“Keys” to Spiritual Maturity

A Christian author wrote that the keys to spiritual maturity were prayer, bible study, walking in love, and ministry. These attributes seem good on the surface, but the problem is that we often make these things into a rule, a work, something that the Christian must do in order to prove his worth to God. The author stated that you must have all four disciplines to grow and the more you do them, the more spiritual you become.

One thing that puts me off about what that author wrote is the word "keys" which is a word that is often bandied about in Christian’s circles and used to make a formula or principle out of something. All of these four "keys" can be something that people do because they feel obligated to do so. All of these things can be measured according to how much time we spend doing them.

Prayer

As for prayer: I can’t ever say that it’s really worked for me – or anyone else for that matter. I just switch off now when a church pastor says, “Let’s pray…” I do believe in the power of prayer, but I’ve been so caught-up in proving myself and pushing through my own plans for selfish ambition, that I feel I’ve nullified the effects of prayer in my life. I’m still trying to figure out what role prayer plays in my life.

Bible Study

I do believe in studying the Word for yourself, but not as something that you “must do”, as if it is an obligation to fulfil.

Walking in Love

As for walking in love, as soon as the church makes it into a work, something that you must do for God – it no longer becomes love. So many Christians are vying for a sense of significance and self-worth. The church then becomes a platform for a Christian to prove that he is a “proper” Christian or “devoted” Christian. This involves forcing oneself to do all sorts of perfunctory routines and duties in the church.

There seems to be this accepted belief that anything that is church-oriented and seemingly good on the surface – must be from God and is the responsibility of everyone in the church to participate. But I found that this simply moved me away from knowing that I was right with God, just as I was. It moved me away from knowing what my true calling was, because I would get carried away with a whole lot of corporate church nonsense.

It becomes a catch-22 situation in that the more “devoted” you become in the church – the more people expect you to participate. Therefore, the harder it becomes to say “no” to those things that you do not feel motivated to do by love.

The truth of the matter is that love should never be something that you need to be persuaded to prove to other people. If a person does not express love in one way, they might express it in another way. We all have different gifts and callings and are therefore inclined towards expressing our love and utilising our gifts in different ways: what might be right for one person might not be right for another.