How Do You Define Spiritual Maturity?

It was back in the 16th century that a famous artist that we all know by the name of Michelangelo was given a gigantic block of marble. And many of them, because of where the marble came from which it was quarried at Carrara, and because of its weak and flawed condition, many other artists and sculptors really felt like it was useless. In fact, two other sculptors had tried to work with this block of marble, and it was so weak and would just kind of fall apart as they were trying to chisel this block of marble that they just gave up on it. And then it was given to Michelangelo. And that great sculptor saw something.

He saw potential in this marble and he carved an image that we all know. It's one of the most famous sculptures that's ever been carved. I have a picture of it, I believe it's called the Statue of David. And that statue is well known all over the world, has been for centuries. Now, I only put a portion of the statue up there because if you've seen the statue of David, you know he's missing a few necessary articles of clothing.

Have to keep it G rated here at the refuge. But it's a beautiful statue, amazing statue. And Michelangelo saw the potential in that block of marble and carved the statue of David. And when asked about that statue after it was complete, some of you may have heard this before, but his response to that when he was asked about it was this. I saw David in the marble and I removed everything that wasn't David.

Now here we are today beginning a series on spiritual maturity. And we're going to be talking about for I don't know how many weeks, however many that the Lord directs us about growing into the image that God saw in us from the beginning. Anybody thankful that God looks at you and sees potential in you that where others have written you off, others have said about you, you're too immoral, you're too corrupt, you have too much of a history, you're too weak, you're too flawed. And there's nothing good that could ever come out of you. And God looks at you and sees great potential in you and makes a masterpiece.

Come on, somebody.

But here's the key. As we're talking about spiritual maturity, it's that you're willing to allow the great artist to chisel away at your life and to chisel away at any material in your life that would conceal or hide the masterpiece that God created you to be. Now listen, there's an epidemic of spiritual immaturity in the body of Christ today, maybe like never before. And there's some reasons for that. As a matter of fact, the Barna research group studied this very topic some years ago and they found some contributing factors as to why there's an epidemic of spiritual immaturity.

The first one is this. You can go to the app and all these notes are available for you on the Refuge app today and you can fill in the blanks. But the first one is this, that most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules. That's called religion. Who wants to be a part of that?

I've got to cut my hair a certain way, I got to dress a certain way. I've got to do this, I got to do that. And a lot of people have abandoned religion because it's nothing more than a set of rules. And a reason that there's spiritual immaturity in the body of Christ today is that so many people equate maturity with just following a list of do's and don'ts. Here's the second reason.

Most churchgoers are not even clear as to what their church expects when it comes to spiritual maturity. You've probably heard the expression before, if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. So we have a lot of people in the body of Christ who don't know what's expected of them. They don't know what a definition of spiritual maturity is. Well, I want to encourage you in this.

Before you walk out of here today, you're going to know exactly how the refuge defines spiritual maturity. You're going to know what's expected of you. You're going to know our goal for you and how we're trying to lead you and develop you so that you're not a 30 year old still living in your parents house. I'm talking about in spiritual terms. Here's the third reason that the Barna research group gives for why there's such an epidemic of spiritual immaturity is that most Christians are one dimensional when it comes to their view of spiritual maturity.

As a matter of fact, when asked what does it look like to be a mature follower of Jesus, most Christians could only give one response. They could give only one characteristic. And we know, and you'll discover as we venture into this series that there's many things that help make up a spiritually mature person. Here's the last reason. Many pastors do not prioritize spiritual maturity or they don't see it as an issue.

Here's the interesting thing. Nine out of ten pastors felt like spiritual immaturity was one of the biggest problems in our nation, but the majority of them didn't feel like it was an issue in their church. I feel like it's an issue, yeah, big issue in the country, but not really an issue in our church. I think it's an issue in every church. And listen, you have a pastor who loves you enough to challenge you.

