Southern Baptists don’t do everything right, but we do a lot of things pretty well.
For instance, we do evangelism pretty well. You can’t be around a good Southern Baptist for more than five minutes without hearing about "being born again."
But what you won’t hear as much about is “growing again.” For however well we do in evangelism, we do as poorly in discipleship. And that’s a problem.
We don’t live in a world that’s safe for children. No responsible parent would leave his or her child alone in our neighborhoods. It’s just not safe. In the same way, it’s not a safe world for baby Christians.
The challenges of our world (from the breakdown of the family to the engagement with different faiths) demand a growing, mature, and vital faith. This means an intentional and determined study of Scripture to know Jesus as fully as we can and apply His teachings to our living.
Every day, we must grow deeper and stronger in what we believe and who we are in Christ. The challenge before us is just too tough for a shallow and immature understanding of Jesus.
Yes, being born again is vitally important, but so is growing again. After all, growing again is the whole point of being born again.
