Have you reached maturity? Read this before you give your answer
By Dean Collins
What is your hope for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren? For your spouse? For your good friends? Your students? At the end of the day I suspect we hope and pray that everyone grows to be mature. Maturity has some assumption of age. It takes a certain number of years for our physical bodies to come to maturity. It also takes a while for our brains to be fully developed, and it is longer than we think! Much has been written about brain maturity in the last few decades that suggests our brains don’t fully mature until the mid-20s or later.
Of course here in the United States at 18 one is able to vote, buy alcohol, join the military, get a tattoo, buy a house, travel abroad, and probably other things I’m not remembering at the moment. Interesting to think that we can do all those things, considering that some science suggests we may not be at optimum maturity to make those decisions. This post is not an argument for or against what we can do at 18 but rather that we all probably want the ones we love and, frankly, ourselves to be among the mature, because maturity brings the best chance at a healthy and purposeful life.
Timothy’s maturity
Paul was concerned about Timothy’s maturity but also about the maturity of those Timothy would train. Paul makes a very important point to Timothy that suggests that content or doctrine and theology, while important, are not the totality of what Paul had taught him. His comment also suggests a litmus test of sorts: Pay attention to the behavior and lifestyle of the instructor or mentor. Is their lifestyle congruent with their theology? Paul said this to Timothy: “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings. . . . I endured.”
In other words, Paul let Timothy see it all. He wasn't just lecturing in a synagogue for a few hours once a week. He placed his whole life in view and suggested that his example including the good, bad, and ugly, and hard aspects would by necessity be a part of Timothy’s ministry and life if he was faithful to his calling.
Timothy’s persecution
Timothy probably stared at this paragraph for a while. He knew what Paul said was true, but Paul wasn’t just reporting the news; he was calling his young friend to a deeper understanding of maturity in Christ for his path forward. This sentence in particular likely caught Timothy’s eyes: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
We all shake our heads and know the last part of Paul’s sentence is true. Every day we see new evidence in high and low places of evil and deception. But the first part of the sentence we would probably prefer to ignore: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
A dangerous commitment
For first-century believers, persecution was coming soon. Evidence was mounting that following Jesus was a dangerous commitment if protecting one’s job and life was the goal. Some who followed Jesus wouldn’t make it to an age of maturity. First-century persecution was real and life-threatening. We mustn’t forget that while we may not face the physical dangers of the early church in the current moment, today there are thousands and thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ who daily face physical danger and even death for their faith. We must pray for them.
Our level of difficulty will likely vary in intensity and frequency, but there will be times of difficulty for everyone who seriously chooses to live a godly life. Faith in God might keep someone from being hired or result in termination. It might result in being included or rejected here or there. Choosing to live with morality and character according to God’s standards has a price. Paul knew it. Timothy saw it. And Paul was preparing Timothy that the same things were ahead in his life.
But it isn’t all doom and gloom. In fact, Paul’s words suggest triumphant victory. “Yet from them all the Lord rescued me!” Through stoning, beatings, prison, snakebite, and shipwreck. Through false accusations and those who sought Paul's harm, God provided a way forward. There were scars, but there was victory. And even in the end of Paul’s life, which included execution, Paul knew—and we know—that Paul now lives victorious forever. The pain and suffering are temporary in the hands of God.
The way to maturity
Paul then reminded Timothy that he must cling to the teachings of scripture. He had heard them since his childhood, but they were anything but childish. The Word of God is “God breathed.” It is filled with the life of God. And it isn’t just a coffee table decoration or a tome for the bookshelf. It is good for teaching, good for living, good for correcting mistakes, good for living well around others. And then came the punchline. The scripture is given so that the man (and woman) of God may be complete (mature), equipped for every good work.
That is what I want for you. It is what I want for me. It is what God wants for all of his children. He wants us to experience his fullness for as long as we are given here and then forever in the next life. So breathe in God’s Word. Read it daily. Think about it often. Apply it freely to every situation. It is the way of life that brings wholeness and leads to eternity.
Your time with God’s Word
2 Timothy 3:10-17 ESV
Photo by Spencer Quast at unsplash.com
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