"To
be mature in understanding is not ultimately about knowing the
definitions and nuances of complex theological concepts...
Ironically, maturity of understanding may well be remembering, and resting in, the simplest things."
by R.C. Sproul.
"Maturity means, in part, holding to the great truths of Scripture
carried down through the ages...As we cling to the truths of Scripture,
we see that Word maturing in us and, in the end, bearing much fruit."
"We do not engage in competition to demonstrate who of us is the smartest, because we remember that "smart" is not an attribute of the fruit of the Spirit.
"If
ever a church struggled with both an unbecoming lack of maturity and a
deep need to become more like children, it was the church at Corinth.
This church was rocked with schism and scandal, all rooted in pride.
Paul had to deal with the Apollos-ites, the Peter-ites, even the
Paul-ites, groups of purported Christians who defined their identity not
in terms of following Christ but in following a favorite teacher. In
addition, the Corinthians thought themselves so mature, so committed to grace, that they countenanced [italics mine] a man having his father's wife--something...even the unbelievers would never do.
That same spirit showed itself in a prideful pursuit of spiritual gifts in that church.
Too many people saw the gifts as signs of the spiritual superiority of those who had them.
Paul reminds...that none of the things they are scrambling for mean anything without love.."
Sprouls wrote that we need to be careful not to "confuse maturity of understanding
with a willingness and ability to bicker over fine points of theology."
"Because
we live in an egalatarian age, we think our own speculations ought to
be given the same weight as the wisdom of the centuries. We do not honor
the fathers who have gone before us, and we think too highly of
ourselves...
As
one wise theologian once put it, if you have come up with an idea that
has been rejected by the church as error for two thousand years, how
likely is it that you are correct and the rest of the church throughout
history is wrong?" p, 113
"How sinful I am, if I take this warning against pride and turn it into an opportunity for pride. If I take Paul's wisdom and divide the Kingdom of God into two camps: the poor, ignorant, immature, milk people; and the meat people, people like me. Paul is not criticizing his audience for not becoming sufficiently skilled in talking about deep theology...The solid food we are called to here is related to our ability to discern between good and evil.
Too often "we think that the good and evil we are called to discern is good theological precision and evil theological error."
"We demonstrate our spiritual maturity as we recognize that we ourselves are but babes."
These are some scattered thoughts that meant a lot to me, and I typed these quotes the one evening when I had sat down to open this book, and I could hardly lay it down. It was such a comfort.
Because I fear God more than I fear man, and to read that maturity is more about accepting and believing the simple truths of Scripture rather than understanding all the theological nuances and concepts--
that made me hope that I could actually be on my way to maturity at the young age of 50
even if I am not highly esteemed by any around me as a great and wise person.
I told Jonathan yesterday that I am just a dumb donkey,
like Balaam's,
and I hurt when I feel beaten by what others may think of me,
but my deepest desire is to be obedient to God and fear Him more than anyone else.
There are more thoughts about maturity that I divided out to put in the next post.
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