Genuine Christian Maturity?

In the last few months in various settings I have been presented with a comment about those who are mature Christians.  In one case, the comment was that the speaker "Joking" said he hoped Pentecostals would "Grow Up" to full maturity.  Implied was that he was and they weren't.

 

Then, it is rumored about that one of our larger churches in America (used to be the largest but no longer holds that title) is going to stop it's seeker sensitive focus and begin to direct it's efforts toward Mature Christians with Hymns, Liturgy, Creeds and Scriptural Reading.

 

I have two concerns with this.  One is the superman costume syndrome.  If you buy a Superman Costume from the costume store the package comes with a warning that says, "Caution, wearing of this suit will not enable to wearer to fly". 

 

Why was that there?  Because a few kids jumped off roofs wearing one and believing they could fly. 

 

The same thing happens in music.   If I just had a better guitar I could play better.  No, if you had a better guitar you would play about as you do now, but you would have just spent money for something you are still bad at.

 

Or kids who play sports and if they just had the right bat, or shoes or golf clubs or golf balls they would play a much better game.  Tiger Woods would still beat them with a set of cheap clubs from Wal Mart and the poorest range balls with smiles and all.

 

It's not about trappings.  It's not about content.  It's about the people involved. This big church is about to find this out. 

 

I agree with the idea that a Church Service filled with very mature believers is electric.  I have been in Pastor's conferences where every man or woman was a Pastor.  The level of faith sometimes is so rich you can cut it.  The Level of worship and commitment is fabulous. 

 

I have been to conferences where those attending would only attend this if they were hungry, passionate and determined to meet with God.  Mature.  They have a richness about them that is hard to grasp unless you are there.

 

If you are a Pastor you wish every service could be just like that Pastor's conclave or that conference.  I was recently at a Conference in Kansas City that was so rich if the services were just singing hymns, rehearsing Creeds and liturgy the passion coming from that would have been incredible.  The problem is it didn't come from the superman suit, it didn't come from the better golf balls, it came because the ones who were there knew their God and loved him.

 

So, the big church's attempt will fail UNLESS they can populate their pews with people of personal passion.  If you impose Hymns, Creeds, Liturgy and Scripture Reading on immature Christians you will have a cold dead service and worse the immature Christians will think they actually did something.  They jumped thru some spiritual hoop.  Endured some weekly rite of passage good till the next week.  The problem is nothing happened.  Nothing changed, particularly their hearts.   I get the idea that a small percentage of the congregation will embrace these elements enthusiastically.  The problem is they think others will or will learn to.  So leadership decides, let's give the mature what they want and the rest will get on board. They won't. Immature will remain immature until they encounter Jesus for real.  That won't happen in Hymns, Creeds, Liturgy and Readings.  Let me take you to thousands of cold dead churches that follow this to the letter and are dying on the vine.

 

It's a superman suit.

 

So, what does Christian Maturity really look like.  It's like a marriage.  Maturity in Marriage.  That's what Jesus is coming for, a mature unwrinkled bride.  Mature.  That's why the bridal paradigm is all thru the New Testament.

 

Is a bride educated to become mature in marriage?  Can't hurt but a PhD in Marriage and Family is no insurance of happiness and maturity in marriage.  Let me point to those who make their living in writing books on marriage who are veterans of 4 divorces.  They have PhD's.

 

Is a bride who has a big well recognized (credentialed) wedding better at being a bride?  We have all known of the huge well attended wedding that resulted in a quiet divorce a few years later.  Sometimes the small inconspicuous weddings result in the most mature marriages.  I have a theory that the cost and elaboration of a wedding is inversely proportional to the probability of the marriage's success.

 

How about a bride who has many years of experience in marriage, is she mature?  How many times have you attended a twenty fifth or fiftieth anniversary while endurance and perseverance reigned, love did not.  I wouldn't consider that a mature bride no matter the years.  Long loveless marriages are legendary.

 

So, if Education, Recognition in credentials, or tenure of position are not measures of maturity, what is?

