ID’ING A MATURE CHRISTIAN

In our modern world we have become very attentive to identity.  Whether it’s choosing an identity, assigning someone an identity, showing evidence of our identity, being ID’ed, digging through evidence in order to identify someone, protecting our identity, assuming an identity, or denying an identity – we can say this much:  we love to identify. 

But there is one identity that many seem to be fuzzy about.  What’s the difference between a Christian and a mature Christian?  How do you identify a spiritually mature Christian?  What does a devoted follower of Jesus look like?  What we strive to do as a church is to see people transformed from a broken and selfish life to a whole and useful life in the kingdom of God. 

Paul states our objective in this way:   Him (Christ) we preach and proclaim, warning and admonishing everyone and instructing everyone in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, that we may present every person mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28 Amp).  Paul also put it this way:   My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, (Galatians 4:19). 

Maturity means life-change.  It means life transformation.  Becoming mature in Christ and that Christ is formed in you are the same thing.  So what does Christ-like maturity look like?  It’s when your life takes on the characteristics of Jesus.  It’s when your life shows the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life which is described in Galatians 5:22-23:  The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (NLT). 

These are character traits of Jesus.  And they are produced in our lives as we learn to live with Jesus everyday as our Savior and God, submit to His leadership through His Spirit and His Word, rest in His perfect and intense love for us, and choose to discipline our lives in such a way to obey Him.

There are Christians and then there are mature Christians.  When you look closely at Christians, you see among them some mature and transformed “all in” devoted followers of Jesus because you see Jesus in them.