Spiritual Maturity

[HKHaugan]

Spiritual Maturity

“...Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ (Col.1:27-28).”

Maturity, that is the goal for every human being. But what and who is the standard by which maturity is measured? Some people measure maturity by age, experience, skills, confidence and stable emotionality. What is a person like 'under fire' when 'the chips are down?' The secular world has its standards. By those standards a person can be successful in a specific field like having real 'business sense' or stable emotionality 'nothing seems to rattle him' or he has 'stick-to-itiveness' he is focused. A mature man knows what he wants and works hard to get it. No question, these are values that many strive to accomplish. But, where do those kinds of maturity come from and what are they based on? Are they lasting or do they just produce something that eventually erodes and fades into oblivion leaving a forgotten name on a lonely tombstone?

When I was out on the road hitchhiking I learned fast that willingness to learn and work extra hard to impress an employer got you ahead. That recognition and acceptance felt good and the small raises made life easier. But it was all about me, my economic and social survival. When you are alone, with no real local identity, wherever you are you are an outsider which makes you work a little harder to prove yourself. Wherever I went I discovered that local ties were the bedrock for trust and opportunity and the best openings went to the familiar names and faces. Even if you adapt to their cultural identity factors, the outsider always takes a back seat.

In this secular mindset it is the determination to succeed economically and rise above circumstance that earns moderate acceptance. This basically characterizes regional, family, ethnic and social class barriers. It's just plain hard work to fit in. It may explain why migration, urban growth and educational progress are popular personal survival strategies. You can always get a new start someplace else where you and your origins are unknown quantities. One has only to look at the history of America as a prime example. But the dynamics of acceptance follow wherever human beings settle and repeat the classic sorting out sequences. When a group establishes itself in an area it inevitably falls into the same judgment dynamics that caused it to form. Secular maturity is learning the ropes and fitting in no matter what it takes.

But there is another kind of maturity, spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is not dependent on how hard you work, who you impress or the goals you decide on attaining. Spiritual maturity is personal in who you trust with your life and relational in application. Spiritual maturity is completely turning over the mental, emotional and physical processing of your moment by moment life to the risen Jesus. It is allowing the mind of the Father, the heart of Jesus the Son and the direction of the Holy Spirit to elevate and bring into balance the mind, heart and spirit in us. This is why Paul says he wants to present everyone mature in the Lord (Col.1:28). It is Jesus who shows us what a mature balanced person looks like.

Just what does it mean to be mature? The Greek word Paul uses here is teleios which means perfect, completed, accomplished, finished. It was root word Jesus used when He uttered His last words on the Cross. He said, tetelesthai (Gk.), “It is finished.” At that moment everything He had come to do was completed perfectly; finished, accomplished, achieved. He had lived human life perfectly, finished the work He had come to do; achieved perfect obedience to His Father's will. His thought was perfect. His emotions were perfect and His Spirit was perfect. He had shown what the exact image of God, mind, heart and spirit, looked like in the flesh. The Father, the Son and the Spirit were One. He appeared as the perfection of the Father's original intention when Adam and Eve were created as images of Him. After Adam and Eve sinned by being disobedient, Jesus came as the obedient course correction for all humanity to restore their intended destiny, a personal relationship with God to recover being His image.

For Paul image restoration begins with being spiritually mature through belief in Jesus. Spiritually mature---just what does that mean? Spiritual maturity is achieved when we approach every next moment spiritually. Jesus is our spiritual focus and the Holy Spirit the inspiration for the focus. Everything we think and do begins with spiritually assessing what we face in every next moment. Then we learn to trust the presence of Jesus in our hearts spiritually and finally to act by faith spiritually.

The main barrier against us thinking spiritually is called sin. Its infection has us thinking, feeling and acting for self first before anything else. This has to be unlearned and spiritual awareness learned. Sin is what Jesus neutralized on the Cross. A relationship with the risen Jesus takes our need for recovery and gives forward looking purposes.

The whole purpose of education is to train the mind to mature intellectually. He gives us Scripture for the mind.

The purpose of living in a family is to learn how to mature relationally. He gives us the family of Jesus, the Body of Christ and spiritual gifts to grow as brothers and sisters in the Body.

The purpose of work is to learn how to mature in our physical environment and order our physical being to be productive, multiply and share the spiritual reality with which we have been blessed. This is where we learn how to be His witness and grow toward maturity.

The purpose of a having a relationship with the Lord Jesus is to mature spiritually. If we have a spiritual foundation then personal, relational and economic maturity follow. Belief for the mind, trust for the heart and faith for the spirit give us the foundation for becoming balanced. Each of these restore who we really are as images of God. With the Holy Spirit Jesus leads the way in us to become balanced in their use. Jesus is the balance; balanced from birth, balanced in all His interactions with people, balanced in His relationship with His Father, balanced on the Cross and resurrected in the balance with the Spirit. The Kingdom of God is the balanced eternal life where believers live with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in perfect balanced unity. Our every next moment is the opportunity to share this eternal truth.