Maturing
A group of tourists visiting a picturesque village walked by an older 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 a process of growing up spiritually?
Raising a child from infancy involves recognizing the various stages of life and providing what is necessary to move him to the next stage. For example, the baby sheds the bottle, the diaper, the “blankie,” the pacifier, and the baby carriage. She drops these hallmarks of infancy and replaces them with the appropriate tools for a toddler, and so on. Locking into one of these early stages and remaining there for life would be considered tragic.
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. So, 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 these folks might make if they all truly decided to live their faith this week. Then consider what an impact 12 guys who chose to do that 2,000 years ago had! The scary part is the prospect that we might already be living our faith. What does that say about our faith?!
Maturing involves imitating. Whether we 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 take is a matter of influence.
Even though we are image-bearers of God, we reflect countless unique personal qualities. Imitators of Christ have much in common, too. But they should also reflect uniqueness. However, just as it becomes evident through observation which of God’s creatures is human, it generally becomes apparent through observation which of the humans is Christian. Words and behavior are outward indicators of the One we are imitating. If someone chose to imitate you, would it follow that they would be imitating Christ by doing so?
Paul felt confident enough about his example to conclude that for him, it would. So he wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:16). Paul was a father in the faith for the Corinthian church. I’ve heard plenty of parents 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.”
It doesn’t happen overnight. It is not an event, but a lifelong process. If commitment to Christ were supposed to be immediately complete, most would abandon the faith out of frustration. We don’t jump from infancy to adulthood. I believe that’s why John refers to “children…fathers,” and “young men” as he describes various characteristics of each in their relation to Christ (1 John 2:13b-14). We need all spiritual levels in the church, the family of Christ, helping each other, maturing together.
“I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” —1 John 2:13b–14