I recently read an article put out by the organization run by pollster George Barna. (Click here for the whole article http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/264-many-churchgoers-and-faith-leaders-struggle-to-define-spiritual-maturity) The article was on the mixed and differing definitions of spiritual maturity.
When I read this line I either wanted to cry or scream:
One of the widely embraced notions about spiritual health is that it means “trying hard to follow the rules described in the Bible” – 81% of self-identified Christians endorsed this statement, and a majority agreed strongly (53%). Even among those individuals defined by their belief that salvation is not earned through “good works,” four out of five born again Christians concurred that spiritual maturity is “trying hard to follow the rules.”
I think this is one of the greatest pitfalls affecting church people today and PREVENTING them from actually growing in Christ and becoming spiritually mature. We have made maturity into a measurement about rules and, in the process, we have greatly missed the point. To be honest, I think our stressing of "the rules" is what keeps many people from entering the church in the first place, what causes many to leave and what keeps far too many active church people hiding in the shadows hoping people won't really figure them out.
Would someone show me where "following the rules" is stated as a biblical command or even a Christian virtue? I dare say we won't be able to find it.
We will find significant biblical basis for devoting our lives to God, to obeying Him and following Jesus Christ. But that is NOT the same as "following the rules."
No one can "follow the rules." That is why we need a Savior. That is why we are doomed without God's grace. That is why we must depend on God's forgiving love.
Remember that "God is love," that "while we were sinners Christ died for us," that "we love because He first loved us." Our devotion and obedience is a response to God's love that we have received.
Jesus said that the measurement of spiritual maturity was to love God and our neighbor. Paul wrote to the Galatians that we are to "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:2).
That means spiritual maturity is not about knowledge or about following the rules, but about a growth - receiving and offering - in love. That is the only rule that matters and the rule that makes everything else fall into place.
How do you see it?
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What does it mean to be spiritually mature?
ReplyDeleteGood question, very few answers, a lot of speculation. One description that might suffice as an answer to the question, would be for those that have reached a point in their life, to where there is no question as to what their assignment IS, as far as serving God's purpose.