Initiative #4: Defining Spiritual Maturity

Our fourth and final initiative for the '07-'08  ministry year (October-September) is to clearly define spiritual maturity for the people of Community Christian Church. 

This story will help illustrate what we want to get across with this initiative.  Imagine that you meet a 50 year old man and then you discover that this 50 year old man still lives at home with his mom and dad. What is your reaction? Your not gonna say are you? Ok, while I may not say anything out loud; the truth is I’m thinking, “Why is this guy still at home?” And then you find out that this 50 year old man who still lives with his mom and dad doesn’t have a job and that he spends most of his day sitting on the couch watching the cartoon network. Now what are you thinking? Ok, you are with me - you are thinking, “Why isn’t this guy providing for himself and why is he still mooching off his parents?”

And let’s say you observe this guy at dinner at his parents and when it comes time to eat you watch his 75 year old mother reach over and spoon feed her 50 year old son. At this point you know there is something very wrong. Something is very wrong in his maturing, his development. I mean, if he was five months old, this would be appropriate. But even at five years…he should be feeding himself. And at 50 he should not only be feeding himself, but providing for himself and really providing for others! Right!?!

In the same way, spiritual maturity is not all about you getting fed. Just like with a baby you don’t want to be feeding him/her when she is an adult. By then, you want them feeding themselves and once they have kids, they begin to feed others, right? And I know sometimes churches have created a spiritual dependency relationship and teach people that the be-all and end-all in spiritual maturity is getting fed by coming to hear the Pastor teach. This feels great for the pastor’s ego, but that leaves everyone as a spiritual infant crying, “feed me”. We need to grow to the place where we know how to feed ourselves and then feed others.

We started the process this weekend as we began the Arrested Development series.  In a simple Big Idea we are explaining spiritual maturation like this:

• Spiritual Infancy = Getting Fed
• Spiritual Adolescence = Feeding Yourself
• Spiritual Maturity = Feeding Others

There is a lot more we will say on this topic; like spiritual maturation is not about the length of time you have been a Christ Follower, it is about the speed in which you obey.  It is possible for someone to show signs of both infancy and maturity at the same time.  Like I said, there is more to come...but that gives you an idea of where we are headed.

Comments

[Nicole]

I am excited for this series! Reminds me of Nouwen's writings in The Return of the Prodigal Son. Love that book, and this series.

As a therapist, so much of my own work is about giving people hope or a nudge enough to move on from all sorts of pain, sorrow, sins, or struggles.

Right now, I'm helping a prof with parts of a book that fits well with this topic. I'll let you know what the title will be and when it comes out via IVP. :) Exciting when different domains of life collide on a common topic. Right now for me, that's on sin, contemplative spiritual practices, and growing in Christ. Scary but exciting.

[Ken Row]

I was sharing these concepts with my father-in-law/pastor. He brought up a 4th level - spiritual grandparenting. Some older saints no longer have the stamina to feed others like they used to, but they've left quite a legacy -- much like earthly grandparents who are no longer primary care-givers, but are still greatly interested in the grandkids and great-grandkids.

[yediyd]

THANK YOU! This really hits home…

We are about to address this very thing with our youth. Unfortunately, it may be one of our last weeks with them. You see, our church cultivates that dependency you speak of and we, as the youth leaders, are breaking down the twisted way of spiritual abuse going on in our church. We recently did two series with our students: Real Followers (based on the book by Michael Slaughter) and Sinning Like a Christian (based an another book whose author escapes me). Our pastor is ticked. He proclaims "Pentecostalism is THE way," yet we teach the youth the overall Christian theological spectrum. He teaches the congregation to hate other denominations, and we show them the verse where, as Christians, we are recognized by our love for one another. It's crazy here. The spiritual abuse is rampant - manipulation of the congregants is openly discussed among the staff.

Now that we are finishing up our sin series (which he says the youth aren't ready for!?) we are gearing up for the spiritual disciplines. Our kids are chomping at the bit to get Biblical truth, yet the more scripture we give them, the more our pastor ramps up his manipulation tactics. Again, it's crazy here!

We are in such a struggle to prepare our youth to be spiritually mature, ready to be in the world, able to defend the faith, knowing how to persevere, fully engaged in Biblical study, etc. all the while our pastor is keeping people bound to "the church is my brain" and "the pastor is the exalted ruler" mentalities. As a horrifying result, every person in this church regularly doubts their salvation. The tragedy!

Oh, I pray that the church would be purged of spiritual abuse and manipulation and would cultivate spiritually mature Christians.