what are we shooting for?

so staff training is going well... here are a few thoughts we have been talking about...

"Ideas are like grapes... they always come in clusters."
"Non-Christians don't read the Bible... they read Christians."

Colossians 1:28 says "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ."

so what is maturity in Christ? some ideas people said were

• needing others less but loving them more
• knowing God's will
• glorifying God
• obeying - love Him & love others
• bear fruit
• confession

after talking about the answer to this question for a while, eric (the boss man leading the discussion) told us to go to luke 10:25-28 and he contended that maturity in Christ is loving God and loving others. he also pointed to Galatians 5:6 in which Paul was explaining how "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." did you catch that? the only thing that counts for anything is faith working through love(agape). one thing a lot of young Christians can get caught up in is faith working through knowledge instead of love. they forget that love is even a key factor much less the only thing that counts.

so faith breaks down into faith and trust and trust can be built up by both classic and cultural apologetics which we cover here at Summit. then what is love? we went to 1 Cor. 13 and lamented that this chapter has been hijacked by weddings and forgotten in life.

• love is patient. love is not impatient. being impatient is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
  
• love is kind. love is not unkind. being unkind is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not envy. wanting something that isn't yours is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not boast. bragging is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not arrogant. arrogance is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not rude. being rude is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not insist on its own way. insisting on having your way is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not irritable. being irritated is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love is not resentful. resenting someone or something is a sign of immaturity in Christ.
• love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
• love bears all things.
• love believes all things.
• love hopes all things.
• love endures all things.
• love never ends.

did you know we are supposed to be kind? did you know we are not supposed to be rude or impatient? what in your life right now is an area of immaturity in Christ that you need to work on?