Assessing Your Spiritual Maturation
By: Barry Rager
Throughout 2020, we will be working through the Gospel of John during our Sunday Gatherings and discussing the text in our Community Groups. We hope to see the Spirit of God do a multitude of things throughout this series. One specific desire is that the Spirit would guide us in assessing our spiritual maturation and invite us to move to a deeper level of relationship with the Father.
The desire for spiritual maturation is near to the heart of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 14:20, the Spirit inspired Paul to write, “Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.” God desires all of us to grow in our spiritual maturity, to see, experience, and display him more and more. In this way, our lives here on earth will be conformed to the lives we will live in the presence of God for eternity.
We have developed a simple chart to help you think through the process of spiritual growth and where you currently reside in the journey.
Not Yet Alive - All of us begin at this level. Because of our sin, we are dead spiritually. This term describes the person who has not yet trusted Jesus by placing their faith in him. These people may be seeking to earn the favor of God through their good life or they may be totally apathetic in their relationship with God. Either way, they are not yet alive in Christ by faith. Nonetheless, these people are created by God, loved by God, and pursued by God.
Children - People in this category are just beginning their relationship with Jesus. Children in faith are learning what it means to follow Christ. They are experiencing the transforming power of the Spirit and seeing it reflected in their thoughts, habits, and direction of their lives. It is normal for people to begin searching out their faith and asking questions about what it means for them to be a Christian. The invitation to the person in this category is to learn that they can trust Jesus. We will corporately address this area of maturation through the following texts: John 1:19-4:54; 20:1-18.
Young People - This period of spiritual life could be described as teenage years. Typically at this time, people begin to question a lot of the things that they have been taught and experience hardship for the first time in their lives. At this level of maturation, the believer may continue to explore faith’s implications and what it means to truly pattern your life after Jesus. Many search out other faith traditions. This is also a time when trauma can be revisited or endured. The call to the Young Person is to remain. The hope would be that their season of searching would lead them closer to Jesus and that their hardships would cause them to rest deeper in the arms of the Father. This level of spiritual development will be examined in John 5-8; 20:19-31.
Mothers and Fathers - Spiritually, this is our goal for New Circle Church’s builders. Believers at this spiritual stage engage in a communal faith. Their attention is no longer focused solely upon their own spiritual well-being, but also in living out their faith by caring for those around them and spurring them on in their faith. Working with others while still growing in their own faith is done in an attitude of resting in Jesus. Spiritual Mothers and Fathers know he is there, know he loves them, and have the maturity to place all of their lives into his hands. The invitation to those in this is stage is to grow in maturity through beholding the glory of God! We will explore Mothers and Fathers in Scripture through John 9-12; 21:1-25.
Glorification - None of us are here yet. In fact, it is impossible for us to achieve this level of maturity on earth. Glorification will be our reality when we are given new bodies and enter into eternity in our Father’s presence. While we can never attain this level of maturity on this earth, we should all yearn for this type of intimacy with the Father.
Please start at the bottom of the chart and read up through the process. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and give you the discernment to know where you are in the spiritual development stages.
Don’t be fooled by the number of years that you have been a Christian. While the number of years since your conversion may be a helpful consideration, spiritual growth is not linear. Some believers live at the level of Children for significantly longer than others. While slow growth is not to be belittled exploration of the causes of stagnation is necessary. Wherever you find yourself, the key is to be faithful and to always be desirous of deeper intimacy.
If you would like further guidance on thinking through your spiritual growth, you may want to utilize one of these resources: “Spiritual Growth Survey” by Bill Gaultiere or “Tests of Spiritual Maturity” by Mike Shepherd. If you still have questions, reach out to someone in your Community Group to see if they can walk with you and can give you some guidance.
