Genuine Spiritual Maturity
Learning how to hear God is one of the greatest needs among followers of Jesus in our day. A few years ago, a well-known Christian survey indicated that 64% of young adults who grew up in church no longer attend a Christian fellowship of any kind. Most startling of all, 80% of those young adults gave the reason for dropping out of church - they never experienced God during their days of church attendance.*
In yesterday’s post entitled “Changing Hearts Instead of Minds,” I shared the difference between prophetic preaching and scribal teaching.
Scribal teachers focus on exacting, correct doctrine. Knowledge, data, and facts are central to their discipleship efforts. For some, this kind of teaching is exactly what they want. To be honest, I enjoy this kind of teaching myself. But I know that for the average person sitting in the church on Sunday, this knowledge-based teaching falls short of what they really want and need.
Prophetic teaching, on the other hand, seeks to bring a living Word from God to those who receive it. Teaching people the “right answers” is secondary to teaching them how to live in daily fellowship with Jesus, experiencing his presence, and learning to hear his voice as he leads them in their journeys of faith.
Scribal teaching measures spiritual maturity based on things like church attendance and involvement, Bible study and Bible knowledge, financial commitments to ministry, and other tangible factors that, frankly, don’t always provide an accurate picture of a person’s relationship with Christ.
Prophetic teaching understands that the true measure of Christian maturity is seen in the attitudes and behavior of those whose discipleship demonstrates a faith that expresses itself through love.1
Jesus made it clear that the eternal, abundant life he promised was not found through doctrinal exactness. “You search the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life,” said Jesus to the teachers in his day, “yet you refuse to come to me to have life,” he told them.2
The greatest sign that we are growing spiritually is seen in the overflow of God’s eternal life from us as we go about our daily lives. It is seen in our relationships and interactions with others, in our patience, peace, and willingness to bear the burdens of others and fulfill the “law of Christ,” otherwise known as the Royal Law, the law of love.3
This is the real evidence of, as well as, the real challenge to following Jesus. And it only comes as we grow in a real and life-changing relationship with the person of Jesus, through His Spirit.
In Christ,
Dan
*This DOES NOT mean they didn’t receive baptism and join the church. But even these things focused more on intellectual agreement rather than a life-changing encounter with Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:6.
John 5:39-40.
Galatians 6:2.