Leveling up in the faith?

I've been thinking about posting here for a while, but like everything it seems, I just keep on putting it off. But I want to keep this blog running. So here goes.

God has been teaching me a lot these days. Sometimes, though it feels like I have to learn the same lessons again and again. But thinking about it, if I had everything figured out as a college student, what would I have left to learn? And it's pretty arrogant to think I'll have all my ducks in a row. At the same time, it's frustrating to fight the same problems again and again after I thought I learned my lesson.

Unconsciously, I think I see my life as a video game. I mean, what does a video game have? In role-playing games(my favorite genre), you start out at level 0, they give you tutorials on how to do different game mechanics, and then, bit by bit, you level up and fight harder and harder opponents that get you closer to your goal of saving the world or whatever.

Your old weapons don't do anything against these enemies; you buy new ones or upgrade them. There's always something new and shiny. And there's music for whenever you win, as well as other rewards that keep you going. And when you go into old areas, it's a piece of cake to take on those enemies. One shot, one kill. It's a boost to your gamer ego.


In a way(if you stretch a bit), the whole leveling-up rewards system does correlate with our walk with Christ:

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." Ephesians 4:11-15

You go through the initial baby Christian stage and then eventually you need to mature in Christ or your relationship with God and thus everything else will stagnate and suffer. God never lets us out of his hands, but sanctification(or becoming like Christ) is a process, not an instant download. And the process actually shows you more and more of your depravity that you hadn't even thought of before.

This chart below is something I learned freshman year, and it shows that in sanctification, we are shown how Holy God is and how much we need his grace. So not the self-glorifying, self-sufficient RPG protagonist. The old things can still trip you up if you let them. If you don't let them and you stay strong in Christ, then you can resist your own flesh and the Devil.



But my point is that there's no like level 99 in the Christian walk. I don't think there's a time when you have all the right weapons, all the right abilities, and thus everything's a cake walk. Especially not for me right now. I mean, even in RPGs, the final boss can be really killer. Even if you max out, it will still be a challenge. And will thus still be fun, because after beating it, you feel accomplished.

Anyway, I think later, I might to go back through some of my old posts and tell you what I'm relearning, or learning at a deeper level. But in short, here are a few things:

1. God is first. Period. Nothing should come before him, even if it's in his name.
2. Idols are real, even if we cover them up. And God hates idols. And we have to give them up
3. Community is important. And takes hard work.
4. I can lead. And taking responsibility isn't as scary as I once thought.
5. God is in control and wants me to trust in him.

That's all I got for now.