As our congregation pursues our purpose of Growing Disciples who Exalt, Explore, Embody, Engage, we are seeking to journey toward spiritual maturity, which is becoming more like Jesus Christ. After salvation, every Christian begins the process of spiritual growth, with the intent being to become spiritually mature. According to Paul, this is an ongoing process that will never end in this life. In Philippians 3:12-14, speaking of full knowledge of Christ, he tells his readers that he himself has not “… already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. 13Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.” Like Paul, our purpose commits us toward deeper love, knowledge and experience of God.
Christian maturity requires a radical reordering of one’s priorities, changing over from pleasing self to pleasing God and learning to obey God. We have identified that the best way to do this is through regular and frequent participation in worship (exalt); meeting weekly and fortnightly to study and apply the bible (explore); serving where we are called (embody); and sharing our faith so that others may have a life transforming relationship with Jesus (engage). These are not simply activities to be completed. They are disciplines through which we grow more like Jesus.
They become a means of entering more deeply into life with Jesus as we walk with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 tell us that we’re to “walk by the Spirit.” The Greek word used here for “walk” actually means to “walk with a purpose in view.” Further down in the same chapter, Paul tells us again that we’re to “walk by the Spirit.” Here, the word translated “walk” means “step by step, one step at a time.” It is learning to walk under the instruction of another, the Holy Spirit. Since believers are filled with the Spirit, we should also walk under his control. As we submit more and more to the Spirit’s control, we will also see an increase in the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). This is characteristic of spiritual maturity.
To me, this reflects the beauty of our purpose. We don’t need to do all the hard work of resisting the evil things in our lives. Very often we think that the Christian life entails turning away from that which is sinful and evil. Rather, spiritual maturity involves turning toward the good that is God. When we become Christians, we are given all we need for spiritual maturity. This involves surrender to God and allowing his Spirit to fill us with his good things. When a room is in darkness, it doesn’t become light by pushing the darkness out, or by filling it with more darkness. It becomes light by turning on a light switch. In the same way our lives of darkness are only transformed when we let the light of Christ fill us.
Grace and peace
David Fender
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