So how do American Christians define spiritual maturity? I don’t know how it happened (but I’d be interested to find out*) but somewhere along the line we have equated spiritual knowledge with spiritual maturity.
We see this in all kinds of ways.
- Who is in the person who leads the small group? Well, the person who knows the most, of course.
- Who is revered in your church? The person who knows the most, of course.
- Bible college professors are held up as spiritual giants. Why? Is it because of their intimacy with God? No. Because of their obedience to God? No. Because of their service to other people? No. We don’t know any of those things about them. What we know is that they know a lot. And that’s enough.
We believe the person who knows the most about God, the most about the Bible, is the most spiritually mature. And the only problem with that is that it’s wrong. Knowledge does not equal maturity. I have known lots of people who know lots about God and the Bible and are not remotely Christ-like. (And, by the way, I can think of someone who knows a ton about God and the Bible, could it be … Satan?!?)
Next time I’ll talk about how this misunderstanding of spiritual maturity has wreaked havoc for Pastors and churches and Muppets and people who press olives in Greece and …
* (this is a footnote!) – Do you think it’s possible that part of the reason we’ve defined spiritual maturity as knowledge is because that way we don’t have to obey? Instead of obeying what we know, we just learn more!
- Featured on newchurches.com
4 comments:
So true!
Aren't "American Christians " products of American Churches which last I checked are led by some of us? So if we don't man up and take some responsibility for our mentorship, wouldn't that make us like a Chinese toy maker who says "I don't know how that lead paint got on that toy, it's not my fault it's toxic"
I often say that when people find out in heaven that there isn't a "written Bible knowledge exam"...and that instead we are judged on our words and actions...there's gonna be a lot of people ticked off at preachers. (Since most of time in church is spent gaining knowledge instead of inspiring action.) I'm just going to tell them I was a painter.
Sadly, this same heirarchy is true in traditional evangelical churches here in Argentina. I wonder, is it because of 100 years of traditional influence from North American missionaries, or a culture - crossing human flaw?
Alisha in Argentina
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