A couple of weeks ago I was pushing my granddaughter on the glider of her swing set. When we swing on the glider, Rilyn has to bring her little friends along. Dora gets stuffed into the crack of the seat across from her, while Giraffe sits on her lap. The interesting thing about Rilyn is that she likes me to push her as high as the glider will go, so we have to strap her and Giraffe into the seat with my belt.
As I began pushing her higher and higher, I heard Rilyn reassuring Dora and Giraffe that everything was going to be OK. She said to them several times, “You don’t have to worry, I will keep you safe, it’s OK.” Well, for two and half years old, I thought Rilyn’s words of comfort were amazingly mature.
In the past two articles, I have been sharing some insights from Jim Putman’s book, Discipleshift. He would say that one way of determining a person’s spiritual maturity is to simply listen to what a person says. Quoting Jesus from Luke 6:45, Putman would say “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” So far I have shared examples from the “dead,” “infant,” and “child,” stage. In this article I will share some examples of what a young adult and parent would say as they are becoming more like Jesus.
In I John 2:13-14 we find that a spiritual young adult is increasingly gaining victory over evil and is growing in intimacy with the Father. They are becoming less self-centered and more God and others centered. Walking as Jesus walked is becoming a more prominent way of life. A spiritual young adult can be heard saying things like:
In my devotions today, I began to meditate on why it is that God is mindful of mankind.
I’d like to go on the Haiti mission trip this summer because I believe I will gain new insight into what God wants to do with my life.
I love teaching Sunday School, it seems God is working through me to help the kids grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
I have a coworker who thinks most Christians are hypocrites, I know I’m not perfect, but I shared how God is changing my life.
I was in the grocery line last week and because of the government shut down, the clerk wouldn’t take the food stamps of the person in front of me, so I just paid for her groceries.
And then finally, although the Holy Spirit is the only one who births people spiritually, a spiritual parent is one who intentionally disciples one or more people. Spiritual parents are passionate about bringing the Kingdom of God to their circle of influence which flows from their love relationship with God. A spiritual parent says things like:
I wonder how I could build relationships with some of the people in the trailer court.
I’m going to start a small group to help our men become spiritual leaders of their family.
Kids, as part of our devotions tonight, I’d like to share my vision for our family.
I have had several classmates in our school whose dads have passed away, I think I will ask my Pastor to join me in starting a support group.
My business has been so profitable; I think I’m going to fund a new church start in our Classis.
After reflecting on my swing time with Rilyn, I could only wonder how many times Mitchel and Traci reassured her that she doesn’t have to be afraid either; in a sense, Rilyn is becoming a growing disciple of her parents. And how about you, do the things you say and do reflect that you are a maturing follower of Jesus? Under His Mercy, Mike

In last week’s article I shared some insights with you from Jim Putman’s book, Discipleshift. He would say that one way of determining a person’s spiritual maturity is to simply listen to what a person says. Quoting Jesus from Luke 6:45, Putman would say “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Last week I gave some examples of what a spiritually dead person would say, this week I will give examples of what a spiritual infant and child would say.

Does it really say that in the in the Bible?

This is my money, I worked hard for it. I’m not giving that much away.

Can I just skip church this morning and sleep in?

Shall we go see that new R-rated movie tonight?

I’ve always connected with God through nature. I’d rather be in my boat fishing and thinking about God, than be in church thinking about fishing.

Can I accept Jesus as my Savior without making him Lord?

Do you have to go to church to be a Christian?

Where can I find a church that really cares about me?

Holy Spirit, who’s that?

Spiritual infants tend to lack knowledge of what Jesus taught—often a product of the culture they grow up in. They are ignorant and therefore ask lots of questions. Their lives are generally all about them and what they think works to fulfill their perceived needs. Like infants, their lives are pretty much made up of consuming, comfort, and making messes. They require patience and constant attention, but they also bring a great deal of joy to life. Infants realize their need for a Savior, but are ignorant to what it means to follow Jesus.

The next stage of spiritual growth is the child stage. In this stage, people are growing in their relationship with God and others and are learning the “language” of what it means to be Christian. A spiritual child can be anywhere from five to ninety years old. Though they are growing, the focus of their conversations are still self-centered. They say things like:

• I stand in the narthex and no one says hi to me. No one cares about me; this church isn’t meeting my needs anymore.
• I’m just not being fed by the pastor’s sermons.
• I don’t want to go to Sunday School OR youth group!
• Small group, no one is going to make me get into a small group. Besides, I’m just too busy.
• I think I’ll send the Pastor an unsigned letter letting him know how I feel about those new songs.
• Why do we have to sing those old hymns?
• I don’t think the worship service should last for more than an hour.
• If they keep making those changes, I’m going to stop giving my offering.
• Who was that new family in church and did you see how they were dressed?
• I just don’t have a lot of time right now to help people.
• My cousin was just killed in a car crash and now I got fired from my job, why would God do that to me?

