Christian is a name given to ancient disciples – or followers – of Jesus Christ.  Acts 11:26, the first use of the name in the New Testament, states that The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Obviously, the followers of Jesus have come in all forms and stages since he called the first disciples: young and old, rich and poor, highly and barely educated, etc. Some came with deep convictions, while others were mere children when they learned about Jesus and believed.

In a letter to a group of these followers in the city of Corinth, Paul wrote, And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1 NRSV).  Paul saw the contrast between their spiritual thoughts and actions and their fleshly thoughts and actions.  He considered that contrast as indicative of the extent of their maturity in Christ.  Although Paul spoke of these Christians as not ready to receive anything but the equivalent to spiritual milk, he said, Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6 NRSV).  Not all Christians were as immature as they.  From Paul’s words, we can conclude that mature Christians are those who are guided and led by the Holy Spirit.  Immature Christians have other influences from the world and their experiences that guide and lead them.

All Christians are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18a).  Peter, writer of that exhortation, had previously written, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (1 Peter 2:2).  These passages show us that the process of being a Christian is much like that of human development.  It starts small and grows toward completion or maturity.  From the beginning of becoming a Christian and all along the way, Christians are all children of God through faith (Galatians 3:26).  As with human children of sound and loving parents, they are accepted by their heavenly parent at every stage of their development and loved throughout.  Parents that have more than one child understand that each of their children is in a different stage of development and maturity.  They do not expect that all are equally mature.  Nonetheless, they love all of their children regardless of their maturity.  Our Father in heaven is the same to each of us.  Jesus Christ, our spiritual leader, is the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2 NASB).  As such, he starts us and leads us in our faith journey.  Through the good work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Triune God, who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Full maturity of each of us is the goal.  Between now and the attainment of the goal, each of us must grow toward full maturity.  In the next two Blogs, we will look more deeply into this reality to understand its effect.