I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
-I Corinthians 3:2
Sometimes I think I’m getting it backwards. The evidence of my physical maturity is glaring. The signs of my spiritual maturity? Not nearly so obvious. And a boy in a man’s body is a very unattractive thing.
Spiritual maturity is something to covet, and the lack of it is something I wish we all feared more. Because we can be, I think, inclined to view our progress in Christ by what we’ve put away, or by what we don’t do, which is fine to a point.
So sure, if we used to swear and now we’re G-rated, that’s great. If we’ve abandoned unclean behaviors, addictive vices, or corrupt ways of dealing with people, praise God. I’ve done a fair amount of vice-dumping in my own life, so I’m the first to salute fellow Used-to-Be’s or Used-to-Do’s.
But we can’t stop there, because growth means character, not just reform. Which strikes me as truer than ever because the Christmas season can be an education in Character 101. there’s no time of year I love more, nor is there a time of year in which I experience such a disconnect between what I planned and what
actually happened.
Every year I swear the lights will go up earlier, the gifts will be bought by the 10th, and it will be a blessedly stress-free time. Which never happens, especially this year, as I’m completing a book, so the pre-Christmas days are largely taken up with last-minute editing. Daily stressors tend to throw me more than major ones, and the throwing this year is especially fierce
I’m easy. Not in the morally loose way we often use the term, but easy to throw, easily hurt, easy to trigger, easily depressed, and above all, easily discouraged. The puny obstacles God allows in my life have shown me, like merciless white studio lights, my flaws, and I’m disappointed. Not in the fact I have them, but by their nature and degree. This level of impatience, self-pity and temper I’m seeing in me just doesn’t jive with my concept of someone who’s known the Lord 45 years.
I had an image of what I’d be like when I grew up. Now that I’m up, I notice the man I ordered decades ago is not quite what the waiter brought me. So I can either take him as he is – not horrible, but not nearly as well done as he should be – or send him back to the Chef for some extra work.
In this, I think I’m not alone. Many believers plateau spiritually, reaching a point where certain reforms have been made and good patterns – church fellowship, clean living, grace at meals – have been established. Having settled into a respectable routine, it’s easy to then say “That’ll do” to the Spirit’s sanctifying work. So His yearning to take us further by rearranging our back rooms and closets can be thwarted by our satisfaction with a cleaner living room and a greener yard which, we say, is enough.
But there’s no “Enough” with God. CS Lewis so perfectly spelled it out in Mere Christianity:
“Make no mistake,” He says, “if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand I am going to see this job through.”
Amen, and Ouch! But for some time now I’ve said we should be more anxious to see Christian growth than church growth; more zealous for the fruit of the Spirit in our lives than all the material and circumstantial things we crave.
So in the interest of being consistent, and admittedly with some hesitation, I am going to say “Yes” to that work He promised to do. Because celebrating His coming to earth for me, without also welcoming His work in me, seems awfully shallow. I hope even this month to see myself a more mature, strong man offering holiday greetings and prayers from a place of deeper, more Christ-like character.
I also hope all of us will take to heart the need to press on, maturing, never arrived but always arriving. And valuing, as Dr. King said, the content of our character, always wanting more of the glory to glory transformation within, which He not only promises to give, but also wants us to receive.
“Baby” is a great term of endearment from a spouse or a sweetheart. But apart from that, let’s not let it be a word which can be said about us.