May it be said of each one of us that the Father’s love has sparked our passion for growing in the grace and knowledge of or Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace, Mike

A while back I was visiting with one of our local pork producers and he was telling me about a conversation he had with one of his past employees. As part of his duties in the hog operation, the employee he was telling me about was responsible for herd health, facility maintenance, receiving and loading out the hogs, and for power washing the inside of the finishing facilities after each cycle.

When it came time to power wash the inside of the finishing unit, this employer instructed his new employee that it was time to begin pressure washing. Well, after giving instructions on the process and how to operate their equipment, much to the employer’s surprise, the employee said, “You know, I’ve done a lot of pressure washing in my day, I don’t think I’m really interested in doing that job.”

Can you believe the immaturity of his response? Especially if that’s what he was hired to do.  Imagine if you were the employer, how would you respond to such statement? And yet when it comes to being disciples of Jesus, isn’t that often our response. When Jesus informs us of a certain process of discipleship or instructs us to do something, don’t we often act like we’re above the task or just not interested.

In his book, Discipleshift, Jim Putman shares what he believes are the five different shifts the church must make if we are going to be intentional about developing disciples who actually follow Jesus. And he would say that an important part of making disciples is to identify their level of maturity, and the way you determine the level of spiritual maturity is by how a person speaks. Like Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Over the next few weeks, I will share some of his examples of the things people might say at the different levels of spiritual maturity. Today I begin with what a spiritually dead person might say.

I don’t believe there’s a God.

The Bible is just a bunch of myths and manmade stories.

Religion is a crutch for the weak.

I’m spiritual, but I don’t focus on one religion.

There are many ways to God.

I don’t believe in hell. How could a loving God send people to hell?

I’ve been a pretty good person; I’ll take my chances with the big man upstairs.

I don’t believe there is an absolute right or wrong. I’ll determine what I believe to be true.

Yes, I believe in Jesus, but I’m too busy to spend time with him.

As we reflect on how we respond to Jesus invitation to follow him, may the words of our mouths and the mediations of our heart be pleasing in the sight of our Lord, our Rock and Redeemer.  Mike

I was traveling past the Hartquist Funeral Home this past week and noticed that Jeff was backing the funeral coach into the garage. That in itself wasn’t that big of a deal other than, as he was backing into the garage, I noticed his two little boys were fairly close beside the car. Both of them were jumping up and down with what appeared to be great joy and excitement. The smallest boy, maybe three years old, was just jumping up and down and waving his arms with great enthusiasm, while the older and bigger boy, maybe five years old, was jumping up and down waving his one arm in a circular motion as if to tell his dad to keep backing up.
Several thoughts popped into my mind as I drove by. First, I wondered, was the behavior of the little boys the effect of growing up in the home of a mortician. Would those two little boys have kept jumping for joy if they knew there was a dead person in the back of the hearse? (I don’t know if there actually was a deceased person in the back). Imagine the surprise.
And then I thought about how many times I acted like those little boys. There have been many times I returned home with something new that I thought was going to be really great, but in the long run it turned out not to be so great.
It’s kind of like buying a different car on payments; it’s really fun and exciting for about a month until you realize how much of your paycheck it eats up. Or, it’s like the excitement of bring a new puppy home, only to realize one day it would become a furniture eating monster. Or like the person who recently was sharing with me how excited he was to first be married, but now wishes he would’ve never met her.
You know how it is, “Sometimes there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
On a brighter note, the second thought I had about the two exuberant little boys was, I wonder when I die and Jesus sends his angles to transport me home, what will the welcome home celebration be like. Will there be additional angels, friends, and family members celebrating God’s amazing grace? I can already see the shock of some of my relatives that have passed away. They’re going to be saying to each other, “I can’t believe he made it.”
As I think about the brief time I have left on this earth before a mortician backs my dead body into his funeral home, I have to say I am overwhelmed with joy at the thought of God’s great salvation. I wait with eager anticipation knowing that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me and one day soon he will be coming back for me. I hope the same is true of you.
In the meantime, like the little boys who were cheering their dad on, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Grace and peace to you, Mike