You have a pastor who loves you enough to tell you what's expected from scripture. Not some man made list of rules that you have follow, but how God defines spiritual maturity. Because the reality is there are so many people in the body of Christ that are stuck in these cycles over and over and over, and they don't look any different today than they did 10 years ago. Come on, is anybody with me? Come on.

Is there anybody believes that God has called us to more than that?

That God has called us to break out of some of these cycles and to grow up in the things of the Lord? Here's our text. Ephesians, chapter four. Take your device, your Bible, whatever it is that you have today. Ephesians chapter 4.

The apostle Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus. Beginning in verse 11, stand if you will to honor the word of God this morning. Anybody excited about the word? Anybody excited about the series? Well, I am.

I can tell you. I'm fired up. I'm ready. Ephesians 4. Beginning in verse 11, we find these words.

Now, these are the gifts Christ gave to the church. The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son, that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children.

We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. How many know? That's a pretty serious issue today in 2025. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever that they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way, more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the Church.

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Let's make some declarations together before you're seated today. Church. Everybody together, even those of you watching online and do me a favor, Church.

Give it up for all of our friends who are incarcerated that are watching today via the Pando app. Praise God. Come on, let's make some declarations together. Everybody ready? Go.

I will hide this word in my heart.

This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the Word, and I am confident of this.

We'll complete it in Jesus name, Amen. You can be seated. Praise the Lord. Listen to me. Becoming spiritually mature is a process and a journey.

It's a process and a journey doesn't happen overnight. And usually it doesn't happen quickly. And because of that, many people grow frustrated in the process by what seems to be a lack of progress. It's like a person who goes to the gym and, you know, they're getting after it, you know, New Year's resolution, springtime, getting ready for summer, whatever it might be. And they hit it hard.

They're at the gym and they go for a solid month, and then they expect to be just ripped like some magazine cover after a month's time. And they grow discouraged because they stand in front of a mirror and they don't see washboard abs. It's like the guy who said to me one time, I have washboard abs. He said, they're just covered up by this load of towels that I have in the dryer right now.

It's like the woman who's determined to fit into those jeans. She hadn't been able to fit in for a long time, and she changes her eating habits, and she starts walking in the evenings. And then after a few weeks, she tries those jeans on and still can't get in those jeans and gets discouraged and frustrated. And that's often what we do in this process of maturing in the things of God. Because it's not overnight.

It's a journey. It's a process. I want you to imagine, if you will, if I had a block of ice sitting right here on the platform, and the auditorium was 25 degrees, the temperature in here, 25 degrees. Sylvania would love it.

25 degrees. And obviously, the block of ice, nothing's going to happen. It's not going to change its shape. It's not going to melt at all. We can go up to 26 degrees, still nothing happens.

27 degrees, no change. 28 degrees, no change. 29 degrees, no change. 30 degrees, 31 degrees, absolutely no visible sign of change. But the moment we hit 32 degrees, all of a sudden the block of ice begins to melt.

The Block of ice begins to take on a different shape. A one degree shift. A one degree shift, listen to me, unlocks a significant change. But the breakthrough is the result of many previous actions of ramping the temperature up from 25 to 26 to 27 to 28, 29, 30, 31. You realize cancer spends 80% of its life undetectable and then all of a sudden takes over a human body.

Some of you may have heard about the bamboo plant that for five years it's barely even visible. And then all of a sudden it grows 90ft in six weeks time. Oftentimes we see ourselves and we try to measure up to how we're doing in the things of God. And we feel like we're making no progress. We feel like nothing is changing.

There's no visible sign. I've been in the Word, I've been fasting, I've been consistent in my church attendance. I've really gone after the Lord in my prayer time. And I don't feel any different after weeks or months of doing that. And we get discouraged by that.

But listen to me. The choices that you make today determine the person that you will become tomorrow.

Listen. It's the in between. It's from 25 degrees to 32 degrees. When we don't see change that most people give up. James Clear, the author of the book Atomic Habits, calls it the plateau of latent potential.

