{"id":9230,"date":"2013-11-01T21:02:12","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T21:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/?p=9230"},"modified":"2018-03-31T18:25:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-31T18:25:36","slug":"growing-up-in-christ-friends-not-servants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/soul-significance\/growing-up-in-christ-friends-not-servants\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Up in Christ: Friends not Servants"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my sons were younger, age three or four, it was perfectly reasonable for us as parents to set out their clothing, help them get dressed, cross the street and prepare their dinner plate. \u00a0 Imagine if my son, the eldest being 21, still waited for mom and dad to set out his clothes, help dress him, help him across the street, etc. \u00a0I think we would all say there are some issues!<\/span><\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul writing to the Church in Corinth makes a magnificent declaration of what the Kingdom life is all about growing up in Christ. It is the beautiful picture of perfect love. \u00a0Hot on its heels, Paul calls the Church to grow up, to mature as he writes \"When I was an infant at my mother\u2019s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.\" \u00a0 As we can read, the call to grow up is to put away childish ways and to mature in the <\/span>heart value of the Father; in a word, this is love. \u00a0Paul would finish this thought with encouragement to faith, hope, and love, with an emphasis on love!<\/span><\/p>\n

We need to be careful we don't misapply metaphors. \u00a0Jesus encourages us to be child-like (without a sense of entitlement) but not childish. To mature in our faith, to become more like Jesus is not some ethereal, Christo-babel or a mere amassing of knowledge about Jesus. \u00a0To mature is to grow and mature in love and live it naturally in real life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, Christians can get caught in a super-spiritual billabong of immaturity. \u00a0It arrests their development as they over spiritualize what it means to walk in the Spirit. \u00a0The goal of maturity is that we learn the heart, the values, and passion of God, and they become a growing part of us. \u00a0As we mature, we no longer have to be told every last thing - because we have learned what pleases the Father. \u00a0For sure, there are times when we do need to ask and wait for guidance, but if we know the Kingdom value of divine love, we have experienced the love of God then we can freely and confidently walk this value out into maturity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The difference is important. \u00a0It is the difference between slave and friends, and this affects the quality of the relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

John 15:11-15 \u00a0<\/span>\u201cI\u2019ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I\u2019m no longer calling you servants because servants don\u2019t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I\u2019ve named you friends because I\u2019ve let you in on everything I\u2019ve heard from the Father. (Message)<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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