How to Measure Your Maturity (Overview of James)-James 1:4b
“…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
The book of James is regarded as the Proverbs of the N.T., because it’s an instructional manual that tells us how to live as a Christian. James doesn’t say much about faith, but about putting my faith into action (2:17,18,26); it’s about doing, not believing. James can be summed up as: “Walk the walk, not talk the talk.” Today, Christians may have a bad rep partly because they may look good and talk well, since they know the Bible. But their daily practical live and social interaction with others might be unattractive or un-compelling. The practical teachings of James should help us Christians to be attractive and compelling, like Jesus. In brief, all the teachings of James point us to the way Jesus lived his life. Jesus lived the most compelling and attractive life ever lived. Thus, Jesus was like a human magnet wherever he went, while today it seems that if people know that someone is a Christian, they might do their best to avoid him or her. This happens if a Christian doesn’t walk the walk, or live the way Jesus lived.
Today’s sermon is an introductory overview of James with 1:4b as the key verse. “…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Do you want to lack anything in life? If you do, just be childish. But if you don’t, be mature—which means grow up. When you do, you’ll be like Jesus, the most mature man who ever lived. Do you know what God’s ultimate purpose for your life is? Do you know what God’s will for your life is? It is to be like Jesus. It is that we grow up. Hebrews 6:1 says, “let us … go on to maturity” This means, “Let’s grow up to be like Jesus.” But if you don’t grow up, you’ll be like a hot air balloon, or like a Big Mac with a nice bun, but with no hamburger. A Christian who doesn’t grow up will be deformed, like a creature with the huge head of a rhino, the slender body of a kitty, and legs of a flea. It’s not likely that anyone would like such a deformed person. As you listen to this sermon about maturity, please rate your own maturity score on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being most deformed with the biggest head and the smallest legs and 10 being most balanced. I hope nobody will give themselves a 10 because only Jesus qualifies for a 10. (Also, don’t compare your score with others; this score is for personal assessment, not competition.)
So, what is maturity? How do you know you’re arrived? For starters, let’s see what maturity is not. It’s not 4 “a”s but 1 “a.” It’s not age, appearance, accomplishment and academics, but “attitude.”
1st, age. People may think that the older they become, the more mature they are. But this saying is true: “You can never get younger, but you can always be childish.” Thus, getting older does not automatically qualify you as being more mature. Some top leaders in history and at present are quite childish. There was a top leader of a nation who had everything he wanted. But he felt miserable and he sulked before his wife, because he could not have a small vineyard belonging to a poor peasant (1 Ki 21:2-4). Such childish and immature leaders have almost everything, but they focus on the one thing they don’t have. Such leaders may be older, but they are not mature. Age has nothing to do with maturity. In Paul’s time, his protégé Timothy was a young Christian man (1 Ti 4:12). But he was mature enough to be the top leader of the church in Ephesus with many Christians who were older than he. Jesus, when he was only 12, was already mature, for Jesus could go toe to toe with the wise teachers at the temple (Lk 2:46,47).
2nd, appearance. Some people know how to dress well, so that they look good. They appear on the cover of GQ or Cosmopolitan. There are also religious leaders who dress in a way to make themselves look dignified, austere, and “spiritual.” But attire and appearance have no bearing on maturity or spirituality. If it did, the holy looking Pharisees would be the most spiritual people, while Jesus who by contrast was shabbily dressed, would be very unspiritual. Indeed, appearance has little to do with maturity.
3rd, accomplishment and achievement. They are many who are talented and gifted. In the church there are leaders who are charismatic and who are great preachers. God endowed them with such gifts in order to use their gifts to forcefully advance the kingdom of God for his glory (Mt 11:12). But success has 1 major drawback: Success can get to a person’s head. Several great preachers and well-known Christian leaders were discovered to have secret sexually immoral relationships. Rick Warren, who has been dubbed America’s pastor, was personally mentoring 5 young pastors, because they had great potential. But they committed adultery while their young church was rapidly growing. One with significant accomplishment and achievement does not always equate to maturity.
