Jesus and his Apostles clearly taught us that we should pursue maturity. But why? In an earlier post we listed five reasons for pursuing holiness, which is essentially the same as maturity. In this post, we want to focus mostly on the motivation of becoming what God made us to be.
If your teenage child stopped growing intellectually and emotionally would you not consider this a cause for great concern and make an exhaustive search for an answer to the problem? Wouldn’t you realize that unless your child resumes their development that they will not become what they should become? Wouldn’t you make every effort to help them achieve adulthood along with its benefits?
Likewise, if we allow ourselves to become complacent about our growth just because we have reached “teenage” maturity then are we not choosing to fall far short of what we are meant to be? Are we not making our Father sad? Are we not sabotaging Christ’s efforts to join with us and make us a fruitful member of God’s community of love?
Since we are destined to live as perfected new Adams in an eternal community of love with God and his followers, why would we embrace anything that doesn’t fit with our future identity? We long for our full Christformation so we pursue Christlike purity now. 1 John 3:2-3 states: “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (NIV). Since this new day is coming we stay focused on the path of purification because every other path leads us away from our future self.
This is why the Apostles directed us to become like Christ. In Galatians 4:19 Paul told the Galatians that he was “in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (ESV). Paul’s goal is that Christ would actually be formed in the readers. Christformation is his goal and he feels like he is in labor. It takes time and effort in order for Chrisformation to happen, it is a continuous process. Peter states: “For to this [suffering] you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21, ESV). John states: “In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:17, NIV). They are reflecting Jesus teaching: “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher” (Luke 6:40, NIV).
It is important to ask ourselves if we will be proud of our lives when we see Jesus. God repeatedly instructs us to live so that we will be shameless and blameless when Jesus returns. “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” (1 John 2:28, ESV). Consider how great our sadness will be if we are embarrassed about our lives when Jesus appears.
Doesn’t the joy set before us make us glad to pursue Christformation? Do we not know how blessing awaits us? Have we not read that God will bring us individual rewards for our faithfulness? We will have more joy and more honor before God and so we will be more of what God intended us to be. Perhaps he will reward us by letting us reflect more of his glory and experience higher fellowship with him, since this is what will be most valuable on the New Earth.
So we passionately pursue maturity. We die to self so “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20, NIV). We willingly embrace suffering because we view suffering as “participation in [Christ’s] sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10, NIV). We detach our hearts from possessions, remembering Christ’s words: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Luke 12:33, NIV). We pursue deep humility, for Jesus taught: “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” (Luke 22:26, ESV). We love our spiritual siblings, yearning for them and sometimes feeling like we are “in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now” (Gal. 4:19-20, NIV).
