KCU/04/Group 1

Topic 2: How do people grow? Question: Do more research into the four models of spiritual growth discussed in How People Grow & give a more detailed explanation & support for each of the models. Then, in light of your research, which model(s) of how people grow would you choose & why? (If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to have different group members each express their own opinions.)

Introduction Spiritual growth is an important aspect of every person’s life. According Dr. Henry Cloud’s and Dr. John Townsend’s book How People Grow, four models of spiritual growth: the sin model, the truth model, the experiential model, and the supernatural model. The purpose of this paper is to explore each of these models and to determine the positive and negative aspects of each model.

The Sin Model According to Cloud and Townsend, the sin model states that "all problems are the result of one's sin" (Cloud and Townsend 16). In order to grow, a person must purge themselves of sin, and then their problems will go away. In this model, the greatness of a person’s suffering is directly related to how much they sin, or “indicative of the measure of his guilt in the eyes of God” (Intro to Job 723).

Later in How People Grow, however, they note that this view of growth does not necessarily work. Rather than focusing on being under the law, one must focus on being under the grace of God. Being under the law inhibits growth because it makes the grower feel that “God is the enemy” and that “we get what we deserve” (Cloud and Townsend 67). Various characters just in Bible history are examples that contradict the sin model, namely Job.

The very first verse of the first chapter of Job describes Job as being "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (

"There were those whose godliness was genuine, whose moral character was upright and who, though not sinless, had kept themselves from great transgression, but who nonetheless were made to suffer bitterly. For these the self-evident theology brought no consolation and offered no guidance. It only gave rise to a great enigma. And the God to whom the sufferer was accustomed to turn in moments of need and distress became himself the overwhelming enigma. In the speeches of chs. 3-37, we hear on the one hand flawless logic but wounding thrusts of those who insisted on the ‘orthodox’ theology, and on the other hand the writhing soul of the righteous sufferer who struggles with the great enigma. In addition he suffers from the wounds inflicted by his well-intended friends (see note on 5:27). Here, then, we have a graphic portrayal of the unique form of the problem of theodicy as experienced by the righteous sufferers within orthodox Israel. The ‘solution’ offered is also uniquely Israelite—or, better said, Biblical. The relationship between God and man is not exclusive and closed. A third party intrudes, the great adversary (see chs. 1-2). Incapable of contending with God hand to hand, power pitted against power, he is bent on frustrating God’s enterprise embodied in the creation and centered on the God-man relationship" (Intro to Job).

Bibliography Introduction to Job. The NIV Study Bible. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995. 722-724.

Cloud, Dr. Henry, and Dr. John Townsend. How People Grow. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.