He says when people expect to see a mountaintop, oftentimes instead they see this barren, dry plateau and that's where they derail. That's where they grow discouraged. That's where they give up. But James Clear says this. I think I put this in your notes.

He says complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from 25 to 31 degrees. Your work was not wasted. It's just being stored. All the action happens at 32 degrees. When you finally break through the plateau of latent potential, people will call it an overnight success.

The outside world only sees the most dramatic event rather than all that preceded it. But you know that it's the work that you did long ago when it seemed that you weren't making any progress that makes the jump today possible. Listen, I sum it up like this. Spiritual maturity requires long obedience in the same direction.

Let me say that again. Spiritual maturity requires long obedience in the same direction. Now the Apostle Paul is calling the church at Ephesus higher. He's calling them into spiritual maturity. And the Apostle Paul says that there are some necessary Ingredients, and they're applicable to you.

And I. Let me give them to you. Number one, there's a recognition and an appreciation for the gifts that God has given to the church. We read it a Moment ago, verse 11. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church.

The apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. But listen to me, you are not likely to learn from those that you do not value.

I'm going to say it again. You're not likely to learn from those that you do not value. And the Apostle Paul says this in verse 12. Their responsibility, speaking about the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, and listen to me.

Imperfect people like myself are given to you, the church, as a gift to help you reach spiritual maturity.

I just want to remind you today, I'm your gift.

Flawed, imperfect, can't grow hair, but I'm your gift. Now here's the thing. If a 30 year old is still living at home with her parents, without a clear plan to find a job, without a clear plan to save money, without some challenge to live like an adult within a reasonable time frame, the problem is not just with the 30 year old.

The parents have some responsibility to push that person to make adult decisions.

So listen, as a pastor, I have responsibility to push you towards growing up in Christ. But ultimately you have to want it.

You have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired. You have to be sick and tired of your sin cycle. You have to be tired of complacency. You have to be tired of indifference or of settling for less than what God created you for. You have to decide, I want to grow in the things of God.

And to do that, listen, you have to value the leaders that God has put into your life.

Y' all with me this morning?

Hopefully our online audience is shouting me down right now. Here's the second thing. Paul says that in order for there to be spiritual maturity, there has to be unity in the faith. Unity in the faith. Listen, a clear sign of immaturity is if year after year you're still critical of, of God's bride, the church, unable to get along with others and constantly pointing out the speck that's in somebody's eye while you have a two by four in your own eye.

And we're gonna be reading through the book of Matthew this week as a church, and I really hope that you'll do that. A part of maturing in the things of God is denying your flesh. It's fasting, it's not religious. It's all rooted in intimacy, relationship with the Lord. And I hope that you'll fast this week.

If you've never fasted before. We have tools on our app, tools on our website that can help you. We want to guide you, we want to help you. We want you to kill some flesh this week and replace your physical appetite with a hunger for the word of God. That's why we have this plan to read through the entire book of Matthew all this week.

And in Matthew chapter seven, we find these words of Jesus and why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, hey, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye when you can't see past the log in your own eye? And Jesus says this hypocrite, first get rid of the log in your own eye, and then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. The Apostle Paul also says this in First Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 1 through 3. Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you, I couldn't talk to you as I would to spiritual people.

I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ, had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready for you're still controlled by your sinful nature. You're jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Listen, spiritually mature people value relationship more than they value being right.

In other words, for the sake of unity, they will lay down their rights. Well, I have a right to voice my opinion. I have a right to tell somebody off. I have a right to think this or to say this. And spiritually mature people say, I'm going to die to my flesh.

I'm going to lay down my rights. Because unity is such a priority to God, it's going to be a priority in my life as well. That's when you begin to grow up in the things of God. Here's a third reason that or a third ingredient the apostle Paul is laying out for the church at Ephesus. He says there has to be a knowledge of God's Son, a knowledge of God's Son.

Spiritual maturity means that we move from religion to relationship. We move from just being a believer to being a disciple. It means that we eradicate biblical illiteracy in our own lives.