4th, academics. They say that knowledge is power and to some degree it’s true. But one who knows a lot and studies a lot does not necessarily make him a mature person.What is maturity? Maturity primarily has to do with one’s attitude. It has to do with character; it has to do with who we truly are on the inside. There is a saying: “Character is who you are when no one is looking.” When no one is looking we are our true self. Anyone can act self-controlled when they are aware that others can see them. But only when they are by themselves can they truly measure how self-controlled they are. Character is also different from recognition. Recognition is what people say about you. Character is what God says about you.
How do you measure spiritual maturity? We cannot measure maturity by comparing ourselves with others, or by comparing our husbands with other people’s husband. Rather, we should compare ourselves with Jesus and with the Bible. The book of James can be regarded as a manual on maturity. The Greek word for “mature” (teleaus) is translated in English as mature, complete or perfect. James uses this Greek word for mature 5 times in 5 chapters. So the book of James could very well be a practical manual on maturity. Let’s see what James says about the attitude and character of one who is mature. Let’s see what your maturity score is on a scale of 1-10.
1st, a mature person has joy in times of suffering and hardship. Read 1:2-4. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” The first test of maturity is how you handle trials, how you react to problems, and to people who irritate and annoy the heck out of you. How do you react when things don’t go the way you expect, and when people don’t behave the way they should? When someone insults you, or humiliates you, or puts you down, or embarrasses you, or threatens you, do you retaliate or get even? What do you do when things go bad, and just when you think it can’t get any worse, it gets even worse than you thought? If you are mature with a maturity score of close to 10, these situations will excite you, to the extent that you view it positively and “consider it pure joy.” So, what’s your maturity score when you are facing trials and hardship?
2nd, a mature person has control over his speech. Read 1:26. “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” More enemies are made with the tongue than with the sword. More hurtful damaging wounds are caused by the tongue than by all the weapons of mass destruction in the world. There was a brilliant young man who graduated from Yale with a near perfect GPA, and then he graduated from medical school with minimal effort. But his mother, who conceived him out of wedlock, would say to him many times over the years whenever she felt depressed or was drunk: “My life is miserable because of you.” Finally, soon after he graduated from medical school, he took an overdose of pills to end his life. But just before he lapsed into unconsciousness, he called his mom and said to her: “Mom, I love you, and I am granting you your wish.” Half an hour later he was dead. He loved his mother dearly, more than he loved anyone else in the world. But her words to her own son were like a hammer that smashed his spirit, crushed him, and destroyed his life. A childish and immature person speaks words recklessly and at random, but a mature person knows how to master his mouth and control his speech. To be self-controlled begins from tongue control. A mature person mainly speaks words with prayerful self-control to encourage others and build them up. There was another young man who grew up with alcoholic parents, who eventually divorced with much bitterness and anger. But an older Christian man was like the father to him that he never had. The young man would blow up in repeated bouts of drunkenness, anger and misbehavior, even after coming to church regularly for over a decade. Many who knew him in church didn’t like him, and they saw no hope for him. But for over 10 years the older Christian man always said to him the same thing over and over again, “You are a great man.” The mature man spoke these words to him with faith, hope and love. Because of these simple words spoken to him with deep affection, this broken and frustrated young man began to improve gradually over the years. A childish person reacts to people’s behavior and speaks words that hurt and discourage, and breaks relationships. But a mature man speaks words of love and affirmation that strengthens and builds others up. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your control over your speech?
3rd, a mature person is sensitive to people. Read 2:8. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” Another major test of maturity is love: how do you treat other people? How sensitive are you toward them? Do you love them as you love your own children? When your young child throws a fit, you might think it’s so cute, that you hug and cuddle them and even reward them with more love and kisses. But when your neighbor throws a fit, do you deeply sympathize and empathize with them, listen to them and understand them? Are you sensitive to their needs, to their inner pain, to their hurts, to their fears? Do you truly and deeply love them as God loves them? Jesus was the most mature man who ever lived, even when he was a young man at age 30. Jesus’ maturity is seen by his love and sensitivity toward all kinds of people. Jesus was the most loving man who ever lived because Jesus knew people, he understood them, he even knew what they were thinking. In contrast, childish people can’t tolerate anyone because they are not sensitive to others, but mainly to their own feelings and to their own agenda. They become easily upset with others because other people are neither perfect nor angelic, or because they are not like them. On a scale of 1 to 10, how sensitive are you to other people; how well do you know what others are thinking?
