Growing Up
A group of tourists visiting a picturesque village walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a somewhat condescending way, one tourist asked, “Were any great men born in this village?” The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.” Like greatness, maturity is the result of a process in one’s life. Have you consciously entered into a process of growing up spiritually?
Raising a child from infancy involves recognizing the various life stages and providing what is necessary to move her to the next step. The baby sheds the bottle, the diaper, the “blankie,” the pacifier, and the baby carriage. She replaces these hallmarks of infancy with the appropriate tools for the toddler, and so on. Locking into one of these early stages and remaining there for life would be considered tragic.
We have two grandkids, a four-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy. Thankfully, there is a big difference in their behavior, although both are immature little kids. We would be if the girl got stuck at the boy’s stage of development. His communication mode is mainly an occasional word, cooing, yelling, screaming, laughing, crying, and head-shaking. On the other hand, the girl is as articulate as a four-year-old can be. However, if she’s still talking and acting like a toddler in 10 years, it will be cause for great concern. We should be able to discern a child’s age, at least in part, by what they do.
Just as you can observe maturity in a growing person by what they do, as the book of James points out, what ultimately proves that our faith is authentic is what we do. That’s the bottom line. The next time you’re in church (while you should be listening to the sermon), take a glance around you at all the people. Imagine what a difference this group of individuals might make if they all decided to live their faith this week. Look at what an impact twelve guys who chose to do that 2,000 years ago had! The scary part is that perhaps we all are living our faith. What does that say about our faith?!
Maturing involves imitating. Whether people admit it or not, everyone has a mentor of some kind. You can see it in the best and the worst of people. Someone before them was their example. But, mentoring and discipleship are an intentional part of growth for the Christian. From the beginning, we bear someone else’s image, the image of God. From there, the image we assume is a matter of influence.
Even though God created us in His image, we reflect countless unique personal qualities. Imitators of Christ have much in common too, but should also reflect uniqueness. However, just as it becomes evident through observation which of God’s creatures is human, it should become apparent through observation which humans are Christian. Words and behavior are outward indicators of who we are imitating. If someone chose to imitate you, would it follow that by doing so, they would be imitating Christ?
Paul felt confident enough about his example to conclude that for him, it would. He wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:16). Paul was the Corinthian church’s father in the faith. I’ve heard plenty of dads say, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say!” But, Paul could encourage them to both, “Do as I say (the Scriptures—his letters) and as I do!” Wouldn’t you love to get to that place? It wasn’t easy for Paul.
Paul would have been the first to admit he was not perfect. None of us can be. Not while we live in these bodies of flesh and walk planet earth together. Losing your life to Christ involves denying oneself, following Him, and submitting to the control of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote about that in Galatians 2, where he said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). So, Paul was saying, “Imitate Jesus in me.”
Such transformation is not an event or an overnight change; it is a process. If it were supposed to be immediately complete, most would abandon the faith out of frustration. Paul likely would have. He recognized that he couldn’t be perfect and keep all of God’s commands. His perfection could only be a reality to the degree that he allowed Christ to live in him. Christ only lived in those areas where Paul made room for Him by putting to death some deed of the flesh. A right relationship with God through Christ is not legalism, but letting Christ live in you one habit, deed, and desire at a time. Which room of your life will Christ move into today?
“…and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” — Galatians 2:20