Everyone needs to grow up in life and as a Christian. Babies, both natural and newborn Christians, should be a great blessing. But it’s not a blessing if they stay babies. They need to grow up strong and healthy. As Christians we rejoice that God’s son humbly came to earth as a vulnerable baby, but it was only when Jesus grew up that He could fulfil the great purpose of His life. Even at an early age the Bible records the growth of Jesus (Luke 2:52). God is the God of growth (Isaiah 9:7; Genesis 1:27-28). The parable of the mustard seed shared by Jesus speaks of exponential growth in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:31-32).
In the Christian church both, locally and universally, God wants the church to multiply numerically, but He also wants every Christian to grow up in their faith, in their character, in their ministry and in every stage of life (Psalm 92:12-14). Our new series focusses on how we can develop from spiritual infancy into mature and fruitful disciples of Jesus and how in turn we can train others also to become grown up disciples.
One of the root problems of modern Christianity is what Juan Carlos Ortiz in his classic book “Disciple” (see also Warren Wiersbe "Be Mature" and Arthur Wallis "On To Maturity"). Sadly, today there are Christians who seem to have stopped growing in their Christian lives. Despite years of teaching, fellowship, prayer, conferences and meetings, they remain childish in the way they talk, think, act and react. What they want is to be constantly pampered, spoon fed, consoled, cosseted, and cleaned up when they have made a mess. What they need however, as opposed to what they want, is not prayer or deliverance or counselling but simply this: they need to grow up!
This issue of spiritual maturity is nothing new. The Epistles are full of exhortations to help us grow up in Christ (Colossians 1:28). Paul aimed for more than the maturity of individual believers: He wanted to see the entire church mature. He understood that the various leadership roles in the church were to equip and mature the church (Ephesians 4:12-14). Over the coming weeks we will be looking at some of the practical ways that God intends for us to mature both individually and collectively, but first we see some major areas we need to grow in:
1. Grow in our understanding of God (Colossians 1:9-10; 2 Peter 3:18)
2. Grow in love (John 13:35; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Ephesians 4:15-16; Ephesians 4:2,31-32; 1 Thessalonians 3:12)
3. Grow in the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18
4. Grow in perseverance (James 1:2-4; 2 Peter 1:5-8)
5. Grow in Christ likeness (Exodus 34:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
Apply
1. Grow in our understanding of God (Colossians 1:9-10; 2 Peter 3:18). As new Christians we may know very little about God. But as we read His Word and experience His grace, we learn so much more about God. We grow in our understanding of the righteous and loving character of God; we discover that God is for us and not against us; we learn that we don’t have to be shaped by the storms and circumstances of life but that we can rest secure that God is faithful to all His promises and that He works everything for the good of those who love Him; and we become more aware that Jesus is not just a figure of history but a living reality who we can know as our saviour from sin, our best friend, our greatest guardian and guide. And as we grow in our knowledge of God, we lose our fear and grow in faith. That’s what God wants for every Christian. We are not to stay as infants with little understanding but to continually grow in our knowledge of our good and great God.
2. Grow in love. Love is the central message of Christianity. God is love and He so loved the world that He gave His only son Jesus to save us from sin and destruction. Today He wants to show His love through His body on earth. The church is called to model love in a world of hate. Sadly, many times people have been turned off church because they have encountered nastiness, judgmentalism and harshness in the church. However, Jesus told His disciples that they needed to work through their differences and work at loving one another (John 13:35). Love is not just an emotion (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Paul certainly believed in the importance of spiritual gifts like prophecies and the necessity of helping the poor, but he said that without love, he would gain nothing. As Christians we all have a responsibility to speak with love and build the church up with love (Ephesians 4:15-16). What does this mean in practice? See Ephesians 4:2,31-32. We each have to move on from being a me centred baby to being a grown-up carer for others (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
3. Grow in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus real to us and equips us to serve God. On the Day of Pentecost, the apostles received the powerful anointing of the Holy spirit but that was just a beginning. The book of Acts of the Apostles shows how they grew in their anointing of the Holy spirit as they boldly preached the gospel and saw miracles of healing and deliverance. It is not sufficient just to start out in Christian life and ministry with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, being continually filled (Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18). The Greek verb tense used indicates a present continuous action, rather than a one-time event. So are we growing in our fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Are we exercising spiritual gifts with more authority? Is there a noticeable increase of the anointing of the Holy spirit in our lives and on our ministries? Every day we must value the anointing of the Holy Spirit, not grieving the Spirit by our words and actions so that God can increasingly move in power through us.
4. Grow in perseverance (James 1:2-4). Few people like to go through tough times, yet it is in such seasons that we are forced to choose whether to grow up in our faith or give up. Trials, where we learn to depend on God and not on ourselves or our emotions, help us to develop in our spiritual maturity. When we persevere and remain steadfast in the face of strong winds we learn, as an old hymn says, to ‘trust in Jesus and to take Him at His word.’ We develop an inner spiritual and emotional toughness and an ability to endure in all situations. Instead of crying like babies in distress, we become confident that the Lord will give us peace and grace for every situation (2 Peter 1:5-8).
5. Grow in Christ likeness (Exodus 34:29). The more we spent time developing our relationship with the Lord through worship, prayer, knowing God’s word and seeking to live holy lives, the more we will become like the Lord. There will come a greater transparency, a greater serenity, a greater beauty. People will literally be able to see and sense more of Jesus in us (2 Corinthians 3:18). So how are you doing in your Christian development? How much are you growing in your knowledge of God, in love, in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, in perseverance and in becoming more like Jesus? Well don’t be worried or discouraged. God who has begun a good work in you plans to bring it to completion. You too can become a far more mature and fruitful Christian than you may have ever imagined.
