Maturity: a significant priority of Anchor Community Church shall be helping followers of Jesus become more mature disciples as they grow in their understanding of the Scriptures and fully participate in the body of Jesus.
It's with much joy that we look around Anchor and see more and more people from the community joining us for worship on Sundays, or small groups during the week, or benefiting from our Community Connections ministry. And it's a real joy to hear the Because of Jesus stories, of how people are experiencing the life-changing power of Jesus in their life.
But there is still a big question mark that hangs over all of this joy: what is it that helps people become more mature disciples of Jesus? We love to have more people join us for worship, to have more people baptized, to have more people share a Because of Jesus story. However, we remember the old adage: God loves us just the way we are, but he loves us too much to leave us that way.
What does maturity look like? How do you track the trajectory of maturity?
I ask all these questions to make a point: for all of you who are confident about what maturity is and is not (for example, you yourself are the example of maturity...), and for all of you who have lots of "reasons" for why you are not more mature in your faith ("I'm just so busy...) - there is a tension between what we want to see in others and what we are willing to seen in ourselves. We know maturity when we see it, but it is hard to define - especially in others.
There are two key ways we define maturity (and immaturity) at Anchor: through your growing understanding of the Scriptures and your participation in the body of Jesus.
An immature version of this would read: be busy always reading your Bible and showing up at the church whenever the doors open.
A mature version of this would read: what action have you taken in response to a prompting from God because you were reading Scripture?
In what ways is your local congregation or other Christians you are connected with better off because of what you have been reading in Scripture and applying to your own life? Do these two understandings make sense?
Some examples of how this would work with Anchor:
* to say that we are a follower of Jesus means we are becoming familiar with the teachings of Jesus and can give examples how how we are implementing it in our life.
If you aren't meditating on the Sermon on the Mount, it's going to be difficult for you to know the key teachings of Jesus, and thus almost impossible for you to follow the way of Jesus. Jesus' understanding of love, forgiveness, prayer, giving money to the poor, adultery and lust, murder and anger, honesty, etc.
* to say that we are a disciple means that we are student of Jesus, which means we set time and energy to read, discuss, and apply what we learn.
There is thus a schedule in our life by which we listen to the voice of Jesus through Scriptures, prayer, life experience, and the wisdom of other Christians.
But as a student, we don't go merely as a passive sponge - for we know that the most important learning that comes in life is from doing, from our own experiences and attempts.
So as a student, we schedule into our life time to work and give in the name of Jesus. Whether it is a ministry opportunity with your local church or through your local church (like with Habitat or NeighborLink), or it is a task you do on your own or with other Christians you know that aren't apart of Anchor - your intentionality reveals your maturity.
Passivity and maturity don't often go hand in hand.
* a more mature disciple takes initiative to respond to a need that they see.
They've been shaped by the Scriptures, they've got a history with a local church, and they've both witnessed and been part of work to help others in need. Thus, based on their understanding of Scriptures and their participation in they body of Jesus they've been trained and empowered to be Jesus to the people in their life.
The willingness and skill to do this is a sign of ongoing maturity.
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