Spiritual Growth Is Not For Babies (2 Peter 3:18)

This past Sunday I preached about the need for Christians to grow spiritually so that they can weather the storms of life. This is an article that will help you do just that. Read it….then put it into practice!

Below is an article from Lifeway about growing Spiritually.

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A fellow was raised in the back hills of West Virginia—I mean, so far out in the sticks, never in his life had he even seen a big city, to say nothing of modern inventions and neon lights. He married a gal just like himself and they spent all their married years in the backwoods. They had one son, whom they creatively named Junior. Around the time Junior reached his sixteenth birthday, his dad began to realize it wouldn’t be too many years before their son would become a man and would strike out on his own. It troubled him that his boy could reach manhood and wind up getting a job in the city, not prepared to face the real world. He felt responsible and decided to do something about it.

He and his wife started saving for a trip the three of them would take to the city. About three years later the big day arrived. They tossed their belongings in the ol’ pickup and started the long journey over winding, rough roads to the city. Their plan was to spend several days at a swanky hotel and take in all the sights. As they approached the outskirts of the metropolis, Papa began to get a little jumpy: “Mama, when we pull up at the hotel, you stay in the truck while Junior and I go in and look around. We’ll come back and git ya, okay?” She agreed.

Bright lights and uniformed doormen greeted them as they pulled up. Mama stayed put as Papa and Junior walked wide-eyed toward the lobby. Neither could believe his eyes! When they stepped on a mat, the door opened automatically. Inside, they stood like statues, staring at the first chandelier either of them had ever seen. It hung from a ceiling three stories high. Off to the left was an enormous waterfall, rippling over inlaid stones and rocks. “Junior, look!” Down below was an ice skating rink—inside.

While both stood silent, eying one breathtaking sight after another, they kept hearing this clicking sound behind them. Finally, Papa turned around and saw this amazing little room with doors that slid open from the center. “What in the world?” People would walk up, push a button and wait. Lights would flicker above the doors and then, “click,” the doors slid shut. By now, dad and son stood totally transfixed.

At that moment a wrinkled old lady shuffled up to the doors all by herself. She pushed the button and waited only a few seconds. “Click,” the doors opened with a swish and she hobbled into the little room. No one else stepped in with her, so “click,” the doors slid shut. Not more than twenty seconds later the doors opened again—and there stood before them this fabulously attractive young woman in her twenties—high heels, shapely body, beautiful face—a real knockout! As she stepped out, smiled, and turned to walk away, Papa nudged his boy and mumbled, “Hey, Junior . . . go get Mama!”

Seems that everybody these days is looking for a little room like what Papa thought he had found. A place where if they push the right button, wait momentarily for the door of opportunity to slide open, then like magic, in only a matter of seconds they would be instantly transformed. Think of all the money people would save from cosmetic surgery and all the time they would save from exercise and all the guilt they would save from dieting.

I think believers would even like a room like this in their spiritual life. In the twinkling of an eye they could go from spiritual infants to spiritual adults. Physically the maturation process does not occur this way and neither does it spiritually. Spiritual growth like physical fitness requires work, time, and a willingness to grow. No shortcuts exist for spiritual maturity.

Spiritual growth is not an option for believers. God intends for every believer to grow to spiritual maturity. His word commands us: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). That’s our obligation—and our privilege. The primary goal of spiritual life is human transformation.

But, many people have a mistaken idea about what spiritual growth involves.

I. The Misconceptions of Maturity

A. Spiritual maturity comes with age.
Granted age provides us with more experiences and the chances of growth are greater as one increases in years, but age does not guarantee growth. Not everyone who grows old, grows up. There is a vast difference between age and maturity.

B. Spiritual maturity is instantaneous.
This myth stands in direct opposition of the first misconception. Just because one has given his or her life to Christ does not mean instant maturity. As in physical life, spiritually one grows from infancy to adulthood. The thrust of Biblical teaching emphasizes the long-term, patient, undramatic growth of Christian character through unspectacular means. Growth takes time.

