Not everyone who grows old actually grows up. It’s ideal that maturity and wisdom would accompany adulthood but that’s not always the case. There are plenty of childish and foolish adults. And there are lots believers who have been Christians for many years yet are still spiritual infants, needing to relearn the basics of the Christian faith (Hebrews 5:11-6:1).  From the bible’s perspective it’s not acceptable. This problem of spiritual immaturity isn’t a new thing or merely an American Christianity thing. It’s was a problem in the early church as well (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). 

Would you consider yourself to be spiritually mature and actively growing on your journey with Christ? 

There was a LifeWay research study on discipleship that revealed 55 percent of those who took the survey perceived they had grown spiritually. Yet only 3.5 percent of the people surveyed over the course of a year had any measurable growth. So only 3.5 percent of people reported that there was something different in the way they engaged the Word of God, shared Christ, or served others. Many Christian’s think that they are growing further along than they really are.   

So what does it look like to be spiritually mature?

1. The Spiritually Mature Have An Accurate & Sober View of Themselves

There are many marks of spiritual maturity that we can find in the New Testament. The first one that I would highlight is that the spiritually mature have an accurate evaluation of themselves. The Apostle Paul exhorted Christians in Romans 12:3  “…not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”  The spiritually immature, like little children, do not evaluate themselves soberly and accurately. How many times have you heard a child boast about how fast, strong or smart they are, thinking they can victoriously beat adults at various challenges. The mature adults, the mothers and fathers, might let these little ones win a game a time or two to build their confidence. But as a father of four children myself, I don’t want my children to think more highly of themselves than they ought to, so dad has to get his win too at basketball, checkers, soccer, baseball, Farkel, Jenga or whatever game we are playing :).     

2. The Spiritually Mature Are Doctrinally Stable 

The second mark of the spiritually mature is that they are doctrinally stable. They have developed biblical conviction concerning the basic truths of the gospel. In Ephesians chapter four the Apostle Paul wrote: 

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds 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, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”                                                                                                    Ephesians 4:11-14 ESV                                                                                               

Paul and other new testament writers struggled for the doctrinal stability of the early church in the face of many heresies, philosophies and traditions. One of many exhortations towards this doctrinal stability is this one:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.    Colossians 2:6-7 ESV 

Like a tree that is rooted and grounded able to withstand winds and storms, so Christians must be rooted and grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Becoming rooted and grounded and doctrinally stable is what spiritual growth and maturity look like.

As a new believer in Christ I was watching TV one day, which I don’t recommend for spiritual growth, and a commercial came on with a pitch something like this: ‘If you want a better revelation of Jesus Christ then call this number and we will come to your home and give you a free book and talk you about Jesus.”  This was very appealing to me because I was really hungry to grow in my relationship with Jesus and wanted to better understand the bible. So I called the number and asked them to come to my house. Well, the guys who showed up at my door were Mormons and their free book was the book of Mormon. I was not rooted and grounded enough to protect myself from their false gospel. Thankfully my step father who was more mature in the Christian faith showed up and defended me like a shepherd would if a wolf crept in among the flock of sheep. The spiritually immature are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. Like little children they are vulnerable to being persuaded by the person with a reasonable and convincing opinion or teaching. This is one reason why new Christians must actively seek to grow up spiritually.

3. The Spiritually Mature Speak the Truth in Love 

The third mark of the spiritually mature is that they communicate the truth in love. The previous mark was a doctrinal one and this is a relational characteristic. In Ephesians 4:15 following the verse we just looked at Paul contrasts the instability of the immature Christians with: 

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.    Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV

It’s the spiritually immature who avoid speaking the truth when it’s difficult or they may speak the truth harshly, insensitively lacking grace and love. They may also avoid others when there is a conflict giving an offender the silent treatment. In contrast the spiritually mature have learned to work through conflict by lovingly communicating the truth. Christians need truth and love to flourish in their spiritual journey with Christ and Christian communities should be saturated with those two elements. The spiritually mature help cultivate those elements of truth and love in a church. Jesus was full of grace and truth (John 1:14,18) and those who are growing spiritually are moving more towards being full of grace and truth. They are moving more towards communicating the truth in love. This is a mark of spiritual maturity and also the means by which growth occurs in the Body of Christ. 

4. The Spiritually Mature Are Others-Oriented 

The fourth mark of the spiritually mature is that they are others-oriented. They have learned to be more like Jesus which is synonymous with spiritual maturity. Every Christian is predestined to be conformed into His image (Romans 8:29). The spiritually mature do what Paul exhorted the Philippian church to do: 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…                  Philippians 2:3-5 ESV 

The spiritually mature have grown up and are actively growing into Christ-likeness. Jesus wasn’t selfishly seeking others to serve him. He humbly, lovingly and sacrificially served others.The spiritually mature move from selfishness to love and from self pity to rejoicing in the victories of others. They have learned to live, speak and think more like Jesus. 

