Acting Our Age 3-22-09
In the story of Oedipus, the tragic lead character is beset by the monstrous Sphinx (a creature with the head of a woman, body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent) and is given a riddle to solve in order to escape death. The Sphinx demands the answer to the following riddle: “what creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?” Oedipus answers correctly by saying “man, because as an infant he crawls on all fours, walks upright as an adult, and uses a cane as an old man.” This riddle picks up on a basic truth of our existence: life is different for us at different stages of our development.
Our spiritual growth, too, entails differing expectations and needs depending on the level of maturity of the Christian. It is important for us to recognize what level of spiritual maturity the Christian we are interacting with has, because that will alter our relationship with them. For example, it is common sense for most people that if a sixteen-year-old young man is romantically involved with a fifteen-year-old girl it is a normal thing; but if a forty-year-old man is romantic with a fifteen-year-old girl it is creepy! Why? Because they are at two totally different developmental levels; the fifteen-year-old girl does not have the same capacity for judgment and personal decision-making that an adult does, so she must be protected.
In the same way, mature Christians have a responsibility to protect the less mature in spiritual matters.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” … Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 1:13-16; 2:1-3 NIV)
Newborn babies can only handle their mother’s milk (or something like it), as their digestive systems are not well developed. Similarly, new Christians need to be guided in Bible study and protected from the controversies and minor doctrinal squabbling. They are trying to learn the most basic things and are still putting their lives in order.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10 NIV)
Children live in a world of black and white; there are good people and there are bad people. Children quite easily understand the old westerns like Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger because good guys act good and bad guys act bad. The children of God, also, should see the world through the black and white lens of the Spirit (such as demonstrated so well by Joseph the son of Israel). I think that there is a reason Jesus called us to be as little children.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:11-16 NIV)
Adults are held to a higher standard; for instance, in a criminal proceeding a ten-year-old is generally not held to the same expectations of judgment as a twenty-year-old. In the Lord, a fully mature Christian is held to a higher standard than is a new Christian. A Christian leader is held to an even higher standard, as is a teacher. There is an expectation that a mature Christian is far more capable of avoiding the enemy’s snares and is better able to serve others than is a less mature Christian.
For those who are newly born into the family of God, welcome and know that you should expect to have the time and support to fully change your life to be in accord with the precepts of Christ. For those who are still children in the Lord, stay true to the Gospel and seek always to please the Father. And for those who claim to be mature, who teach and lead others in the Lord: act your age.