What Is Maturity? (7-12-2020)

What is Maturity? Devotional for 7-12-20 Beginning Scripture: Hebrews 6:1 "Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be. Surely we don't need to speak further about the foolishness of trying to be saved by being good, or about the necessity of faith in God;" As a young man I got tired of hearing people referring to me or someone else as immature. Eventually I decided that how somebody defines maturity is just a matter or his or her own opinion. Probably this was my way of discounting the importance of maturity - since at the time I was pretty immature. Last week I asked my wife what she thought maturity is, and after some thought about it, she said: "Maturity is accepting responsibility for your actions, thinking before you speak, and accepting responsibility to serve the community in some way - whether in a job or politics or some other way." That sounded pretty good to me. An indicator of my own maturity might be that I generally pay attention to Helen's practical wisdom. I then told her that I thought maturity is "standing up for what you think is right." And she countered that you could be a cheat or criminal and have your idea of what is right and stand up for it, but it doesn't mean you are mature. Again I had to admit that she had a valid point. I thought about it and a few minutes later I added: "Maturity is accepting others who are different, being open to change and listening." I think I was onto something in my second try at defining maturity and I decided it might be good to search out what others' thought about maturity. I came across some really good stuff. And I could probably take half an hour or more sharing those things with you, but instead I want to tell you what a noted and respected psychologist, Eric Jannazzo, said about the matter. Eric began by examining what it means to be authentic or genuine. He said: "To be a genuine person means to be connected to the essential truths that bind us..." When I read that it reminded me of what the writer of Hebrews said about not having to go over the same old ground all the time. The author of Hebrews affirmed that his audience already knew the basics about the importance of faith in God, baptism, and spiritual gifts. (Hebrews 6:1) These basics were the essential truths that bound those Hebrews together and the writer was subtly trying to remind them that they were bound by those truths. When I think of this community it is clear to me that there are some basic truths that bind us together. I hear those truths when I listen to the prayers of our faithful people here in our church. They trust in God, are sure that he is a good good Father, he knows our names, he is our protector and guide. These truths bind us together. Also, I think we are pretty secure in our identities as Christ-followers. We believe that we are loved by our Father. That's who we are. That is our identity. We know who we worship and we know why. We are genuine and authentic people. That strong sense of identity is also an aspect of maturity. "Taking religion to heart" by Jason A. Mahn - The Christian Century Feb. 12, 2020 pp. 20-25 Psychologist Eric goes on to say: being genuine also means that we are connected by our desire to promote the well being of ourselves and others. Doesn't this harken back to the writer of Hebrews who says that God will not forget our "labor of love" shown by our love for Him and our ministry to and caring for each other? (Hebrews 6:10) Eric's definition of maturity first of all, is expressing our emotional health and wisdom in our actions, in what we say and do. We know our own emotions and feelings and by this knowing we are thrust toward our truth. That might sound a bit complicated. Let me give a couple of examples. In last week's devotional I spoke of my tears of sadness thinking about Jesus' horrible suffering. We believe in Jesus and his deep and abiding love for us. That is our truth here at FFWB, right? I think our feelings for Jesus affect our actions: who we associate with, who we reach out to, and what we do on Sundays. In this sense I think we meet this aspect of Professor Eric's definition of maturity. We are mature when our emotional awareness leads us to act on our truth. Second, Eric says about maturity that we are able to place our truth within the context of other truths. For example, we know that other denominations see things differently than we do. We know that our perspective on the truth is not the only perspective on the block. But we don't go out and blow up their church buildings. We are able to see that they too are Christians. Third, Eric says that maturity is acting in line with one's values. If I value my belief in God and I value reverencing Him, then I need to act like it. (Hebrews 6:4-5) For example, what words do I use when speaking of God? Do I pray to God? Do I take time learning about and getting to know God? Do I speak of my reverence of God to others? Do I repent when I fall away from God? (Hebrews 6:6) The answers to these questions will indicate whether I am acting in accordance with my values and will say something about my maturity as a person and as a Christian. So, to recap, these are three signs of maturity: 1. We express our emotional health and wisdom in our actions 2. We see our beliefs in the context of other's beliefs 3. We act in line with our values https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-full-spectrum/201906/what-is-maturity Questions and Challenges: * How would you judge your emotional maturity? * What are your feelings and how do they orient you to your truth? * What are some beliefs of other Christians or other religions that are different from yours? What are the similarities in your beliefs? * Describe how you act in accordance with your values. Prayer Father help us to be honest with ourselves and you about our own maturity or lack of maturity. Help us to further clarify our identities as persons and as Christians. One thing we know is that you are a good good Father and we are loved by you. That's who we are. Thank you for your unconditional love and make us more like you. We ask these things in the name of our precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.