Paul rebuked the spiritually immature Corinthians, who were very gifted with spiritual gifts but lacked the fruit of the Spirit. They were acting like childish toddlers and he wrote to them saying:

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?                     1 Corinthians 3:1-4 ESV 

I have 4 young children and I know the displeasure of having strife, jealously and conflict in the home over the smallest things. Sometimes it’s so ridiculous that my wife and I just laugh at the immaturity of our children. It may be funny now but when our children are 20 or 30 years old it won’t be funny if they are still throwing temper tantrums and whining about the little things that steal their joy now.  

Paul likened his ministry to the Thessalonians to that of parental care of a father and mother (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8,11-12). The spiritually mature take on the mindset of a parent who focuses on helping their children reach their full potential and become productive citizens in society. To become those who don’t just consume but contribute to the good of their family, church, community, city and world. 

5. The Spiritually Mature Are Skilled With God’s Word

The fifth mark of the spiritually mature is that they are skilled in God’s Word. The author of the book Hebrews in chapter 5 wrote these strong words to Christians that should have been much further along on their journey with Christ:

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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.                                                                                                                  Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV                                                                                           

The spiritually mature have exercised discernment with and practiced obedience to the word of God. They filter thoughts, ideas, decisions and actions through the grid of Scripture. They allow the Scripture to influence what they consider good or evil developing biblical convictions based on Scripture. They have become acquainted with the basics of the Christian faith and teach them to others. They’ve adapted the mindset of a parent who seeks to help their children grow by faithfully teaching them.   

With our 4 children my wife and I have different expectations for each child being at their different stages of development. With our newborn, Justus, we only expect him to eat, sleep and poop. And look really cute. When he needs our help to eat, sleep or poop or change a poppy diaper then we expect him to let us know by crying about it because he doesn’t speak actual words yet. Now for our 7 year old, we don’t expect him to cry when he’s hungry, sleepy or needs to use the restroom. We expect him to use his English words to communicate to us that he has a need or we expect that he will take care of it himself since he is able to do so. He can get snacks from the kitchen on his own. He can make cereal or a sandwich for himself and he doesn’t need us to feed him any longer. He can even help his sisters and baby brother since he has become a more skilled and responsible human. 

If your a new Christian and still feeding on milk that’s great. God delights in you and your growth every step of the way. My wife and I delight to see the development of our children. For those of you who have been Christians for years if your not serving and discipling someone else helping them grow in their faith it may be time for you to transition form being self-oreinted to others-oriented. It’s time to grow up into a spiritual mother or father who is responsible and sacrificial for others. You might start by praying for others who are struggling. Remember that Christ-likeness is the goal in spiritual maturity. We want to think, speak and live more like Jesus. That brings much glory to God and does much good to those around you.  

What are the next steps that God has for you on your journey with Jesus? No matter how far along you are on your journey there will be next steps for you. What are they? You may want to ask God what His most pressing issue with you is right now. 

Since we just looked at marks of the spiritually mature I think it would be fitting for me to write about some key ways that you can grow into a spiritually mature Christian in my next blog post. 

Here is a link to a sermon I preached that covered some of these marks: 

The Goal of Discipleship 

Most Christians know that they are responsible to make disciples. But many don’t know how to do that or know what the goal is in discipleship. The Apostle Paul gave us an example for the goal and strategy of discipleship. He wrote the Colossians saying:

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.       Colossians 1:28-29 ESV

Paul took seriously the great commission of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey Jesus (Matt. 28:19-20). Finishing this mission was more important to Paul than his own life (Acts 20:24). In these verses we see Paul’s aim in discipleship and his strategy to achieve his target. His goal was to help people become mature Christians. And he sought to do that through the means of proclaiming Christ, warning and teaching others. Notice that Christ was the central message Paul proclaimed. Paul knew that it’s the good news of Jesus Christ that every non-Christian needs to hear to become a Christian. And he knew that Christian’s must continue to be saturated in and grounded in the gospel of Christ for spiritual maturity to be developed in their lives. And this would require much teaching, preaching and even warning. Spiritual leaders must not fail to give necessary warnings to God’s people and they must not cease proclaiming the gospel of Christ, teaching the way of Christ. Kent Hughes commenting on this passage wrote:

“Christ-focused exposition progressively matures God’s people as they learn to see Christ in all of Scripture and to understand that the gospel is as old as the garden. Moreover, because Christ is “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30), Christ-focused exposition presents Him as the source and sustainer of spiritual maturity.”

