As regenerated children of God, we understand that our chief end or ultimate purpose is to glorify God and (by?) enjoying him forever. But how we do that could be described as our chief duty (or “delight” if the word “duty” carries too much baggage for you). Our chief duty then is given by Jesus when he said that the greatest command is to love God supremely-with all our heart, all our soul, all our might, and all our strength. Our daily delight should then be in increasing our love for God with all of our being. We only will increase in love for God as we grow in our knowledge and intimacy of his person. This is accomplished through meeting with God in the Scripture and in prayer. Yes, it really is that simple, we glorify God by loving God…we love God by knowing God…and we know God by studying his “autobiography” and worshiping before him in prayer. I think we often tend to over-complicate things.
Saying this duty or delight is simple is not the same thing as saying it is easy. No, this “knowing God” is striving and takes endurance, trial, victory and defeat, and in essence a lifetime of putting to death the mortal man and submitting the new man to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and his mastery. The great hindrance to loving God is our own inherent self-love and spiritual immaturity. Children are born loving themselves, preserving themselves and thinking only of themselves. Through proper training and normal developmental growth, a child in the natural realm begins to see that there is more to this world than themselves. They begin to see as they develop in mental, physical, and emotional maturation that indeed, the world does not revolve around them. Poor upbringing and certain circumstances can and often do stunt or twist the normal maturation process of a child. A clear illustration of circumstances affecting the maturity of normal development is seen by examining the young soldiers who fought in World War II (I suppose other wars produced the same thing). When you are in war, responsible for the lives and deaths of other human beings, enduring the hardships and hell that only a global war can produce, you tend to grow up (humanly speaking) rather quickly. The life of ease that many young people have experienced since that war have conversely tended to slow the normal maturity of young men and so today, we have an extended adolescence and reticence by many to “grow up.” This is all concerning the natural realm, but has bearings on spiritual issues.
In Colossians 1:28, Paul describes his intention of preaching Christ with the desired result of “presenting every man mature in Christ.” Later in chapter 4:18, he says that the reason he sent Epaphras to them was so that they would stand mature and fully assured in the will of God. Hebrews 5:14 describes those who are mature as those who are able to provide discernment, and that is a good thing. In one of the most convicting texts, the Spirit of God wrote that the intent of the church and her Spiritually gifted leadership is to be equipped so that every one would come to unity of the faith and the complete knowledge of God, to full maturity, even to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). From this and more Holy Scripture, it seems evident that God desires those whom he has saved to grow in their faith and knowledge of God with the constant drive toward spiritual maturity. But what does maturity look like?
In this essay, I am proposing 7 marks of immaturity so that we might all consider how we might grow on in maturity to the fullness of the stature of Christ. I had considered giving 7 marks of maturity (the positive spin), however, I think looking at this from the negative side is more impacting on our thinking. Before I list these marks, I must make a few points to consider. 1. Growth in maturity is a life-long pursuit. Paul himself said in the same letter to the Ephesians that he had not already attained, but was still striving. May we take to heart those words, knowing that we ourselves all will see marks of immaturity in some if not all of these areas. 2. We often are discontent with our lack of maturity, this is good but could become bad. If we begin to look to our own will and wisdom to mature us, we will surely fall. We need to look unto Jesus the only fully mature one, not getting distraught over our immaturity, but growing from it. 3. The goal of maturity is not selfish…to be the most “mature kid in town,” or to be praised for our maturity, but so that Christ be fully formed in us–then we will know God…then love God…and ultimately glorify God.
Mark 1–Self-Focus
We know that selfishness is a part of all of our DNA ever since our first parents chose themselves over God’s love in the garden; children, however, are consistently more concerned about their needs, their comforts, their toys, their happiness and their desires. It is not uncommon to have to correct children early on for taking others toys. They are so intent on themselves, they have no time for the needs or values of others. Spiritually, a mark of immaturity is a continual preoccupation with self. Making decisions based upon what will bring one’s self the most delight. Speaking words that I want to speak regardless of how it might impact someone else. Constantly pursuing materials or comforts or personal rights. Anger and bitterness often attach themselves to the immature selfish person, because their response is to pout and make someone sorry when they do not get what they want. Sometimes, the immature person will even lash out violently with words or fists. Paul writes about the maturity of Christ and commands us to pursue his mind. In Philippians 2, the mind of Christ is described as choosing the benefits, blessings, and needs of others over one’s self and willingly enduring suffering for the sake of another.
Mark 2–Emotionally Driven
Children have a hard time controlling their emotions. They laugh, cry, get angry and then cuddle all within a five minute window. This is true also of spiritually immature Christians. The book of Proverbs 25:28 speaks of a man without self-control as being like a city broken into and left with no walls. The idea is that when we live without self-control, but allow our emotions to make our decisions for us (i.e. “follow your heart), we leave ourselves open to the pillaging of sin and temptation. We must have self-restraint with our words, our actions and our thoughts. James describes an immature person as one who is driven by waves and tossed (double-minded man). James also speaks of one who has no control over his tongue as being an immature person. Immature people who are emotionally driven soar on the mountains of God’s blessing, and crash in the valley of trial. Their catch-phrase is “I feel.” And this is the final court of appeal to them. If they feel it, it is true. We need to walk in the Spirit of God as we know God for then we will have the fruit of Spirit, namely…self-control (Galatians 5:22).
Mark 3–Unreliable/Unfaithful
Children are amazing at making promises, they are so willing to do what they think will please their parents. “I will never play with the football in the house ever again!” “I promise we will be friends forever.” Of course, this is not a moral defect in children, it is just a mark of immaturity, that is to promise but not always deliver. This probably stems from the short-sighted viewpoint of children or the lack of experience. But as they grow older, they begin to realize that they must be more careful with their vows. Spiritually immature people also are short-sighted having a hard time seeing God’s big picture. They often make vows, flatter or commit; yet often are unreliable or unfaithful in completion. Immature people have many grand ideas, but have little follow through on those ideas. Proverbs speaks to the foolishness of putting trust in an unfaithful or unproven man. And in the New Testament, faithfulness is a virtue that comes from walking in submission to the Spirit as a mature believer. The more a Christian grows, the more likely he is to be relied upon. A mature man is trustworthy and one that can be expected to do his work with faithfulness, loyalty and diligence.
…We will continue four more marks of immaturity in the next essay…
Can’t wait to read part two…