We become a student of the Word of God. We study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, but rightly divides Scripture, rightly understands Scripture, and doesn't get caught up in some weird doctrine because maybe it caught fire on some algorithm on Instagram, and all of a sudden we're attaching ourselves to the doctrine of demons. Oh, I'm trying to. And I don't know if anybody's with me today or not. I'm preaching better than you're responding this morning, telling you God wants to take us deeper.

God's calling us just like the apostle Paul was calling the church at Ephesus. Deeper into the things of God. I believe God's calling the refuge deeper today. And listen, you don't have to stick around. There's a lot of churches around.

And let me tell you, there's plenty of churches that will cater to your comfortability.

Plenty. So you don't have to stay. But I'm gonna challenge you from the word of God, and I'm gonna call you to a deeper place. And I'm gonna call you to be mature believers in the things of God.

So we're not 30 years old and still drinking milk, but we're hungry for the meat of the Word of God.

The apostle Paul says that there has to be a knowledge of God's Son. Listen, maturity is not about obeying the rules, as I've already said. That's religion. It's about falling in love with Jesus. That's relationship with him.

And you don't develop a relationship with somebody just once a week.

Showing up on Sundays has got to be more than that. Got to be intentionality on your part to go deeper in the Word, to have quiet times alone with him, to deny your flesh. The apostle Paul says we've got to go deeper because spiritual maturity is more than having a scripture on your bio, on TikTok or Instagram, and then still posting sexually explicit photos or content that's not appropriate. No, no, no. God calls us to more than that.

Come on. Are you hearing me today? So what? So you got a scripture in your bio. Big deal.

Anybody can do that. But does your lifestyle match up to the Bible that you're posting?

It means that you get to know Jesus in an intimate way and then you display who Jesus is. We're called to be living epistles who display with authenticity who Jesus really is to the world. Here's the fourth thing. The apostle Paul says another key ingredient is a commitment to community. Verse 16.

He says he makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts to grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Listen to me. A sign of spiritual immaturity, as if we're quick to divorce the church at the first sign of conflict or struggle. Hear me loud and clear, church, and I'm speaking to you with so much love for you, with so much love as a true shepherd for his sheep.

But listen, you will never mature spiritually, in isolation or outside of the petri dish of community, of Christian community. It's never gonna happen. You're never gonna reach your potential. You're never gonna grow up. You're gonna stay in those cycles of sin year after year.

And 10 years from now, you're gonna still look the same as you do today. If you think that you can just go it alone, I can do it myself. Listen, I, as well as anybody, understands the risk of community. And I've said to you so many times that some of my deepest hurts have come from the church. But years ago, I added an addendum to that by saying, as well, some of my greatest healing has come from the church.

Yeah, it's risky to be in Christian community and people with different personalities. It's risky to get involved and to build relationships. And it's pretty much inevitable that at some point somebody's gonna disappoint you, you, somebody's going to hurt you, somebody's going to offend you, somebody's going to hurt your feelings. It might even be me. But spiritual maturity looks beyond that and says, as painful as this is, I'm not going to divorce the body of Christ at the first sign of struggle or conflict.

It's the divine design and plan of God. And growth happens in struggle.

And listen to me as you stay. Planted in the house of God.

Planted in the house of God. And personally, I believe planted in the house of God means you show up more than once every six weeks.

I don't call that being planted. I call that checking an obligation off of your to do list. Got really quiet, didn't it?

Listen, we have an epidemic of spiritual immaturity because so many people nowadays in the body of Christ are constantly jumping from one church to another church because they're chasing after whatever's popular and whatever's caught fire on Instagram. And so their roots never grow deep.

Happens all the time. Listen, I've never claimed to be the greatest Preacher, I know I'm not the best looking. I wish I had a better voice for preaching the gospel like some of these people I hear that have that rich, deep, powerful voice, you know, when they preach. And I understand. I understand that I'm not the most popular, the hottest thing out there on the market.

