Grow Up!

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance and of faith toward God.”

Hebrews 6:1

These days it seems like I’m learning a new concept every few hours or so, whether it’s something practical, spiritual, or relational. Many of these supposed “new” things aren’t new at all though. Rather, they’re right under my nose if only I would take the time to read the Word of God with an open and expectant heart.

The first thing I learned was that everything we do in life should be motivated by an overwhelming desire to magnify our Savior. The sad thing about is that I had to go outside the Word of God to realize this, and when I finally did discover this truth, I was amazed by it. Amazed by what though? By the fact that the world didn’t revolve around me after all? My life and the choices I made affected others outside myself? People either will bless or curse my God who I claim to love based on how I think, speak, and act? Is this really so shocking? The Bible has said the same thing for all these years. It’s nothing new.

Fast forward a couple of years to today. Most of what I’ve learned lately concerns the Church, the body of Christ, the people whose actions in the world ultimately represent Jesus Christ to a dying world.

Love. Love is the single most important aspect of a Christian’s life. Everything we believe is based on the fact that God loved us so much that He sent His son to save us from our depravity, and that we were created to love Him with all that is within us. If we cannot love our God with abandon, we cannot sacrificially love our brothers in Christ, and that my friends is how the Bible says that the world identifies us as Christians (John 13:35). In other words, if you cannot love others, you don’t love God(1 John 4:20-21). Period. If we are to be like Christ, and His love is unrelenting, why isn’t the Church being transformed radically, and in turn affecting the world around us?

Truth. Without a love of and a desire for the truth, we will misrepresent our Lord to the unbelieving world. To take away from or add to the truth of God’s Word actually takes the glory that belongs to God alone and puts it upon ourselves as sinful man. Love and truth go hand in hand, much like faith and works cannot exist without one another (see James 2:14-26). Oftentimes I’ve seen one practiced without the other. Revelation 2 speaks of a church that practices truth without love in verses 1-7. The warning against this practice is very sobering. In contrast, verses 18-29 warns those who practice love without a desire for the simple truth of God’s word to straighten up, so to speak. One church seems to have life and love, yet lacks truth. The other has truth, but remains cold and dead, but Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the LIFE” (John 14:6).

May I also remind you that in the pursuit of truth, the single most important ingredient is immersion in the Word. The divine revelation we experience today—our knowledge of Jesus Christ and who He is comes from the Bible. It is our compass, our foundation, our sources of truth. Before you study any other religion or philosophy, you must have a firm and steady diet of God’s Word. Without it, you will fall into error. Also, if you think for one minute that the Bible is boring, the reason is because you don’t read it. I promise!

Freedom. Freedom from sin and condemnation is something we’ve been given through Christ. There is no reason whatsoever to dwell on who we’ve been or what we’ve done because we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. We can know that we are wretched sinners, undeserving of God’s grace apart from Jesus, but through Him we are of infinite value to our Heavenly Father. There is nothing we can ever do, nothing we HAVE to do once we are saved to attain eternal life. Rather, the works we do, the passion we have for our Savior will overflow out of us as an outward expression of what He has done in our hearts.

I wish the American Church would return to the simple truth of the gospel, apart from extra-biblical signs and wonders, and apart from legalistic rules and regulations that do nothing whatsoever for ourselves or those around us. The fact that we were sinners and Christ died for us is enough. Now let us grow up and give our all to God!!!