Ohhhh, Baby!

Oh, YES ... I remember when this picture was taken more than six years ago!! Wah - Wah - Wah - Wah - Wah! We even titled the snapshot, "Double Trouble." LOL How quickly the years have passed! How much the munchkins have grown! Can they still scream to let their wants be known? Oh, YES.

AND - so can you and I! It makes me wonder - How much of a baby are we spiritually? Are we growing up in ways that please the Lord? Or, are we still kicking our feet, clenching our fists, and screaming our heads off when we want our own way?

Growing up is hard to do. Who sang that old song? Was it the Everly Brothers? Good grief, if that doesn't date me, what will? I am a child of the 60's. And now, I am a gray haired woman IN my 60's. Physically, I've grown up. But, spiritually? Can I still be a baby sometimes? Oh, YES! (Not only can I be a baby - apparently, I can be a dunderhead ... I mean, an inaccurate rememberer. GRIN! It just dawned on me, the Everly Bros. song was Breaking Up is hard to do - not growing up... YIKES! Oh well, I TOLD you I was in my 60's - whad'ya expect??)

Let's keep talking about GROWING up. In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote about four marks of spiritual maturity.

(v.13) This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

It sure will be nice when everybody at my church grows up spiritually. Woops!! That verse says "WE ALL." That means it applies to "me" too - not just "them." Hmmm . . . better think on this a little more. Does your thinking ever run in that direction? Isn't that our initial tendency? Don't we try to look at scripture at apply it to everybody else first? Oh, what we miss when we do that! God's Word is meant to speak to us each individually and VERY personally - even if what it says hurts. Or perhaps I should say, ESPECIALLY when it hurts.

This verse tells us that one of the first marks of spiritual maturity is GROWTH IN CHRISTLIKENESS ("measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ"). It's not talking about perfection. It's talking about GROWTH.

How do we grow? Well, in the case of those screaming little munchkins pictured above - they grew because we fed them, nurtured them, and cared for them. If we are to grow spiritually, it will come the same way...because we are fed, nurtured and cared for. We need to be fed the Word of God through teaching AND we need to assume our own responsibility to feed on the Word of God as much as we are able. As we grow, our ability to feed ourselves from the Word develops.

But we never outgrow our need to be nurtured and cared for by others. We are a part of the Body of Christ. That's what Paul is referring to when he talks about the "unity in our faith."

If we, as individual believers, are ever to mature fully, we need the fellowship of other believers. The idea of an arm or a leg developing in isolation from the rest of the body is ludicrous. We will never attain full spiritual maturity apart from the give-and-take of a local church fellowship.

I am sorry to say, there have been times that I have withdrawn from active fellowship in my local church. There have been times I have intentionally isolated myself. I can give strong testimony from personal experience to the fact that my growth in Christlikeness was severely stunted during those times!

How glorious when we reach the point in our spiritual growth where we are not only feeding ourselves, but helping to feed others . . . nurturing others . . .caring for others! Growing in Christlikeness!

The second mark of spiritual maturity is STABILITY.

(v.14) Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

The word Paul used for "children" in this verse literally means a small infant: one who is at a very vulnerable stage of life where they are at the will and whim of others. A small boat on a lake can "be tossed and blown about by every wind" and fail to stay its course and reach its destination. So can immature/baby believers. Immature believers, like children, are unable to discern trickery and lies so clever they sound like truth when these things are spouted by false teachers (or Satan himself). Without discernment that comes with maturity believers minds can be in as much turmoil as a stormy sea. We must be growing toward maturity in true faith like Paul mentions in v. 13 (above). Only then will we be able to discern false doctrines and inaccurate teaching. Only then will we stay the course and reach the goal of maturity.

Stability in our faith is essential in this day and age with all its humanistic philosophies and "new age" theories. We need to know that the Word of God says: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36) not "let each person find God in their own way." We need to know that Jesus said: "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst" (John 4:14) not "whatever drink you choose will be as good as any other." Stability in our faith is an essential mark of spiritual maturity.

The third mark of spiritual maturity is TRUTH JOINED WITH LOVE.

(v.15) Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

Speaking the truth in love is not always easy, convenient, or pleasant. May I add to that by saying, it is SELDOM easy, convenient, or pleasant. But, it is NECESSARY if the church is going to do Christ's work in the world.

Love is the pivotal point in this equation. If truth is spoken without love, as some are prone to do, it can be brutal. Truth without love often offends or alienates the very people God wants us to bless.

But love without truth is just as bad because that, dear friends, is hypocrisy. If you, like me, detest conflict and keep quiet when you should speak truth, you are robbing someone of a blessing. You are, in effect, saying that God's truth is not important enough to you for you to risk conflict. What keeps our jaws locked tight, sisters? For some of us it's fear. Fear of conflict. Fear of being rejected. If that's the case with you, may I ask you what I had to ask myself . . . where does fear come from? My Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear ...." (I Tim. 1:7) Reject that fear and ask God to give you the "power and a sound mind" He promised (I Tim. 1:7) and let Him fill your mouth with the loving words He wants you to speak.

REAL love - GENUINE love will always speak

• at the right time


• with the right words


• in the right spirit


• and using the right approach

The 4th mark of maturity is COOPERATION.

(v.16) He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

What Paul's talking about here is MUTUAL DEVELOPMENT. The growth of the body is a process that continues until maturity is reached. Not all parts of the body grow at the same speed or to the same size. As believers, we must bear with one another in love and acceptance for each other's stage of maturity and rate of growth. We must cooperate with one another; reveling in each other's joys and writhing in each other's pain. We must be a group of individuals who are united in their purpose and in their love for one another and for the Lord. If one person stumbles, the rest of the group can pick that person up and help them walk with God again. If an individual sins, they can find restoration through the church, even as the rest of the body continues to witness to God's truth. Cooperation!

So - where are you today, believer? All grown up or still a baby? Ask yourself these questions:

• In what ways am I growing in being more like Christ?


• Am I more stable in knowing what I believe than I was a year ago?


• How faithful am I to speak the truth in love?


• Am I tightly joined to the rest of the body in a spirit of cooperation?

God wants us to be mature believers who realize we are created to be like Him. We are

• MADE IN HIS IMAGE


• SAVED BY HIS SON


• EMPOWERED BY HIS SPIRIT

Don't we want our lives to be so marked by spiritual maturity that when people see us, they instead see Jesus and what He is doing IN and THROUGH us?