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LttN Ministries LttN Ministries IncEquipping Christian Leaders in the Developing World |
 
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Toward
Maturity Dr
Gavin D Williams LTh. DPMin Through my years as a pastor and Christian leader, I have been deeply disturbed by one key issue: Many Christians never grow beyond the most basic levels of discipleship. Through the years I have watched people come to Christ and rejoiced with them over the wonderful transformation in their lives. As their pastor, I have tried to provide an environment where these new believers could be nurtured and grow in their faith. It has been my delight to baptize many such people. I have walked with them through some of their earliest challenges in their new faith. They seemed destined for a wonderful and exciting spiritual journey. In recent
years I have had the opportunity to reconnect with many whom I pastored in
earlier years. Some have grown incredibly. They have discovered a life in Christ
that is exciting and dynamic. The spiritual infants whom I knew years ago have
matured into godly saints who are deeply involved in the But, sadly,
others have grown nowhere. It is as though they have been spiritually asleep for
many years. We see no noticeable difference between the people we knew 20 or
even 30 years ago and the person sitting in front of us today. We inevitably
leave such encounters feeling deeply grieved at the lost potential of these
lives. We grieve for them because we know they have missed so much that God had
in store for them. We grieve because we know that the I know that
my wife and I are not alone in this experience. Sadly, this is the experience of
every Christian leader. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Spiritual Maturity But what is spiritual maturity? What does a mature believer look like? How do we make the transition from a new believer to a spiritually mature Christian disciple? These are some of the issues to be considered in this book My purpose in writing is to stir within my readers a ‘holy dissatisfaction’ with our current spiritual state. I hope to create a hunger for a new depth of walk with God that has the marks of a mature disciple. No matter whom we are or where we are in our spiritual journey, there is always room to grow and mature more in the Lord. I want to encourage you along the journey Toward Maturity. But more, I hope to provide you with thinking and resources which I hope and pray will help you on the journey toward maturity. Some of the issues raised in this book are further developed in other books which I have written. I will direct you to those works for a fuller treatment of the subject. Other issues will be examined in depth in this book. As with anything I write, my brothers and sisters in the Developing World are always in my thoughts. Although I hope that this work will be a blessing to those whose first language is English, I have deliberately adopted a simple style and language. This will make it more accessible to those whose mother tongue is other than English and also facilitate translation into other languages. I have included many stories of real people and illustrations from my own journey. Where necessary the stories have been modified to protect the identity of other individuals. I trust that you will find this book to be a helpful resource as you journey Toward Maturity. Dr Gavin Williams April 2005 Chapter 1 A
Vision of Maturity “…until
we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the
whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13
(NIV) All my life I have loved the ocean. As a small boy, one of my greatest delights was to be out in my father’s small boat fishing or simply enjoying being on the water. At times I delighted in excursions on larger boats cruising across open waters. Sometimes I would go with the local fishermen to help them work their nets. Now, many years later, I live near the ocean and have a small boat of my own. Sadly I do not have opportunity to use it very often. But I still love the ocean. Through the years I have learned that the ocean can be very treacherous. I remember one day when my Dad and I went fishing, We were so absorbed in our fishing that we failed to see a fierce storm front approaching. A sudden gust of wind alerted us to our danger. Looking up we saw the menacing clouds racing toward us. Soon our little boat was being rocked by wind and waves. Fortunately we were not far from the shore and we reached safety just as the storm unleashed its fury. The experience of being at the mercy of the wind and waves is one I will never forget. Paul’s Passion The Apostle
Paul used a powerful word picture just like this when describing Christians who
have not grown in their faith. He describes them as “…
infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every
wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of me in their deceitful
scheming.” (Ephesians The Apostle’s life long passion was to understand everything that Christ had secured and promised to him. It was his constant desire to see those who responded to his message discover the same reality. Toward the
end of His life, sitting chained to a Roman soldier, Paul wrote, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so,
somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.( Philippians 3:10-11 NIV).
He went on to say, “Not
that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
(Philippians. This passion for spiritual maturity extended to those to whom He ministered. He wrote, ”We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Col. 1:28 (NIV) At the heart of Paul’s own spiritual journey and his longing for the people in the churches was a passion to see people grow to spiritual maturity. He could never be content to merely teach another religious system. His journey with Jesus was a lifestyle he intended to experience to the full. That was also his desire for his fellow believers. The Idea of Maturity In our
Bibles, the words ‘perfect’ and ‘mature’ are used to convey the
significance of a Greek work which was used frequently in the New Testament.
This word has a range of meanings. Sometimes it is used to mean ‘perfect’
– something that is without fault. The Lord Jesus exhorted us to ”…be
perfect, therefore as your heavenly father is perfect.” (Matthew In the Epistles, this same word is more generally used to describe something or someone who is complete, finished, ripe, fully grown and developed. It speaks of someone or something that is ready for its intended purpose. A piece of ripe fruit might be described as mature since it is ready to be eaten and enjoyed to the full. There are several word pictures in the New Testament which help us to see this meaning more clearly. In Luke
8:1-15 we read Jesus’ famous parable of the sower and the seed. Initially
Jesus told the parable to the crowds of people without explanation. Later, in
answer to the disciples’ questions, he explained his teaching in more detail.
