避免停滯不前的增長Avoiding Stagnated Growth
[每日靈修] 9/28/2018, 駱鴻銘編譯
美國有數百萬兒童開始上鋼琴課。我就是其中之一。八歲的時候，我展開了一個虎頭蛇尾的音樂生涯。我的老師用古老而尊貴的約翰•湯普森（John Thompson）教學系列的第一卷、第一課，把鍵盤的魔力介紹給我。第一課很簡單。整本第一冊也是如此。我確信我是以創紀錄的時間，飛快地彈完了整本書。幾週後我完成了第一卷，並開始彈第二卷。五年後，我放棄了鋼琴課。我當時還在彈第二卷。缺乏認真的練習和紀律，我到達一個學習的停滯期，無法往前更進一步。我和成千上萬的孩子一樣，中斷了鋼琴的學習。
作為一名神學院學生，我決心重起爐灶。一年後，我可以演奏蕭邦（至少一曲）。神學院後我搬走了，不再去上鋼琴課。我當時充滿自信，以為即使沒有老師的幫助，我自己也可以進步。事情並不如預期。結果，我只能彈奏已經熟悉的曲子，無法練習新曲子的困難部分。我到達一個新的停滯期，陷入到我在約翰•湯普森第二卷時所遇到的同樣困境。
我音樂災難的故事，說明了我們在眾多努力中的典型特徵。當我們看見在基督徒成長中也出現同樣的模式時，尤其悲慘。許多人滿有天賦地開始了基督徒的生活。他們學習一些聖經經文，粗略地讀了新約聖經，參加傳福音的速成課程，學習一些敷衍了事的禱告，然後就在一個停滯成長的高原上安穩下來。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
你的靈命如今何在？你是否已經陷入到停滯不前的屬靈成長的高原？
進一步研讀：
彼前二2 就要愛慕那純淨的靈奶，像才生的嬰孩愛慕奶一樣，叫你們因此漸長，以致得救。
帖後一3 弟兄們，我們該為你們常常感謝神，這本是合宜的；因你們的信心格外增長，並且你們眾人彼此相愛的心也都充足。
彼後三18 你們卻要在我們主救主耶穌基督的恩典和知識上有長進。願榮耀歸給他，從今直到永遠。阿們！
Avoiding Stagnated Growth
Millions
of children in the United States begin piano lessons. I was one of them. At age
eight, I embarked on a musical career that featured a blazing start and a
whimpering finish. My teacher introduced me to the magic of the keyboard with
the first lesson of the first volume of the ancient and venerable John Thompson
instruction series. The first lesson was simple. So was the entire first book.
I raced through it in what I was sure was record time. In a matter of weeks I
finished Volume I and began Volume II. Five years later, I quit taking piano
lessons. I was still in Volume II. I had reached a plateau of difficulty and
could not progress further without serious practice and discipline. I became a
piano dropout like millions of other children.
As a
seminary student, I resolved to start again. After a year, I could play Chopin
(at least one piece). I moved away after seminary and ceased taking piano
lessons. I was confident that I could progress on my own without the aid of a
teacher. It didn’t work. I wound up playing the songs I already knew and could
not bring myself to practice the difficult sections of new ones. I had reached
a new plateau, but I was as stuck on that one as I had been in Volume II of
John Thompson.
The
story of my music woes is an illustration of what is typical of us in a
multitude of endeavors. It is particularly tragic when we see the same pattern
emerging in Christian growth. Multitudes start the Christian life with a flair.
They learn a few Bible verses, make a cursory reading of the New Testament,
take a crash course in evangelism, learn a few perfunctory prayers, and then
level off on a plateau of stagnated growth.
Coram
Deo
Where
are you spiritually? Have you leveled off at a plateau of stagnated spiritual
growth?
Passages
for Further Study
1
Peter 2:2
2
Thessalonians 1:3
2
Peter 3:18