Maturation

COLLAPSE

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Christians mature in their faith corporately as well as individually in an interconnected form beginning with the importance of the gathering; believers must come together for worship and instruction in the faith. Maturity in Christ is put forth in the scripture as growing up in the Lord (1 Peter 2:1-3). Samra defines maturity in Christ in an equal manner, “A mature believer is a believer whose life conforms to his/her status as an heir of God’s kingdom. It is someone who walks worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil. 1.27), and worthy of God and His kingdom” (Samra, 2008, p. 59).

This is found in a corporate and individual sense through the preached Word; the preached Word causes learning and maturity in Christ as a corporate body, but it also works to mature the believer individually, “Paul’s desire to preach the gospel to believers in Rome must indicate that ‘preaching the gospel’ can include more than just evangelistic preaching. ‘In this case, “preach the gospel” will refer to the ongoing work of teaching and discipleship that builds on initial evangelism.’ Paul desires to do this ongoing work of teaching and discipleship, even in a community where he did not do the initial work of evangelism” (Samra, 2008, p. 46).

Similarly, Petitt affirms the importance of preaching for growth and maturity, “There are many ministries and practices that can be used by the Holy Spirit to make a person more and more like Jesus Christ. But preaching has been and will always be one of those primary agents of spiritual change” (Petitt, 2008, p. 248).

An additional form of maturation individually and corporately is the process of believers using their gifts and callings to minister to one another. In this process the induvial grows, learns, and gains mature wisdom. In the same manner, others can grow, learn, and gain wisdom from the mutual blessing. On this Samra shares, “Paul raises the issue of building one another up in the discussion of the strong and the weak in 1 Corinthians 8– 10 (8.1, 10.23) and Rom. 14– 15.4 (14.9, 15.2), which indicates that this is a responsibility of community members” (Samra, 2008, p.51).

This is a sure maturation tool, because all believers have gifts and callings to share. 1 Corinthians chapter twelve as a whole in addition to Ephesians 4:16 displays a body of believers using individual gifts and calling in an interconnected fashion helping one another grow. Petitt upholds this claim as he says, “Suffice it to say that all believers in Jesus Christ are blessed by God with certain abilities to minister to others in love” (Petitt, 2008, p. 205).

References

Pettit, P. 2008. Foundations of Spiritual Formation. Kregel Publications.

Samra, J. (2008). Being conformed to Christ in community: A study of maturity, maturation

and the local church in the undisputed Pauline epistles. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=743114

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1 hour ago

Johnnie Taylor

Individual and Corporate Maturity

COLLAPSE

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Most studies in organizational behavior start with focusing on the individual, then the group, and then the organization. One of the goals germane to the study of organizational behavior include the concept of taking individuals and unifying them into groups. Then from that point the goal becomes maturing these groups into teams, then self-directed teams, and then high-performance self-directed teams.

This group-to-team process is not employed so that each team upon maturation can isolate itself from other teams. This group-to-team process is strategically employed for the purpose of providing the organization with competitive advantage built on the diversity, maturity, and unity of all the teams. This unified state reveals the whole corporate identity which is the principle according to Dr. Lowe, that H. Wheeler Robinson sets forth in his writings.

In defining the term corporate, H. Wheeler Robinson refers to Israel as a community (organization) that has tribes/clans (groups/teams), that embody individuals which are often seen as representatives of the overall Nation of Israel (Whole Person Transformation, video, 14:43). We also see that within both spiritual and natural organizations, maturity of individuals and groups reflect the maturity of the overall corporation. Both spiritual and natural organizations have specific, targeted outcomes as their formation goals. Like in our human body, these goals are achieved by appreciating corporate diversity and insisting upon corporate maturity and corporate unity. This is the what the New Testament sets forth as the true reality of born-again believers.

In John 21:15-17, it was necessary for Jesus to refocus Peter on the part of God’s plan that he was called to do which was to feed His sheep and feed His lambs. Jesus was attempting to get Peter to see the importance of clearly understanding his assigned role in their maturation process and that taking his role seriously was directly tied to the level of love Peter had for him.

The Apostle Paul understood that Christian maturity was a process and as such it had to be managed and modeled (Samra, 2008). In 1 Corinthians 15:58, he alluded to the process of them moving from being foolish to becoming wise. In Philippians 2:15, he indicated that they could move from wherever they currently found themselves spiritually to being blameless and pure before God. He also knew that true management of his portion of the Christian maturity process would require him to reflect deeply upon his apostolic commission and to understand and embrace what ultimate maturity looks like which is Christ. My prayer is that God will continue to help us all to daily improve in managing our assigned portions of the Christian maturity process.

References

Lowe, S. D. (2020) CLED 715: Ecologies of Spiritual Formation. Week five, lecture one: Whole Person Transformation. Liberty University. https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_667289_1&content_id=_42109232_1

Samra, J. G. (2008). Being Conformed to Christ in Community: A Study of Maturity, Maturation, and the Local Church in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.