Spiritual Maturity
How mature do you consider yourself? We live in a time and culture that increasingly pushes a focus on self, that discourages responsibility because adulting is hard, and that celebrates immaturity. When we are not careful, these attitudes then have a way of seeping into the message and life of the church… We cater to people’s emotions and comfort by seeking to entertain instead of equip. We water down the beauty of Gospel by reducing Jesus to a pathway for some self-help and improvement, and shy away from confronting people in their sin and pointing them towards a glorious Savior. We accept and foster complacency, consumerism, and spiritual immaturity instead of encouraging growth and accountability through discipline, sanctification, and spiritual maturity. This doesn’t mean that we become a place that only accepts people who have it all figured out, have cleaned themselves up, and have an advanced understanding of the Bible or theology. When Jesus was describing the outward religiosity of the pharisees, he called them “white washed tombs”, emphasizing their hypocrisy and that while they looked and talked the part, their hearts were far from God. However, it does mean that we strive to be a people who through the grace of God and reliance on the Spirit seek to “work out our faith”, or as Peter describes in 1 Peter 2:2- “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”.
So, Christian, is your faith alive and active this morning? Are you growing and maturing in your spiritual walk evidenced by the production of spiritual fruit in your life?
Spiritual maturity is marked by an increasing awareness of our total dependency on Christ, as we press on by walking in the Spirit with discernment, an eternal mindset, and faithful obedience.
The Christian life is not meant to be marked by laziness and complacency, but in a joyous freedom in Christ to live for Him and grow in His likeness. As the writer of Hebrews exhorts in 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”. Don’t settle for persisting as a spiritual infant! Grow in your maturity and ability to wield the Word of God in discernment of truth and distinguishing good from evil.
Maturity is also marked by perspective. In Philippians 3 Paul provides a list of some of his worldly credentials and accomplishments before concluding in verse 8 that “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him”. Spiritual maturity recognizes the fleeting, temporary worth of worldly accomplishments and pursuits, and instead develops an increasingly eternal perspective and desire to know Christ. A desire that results in a growing love for His word and His church, as we seek to encourage one another and spur each other on in love, holiness, and spiritual maturity, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.