Just Grow Up!

Are you a mature Christian, or do you need to just grow up?

Every parents wants to raise children to be mature adults. This involves growth in five specific areas encompassing the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development of the child. We see this kind of growth in Jesus. Following the incident at Jerusalem when He was twelve, Luke wrote of Him, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). Mental, emotional and physical growths are indicted by wisdom and stature, and the spiritual and social elements are found in His growing in favor with God and men. It is a sad thing when a child fails to properly develop.

There is a spiritual dimension to growth in Christ which is often overlooked or played down. Paul described the organization of the early church as being structured for the purpose of bringing children of God to maturity. We ought to “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ” (Ephesians 4:13-15).

The reality is, however, that many babes in Christ remain perpetual babies. They need to just grow up! These are the folks who are always demanding things go their way. They threaten to leave if others don’t bow to their will. Their feelings are always getting hurt, and they never accept responsibility for their condition. Everything is the fault of someone else. They are always right, and everyone else is wrong. There comes a time when you want to say to these folks, “Just grow up!”

Such growth is possible only when we are brought up on a proper diet. Peter urged, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Spiritual nourishment comes from the word for which we should hunger and thirst. Are you a mature Christian, or do you need to just grow up?