4th, a mature person promotes peace, not fights or quarrels. Read 4:1. “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” Most people bring trouble and distress to others, often without even realizing that they are doing so. They make others cringe and hold their breath and bite their tongue by the things they say or do. Yet they may be clueless as to the distress they are causing others. Why are they like this? It may not be because they are bad or no good. It’s simply because they are childish, and self-centered in their thinking. In brief, they are immature. Why do immature people distress others? It’s because they think from their own point of view and say and do things to promote their own agenda and preference. As a result, even if they speak politely, others may feel troubled and distressed. An immature person expects that others conform to their demands. His unspoken attitude is, “It’s either my way or the highway.” In contrast, a mature person is sensitive to others and understands them. So, he knows how to speak and bring peace and comfort to them, not distress or trouble. A mature leader is a peacemaker, who promotes peace even among those with differing and opposing points of view. George Washington was a great leader who knew how to get even enemies to work together for the common good. The founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were 2 brilliant men who despised each other, because of their differing political ideologies. Hamilton, a Federalist, advocated a strong central government, while Jefferson, an anti-Federalist, saw a strong central government as a possible enemy of individual liberty. But Washington, a truly mature leader, brought 2 such different men together. He appointed Hamilton as his Secretary of the Treasury and Jefferson as his Secretary of State. Only a humble and mature man can promote peace among proud, egotistical men. What is your maturity score in regards to promoting peace among people who are quite different from each other, or who are quite different from you?
5th, a mature person is patient, persevering and prayerful. Look at 5:7, 8,11,16. “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming” (7a). “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near” (8). “As you know we consider blessed those who have persevered” (11a). “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (16b). In these 4 verses, we find the words patient, persevere and prayer. These are words that describe a mature man. Immature people are impatient, they give up easily, and they are often hectic. They don’t know how to be patient. They don’t know how to persevere. They don’t know how to pray. They mainly know, “I want it now, and you better give it to me.” But if we are to grow in maturity, we must grow in patience, perseverance and prayer. We must know the difference between “No,” and “Not yet.” Immature people interpret “Not yet” as “No,” and they behave like a child who is told that she should not eat her candy now, but later. Immature people don’t know how to wait, how to persevere and they become frustrated and they frustrate others. They don’t know how to wait on God’s time and wait for God’s blessing. At West Loop, I know that God is going to do a mighty miraculous work of God. I can feel it in my bones. I can feel that the revival wave that God started is gradually building in momentum. I also know that I can’t do anything, except wait for Jesus to build his church, because Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). Sometimes it seems that not much is happening. But I am convinced that all God is doing is that he is waiting for me to grow up, and be more mature. God wants me to “be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (1:4b). God is just waiting for me to be joyful in suffering, to control my mouth, to be more sensitive to people, and to learn how to promote peace between all kinds of people. Most of all, God wants me to grow in patience and perseverance as a man of prayer. Then, God will surely bless West Loop to fulfill our Big Hairy Audacious Goal of a 1,000 member church.
In this brief introduction to the book of James, let’s evaluate ourselves with 1 question: What is your maturity score? Please rate your personal score on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the following 5 questions:
1. Are you joyful in suffering?2. Are you able to control your mouth?3. Are you sensitive to people?4. Do you promote peace with others?5. How patient, persevering and prayerful are you?
We must know that God wants you to be mature. God wants you to grow up. God wants you to be like Jesus. God also wants West Loop to be a mature church. The more mature we are, the more mature our church will be. The more mature West Loop church is, the more we can impact the world for Christ. So, what’s your maturity score?
