Redefining Maturity

Who in reality is the mature believer? The guy who has sat in church for 25-years and knows his Bible from cover to cover but does little with what he knows? Or, a believer…who knows considerably less, but uses what he knows to make a huge impact on his part of the world? (Muse, Guy, Can New Believers Plant Churches?, 3 April 2006, The M Blog )

Tracing a link from Alexander Campbell, a book blog buddy from last year, I came across the following comments that merit discussion. His other blog , SimpleChurch.Co.UK, led me to Guy Muse, a house church planting, IMB-SBC Missionary in Guayaquil, Ecuador and fellow blogger.

As a local church practitioner, participant in Christ's body, and fellow elder with an aim towards authentic, uncomplicated and missional service in the manner of Christ, I found the following worthwhile. I’ll post some thoughts here with a few links to further your reading. As always, I pray you will find them worth the read.

One reason for the way we treat new believers and expect so little of them is related to our view of maturity. We mistake knowledge for maturity. This is related to our view of discipleship as a body of knowledge to be transferred rather than patterns and processes to be passed on.Perhaps a better measure of maturity would take into account not only the level of knowledge but also the ratio between knowledge and practical living out of that knowledge.Who in reality is the mature believer? The guy who has sat in church for 25-years and knows his Bible from cover to cover but does little with what he knows? Or, a believer like * Vicente, a church planting Ecuadorian tentmaker, who knows considerably less, but uses what he knows to make a huge impact on his part of the world?

*Vicente was a two-month old believer when he first came to one of our church planting training seminars. He actually LIED TO US! saying he had been a Christian for six months, thinking we would not allow him in the training for being such a new convert. It wasn't until after he had begun his fourth outreach group that he shyly admitted to his secret! He used the basic knowledge he had been given and put it to immediate practical use. Today, four years later, Vicente has become a tent-making missionary in the steps of the apostle Paul. Two years ago he gave up everything he cherished and went out totally on faith into the a neighboring rural province click here for the whole story.) Vicente has been there ever since evangelizing, discipling and planting churches. Last Wednesday night he shared with us that he believes the Lord wants him to personally share the Gospel with all 60,000 people in the rural region he is now living.

To learn more about Vincente and others at work in Ecuador, click here for The M Blog – Guy Muse and here for the originating post containing these excerpts.