“It’s Time to Get Off Your Knees”
-Disciples are Christians on the Grow-
I Peter 2:2-3
I Corinthians 3:1-9
The Apostles Peter and Paul give persuasive advice on Christian growth and maturity. Peter describes the process of spirituality in I Peter 2:2-3. Just as a newborn baby has an unending appetite for milk so the newborn Christian has a compelling desire for the Word of God.
As I look back on raising four children there are high points and low points. High points are when the children are born. There are exciting moments with each one. I remember another high point was the first time our first-born son Tim said his first words. I was especially excited when he began to crawl. I was even more thrilled when he learned to take his first steps. He no longer had to crawl around on his hands and knees.
The Word of God serves as a mirror and in the mirror we see the reflection of we are continuing in the crawling stage or we have gotten up off our knees and are now standing and moving forward for the Lord.
Baby Christians are called to grow. Growing Christians are following Jesus as Disciples. Discipleship is a process. A disciple is a person following Jesus. A disciple is a “learner.” A disciple is “teachable.” A disciple is committed to living as Jesus lived and obedient to all that Jesus taught.
In I Corinthians 3 the Apostle Paul addresses the problem of new Christians staying too long in the baby stage. He writes to the people in the church in Corinth: verse 1-2 “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk...not solid food…for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed you are still not ready.” To rephrase what Paul is saying: “It’s time to get up off you knees. You’ve been crawling long enough. Get up and get into the meat of God’s Word.”
From the teachings of Peter and Paul we see characteristics of those who are spiritually immature and those that are more mature.
I. Characteristics of People Who Are Spiritually Immature.
Paul admonished people in the Church in Corinth: “I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly, mere infants in Christ.” Milk is for an infant. Milk is needed for a delicate and undeveloped body. Solid food or meat is for the strong and mature person who needs strength to do rugged work.
The church at Corinth was full of problems, factions, divisions and splits largely because its members loved the wisdom of men. They were proud of their eloquent ability to explore and explain many fascinating subjects, although no one was being changed much by all this display of erudition and knowledge. And because, as always happens, human wisdom reflects various viewpoints, they had split and divided and they were full of boastings and glorying in the leadership of various men.
What is solid food/ meat? Solid food is teaching that unfolds the full riches and magnificence of the gospel so that people grow up. They stop being children, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, "...no longer to be children, tossed to and fro and carried about every wind of doctrine," {Eph 4:14 RSV}. That requires the meat of the word. Christ died for my sins; that is milk. We died with Christ to sin: that is meat. That is what will free me from habits and attitudes that are irritating to others and that make me difficult to live with. The knowledge of the gifts of the Spirit -- that is milk. These Corinthians had that knowledge. Paul says right at the very beginning that they had all the gifts present among them so that "you are not lacking in any spiritual gift," he says {1 Cor 1:7 RSV}. They knew all that, but that is milk. What they did not understand was how to produce the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. That is meat. Later on Paul will point that out to them. He will discuss the gifts of the Spirit, and then he will say, "and I will show you a still more excellent way," {1 Cor 12:31b RSV}. That is love.
1. Spiritually immature people harbor jealousy and envy. Verse 3: “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?”
A person who is jealous puts others down with harmful words and actions. A jealous and envious person rejoices when others hurt and feel hurt when others rejoice.
Attitudes of jealousy and envy need to be confessed and taken to God in prayer. You have a hard time being jealous or envying a person you are praying that God will bless. Showing kindness toward those who have hurt you or despitefully used you shows a sign of maturity.
2. Spiritually immature people are entangled in quarrelling and strife. Barclay in his commentary describes “quarrelling and strife” in this way: “If a person is at variance with another person, if the person is quarrelsome, competitive, argumentative, trouble making, the person may be a diligent church attender; the person may even be a church office-bearer, but the person is not a person that honors God.”
Many people quarrel and have strife with others because they want to be in control and be recognized as being superior to others. What they need to do is take a towel and basin of water and wash the feet of those they are fighting and quarrelling with.
The Apostle Paul said the people in the Corinthian church were living as mere humans and living as people who had never experienced the grace of God.
3. Spiritually immature people have false loyalties. I Corinthians 3:4-6 “For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What, after all is ap9ollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God make it grow.” So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
Paul reminded the Corinthians just as we also need to be reminded form time to time: The work of any church is the supernatural work of God. Man cannot take credit for the work of God. God makes it grow.
Paul had founded the church in Corinth. Apollos followed Paul as Pastor of the Church. Both were involved in the ministry as servants of the Lord.
A spiritually immature person is easily upset and offended, quick to pout, quick to blame others for their problems, and must be burped often and handled with delicate gloves. Both Peter and Paul encourage new Christians to press on toward spiritual maturity. Most of us need encouragement and motivation to keep on the grow. We need to get involved in a Bible study group and times of worship that include teaching from God’s Word. Without motivation we tend to drift and stay in our cozy comfort zone.
Many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff; few of us have gotten a glimpse inside. When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins "stirring up the nest." With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.
There are many characteristics of spiritual maturity in God’s Word, but this morning I want to suggest two marks of spiritual maturity.