He explained one part of his teaching in this way, “The
seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their
way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not
mature.”(Luke In 1
Corinthians 13 and 14, the Apostle Paul uses another word picture to describe
spiritual immaturity. He writes, “When I
was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a
child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. (1 Corinthians Both Paul and the Writer to the Hebrews express their concern that many Christians remain spiritual infants and need to grow up spiritually, emotionally and mentally. We will never be spiritually mature believers who are ready for God’s intended purpose while we hold on to worldly and childish ways. In Hebrews,
there is another side to this picture. The Writer speaks about the Lord Jesus
when he says, “In bringing many sons to
glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists,
should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” (Hebrews
In these
passages, the Lord Jesus is described as being made perfect or mature through
the things he suffered. The idea is that through His submission to the will of
the Father, His life was made absolutely ready for His intended purpose – to
give His life as a ransom for all mankind on the Cross. Jesus is our ultimate
example of maturity. He willingly walked, even to the Cross to fulfill His
purpose and destiny. As a result, we can be saved. A Picture of Maturity As I think about this, I find myself drawn to my father’s workshop. My Dad is a craftsman who loves to make things out of timber. Many times I have watched him pick up a piece of wood, hold it lovingly in his hands and quote both its popular name and scientific name. He would tell me the characteristics of that timber and that for which it could be used. He could see the potential in a piece of timber that others would throw away. My Dad is a musical instrument maker. I have watched him take unlikely looking pieces of timber and turn them into a magnificent instrument. Shaping, carving and bending the various timbers, he gathers the pieces necessary for the instrument he is making. Using specialist glues and strange looking clamps and jigs, he assembles the pieces to form the instrument. It is a labour of love that can take many weeks. When the final coats of varnish are applied and the strings fitted, he waits with expectation to hear the first notes sound from the new instrument. There are always small adjustments to be made before the instrument is finished. At this point we could say that the instrument is mature – it is ready for its intended purpose. However, with a musical instrument there is something more. As that new instrument is played by a competent musician, it develops even further. It time the tone will become sweeter and richer. As those pieces of timber work together, they release something they could never do alone. In the hands of the master musician, that instrument will continue to develop and mature more as the years go by. Do you see the parallel with our spiritual lives? Lord Jesus, the One who created us and called us to Himself, shapes our lives and gives us great potential and promise. It is He who has built us for our intended purpose as His children and given us a place of service in His kingdom. As we develop in our spiritual journey and grow toward spiritual maturity, we are ready to move into the purpose for which He created us. Even then He has not finished with us. As the master musician continues to bring out new depths from a beautiful instrument, so our Master continues to work with us to release new depths of effectiveness and love that only He knew were within us. So the maturing process continues. Marks of Maturity In Ephesians 4:1-16, the Apostle Paul provides an insight into those things we might expect to see in the life of a mature believer. There are, of course, many other parts of the Scripture to which we could turn. We will examine some of those later in this book. However the matters which Paul raises are helpful to us at this time. 1.
The fruit of the Spirit The Apostle
writes, “Be completely humble and
gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2 NIV)
Those words bring to mind Paul’s listing of the Fruit of the Spirit
in Galatians 5:22-23. One of the most obvious Indications that a person is
moving toward spiritual maturity will be the growing evidence of the fruit of
the Spirit in all dimensions of their lives. For me, the fruit of the Spirit are
the surest evidence that a person is learning to live in the fullness of the
Holy Spirit. 2.
Love
of Fellowship and Unity Paul encouraged his readers to, “… make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3 NIV) Spiritually mature people love unity and fellowship. Their spirit is grieved when fellowship is broken. They are the ones who reach out in apology and reconciliation rather than allow disunity to infect the Body. Mature believers are peace makers not trouble makers. Even when they must stand in opposition to something that is happening in the Body, the mature believer will do so with great prayerfulness, love and tenderness. By way of contrast, those who cause disunity and division demonstrate their spiritual immaturity. 3. Growing Faith and Knowledge Mature
believers are growing believers. They have a holy restlessness to know more of
the Lord and His Word. Paul expressed this idea when he wrote, “…
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of
God…” (Ephesians 4. Becoming more like Jesus Mature
believers are people who are hungry to become more like Jesus. Paul writes of “… attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
(Ephesians 5.
Increasing Inner
Stability A mature believer is one who keeps their spiritual and emotional balance even when life’s circumstances seem to be against them. Paul writes, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14 (NIV) When a mature believer encounters new teaching, the Holy Spirit within them confirms or questions the things they hear. This capacity to accurately discern the mind of the Spirit is one of the great evidences of our growing toward maturity. On the other hand, immature believers are often led astray because they do not have the spiritual depth to recognize untruth when it is presented to them. Defining Maturity On the basis of all that we have discussed in this chapter, I believe it is possible to construct a definition of a mature believer. A Mature Believer is one who:
A Mature believer is characterized by:
As I consider these things I am challenged again by the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3. The aged apostle knew that at any moment soldiers could come to take him to his death. His life and ministry were all but finished. He had completed the work the Lord had given him to do. He was waiting eagerly to meet the Lord in heaven. And yet he wrote, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 NIV) To the very
end of his life, Paul longed to grow to be more and more like Jesus. He knew
there would always be more of God’s maturing work needed in his life. His
heart and life remained open to the very end. Such must be the character of our
lives as we move onward toward maturity. Published
by LttN Publications 14 West Kahala Avenue
, Budgewoi, NSW,
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