It’s Not a Matter of Perspective

What you win people with is what you win them to. Growth without maturity produces bad or no fruit. For too long, we’ve preached a sugar coated “Jesus is my buddy who accepts me just as I am, and I don’t need to change” mentality in the Church. And by “too long,” I mean almost 2,000 years. If you read the New Testament, this has been a problem since our founding. Paul calls it preaching to soothe “itching ears.” In many cases of the Church, there is numerical growth, but no maturity; this is what the New Testament Authors called being” stuck drinking milk instead of eating meat.” How do we get stuck here? Why do we keep going back? There are probably quite a few reasons this happens, but for the sake of time I’m going to focus on only a few.

Feelings, first and foremost, are a huge reason why people are stunted in their Christian growth. People argue with Scripture, often replacing it with phrases that begin with “I feel,” “I believe,” and “I don’t think this, or that,” replacing something breathed out by God with something sentimental, containing half-truths or feelings. And with all the Christianese and slogans floating about, why listen to Scripture when the sugar-coated words that borrow from the truth taste so much better?

I would also say that the lack of being in the Scriptures leads to a decay in maturity. People want to be fed, which is great for Spiritual Infants, but becomes burdensome when the baby grows fat, but doesn’t mature. Our goal should always be to be in the Word for ourselves, longing for spiritual meat. I’ve known many people, over the years, who were not strong readers, but they could read the Bible, and, in recent years, listen to it.

The greatest hindrance to Christian Maturity, I believe, is pursuit, or lack thereof.  Consider what time you spend on your phone (I know I do. I spend WAY too much time on mine). Or, perhaps, chasing the weekend. Or work. We have a thousand good things we pursue, but leave Christ and His word relegated to a specific part of the day or week, if we get to it at all. We even let our ministry to Christ get in the way of our time with Him! You can’t be a faithful servant of Christ if you don’t quiet down, open the word, and spend time in Prayer. He shouldn’t be the first on your list, either. He should be the center of everything you do! The Gospel of Jesus Christ, His life, death, burial and resurrection should be ever on our lips and at the forefront of our minds. We’re saved FROM sin FOR His glory.

At the end of the matter, we are just, as the author of Ecclesiastes stated, we’re grasping after smoke, and the whole duty of man is still “Fear God and keep his commandments.” We were rebels, under the just judgement of God’s wrath. He rescued us, transformed us, renewed and redeemed us. He’s not a life coach. He’s the Lord of all. Let us pursue Him as such.

Ecclesiastes 12

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.