even more.

As long as people look to the church to help them mature and be satisfied as a believer, they will remain baby Christians. And you will know when you're with baby Christians, when all you hear is, "Feed me, take care of me, love me, hold me, teach me, me, me, me, me, me!"

The goal of Christian discipleship is to help people move from being baby-Christians to become self-feeders. It is the self-feeders who help feed and take care of the first-time Christ-followers. And when this pattern continues to replicate itself, the church grows. There is health and vitality in the life of the church.