Those of you who have had children will know what a life changing experience it is. The whole centre of your world changes once there is a baby around. You can no longer keep your house or indeed your life tidy. Everything revolves around the new person in your midst. They become the focus. Their needs and wants take precedence over your own. It becomes very difficult to stick to any schedule you may have.
But in normal circumstances this situation shouldn’t last forever. The hope is that there is a progression from total dependency, to independence. We’re not designed to be dependent on parents for life. Teenage ‘attitude’ and arrogance shouldn’t be a permanent lifestyle. There should come a point when we begin to take responsibility for our own growth to maturity.
That progression from infancy to independence is a good picture of what should happen in our spiritual lives. The apostle Paul was clearly expecting a lot less spoon-feeding and a whole lot more maturity from the early Corinthian believers when he says in his letter to the church in Corinth:
But for right now friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspirituality. You’re acting like infants…
1 Cor 3 v 1 – The Message
Paul’s not suggesting arrogant independence with no consideration of others. He’s looking for signs of a growing up process; a leaving behind of childish ways of looking at things, becoming less spoon-fed and more self sufficient.
Despite repeated encouragements, patient explanations, and severe warnings, the early believers were still perhaps waiting for instructions rather than taking the initiative; still too dependent on leaders rather than relying on their own experience or judgement.
I know how easy it is when under pressure to lapse into childish ways, unwilling to put the effort in, or make a commitment; happy to let others lead and take responsibility. There are also times when I get frustrated by those who aren’t as ready and willing as me to take up some challenge or head off into another adventure. We all have our moments of immaturity. But if we reach adult age and are unable to make our own decisions in life, it’s viewed as slightly dysfunctional.
So all this raises some questions for me. Are there areas where I haven’t grown up yet? How dependent am I on others? How can I encourage others towards maturity and less dependency? How understanding am I when others don’t seem to be willing to respond as I think they should?
Let’s ask God to help us take responsibility for our own spirituality, and enable us to understand and encourage others, whatever stage they may be at.
Image Credit: life is fantastic