 

If I come to know a truly mature Christian there is only one thing that differentiates the mature, despite the other trappings, from the immature.  Mature Christians are those who KNOW their GOD.  Not know about Him, that's education, not know him because a seminary somewhere said they have a certificate that says they should know Him, Not know him because they hung around the house so long.  None of that is maturity.

 

When a bride marries a husband she wants to know what he likes, she wants to satisfy him, she wants to serve him, she irons his clothes, she wants to talk with him, she wants to get to know him, even intimately.  She wants to become what he wants her to become.  She is in love and will become intense about spending time with him.  She eventually according to studies will begin to look like him.  Whatever he likes, she will like, what he doesn't like she will not like.  She begins to resemble him.  She and her husband become one flesh.  That happens and in time as the marriage matures, they are inseparable.   She knows her husband.  She is mature in her relationship to him.  She knows what to expect from him.  She trusts him to do what she knows he will do.  She isn't very often disappointed because she knows who he is.

 

This is with a mortal man.  How much more as a person comes to know his God will he come to trust HIM and in every other way become  one with Him.  Mature.

 

Biblically, there are lots of admonitions to maturity thru knowing God.  Not education,  not credentials and not tenure.  Passionate pursuit until God is KNOWN as much as he can be.  That's maturity.  Few really get there.  I can be with a person for a while and get clues as to how mature they really are based on how they talk to and talk about the love of their life, JESUS.  Our most gracious high heavenly Father or Poppa.  Religious practices and traditions are evidence of Christian immaturity. 

 

Let's hear the Bible on this:

Daniel 11:32 says, "But those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits."  God is raising up a people who will know Him intimately, who will be transformed to His image by beholding Him, and who will demonstrate mighty acts to manifest His power for the glory of His Name. 

 

1 Corinthians 2:9 says that we've been given the Holy Spirit who searches out the deep things of God and reveals them to us:

 

"The ear cannot hear, the eye cannot see, the heart of man cannot know the things that God has prepared for those who love Him, but the Holy Spirit [the Revealer] searches out the deep things of God and reveals them to us.

 

Psalm 145 speaks of it but summarizes in Vs 11 and 12

They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
       and speak of your might,

 12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
       and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Paul the Apostle centuries ago prayed for YOUR Christian Maturity

Ephesians 1:17-19

"[I pray]... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power..."   

Before you can receive this realm, you must have a hunger to know Him like you have not yet known Him.  You must shake off complacency and get tired of the same old same old.  There's got to be a hunger that you don't want to be an echo of voices you've heard speaking about knowing Him, but you want to know Him yourself. 

The word "knowledge" there in Ephesians 1 literally means "to be thoroughly acquainted with; to know thoroughly." (Strongs root word in the Greek #1921)  Don't you want the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to be so strongly influencing  you that you thoroughly become acquainted with and thoroughly know God?  The word also literally means, "to know accurately, to know well, to recognize."  Don't you want to be able to recognize God?  How does one recognize something?  One recognizes by sight, by hearing and by perception; it's by understanding. 

Hebrews 5:14 says that it's those who get strong food and by reason of use are able to discern between what is God and what isn't God, and you discern Him by knowing Him; it says the mature actually have their senses awakened to who He is, between what's good and what's evil, what's God and what isn't God.  If you are like me, you are tired of shallow-water Christianity, and you want the deep things of God.

The fact is, as I have come to know and love many who would call themselves evangelicals, those who are staunch in denominations and those who would see themselves as mature Christians.  Unfortunately I don't see the evidence born of intimacy alive in their lives.  They don't worship in intimacy, they don't preach in intimacy, they don't pray intimately, they don't exhibit what maturity in intimacy looks like.  They despite the opinion they have of themselves are immature Christians.

I am afraid they don't know what maturity is at all and if they saw it they wouldn't recognize it.  They feed on Milk when they should have been weaned years ago.

True Christian Maturity comes from knowing God  INTIMATELY.  Everything flows out of that. 

Anything else is buying better golf balls to try to improve your game and donning a superman suit to try to fly.  Looks right, but is wrong.