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The Mature View of Things
Brian Mashburn
September 10, 2017
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The Mature View of Things
Today we kick off our annual ReGroup campaign where we relaunch our small groups, launch new groups, and help folks without groups find one. In cooperation with that, we are kicking off a new theme that our leadership has discerned we will operate under for a season, called Next Steps: Moving Towards Spiritual Maturity.
We begin today with a thought from the Apostle Paul that he finished by saying, "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things." (Philippians 3:15)
Interesting. He suggests that there are different ways of "viewing things." Now, just because two people look at the same circumstances and view it differently does not mean that one view is more "mature" and the other less so. A couple, for example, can get the exact same news - that they are pregnant - and he can be excited and she worried without either being a "superior" view. Their points of reference could just be different.
However, there are categories in life in which the viewer's maturity level dictates how they view things. I'm being careful here, because in our culture, the word "immature" has become a kind of insult, thrown around to call someone childish, selfish, insensitive, or mean. But "mature" really just means "developed," and "immature" means "undeveloped."
So, when we speak of spiritual immaturity and maturity, we are speaking of areas in which we are either spiritually developed or undeveloped, spiritually practiced or unpracticed, spiritually experienced or inexperienced.
With that, let us with uncondemning hearts and eyes, for ourselves and others, take a look at what Paul says is the mature view of things. Then let us develop towards it.