Immature is Amateur

Immature is Amateur 

Have you ever met young people or young adults who are mature for their age? Have you ever met people well into adulthood - at any age - that are immature for their age? What about inside the church? Have you met anyone who is spiritually mature beyond their years in the faith? Have you met anyone who is spiritually immature despite their many years in the faith?

In a way, maturity is kinda like manure. The more you have, the better things can grow. It’s messy, but necessary. It kinda stinks sometimes but it’s really good for the soil. It’s everywhere, but not everyone is picking it up. 

Okay, that was kind of a gross analogy, and I apologize… sorta. It’s a very simple analogy but it’s also pretty accurate. And I, myself, struggle with this, if I’m truly being honest. Sometimes I don’t want to be mature. Personally or spiritually. Sometimes I don’t want to get my hands dirty and spread it around so that, in the future, I can grow more and be able to produce more for other people. But this is exactly what God calls us to do. 

Notice I said calls and not tells, or forces, or makes. God calls you, directs you, leads you - maybe even pushes you - but He doesn’t force you. That’s not His way. That’s not His style. Leaders go first, and that’s His style and way. 

The Way of life is a way of life. It’s a mode of operating. It’s a perspective. It’s an approach to life and all things. It’s doing things we may not want to because we know it’s beneficial for us and those around us. Like spreading manure (maturity) on the soil of our lives. 

In the parable of the soils, Jesus discusses four soils (us) and the Word of God, which is the seed that is scattered. I like to think that the good soil that produces a hundredfold had a lot of manure (maturity) spread throughout it. That’s what allowed the seed to grow and multiply and produce such a great harvest in the soil. Good seed needs good soil - and good soil needs good nutrients - and a good source of nutrients is manure. And you can’t spell manure without man (or woman. Which also has man in the spelling). You have to do your part. 

So how is it that I, we, can work and cultivate and develop this maturation in, with, and through Christ? I have a few thoughts on that. 

Progress is the name of the game. When we pursue progress, we actually make progress. So many people don’t even get started on whatever the goal may be because the goal seems too daunting. The mountain seems too high, so why even try and climb it? With that mentality nothing gets done, and that’s just not gonna work. So if we focus on progress, we will make progress. No matter how small. Day after day, we make progress. 

Along with the pursuit of progress is the pursuit of perfection. But not in the way you may think. Pursuing perfection is a journey not a destination. Perfection is unattainable in this life but the daily pursuit of perfection is a part of that progress. And, in a little twist, God is perfection so we should also be daily pursuing Him. 

While we’re on the topic of perfect, let me just throw this out there. The pursuit of perfection isn’t more of God, it’s less of you. Let me explain. At the moment of salvation, I don’t think we get a certain about of Jesus, then, when we clean up our lives a little, He gives us a little more. I think when we come to Christ we get all of Him in our hearts and lives. Yes, we still have to cleaning up to do (sanctification), and that’s the pursuit part. When we clean house, it naturally gives Jesus more space. Another way to say it, that I heard from a pastor one time, goes like this, “I don’t have more of God, He has more of me.”

And when He has more of me I will seek out more meat than milk. Part of the natural physical maturing process that mammals go through is that they start out on milk but they don’t stay on milk - they progress to meat. Babies drink milk. Then they grow teeth. And teeth aren’t used much to drink milk. 

This really is the same in our spiritual maturation too. When you’re young in the faith you need some milk. But as you age, you need the meat of the Word of God. And sometimes, you need to keep sharpening your spiritual teeth so you can keep chewing on the His Word. Every day we should be doing this. King David called it meditating in His Word. No, not the yoga kind. 

Meditating simply means intense focus and attention on something. Daily, we should be meditating on His Word. We should be giving it intense focus and attention. Maybe not a whole book. Maybe not even a whole chapter. Maybe just a few verses and chew on it for the day. There are plenty. If you need a place to start, check out Proverbs and start chewing. 

There’s an old saying that I think is a poignant place to end all this talk of food. “What you feed grows. What you starve dies.” You can tell what you’re feeding in your life by what’s growing. You can also tell what you’re neglecting in your life by what’s dying. 

Maybe the difference isn’t the soil. Maybe the difference is the manure that needs to be spread out on the soil. Maybe it’s time to step up our maturity level and do some things we’ve been putting off. Or maybe it’s being mature enough to let go and get rid of some things that we know aren’t benefiting us. 

If you’re having trouble thinking about which is which, just look at what’s growing and dying in your life. And have the maturity to spread the necessary manure where it needs to go. So it can grow.