The Mature

I Corinthians 3:1-9

In the verses preceding these Paul has been addressing the mature follower of Christ, and many will say that is me, I go to church three times a week and two Bible studies, plus my small group, yeah buddy, I’m the mature person Paul is addressing.  I’m sure all that activity may be of some value, but it makes me tired thinking about it, how do you have time to be a mom or dad, a husband or wife, do a job, keep a house or take the time to love your neighbors.  Maturity seems to this writer would have more to do with peace and contentment in the middle of trials and chaos. 

Some quotes I found on the subject that resonated with me are; “Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.”

(Joshua Liebman)  “Maturity is not when we start speaking Big things.  It is when we start understanding small things.”  (Author not known)   “The true mark of maturity is when somebody hurts you and you try to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back.”  (Author not known)

Paul goes from saying, “Yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.”  (1 Corinthians 2:6)  Now in chapter 3:1-9, Paul is sharing that they are not mature, but fleshly, they are infants in Christ, and not ready for deeper truths.  He is not saying they are not in Christ, but they are lead by the flesh and it desires and not the Spirit of Christ.

I believe the quote above was on the spot, about understanding small things, but it did not go far enough, after the understanding we must take action on our understanding.  For many in the church, they keep seeking more knowledge but have not learned to apply the small things; like loving God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself.  Maturity it seems would be to not move forward looking for deeper understanding till one has done that.

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still in the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”

The Scriptures are full of what Maturity is and so let me give an example: “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  (Colossians 1:9-10)  And another from Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice