I collect old gems--the spiritual kind. I love old Christian book treasures with yellowed pages filled with Scriptural truth. One such book is Cultivation of Christian Character by J. Oswald Sanders. Several years ago, I used the book in homeschooling with my older son who wrote essays on its contents, and I recently rediscovered it on my shelf. I wondered if the writing might be too advanced for my two ten-year-olds, but I have found exactly the opposite. The book is exactly what is needed in this hour for all of us. We are witnessing an epidemic of spiritual immaturity in the church. I asked my children what they would think of an adult with a pacifier in his mouth and a blankie and Winnie the Poo toy in his hand. "Pathetic!" said my daughter. "Terrible!" said my son. I explained that this is what we are spiritually when we refuse to grow in our faith. The Lord has diagnosed the problem in His Word and given a prescription for it, but both diagnosis and prescription are being ignored today because too many pastors aren't preaching the Word. I want to share with you an excerpt from the first chapter that my children and I have been reading these past few days.
What is Spiritual Maturity?
It is not an automatic process which takes place by mere passage of time. We have to press on to it. Moral earnestnes and endeavor are involved if the goal is to be attained.
It is not merely a mental apprehension of spiritual things or the ability to do spiritual work. It is primarily concerned with our attitudes to God and our fellow-men. It is the ability to meet the demands and emergencies of life in a mature and not childish way. Our Lord commended the childlike spirit but nowhere encouraged a childish attitude in life situations. The spiritually mature Christian is one who is able to function happily in any circumstances. Perhaps a consideration of the marks of spiritual immaturity will highlight its opposite. The spiritually immature person meets adult situations and tests with childish and immature reactions. This always produces tension and strain with all the attendant problems. When sorrow strikes, he is inclined to indulge in an orgy of self-centered emotion. If financial reverses come, he is at a loss to know why this should come to him, and he blames God. When hopes are dashed, he loses heart and drops his bundle. When adversity overtakes him, he is swallowed up in self-pity. In domestic difficulties he indulges in tantrums or sulks and creates an atmosphere that mars home unity. When placed with other difficult people, he falls prey to censorious criticism and "gives as good as he gets." When his will is thwarted by God or man, he becomes rebellious and bitter.
So then our spiritual maturity or immaturity is seen in the manner in which we react to the changing circumstances of life. It should be noted, however, that spiritual maturity does not come to anyone naturally. It has to be learned. Is it not striking that it is recorded of Christ that "though he were a Son yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation." (Hebrews 5:8-9)? He alone was fully mature. The rest of us are "going on to maturity." In all of us there are some expressions of our personality in which we react immaturely instead of as mature men of God.
Marks of Spiritual Maturity
Dr. A.W. Tozer has enumerated some of these marks, and we can classify ourselves by bringing our lives alongside this measuring tape. The spiritually mature Christian is characterized by:
A desire to be holy rather than happy. Holiness is attractive only to the mature. A child is far more interested in being happy than in being good. The child has to learn by painful experience that true happiness comes only by way of goodness. Christ was happier than any of His contemporaries because he "loved righteousness and hated iniquity." (Hebrews 1:9)
An attitude of giving rather than receiving. A child enjoys having everyone shower attention on him. Rarely does he think of serving someone else unless he is prompted. Our Lord said: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark 10:45).
A joyous personality. The morose and lugubrious person indicates that he is spiritually immature. His very gloom is an evidence of inner conflicts. Christ was so joyous that He was able to bequeath His joy to His disciples.
A fruitful life as opposed to a barren life. The mark of a mature tree is that it reproduces itself. Fruit is the evidence of maturity. Jesus said: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). Only the mature Christian is willing to fall into the ground and die, and only he is spiritually fruitful.
Acceptance rather than evasion of discipline. It is a childish reaction to shun the disciplines of God. While not necessarily enjoying it, the mature Christian does not run away from God's chastening but adapts himselef to it. Paul said, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11). He disciplined himself to accept divinely permitted chastening.
A life of love. The highest manifestation of spiritual maturity if love. We are only as mature as we mature in love. John says that a person who is fear-ridden is immature in love. "There is no fear in love...but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror!...he who is afraid has not yet reached the full maturity of love--is not yet grown into love's complete perfection" (I John 4:18) Christ's perfection was manifested in the fullness of His love.
How do we fare when we bring our lives alongside these tests? Are we making satisfactory progress toward spiritual maturity? There is another possibility in the Christian life. Spiritual maturity is not maintained automatically. Strange though it may seem, it is possible to degenerate into immaturity again. There is such a thing spiritually as a second childhood.
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