As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have a great interest in the formation of faith within God's people. This naturally leads me to be interested in the field of education, where we learn. While education is only one part of faith formation, and thus of maturity, it is an important part. Not to mention that it seems that God created me with a teaching instinct. I find it more natural to teach than many other things, something that likely comes across in many different ways in my life.
Maturity finds its root in learning. As a child begins to learn words, he or she learns that those words are not merely sounds that daddy and mommy and others make, but they carry meaning with them. They learn that the word mommy means this person who cares for me, and that daddy is another person who cares for me, but who is different from mommy. The child matures not only in learning the words, but inn learning that there is meaning in the words, and then, in applying the words. If the words are misapplied (calling mommy "daddy", for example), then further maturity is still needed.
This means that teaching is the first step of maturity. We must learn what something is, and we must learn the meaning of that something, whatever it may be. A further step is to learn the purpose of that something (here is where the "why" question comes in, one that children are so fond of), and the application of that something in one's life. This reflects a deepening maturity as the different stages are reached.
So part of maturity in the Christian is to learn about our God. This is where the role of hearing the Word regularly enters in, in reading the Word, in studying the Word. We keep learning what the something at the center of our faith is, that is, we keep learning about our God. We learn that He is such things as Creator, that He has characteristics as merciful, loving, compassionate, and the like. We learn that He has an intent with His creation, and that He saw something go horribly wrong with His creation. We learn that He has the solution to the problems of His creation, and that He intends for something to happen for the good of His creation.
In that way, we start to learn the facts about our God. We learn the words that describe God. We learn the stories which show examples of His characteristics (and no, not all of them are pleasant for us to learn and to reflect upon). We learn that He has something in mind for us. In this way, as from the example above, we learn that He is "daddy", a person who cares for me, and who is different from others. We learn the words about Him, and we learn of the relationship He has established with us.
Yet, that is in no way a full maturity. Sure, such learning may grow our maturity in other areas. We may grow in learning how to set aside time for the study and hearing of the Word, and while that is important, there are also many other areas of maturity beyond that. In a way, the teaching of God's Word, the study and hearing of God's Word, bring us to that same place where the child is very early on. We know this One is "daddy", and we know He is different from others, but there is so much more depth to that, depth which calls for a greater maturity.
I want to end this on a very positive note, though. The great thing about God is that even if our level of maturity is only at the point of recognizing Him as "daddy", and we know what He has done for us in Jesus, He still works His great gift of salvation and grace to us. From that standpoint, a deeper maturity isn't required. In fact, I would dare say that a vast majority of Christians over the ages have reached that point of maturity, and praise be to God, that proves sufficient for the receiving of eternal life in Jesus. Knowing He is our "daddy", and that He has grown that relationship in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, includes us in the promise of everlasting life. Thanks be to God for that!
Maturity finds its root in learning. As a child begins to learn words, he or she learns that those words are not merely sounds that daddy and mommy and others make, but they carry meaning with them. They learn that the word mommy means this person who cares for me, and that daddy is another person who cares for me, but who is different from mommy. The child matures not only in learning the words, but inn learning that there is meaning in the words, and then, in applying the words. If the words are misapplied (calling mommy "daddy", for example), then further maturity is still needed.
This means that teaching is the first step of maturity. We must learn what something is, and we must learn the meaning of that something, whatever it may be. A further step is to learn the purpose of that something (here is where the "why" question comes in, one that children are so fond of), and the application of that something in one's life. This reflects a deepening maturity as the different stages are reached.
So part of maturity in the Christian is to learn about our God. This is where the role of hearing the Word regularly enters in, in reading the Word, in studying the Word. We keep learning what the something at the center of our faith is, that is, we keep learning about our God. We learn that He is such things as Creator, that He has characteristics as merciful, loving, compassionate, and the like. We learn that He has an intent with His creation, and that He saw something go horribly wrong with His creation. We learn that He has the solution to the problems of His creation, and that He intends for something to happen for the good of His creation.
In that way, we start to learn the facts about our God. We learn the words that describe God. We learn the stories which show examples of His characteristics (and no, not all of them are pleasant for us to learn and to reflect upon). We learn that He has something in mind for us. In this way, as from the example above, we learn that He is "daddy", a person who cares for me, and who is different from others. We learn the words about Him, and we learn of the relationship He has established with us.
Yet, that is in no way a full maturity. Sure, such learning may grow our maturity in other areas. We may grow in learning how to set aside time for the study and hearing of the Word, and while that is important, there are also many other areas of maturity beyond that. In a way, the teaching of God's Word, the study and hearing of God's Word, bring us to that same place where the child is very early on. We know this One is "daddy", and we know He is different from others, but there is so much more depth to that, depth which calls for a greater maturity.
I want to end this on a very positive note, though. The great thing about God is that even if our level of maturity is only at the point of recognizing Him as "daddy", and we know what He has done for us in Jesus, He still works His great gift of salvation and grace to us. From that standpoint, a deeper maturity isn't required. In fact, I would dare say that a vast majority of Christians over the ages have reached that point of maturity, and praise be to God, that proves sufficient for the receiving of eternal life in Jesus. Knowing He is our "daddy", and that He has grown that relationship in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, includes us in the promise of everlasting life. Thanks be to God for that!
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