Maturity
by Mike Rule

I have spent a fair bit of time pondering Christian maturity lately. We seem to think that immaturity is easy to spot, but that is because we have defined it to mean carnal or unrighteous living. I recently came to a new understanding that has blown down my paradigms regarding maturity and revealed my own immaturity. Redefined, a carnal person is not someone who is living in unrighteousness or sin, but anyone who attempts to live life in his or her own power. Therefore, unrighteousness and self-righteousness are both carnal. This takes me right back to Genesis chapters 2 and 3 and shows me that carnality is rooted in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A carnal believer is simply someone who believes the Christian life is to be lived by human effort. Unrighteous people try to live life, but fail miserably and end up in sin. Self-righteous people try to live the Christian life, succeed miserably (meaning they never see their moment-by-moment need for Christ) and still end up in sin. Both are refusing Jesus.

Let me illustrate. Some children act foolishly. Others their age look down on them and tell the foolish-acting ones to "grow up." The reality is the "foolish" kids are usually being who they are (genuine), while the ones telling them to "grow up" are portraying an image of being older than they actually are. Neither way is mature; the manifestation of their immaturity is simply different. True maturity does not act foolishly, nor does it ridicule those who act in foolish ways. To take it to the next level, genuine maturity does not berate those who tell others to "grow up." Authentic maturity is based in one thing: looking beyond outward behavior to see a person's heart and unconditionally loving that person where they are. This is the life that Jesus demonstrated for us and the life that is totally impossible for us to emulate. Only He can live it through us.