II. Characteristics of Spiritual Maturity.
Spiritual maturity is a life long process. Spiritual maturity is spelled GROW. Peter is speaking to new Christians when he says: “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love.” 2 Peter 1:5-7
1. Endurance is a characteristic of spiritual maturity. Looking over the last five to ten years of your life, what do you wish you had not quit? I’m sure you are happy to have quit some bad habits. But you wish you had finished High School or College! You wish you had kept on taking voice lessons or piano lessons. You wish you had worked out a difference with a loved one or relative. You wish you had maintained that long-term friendship that dissolved when the going got rough.
Why do we tend to quit so early? Because it is easier to quit than to endure! It’s easier to sit and watch TV than to take a night class to learn a skill. It’s easier to walk out of an argument than to stay and work through the conflict. It’s easier to read the paper, drink coffee and watch golf in your bathrobe on Sunday morning than to get up and get dressed and take you family to church. It’s easier to do what you want to do with your life than to kneel before God, and turn you life over to God and wait patiently for him to lead you.
Imagine the California State Lottery, offered a Christmas Special when people are supposed to think about Jesus, offer a chance to win character quality instead of a million dollars as the grand prize. The lines to purchase tickets are shorter than usual.
When the time comes for the winning number to be announced, reluctant radio listeners and TV watchers from all over the state hear that a forty-year-old, store clerk from Redding has won the fully developed character trait of endurance. And Herman comes forward and pretends to be excited, and for about two days he is the object of TV cameras and reporters’ questions and then he goes back to work at Wal-Mart and is completely forgotten.
Ten years later we check on Herman and see how he is doing. How did he like winning the grand prize? He smiles broadly and says, “You know, I wouldn’t have believed it at the time. In fact, I was rather angry that the one time I guessed the right numbers; I got a character quality instead of a check for several million dollars. But I was forty years old and still working for minimum wage because I could never keep a job. I guess I always wanted instant promotion and instant money, and whenever a job got tough, I’d quit.
“But ever since I won the gift of endurance, things have been different. I’ve stayed at Wal-Mart for ten years doing my best work at whatever I was assigned and they promoted me several times. Now I’m assistant manager, I went back and finished my high school education by spending two years at night school. Before I would have quit after the second class. But this time I kept going because I have endurance. I’m proud of my diploma. Before winning, my marriage was about washed up, but now we’re doing fine. I had just about given up on God, but I’ve started my search all over again and I now have an exciting spiritual life. I feel good about myself for the first time in my life, thanks to endurance.”
“Winning a million dollars would have enabled me to keep on quitting whatever I wanted to quit. It would have destroyed my dignity. Endurance has turned me into a successful, happy person.
James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life.”
2. A second characteristic of spiritual mature is Self Discipline, achieving success through delaying gratification. Some people seem to succeed at everything they try. They have successful careers, they relate well to their families and they are active growing Christians. They are even physically fit. When you get to know these people you note one common factor – they practice self-discipline.
By contrast there are people that seem to have a string of setbacks, disasters and failures. If you get close to them they explain why these calamities have come to them: “Well, you know, I just started to let things slide.”” “I put off doing my homework.” “I neglected to follow up leads.” “I didn’t keep my eye on the store.” “I didn’t push my chair back from the bar and walk out sober.” “I didn’t take care of myself.” “I didn’t spend time with my family.” “I thought problems would solve themselves.” Most of the reasons can be summed up in one word: “Discipline.”
Discipline is one of the most important character qualities a person can possess. Self-discipline is lived out on a daily basis by your commitment to delayed gratification.
Self-discipline is important to going on toward spiritual maturity. You will hear growing Christians say: “ I’ve learned over the years this important lesson. If I discipline myself to spend ten or fifteen minutes early in the morning in a quiet place getting a proper perspective on my walk with the Lord---writing down some of my thoughts, reading my Bible, listening to a tape, praying, the whole rest of my day seems much more satisfying. Let me ask you: “Is it worth it to roll out of bed while the house is still cold and invest your time and energy on something worthwhile, then the rest of your day will be better. This is delayed gratification practicing spiritual discipline.
It takes thirty days or more to develop healthy habits. It’s helpful to plan in advance how you are going to practice spiritual disciplines. The night before determine to get up 15 – 30 minutes early to have a time of devotion and prayer. Find someone to hold you accountable. Have the person ask you how you are doing in practicing self-discipline and delaying gratification.
Comparison of Childhood Faith and Mature Adult Faith
Childhood Faith Mature Adult Faith -
Good Christians don’t have pain or disappointment.God uses our pain and disappointment to make us better Christians
God helps those who help themselves. - God helps those who admit their own helplessness.
God wants to make us happy.- God wants to make us into the image of Jesus.
Faith will help us always explain what God is doing (things always work out). - Faith helps us stand under God’s sovereignty even when we have no idea what God is doing.
The closer we get to God, the more perfect we become. -The closer we get to God, the more we become aware of our own sinfulness.
Mature Christians have answers. - Mature Christians can wrestle honestly with tough questions because we trust that God has the answers.
Good Christians are always strong. - Our strength is in admitting our weakness.
We go to church because our friends are there, we have great leaders, and we get something out of it.-
We go to church because we are part of the Body of Christ
----------------------------------------------------------Hold the Word of God up to your life like a mirror. What do you see? Are you still on your knees? It’s time to get up off you knees and stand tall and become a Christian on the grow practicing endurance and self discipline.· Practice daily Bible reading and Prayer· Get involved in a small Bible study group for growth and accountability- Christian Life Class – Sunday evening study – regular in worship.· Take advantage of spiritual training opportunities