So the goal in discipleship is maturity in Christ, which is synonymous with Christ-likeness. Every Christian is destined, or predestined rather, to be conformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). In following Jesus, that is what we are to aim for in our own lives and that is what we are to seek for those whom we disciple. We want to talk about Jesus, think like Jesus, speak like Jesus and live like Jesus so that the influence of Christ would be greater in the lives of those we disciple.

Paul toiled and struggled to help others become mature in Christ because spiritual maturity doesn’t occur automatically. Yet, Paul didn’t struggle and labor in his own strength. It was God’s energy that worked in him empowering him to do the ministry God called him to do. In verse 29 we see human responsibility and divine power working together. We have a significant part to play in making disciples, but know that God does the heavy lifting with his power working in us to will and do his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”

Paul gave the credit to God and His grace for the hard work that he did. This is the perspective and practice of spiritually mature Christians. Spiritually mature Christians realize their inability to produce fruit (John 15:5) and be effective in ministry apart from the grace of God. Spiritually mature Christians give God the credit for their success and fruitfulness in ministry rather than getting puffed up with pride. Spiritually mature Christians also seek to help others become mature by discipling them and praying for them. Paul was a spiritually mature Christian who struggled on behalf of other Christians so they might reach spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:29, 2:1). The spiritually immature are preoccupied with their own struggles and are not freed up to struggle for others.

So here we looked at the goal in discipleship being maturity in Christ and how to help others get there. Are you mature a Christian who is discipling someone else so that they can grow into Christlikeness?

In my next blog post I plan to write more about the marks of a spiritually mature Christian.

If I were to ask those closest to you about the quality & quantity of the fruit in your life what do you think they would say? If I asked your spouse what would they say? What might they point to describe the fruitfulness of your life?

Jesus said that his followers would be marked by the fruitfulness and that fruitfulness would “prove” their authenticity as his disciple and bring much glory to the Father.

In John 15 verse 8 Jesus said:  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 

What does it look like to bear much fruit?

Here are a few biblical categories of what “much fruit” could fall under:

• Character (Fruit of the Spirit)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

Remember that Jesus said his followers would be marked and known by the their love. Outsiders can discern the true followers from the false by the fruit of love or the lack there of. Love is the overarching characteristic of a genuine follower of Jesus.

Jesus said: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 ESV

• Conduct (Good deeds)

Jesus commissioned his people to do good deeds to others (Matt. 5:16) so that people would give glory to the Father. Jesus himself did the ultimate good deed by dying for the sins of the world to redeem his own special people who are “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). One of the Apostle Paul’s prayer petitions for the Colossian disciples was that they would be people “bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). Good deeds are the domino effect of the good news of Christ impacting a life.

• Converts (Disciples)

Jesus said “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” I believe Jesus had in mind the people who His own disciples would impact when he said “your fruit should abide”. He commissioned his followers to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them what he commanded (Matthew 28:20). The Apostle Paul wrote about the fruit of his own ministry to the Gentiles as an “offering” to God (Romans 15:16). Paul’s bearing much fruit was “to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed” (Romans 15:18).

• Conversation (Fruit of Lips)

The way we speak to God in singing praise and giving thanks is the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15). Our speaking about God to others is the fruit of our lips.

Jesus spoke about the things we say from our mouths as the fruit of our lives in Matthew chapter 12, when he was giving a heavy rebuke to the Pharisees. He said:

• “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”     Matthew 12:33-37 ESV

Two Mischievous Brothers

I heard about two brothers that were mischievously sneaking out at night time and roaming the town doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. To do this without their parents knowing they would climb out of their window on the 2nd floor of their home and use a tree next to their house going up and down to sneak out. One day they over heard their parents talking about removing the tree from their yard because it seemed useless. The boys didn’t want their secret aid for sneaking out to be removed so they decided to purchase some apples from the grocery store and attach them to the tree with yarn in hopes that their parents would keep the tree. Not long after that their parents looked out at the tree one morning and saw apples on the tree and they were amazed. The father said to their mother “thats not an apple tree it’s a peach tree”.

A Christian’s fruitfulness isn’t merely a transplant of fruit or an attachment of busyness to their lives. Fruit is the result of being genuinely connected to Christ, possessing his divine life within. Fruit flows from the inside to the outside of a Christian. And the sap that nourishes the Christian is the grace of God.

God doesn’t call Christians to muster up fruit independently of His Son. He calls us to lean into His grace through abiding in His word and prayer. Recognize that Jesus is the source of your fruitfulness and your inability to produce any fruit independently of him. Do you really believe that apart from him you can do nothing? And do you really believe that if you abide in him you will bear much fruit (John 15:5)?

Jesus is the source of our life so our connection to Him is vital to produce any good fruit. Here is a sermon I preached about this entitled, Abiding in Christ.

Abiding In Christ- John 15:1-8