What Is Christian Maturity?

The New Testament concept of maturity (τέλειος) is semantically related to the ideas of perfection, completion, and wholeness. Just as we may speak of mature fruit, so too might we speak of the mature Christian: grown, fully rounded, complete, and whole. Concurrent with this is an aspect of trajectory (τέλος), of movement to and of reaching that end point of wholeness and completion. Christian maturity is about fruition.

Given the telic nature of Christian maturity, there is therefore an eschatological aspect to it as well: our maturity / perfection (τέλειος) reflects the now-but-not-yet tension that is the general experience of being ‘in Christ’. On the one hand, our maturity is something that is already obtained for us in Christ (Hebrews 10:14), who, himself perfected through suffering (Hebrews 2:10, 5:8-9), was able to perfect us in a way that the levitical priesthood never could (Hebrews 7:11, 19, 9:9-10, 10:1, etc.). On the other hand, it is something that we look forward to seeing completed on the day of Christ, when all things reach their fulfilment.

At the same time, Christian maturity is something that we grow in now as we await that day: Jesus not only authors our faith, but he is the one who also perfects it (τελειωτής; Hebrews 12:2). So, while we must never expect perfection now, we may nevertheless experience real growth towards maturity as we eagerly await the day Jesus returns. The metaphors of growth to maturity that the New Testament employs reflect this trajectory and movement: from childhood to adulthood (Ephesians 4:13-14), from child-like thought to mature thought (1 Corinthians 14:20), from milk to solid food (Hebrews 5:11 – 6:3).

This now-but-not-yet reality of Christian maturity finds startling expression by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians (3:8-15). Note the way he describes himself as simultaneously mature / perfect and not mature / perfect, as having attained and not obtained:

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on faith-- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect (τελειόω), but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let those of us who are mature (τέλειος) think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

This passage also helpfully reflects what we have already touched on: the central place of the mind and our thinking when it comes to Christian maturity. The verses referred to above have already associated maturity and the mind: the mature Christian is wise, not foolish; the mature Christian is discerning, rather than dull. While wisdom and maturity are inextricably associated with character and the way we live, they are first and fundamentally aspects of the mind and heart (another ‘mind’ metaphor) from which godly character and living overflow.

Growing in Christian Maturity

A Christian’s growth in maturity, then, begins with a shaping of the mind as we grow in the knowledge of God, which in turn leads to growth in character. What occurs is something of an ‘upward spiral’, since an essential aspect of that reformed character is an altered mind that drives us all the more to long to grow in the knowledge of God. That is, as the spiral pushes ‘upward’ according to our call (Philippians 3:14), passages like Isaiah 55:1-11, Psalm 1, or Psalm 119 are realised in us, rather than simply idealised by us. This spiral is beautifully expressed for us in Colossians 1:9-10 (which also introduces the necessity of prayer, which we’ll return to below):

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

This ‘upward spiral’ is in direct opposition to the ‘downward spiral’ we see elsewhere in Paul’s letters, where a rejection of the knowledge of God leads to ungodly behaviour, which in turn sears our consciences and leaves us ever more blind to God (e.g. Romans 1:18-32, Ephesians 4:17-19).

Sometimes Christians can fall into the trap of separating godliness from knowledge, or separating knowing God from knowing the Scriptures: one is relational while the other is cold; one is vibrant while the other is arid; one makes us loving; the other unloving; one is spiritual, the other is unspiritual.

God’s understanding is quite different. It’s as we know him that we are transformed to be like him (2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:6). And we only meet Christ, whose Spirit is in us, through the Scriptures – both Old and New Testament – written by the Spirit to testify to Jesus. We encounter the Word Incarnate only through the Word Inscripturate; when we read the Word Inscripturate, we inevitably and unavoidably meet the Word Incarnate (although it is only received as a message of wisdom as the Spirit enlightens us – 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). As Calvin put it, we receive true knowledge of Christ only in the way he is offered to us by the Father: ‘clothed with his gospel’, or, the way he is offered to us by the Father: ‘clothed with his gospel’, or, ‘clothed with his promises’, inscripturated by the Spirit. Seeking to access God without the mind – whether through emotions or a ‘cloud of unknowing’ – invariably leads to mysticism and, usually in tandem with that, human sacral activity: deprivations, objects, environments, settings, postures, and rituals (Colossians 2:8-23).

