Signs of True Maturity

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." - Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV)

The goal of the Christian life is maturity. Its reward may be heaven but its goal is maturity. In fact, until you become mature you can't fulfill the call of God on your life.

I believe in our day the Lord is making a call to maturity. That call has been lost and forgotten in lots of churches. We have sanctuaries filling up on Sundays that are spiritual nurseries not maturing believers. Spiritual infancy has become the norm and is even celebrated. We don't get more mature simply because we are getting older. We do not get more mature by playing church.

Another misconception is that maturity is conformity. Conformity is not maturity. Just because you come into an atmosphere and culture where you can learn to dress and talk and clap and worship does not mean you are mature. Conformity is not a true sign of maturity in your walk. Conformity will actually keep you from maturity. Jesus my friends was the ultimate example of maturity. You find maturity in the person of Jesus. He was the most mature man to ever live.

First, mature believers are responsible people. Look at verse 12 again. "For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." There is a responsibility upon us to equip the saints and for the saints to be equipped. You must be a person to be counted on. You must be willing to accept responsibility in your life. There is a responsibility in the natural and the spiritual. In the natural, if you can't set your alarm and get out of bed and get to work on time, you are not responsible in the natural. If you can't pay your bills you are not walking in responsibility. Maturity is about living in responsibility. If you are sleeping til 1:00 pm every Saturday, that is not maturity!

But there is also a responsibility in the Spirit. Paul said in 1 Cor. 9:16 woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel. Friends, we have a responsibility to preach the gospel. We have a responsibility to speak the Word of God. If a child is drowning in a pool, you don't worry about being politically correct. You get in and get the child. People are perishing and drowning all around us. Today is not the time to try and be politically correct. We surely don't work to be saved, but we work now because we are saved!

The work of salvation was done on the Cross, but the work of proclamation had just begun. John 11 tells us to work while its yet day. Ministry is WORK. People think ministry is a microphone. Ministry is work for anyone who is mature enough to have responsibility. There is a work to be done in the nation. "To prepare God's people for the WORK of ministry." People now want to hear about prosperity and favor but no one wants to hear about responsibility. Privileges only come with responsibility. We live in a generation now where everyone wants to be a celebrity Christian. Responsibility is the first attribute of maturity. Maturity is knowing I can only control me. Don't worry about what others are saying. Worry about what you are saying. Don't worry about what others are doing. Worry about what you are doing. Trust me, that is a full time job in itself!

Secondly, mature believers are consistent people. Look at the Scripture again. "Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." This means maturity means consistency. We must be consistent until we reach unity and maturity. Mature believers are not here and there and bouncing around everywhere. Mature believers are consistent in your emotions. You are not up one day and down the next. You are not led by your emotions. There will be lots of people not in a church worship experience this Sunday. You know why? Because they didn't feel like going. Folks mature believers do not consult their feelings. This thing has nothing to do with how Craig feels. Well Pastor Craig, I have had a tough week. Join the club! I don't consult my feelings about anything. Maturity screams consistency!

A stat I read the other day said that the average church attendee believer attends 32 out of 52 weeks per year. That is a little better than half! Maturity doesn't check the checkbook to see if this week is an advantageous week for me to tithe. I have pastor friends who are always wanting to chase something new. The newest fad, the newest big pastor, the newest method. Get the old Godly ways down first and be consistent in them and then anything else that comes along to help you, grab hold of it. But first, read the Word every day. Learn to pray longer. Maturity says I will read my Bible every day. It does not matter what is going on. Maturity is not watching some tv show for hours each week and you have not even cracked open your Bible.

The Word of God is the foundation for consistency and discipline. If you can't be consistent in the Word, you will not be consistent in anything in life.

People need to know that you are consistent. Do you consider yourself mature? Do you consider yourself a leader? Let me give you a little test. When people get around you, do they know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are going to get dose after dose of the Word of God? People should not have to wander what they are going to get from you when they get around you. Mature believers are consistent people. That means you must love people whether the ever love you or not. I tell you the truth: people will say you are the greatest thing in the world one day and talk about you like you are a dog the next. Mature believers are consistent no matter what the circumstances!

Lord help us to be both responsible and consistent people for the glory of God.

pcraig