C. Spiritual maturity involves activity.
Some folks think that the mature Christians are the busy ones. But busyness doesn’t result in maturity nor can it be substituted for it. It may, in fact, be a hindrance to what really is vital and important to spiritual growth.

D. Spiritual maturity is knowledge.
A person may have a lot of facts, a lot of information, but that can’t be equated with spiritual maturity. Unless one’s knowledge transforms his life it is doing nothing more than informing his life.

II. The Meaning of Maturity

What do we mean by spiritual growth?

Spiritual maturity is Christlikeness.
The Bible says, “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, [growing] into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (Eph. 4:13). Maturity equals a life that resembles Christ’s life. No other meaning may be allowed to substitute. All other meanings will be lesser, man-made alternatives that disguise the all-demanding standard God sets before us in the Scriptures. Granted, age, knowledge, activity, and zeal would be easier standards by far. But God’s standard, his meaning of maturity is none of these things. The only measurement that counts, according to Ephesians 4:13 is being like Jesus.

Are we growing more and more like him? Do we love God as God loves us? Do we love others as God loves people?

On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: James Butler Bonham—no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by his family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom.

No portrait of Jesus exists either. But his likeness is to be seen in us, his followers, as we grow to maturity.

III. The Steps to Maturity

If the goal of the Christian life is to resemble Christ, then there must be some steps that we can take in our journey to reach our destination. These steps are not difficult. We cannot be spectators in spiritual growth. By consistently practicing certain mechanics GROWTH will occur.

A. Get accountable.
“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Maturity flourishes with accountability. Granted, no one wants to be accountable much less to be held accountable. Yet nothing like accountability will take us to maturity.

B. Read the Bible daily.
“The people here were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, since they welcomed the message with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). The Bible is food for the believer. It becomes the source of spiritual nourishment and sustaining strength.

C. Offer yourself in worship.
“Not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). Every member of the human race was created to worship. Our lives begin to resemble what it worships. Therefore, if we want to resemble Christ we must worship him. And it must be an all the time thing not a sometime thing. Unless we are prepared to worship God with all of our lives, we will find it nearly impossible to worship God for one hour on Sunday.

D. Witness for Christ.
Jesus said, “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8). If Jesus is alive and growing in us then a natural outgrowth is to share him with others. Witnessing brings all the other disciplines of spiritual growth into practice.

E. Take time to pray.
Again Jesus said, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). Prayer is dialogue with God. It is not like beeping God or sending him a fax. Prayer comes out of a relationship with God. It is a personal conversation with God.

F. Honor God by giving financially to a local church.
“’Bring the full 10 percent into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,’ says the LORD of Hosts. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure’” (Mal. 3:10). There can be no significant Christian growth without the money we have at our disposal being placed in the Lord’s hands for his use. Financial giving to God’s work is not a debt I owe but a seed I sow for growth to continue in my life. To take the other steps and leave off tithing is like going to the fitness center, exercising on the equipment, without working up a sweat. We are not giving all of ourselves if we aren’t giving our money to God’s house.

These steps to GROWTH are the non-negotiables of spiritual maturity.

IV. The Examination of Maturity
Based on the following words—Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood—answer two questions.

First, where are you spiritually?
In other words, where would you place your spiritual growth to date? Which word would you circle to best describe your spiritual maturity?

The word you circle is not the most important aspect of this exercise. For example if you have recently said Yes to Jesus then it stands to reason that you would be at the infancy stage. If you have been a Christian for a short time then you might circle Childhood or Adolescence.

The second question is the critical one.

Are you spiritually maturing in your walk with Christ?
If yes, from your circle draw an arrow pointed to the right. If no, draw an arrow pointed to the left.

Remember life results in growth. If we are not growing we are dying. Spiritual growth is not found in a little room where quick changes occur. It is found in a daily obedience to practice the necessary disciplines so we become more like Jesus Christ.
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Rick Ezell is the pastor of First Baptist Greer, South Carolina. He has served churches in Naperville, IL, Scottsburg, IN and Overland Park, KS for the past twenty-three years.