Here, as in all things, we are reminded of what is already apparent from the verses we have been considering: that Christian maturity is God’s sovereign work in us. We obtain maturity in Christ, who has won it for us and who perfects us, and will complete his good work on that day (Philippians 1:6). God’s word is more than simply the means of access to the knowledge of God: it brings it about. God’s word is not merely (!) sufficient for life and godliness (2 Timothy 3:14-17), but it is efficient for the task as well. God’s word is a living and active word (Hebrews 4:12) rather than a dead word. The Word and the work of the Holy Spirit are inextricably linked (e.g. Ephesians 6:17), and the very word that created and now sustains all things (John 1:3, Hebrews 1:3) we encounter as hear God speak by the Scriptures. This is also why we pray for Christian maturity (Colossians 1:9-10, 4:12), because we recognise that it is God who works in us according to his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

And yet the Christian is not idle. Precisely because we have been made Christ’s own, the apostle presses on to make it his own (Philippians 3:12-14). Paul strains and strives to reflect that which God has already wrought in him through Christ Jesus: and he calls us to do the same (Philippians 2:12-13, 3:15).

The Marks of a Mature Christian

Returning to the verses we have been considering, a picture begins to emerge of the mature Christian. While we might perhaps consider other things, the portrait of the mature Christian that we see from these passages includes:

1. An ability to discern what is good, and to distinguish it from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
2. A stability that is not swayed by every wind of teaching (Ephesians 4:13-14).
3. A movement on from ‘basic’ truths about Christ to consider the depths of God’s work in Christ (Hebrews 5:11 – 6:3); to have an ‘adult’ faith rather than an infantile one.
4. Simultaneously with (iii), not moving on from Christ, but abiding in him: plumbing the depths of Christ, in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:1-8).
5. An ability to teach others (Hebrews 5:11-12; Ephesians 4:12, 15).
6. A yearning for maturity rather than a complacency (Philippians 3:8-16).
7. Perseverance in Christ, continuing in him (until the end) in the same way in which we received him (Colossians 1:28-29, 2:6-7).

The Means of Christian Maturity

Clearly, the word and prayer are central to Christian maturity from what we have seen. Theologically, however, there is a context that we may have missed because of the lens of our late Western individualism: there is a corporative priority to the presence of these activities in the Christian life. That is, corporate devotion to the word and prayer can achieve things that individual prayer and reading simply cannot do (Hebrews 3:7-13, Matt 18:18-20); further, corporate attendance to the word and prayer expresses God’s purposes for us in a way that private reading and prayer cannot (e.g. Ephesians 2:11-22, 1 Peter 2:10-12, etc.).

If we are to seek Christian maturity in the life of our church, we must take this to heart and trust God to do the work that only he can do; we must do the simple work that he gives us to do: plant and water (1 Cor 3:1-7 – wherein we also see that possessing such a perspective on ministry is again a mark of maturity).

Outside (reformed, evangelical) observers Sydney Anglicanism notice the way in which we are thoroughly characterised by workaholism and pragmatism, and possess a simultaneous prayerlessness and diminishing of the presence of the word in our church life. This is a disastrous recipe. Instead, we must cling to our reformation heritage, and delight in the type of ministry that Luther was so confident in:

“I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip and my Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing. The Word did it all.”

Perhaps we might substitute prayer for the beer, but we get the point! In the context of that quote, Luther was explicitly disavowing human means (particularly political manoeuvring) to achieve his goals. Rather, he relied on God to do his work, and Luther got on with his responsibility: getting the word out.

There are, however, two other means of Christian maturity that emerge from these verses. The first of these is expressed in Ephesians 4:11-16 and Hebrews 5:11-12. The mature Christian is able to teach others – they are able to speak the truth in love. The role of those gifted by God in the ministry of the word is to equip others to speak and teach such that the church is mature in Christ. We have the responsibility to promote sound doctrine and refute error (Titus 1:9), and we have the responsibility to equip others to do the same (2 Tim 2:1-2). Yet this doesn’t exhaust our ministry in the equipping of others to teach and speak the truth. Each as they are able, according to gifts, measure, situation and vocation, the mature Christian speaks and teaches others.

This leads naturally the other means that becomes apparent in these verses: that of imitation and modelling in the Christian life (Phil 3:17). Wisdom and understanding, discernment and prudence, maturity and adulthood – these are embodied realities rather than merely noetic categories. They are lived out. They are demonstrated in the overflow of our heart and mind into our speech and action, and therefore are also corporate (ie, relational) realities: it overflows into our conversation and fellowship. The Bible promotes example and modelling as an aspect of growing into maturity, where the elder (the adult) teaches the younger (the child). Christian maturity is ‘caught’ as much as it is ‘taught’ (e.g. Titus 2).