Our reading is John 4:4-24. According to verse four, Jesus is in Samaria, near the town of Sychar at Jacob’s well (Ge. 48:21-22). It is noon and Jesus was looking for a cool drink of water. He was surprised to find a Samaritan woman there too. Normally, women drew water from the well early in the morning or at the end of the day, once the heat of the day had passed. She was no ordinary woman. She was a woman with a story. She was filled with regrets, because she had made so many mistakes.
She just couldn’t find a decent man; she was a repeat offender. She had been married five times and was currently living with another man. In our society, only fifty percent of first-time marriages last. Every time you marry, your chances of a successful marriage are cut in half. That means, on her fifth wedding day her chances of a happy marriage were down to 3.1%. If she would have married number six, it was down to 1.6%. She was at the well in the middle of the day to hide from the harsh tongues of the other women in that community. She was the punchline of every joke, and she knew it. Most of our reading is a dialogue between Jesus and the woman.
Jesus broke the social norms of that time and place. Men and women did not speak to each other in public; Jews and Samaritans did not speak at all. Jesus breaks both rules and talks to a Samaritan woman. Jesus and the woman at the well were a study in contrast. Jesus was a sinless, spiritually mature Jewish man; she was a sinful, spiritually immature Samaritan woman, yet Jesus speaks to her about spiritual maturity. In this blog, I want to address your spiritual maturity. How spiritually mature are you?
There is a website called Cripplegate.com. It is a Christian website with the tag line, “for a new generation of non-conformists.” That line plays off Roman 12:1-2, “do not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” On November 7, 2011, they posted an article called: 5 Signs of Spiritual Maturity. In that article, they ask five questions. If you answer each honestly, then you will discover your level of Christian maturity. Each question has Biblical roots. If you answer each question honestly, you may find out that you are more mature than you thought, or you may discover you are less spiritually mature than you assumed. You can consider these five questions a little quiz. This is question number one:
Do you have an appetite for meat? Infants drink milk regularly, but in time they move on to solid food. When a twenty-one-year-old asks his mother to spoon feed him mashed potatoes, it is creepy and dysfunctional. When a nursing home resident can’t take a single bite, it is sad because the end is near. Spiritually mature people can’t get enough meat. They can’t get enough of the Bible. How much time do you spend with your Bible? Or do you ignore your Bible because it is just too hard to understand? Maybe that is the reason you are spiritually immature. Spiritually mature people have an appetite for meat. Hebrews 5:14 says, “Solid food is for the mature.” This is question number two:
Are you easily offended? Experience has taught us that mature Christians seldom get offended, because they see the big picture. When Jesus turned the tables at the temple over because people were using the law for personal gain, people were upset. Jesus didn’t care, because he saw the big picture. The temple was a house of prayer, not a place of profit. Do you see the big picture, or do you only see yourself or your interests? The only thing that matters is Jesus! When was the last time you got offended at church? Philippians 1:18 says, “In every way Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes. I will rejoice.” This is question number three:
Is your conscience formed by scripture or opinion? One of the great attributes of a mature Christian is grace. We are saved by grace and by grace alone. It is a simple truth to understand, but it is a hard truth to live out. I have grown tired of negative, critical, and judgmental people who fell you need their permission, or must live up to your standards. Spiritually immature people are always critical of others. Spiritually mature people understand that we are saved by grace. Romans 14:1 says, “As for one who is weak in the faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.” This is question number four:
Do you serve humbly? God uses sinners in this world to do good things because there is no one else to choose. Have you ever known anyone who boasted about what they do for their church? Have you ever known someone who boasted of something they do for God in their community or the world? If so, then you have the perfect example of a spiritually immature person. Spiritually mature people get it. They know it is not about them; it is all about God. Do the people in your life consider you humble? 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Do people in your life consider you arrogant? This is question number five:
Do you credit God for success? Contemporary American culture idolizes people. Personally, it may be a well-loved pastor or politician. It may be a popular entertainer, like Tom Cruise (born 1962) or Taylor Swift (born 1989). It may be a historical figure, like George Washington (1732-1799) or Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). According to the people at Cripplegate, is idolizing others is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Spiritually mature understand all people, both contemporary and historical, are nothing more than tools in the hands of God. It is God who deserves all the credit. I Corinthians 3:7 says, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
So how did you do with your little quiz? Did you find you are a spiritually mature person? Or did you find you have some work to do?
When I was young my grandmother came to visit us twice a year. She lived in Brooklyn, New York and we lived in Warren, Ohio. I can remember going to the Greyhound bus station to pick her up. Later, she flew into the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. Still later, she flew into the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. It really didn’t matter where she arrived, every reunion was the same. I would run up to her and give her a big hug. She would always square my shoulders and say, “Let me look at you. You have gotten so big.” My dad, who hated those visits because he didn’t like her, always responded, “I would hope so. If he wasn’t growing there would be something wrong.” I think he missed the point, but he wasn’t wrong. We expect healthy children to grow.
God expects you to grow spiritually! When God looks at you does he say, “Look how big you have gotten!” Or does God say, “What is wrong?” Never forget, we are to be a little more like Jesus every day. The choice is yours. Are you growing spiritually, or are you going to remain a spiritual babe? Scottish evangelist Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) said, “Spiritual maturity is not reached by the passing of the years, but by the obedience to the will of God.”
Russ Adams 