But one thing I can tell you is that week after week after week after week, I'm going to give you the unapologized version of the word of God.

I'm going to consistently stand in this pulpit and feed you from the Word of God. It might not be creative, it might not be popular, but consistently, for over 40 years, that's what I've done and that's what I will continue to do. And I'm calling you. Be planted. Be planted.

Be planted in the house of God. Be consistent. Show up week after week. Hey, that's a big part of the battle. It's just showing up.

Just show up when you don't feel like it, when you've had a rough week, when you worked in the yard all day on Saturday. And I just need some me time. Hey, let's kill our flesh. Let's say more than me time. I need he time.

Whew.

This is going to be a good series, y'. All.

I don't usually sweat when I preach, but, man, I'm sweating. I'm feeling it.

All right, we're going to pray. But I told you, before you walk out of here, you're going to know what it looks like. According to the Refuge. We're not saying it's complete. We're not saying it is the most accurate definition of spiritual maturity.

But back in 2020, our pastors took several days. We sat down, we asked ourselves that question, what does it look like? How do we define this? And over the next few weeks, we're going to unpack this in much greater detail. But I at least wanted you to have it because chances are some of you that are here today, you won't be back next week.

But here's what it looks like. Spiritual maturity at the refuge. This is what we're aiming for. This is how we're trying to develop you and push you into a deeper relationship with the Lord. Number one, death to self.

Indicated by the following, demonstrating and obeying Jesus laws of love. Secondly, building relationships with sinners and unbelievers. Thirdly, living a blessed life according to the Sermon on the Mount. Fourthly, serving other people. Secondly, we believe spiritual maturity is indicated by obeying the commands of Jesus.

This is evidenced by Somebody who hears, believes and obeys. Thirdly, we believe here at the refuge, spiritual maturity lives a life that displays and demonstrates the fruit of the the Spirit. This past Wednesday night, one of our elders, Tiffany Johnson, taught on the Fruit of the Spirit. It's on our app. You can listen to any Wednesday night.

And I'm telling you it was an incredible exegetical teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit. And I would encourage you, this would be a great week, and as you're fasting and praying, to go back and listen to that. Number four, we believe someone who's spiritually mature disciples others, pours into others. And number five, we believe that the spiritually mature person is one who practices biblical stewardship by tithing, by developing a generous spirit, by responsibly stewarding the resources and not burying their talent. And number four, by giving credit and glory to the master.

They're not just looking to build their own platform. They're not looking to become insta famous. They're just wanting to represent Jesus and to give glory to him. That's spiritual maturity. So over these next several weeks, we're going to unpack that, we're going to talk about those things in greater detail.

Here's my prayer for you. First, that you would allow a loving God to chisel away at anything in your life that doesn't look like Jesus, because that's the goal, is to look like him and smell like him. Secondly, my prayer for you, and this is what I've prayed all morning, is that there would be a genuine hunger on the inside of you for the deeper things of God. You would not be satisfied. You would not do just enough to get by.

But you would say, I really sense even this morning that the Lord's calling me deeper. Here's the third thing. I'm praying and believing. Those of you who are stuck in some generational cycle of sin, some pattern, some stronghold that the enemy has you in, that the Lord's going to take you to a place that obliterates that stronghold, that breaks that cycle, and that for the first time, maybe ever, you taste real freedom.

Come on, bow your heads and close your eyes, will you? This morning.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. I sense that the Holy Spirit's speaking, that the Holy Spirit's been speaking throughout this message this morning.

God, I really hear you calling me deeper, calling me to new places. Lord, I want to call these beautiful people that you give me the privilege of shepherding to a new place, a higher place, a deeper place in intimacy with you. And so, Lord, I'm praying this morning that we would respond. We'd respond. Not to impress somebody else.

Not because we feel like it's the obligatory thing to do, but we respond simply to you, to your voice calling us deeper.

Convict, Holy Spirit. Where we need to be convicted.

Draw us right now, Holy Spirit.