Growing In Maturity

August 3, 2008 - Dr. Jimmy Knott

Hebrews 5:11 - 6:1

Spiritual Life is a crisis, a new birth, followed by a process. What is God's goal of salvation? To get us to heaven? Probably not--he would have done that already if that was the goal. We have been left here on Earth to grow and develop and mature in our relationship with Jesus Christ and become more like Him.

Christian life is 5% conversion and 95% Going on.

The disciples were not made from activities alone. Life groups offer accountability, fellowship, and peer to peer learning.

True or False... Every Christian is Growing. Answer: FALSE. This is not always true. Every Christian should be growing. Many Christians have known the Lord for years but their spiritual maturity is on pause.

If a 7 year old child still looked and acted like a 6 month old child, as a parent, what would you do? You would see a doctor and get help immediately. So where do you go when your spiritual world is sick or not developing? Today you go to a church.

3 Observations about Growing in Spiritual Maturity

1. It is a mandate!
2 Peter 3:18, 1 Peter 2:2, Galatians 4:19, Ephesians 4:11, Colossians 1:27, 1 John 2:12-14

There are 4 developmental stages:
1. Birth: Feed me, take care of me
2. Childhood: discover, teach me, show me, help me understand
3. Adolescents: independence, show me, prove it to me, questioning, challenging
4. Adulthood: balance and stability, watch me, investing, pour life into others

Developmental Stage Observations:
1. All of us begin at the same stage - birth/infancy
2. Each stage has a unique set of needs
3. You can't skip a stage but you can get stuck
4. Church plays a greater role in the earlier stages
5. Growing towards maturity is a personal choice.

If you are too dependent on the church you can become frustrated or dissatisfied because the church isn't providing for you like you expected. As you mature, you have to become more responsible for your own development.

2. Tragedy of prolonged __________???
Writer of Hebrews is frustrated. His audience have been believers for over 25 years and he feels they should be further along in their spiritual maturity.

Results from our church's survey:
20% of the respondents are stuck spirituality. Scripture calls it dull which means unresponsive or hearing the word of God but not doing anything with it.
Based on the survey, here are the causes of being "stuck:"
- 10% inappropriate relationships
- 21% lack of self control
- 45% conflicting responsibilities
- 52% emotional/attitudinal issues
- 76% not made spiritual growth a priority

Do you just thank God that you are going to heaven and then just move on. Are you stuck?
So what is the pathway to maturity? What do you do? Take a pill or read a book?

Marks of Spiritual Maturity
1. Proper nourishment - regular time in the word or prayer
2. Consistent exercise - show others, teach others demonstrate your maturity
3. ????

3 Questions to Reflect On
1. What stage are you?
2. Are you stalled? Why?
3. What will it take to get you moving again?