Growing into the fullness of Christ
We start out as new born babes, then little by little we grow up. This is true physically but also spiritually. Like many, I thought I knew most everything after I first completed reading the Bible all the way through. At age twenty-one I was some years away from being even physically mature, much less anywhere close to approaching spiritual maturity.
When I was thirty-one, a whole decade in the Faith, I thought I was a spiritual giant. I did have a MDiv. degree from a top-flight seminary, had been ordained, and had pastored a church, already. I even was the head of a growing ministry and would occasionally see my picture in a newspaper. I was a big deal, or so I thought. And, what goes up comes down. And I hit hard on the rocks when that happened to me.
Things hadn’t changed much by age forty-one, or fifty-one, though there was some growth I suppose. Sixty-one, seventy-one, looks like I’ll notch eighty-one, God willing, and I will still be working on growing up into the fullness of Christ.
How about you? Can you make an honest assessment of yourself? If so, you are blessed indeed. Let’s look at some verses that may speak to us.
1 Peter 2:2:
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation.”
I Corinthians 3:1-2:
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people; but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with mild, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready.”
Hebrews 5:12-14:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
It is not wrong to admit we are not yet mature, in fact, it is an indication of a developing and healthy maturity. A Bible college or seminary degree does not automatically make us mature. Sure, I had written a systematic theology by age thirty-five and had five books published by major publishers, but I was a long way from mature. I had yet to go through a divorce, which necessitated my need to resign from a thriving ministry I had founded coming out of the Jesus People Movement.
There is a real need for us to be honest with ourselves. Otherwise we cannot live a healthy Christian life. Too often churches and Christian organizations lose patience with those of us who act immature and cause difficulty, and to a degree this is understandable, but we ourselves, brothers and sisters, we cannot be afraid to make an honest estimation of who we are. To do otherwise is to harm ourselves mentally and emotionally.
A very good reason
One of the reasons for this book is the hope that the church of Jesus Christ in our own day would be mature to the point of helping those who are in the midst of the often painful struggles that characterize spiritual growth. At minimum Christian leaders need to be aware that there is a maturing process. Pastors must understand this or they will be ill equipped to help the infants develop beyond that stage.
It is essential to understand that we ourselves grow up at different rates from each other. I have been guilty of expecting others to be further along in their growing up than they were and thereby end up judging them. I will admit right now that as a pastor I have damaged others by expecting too much from others. And I wish, looking back now, people would have been more patient with me.
In the years of my struggles, and rebellion, I was as it is said, “thrown under the bus.” During the times I needed brothers and sisters in Christ the most, I was ostracized. And as painful as it is, I had done the same myself in earlier times.
Again, we grow up at different rates. Therefore, we must be patient with ourselves and others. And I am not meaning that we should excuse sinful behavior. We cannot rush growth, yet at the same time, we should strive for it.
The work of Christian leaders
The leaders in the body of Christ have a responsibility to help those under their care. Paul puts it so very well in Ephesians 4:11-13:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
It is within the fellowship of a body of believers that there is the best opportunity for growing up in Christ. The old principle of “iron sharpening iron” applies; this dealing with others is where growth takes place. The lone wolf Christian will grow very slowly, if at all. We need others around us, people who know us, people who are willing to invest their lives into us, that we grow up even if by friction.
Yes, it is risk taking, but it is natural. The older I got the more I collided with my parents and my brothers. It was all good for me though I did not understand the dynamics of family life. At school there was even more clashings, and these proved to be invaluable. Others in the pews, people from different backgrounds, differing points of view on politics, theology, and more—iron sharpening iron.
Physical and spiritual maturity and directly connected
Growth depends on a number of factors: food, exercise, love from the family, encountering life, and learning to cope. Going through disappointments, coping with illnesses both physical and emotional. Refusing to give up when we are defeated. Struggling through difficult times, like “dark nights of the soul,” learning how to love, learning to deal with our own rebellion and sin, experiencing disappointments, coping with illnesses, both physical and emotional—all essential to developing a healthy maturity.
A slow growing up
Our growing up is a little at a time, it is almost inperceptively. And it is His gifting to us as John expressed it in John 1:16: “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
Not until we are in His presence, in our resurrection body, experiencing full joy and maturity, will we be all that we can be,