Every One Of Us Growing Spiritually Mature Together
To [all believers] God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Colossians 1:27–29 ESV Read More
It really was a revolutionary idea to teach that a certain religion, or a certain specific god for that matter, was the true single and only god over all of the world and over all people. As God’s chosen people, even the Jews had to adjust and adapt when Jesus and then Paul re-iterated that He was the God of the Gentiles too. On top of that, God isn’t just the god of the Gentiles too, but equally with all people that believe in Him. The greatness of the glory of God is that Christ actually resides in and among His believers, no matter their ancestry.
Paul is proclaiming, warning, and teaching with the goal of presenting people to God as fully mature in Christ. That is the thing that he works toward no only with all of his might, but with all of the might that Christ works in him! He could have worked to be a famous speaker, but instead, he worked to help people mature in Christ. He could have been a brilliant philosopher, but instead, he worked to help people become mature believers in Jesus. He could have worked hard to be a famous author and promoted all of his writings, but instead, he wrote letters to all of the places he visited to follow-up with them and make sure they were on their way to be mature believers in Christ.
We all have callings and stewardship over something. One person is brilliant when it comes to helping conflicted people talk to each other. Another person can remember everyone’s name at the first meeting and 1,000 details about their first conversation. Someone else can repair anything that moves with a coat hanger and a Juicy Fruit wrapper. All of those things have been dished out to us to happen alongside our maturity and growth in Jesus Christ. Our hard work and effort that God works in us, doing any variety of strange, helpful, or wonderful things, is all for the purpose of serving the church and helping every one of us toward spiritual maturity.
Frank Viola calls spiritual maturity “becoming who you already are.” It isn’t a quest for enlightenment or a series of trials to earn something better than the Order of the Arrow, but you sure know it when you see it in someone. You typically notice it in yourself in the aftermath of something. Christ is expending His energy in your today to help mature others around you. As they mature, you’ll mature, and you’ll see the Glory of God among you.
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