“Childish Things”
January 14, 2018
Ephesians 4:11-15
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
1 Corinthians 13:11
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
There is nothing cuter than a baby. What a miracle! What a gift from God. When I hold a newborn baby in my arms and see the tiny toes and fingers, when I see the perfectly shaped ears and nose; when I gaze at the intelligence in their eyes – I praise God! What a wonderful, brilliant, powerful God He is!
One thing we all have in common, rich or poor; smart or not as smart; educated or not – we all came into this world as a baby. We came into this world with fist clenched and yelling our displeasure – at least I did. Imagine that! We have zero knowledge other than what God hardwired us with. We are zero experience. And every moment of every day we begin to acquire knowledge and experience. We learn when we cry we can get something to eat; we can get our diaper changed or we can a adult to come to us. We learn pretty fast.
As we grow we learn to walk and talk and communicate our will. Sometimes our will clashes with mom or dad’s will and they communicate their dissatisfaction through some form of discipline. Sometimes it is pleasant and sometimes it isn’t. But we learn. We grow. Our goal is adulthood and maturity.
God has described the church as a family. We are children of God. We are children of the Light. Jesus said,
“Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” John 12:6
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light!” Ephesians 5:8
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Do you see that we are a family? That is why they used to call each other ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ back in the early days of the church. The Bible says God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus is our brother. What an awesome concept!
Just as in the physical world an individual is expected to grow – so it is in the spiritual realm, too. It is called maturing. In the physical realm we often don’t act our age. Babies want things they are not ready for. Adolescence and teens tend to think they are more grown up than they are. Adults tend to think they are younger than they are. So what are we to do? Babies are weighed and poked and prodded and measured to see where they are physically and mentally. You kids know all about test. IQ, SAT, CAT, and pop quizzes. College kids just love those finials to see what they learned. Adults get drivers test, eye test, yearly physicals and so on. Life seems to be a series of tests of one kind or another.
The Bible says,
“Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 John 4:1
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Psalm 19:23
“If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” 1 Corinthians 3:12-13
Do you see that tests are just a part of life? Even Jesus was tested. The Holy Spirit led Him out into the wilderness. Why? To be tested. We are tested in many ways. All our actions will be tested with fire and the fire will reveal the work for what it is.
One of the most important tests is that which we administer ourselves. Listen.
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
Don’t fail the test. If you do well in life you may get a A or B or a passing grade. Maybe a driver’s license or a clean bill of health. But listen what happens to the one who passes God’s test.
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
A crown of life! Glory and honor and eternal life. I want to pass this test, don’t you? Well, I’m going to give you a cheat sheet this morning. I am going to help you pass the test.
First of all, we need to know what is adult and what is childish. We are to put off childish things, the Bible says. So what is childish? Well, the more immature a child is the more self-centered he is. A baby doesn’t care about the inconvenience to his mother when he is hungry in the middle of the night. A kid doesn’t think about what his father has to go through to provide for him. A teen hardly gives a thought to the inconvenience to his parents when they have to drop what they are doing to pick you up or take you somewhere. An immature person is self-centered and depends on others. The more immature - the greater is the dependence. A baby let’s other feed them and lead them and make choices for them. As we mature we do this less and less. A mature person thinks of others. He sacrifices for others. He is responsible for himself and others. The Bible is very clear on this. It says,
“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
1 Timothy 5:8
I have to stop and say my heart really goes out to you teens. You are in transition. All your life you have been immature and been taking care of. Now you are transitioning to adulthood – and it isn’t easy. You want the freedom of being an adult – but still want to depend on Mom to feed you, clean your room, wash your clothes and wait on you. I can’t blame you. That’s pretty nice. In fact, some adults never grow up. They just find someone else to take care of them. They find a mate or a willing accomplish. Some depend on the welfare state to mother them. They don’t want freedom – they want someone to take care of them and they will vote for whoever they think that may be. That isn’t maturity.
Spiritual growth is actually very similar. Instead of being self-centered we need to become God-centered; Christ-centered. One of the missions of our church is to “teach Christlikeness”. The mission statement of the Nazarene denomination is "to make Christlike disciples in the nations". Jesus sacrificed Himself for us. He didn’t think of Himself. He thought of us and proved it by going to the cross.
Instead of living an unstable life we need stability that only true faith can bring. The Bible says,
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-8
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
A child wails, “I can’t do it!” And adult perseveres. His attitude is “somehow; someway, we are going to get through this!” A child quits. An adult perseveres.
Let me conclude by pointing out a couple of things.
1. And adult feds himself and others. Have you ever heard anyone say something like, “I don’t get fed at that church.” Or “That pastor doesn’t fed me.” Listen, only babies need someone to feed them. The responsibility is ours. Now, I know there are churches and teachers and preachers that only give out milk. I have seen them and heard them before. But you have to feed yourself. If you want to grow you have to feed yourself, through personal Bible study and prayer. Certainly we need small group Bible Study and good teaching from the pulpit – it aint gonna be the pastor standing up in your place on Judgment Day and it won’t be your mom or dad. You are going to have to give an account of yourself.
An adult is responsible and dependable. You can count of him. He is a man or woman of his word. He is accountable. A child is rebellious. An adult yields his will for the good of others.
Well, how about you? Do you pass the test or are you found wanting in some areas. If you defended yourself or excused yourself you probably are too immature. We all are growing. It never stops. The day we stop growing we are dying.
This week would you test yourself? Find out where you are. Discover the areas you lack and make a plan to do something about it. Be an adult. Let’s grow up!
