The last signs of spiritual immaturity considered were:
8. Relying on outward appearances
9. Sectarianism
10. Having a grumbling, ungrateful spirit
11. Legalism

Relying on outward appearances
Teenagers tend to put a lot of emphasis on outward appearances, especially regarding fashion and make-up. They judge themselves and other people by how they look. This is not how God judges, however, for ‘The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’ (1 Sam 16:7) What is truly important (and far harder to judge!) is the state of the heart. (see Prov 4:23) Actions flow from the heart attitude (Luke 6:45), but we need to be careful not to judge by appearances and certainly not to prefer those who seem outwardly to be more successful. (James 2:2-4)

Sectarianism
Sectarianism means ‘bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group.’ Although often used to describe the divisions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the term looks deeper into the way we tend to isolate people who are different to us. There is no place for cliques or bigotry and discrimination in church life, for we are commanded to accept each other as Christ has accepted us. (Rom 15:7) Discrimination is gone (Gal 3:26-29) and love has to be our new motivation in all relationships.When we are mature, we learn to value each other, even learning to appreciate each other’s differences and diversity, because we recognise that each part is being fitted together by God to form the whole.

Having a grumbling, ungrateful spirit
Since we have said thankfulness is a sign of spiritual maturity (1 Thess 5:18, Eph 5:20), it is obvious that the opposite is a sign of spiritual immaturity. The Israelites were condemned for their grumbling in the wilderness (see Ps 78, 1 Cor 10:1-5) and missed out on entering the Promised Land because of how this attitude led to a refusal to believe and obey God. The challenge is for us to be thankful where we are, allowing contentment to be formed within us.

Legalism
It is so easy for us to start by means of the Spirit and then to try to live in the flesh. (see Gal 3:3) God is looking for people who will walk by faith and not by sight and who will live according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh (Rom 8:1-17). Life is not about ‘painting by numbers’ and this walking by faith will always involve risk, uncertainty and dependence on God. When we mature, we understand that it is not about living by rules, but about living by faith, which pleases God.

Tonight we looked at further examples of spiritual immaturity as we looked at leaving behind childish things. (1 Cor 13:11) Last time we looked at four characteristics of immaturity:

1. Wanting our own way
2. Having the wrong worldview
3. A tendency to see things in two dimensions only
4. Having no concept of the benefits of delayed gratification

Tonight, we continued by looking at other examples:
5. Believing you know it all
6. Believing that one size fits all
7. Making mountains out of molehills
8. Relying on outward appearances
9. Sectarianism
10. Having a grumbling, ungrateful spirit
11. Legalism

Teenagers in the natural realm often believe they know it all. They are often arrogant, believing they have the answer to all of life’s questions and are often intolerant of any who disagree with them. As we mature, we realise that there is much that we do not understand: as Mark Twain wryly commented, ‘When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.’ As we mature, we come to understand that knowledge is not the be-all and end-all of faith and that love is the thing that builds up. (1 Cor 8:1-3). Compromise, tolerance and humility are all characteristics of maturity.

Immaturity also believes that ‘one size fits all’, or, in DIY terms, ‘I have a hammer and everything is a nail.’ Just as one size in clothing will not fit everyone, so we need to appreciate complexity and diversity in life, attempting to get to grips with the ‘whole will of God’ (Acts 20:27) rather than having bees in our bonnets or having a blinkered view of life.

There is also a tendency to make mountains out of molehills or to trivialise the important and to highlight the insignificant. This is especially seen in teenage mood swings and Christians can be equally unstable. Rather than being ‘tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming’ (Eph 4:14), God wants us to be rooted and established in love. (Eph 3:17-19) Churches can be split over disagreements that are really nothing more than molehills, but we are urged to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (see Eph 4:3, Phil 4:2, Heb 12:14-15)

Mark continued his series on Joseph’s life this morning, looking at Genesis 39:21-40:23. At this point in Joseph’s life, he is in prison, having been falsely accused of raping Potiphar’s wife, but God’s hand is still on him and he is actually right in the place God wants him for the next part of God’s plan to be fulfilled.

If Joseph had not been put in prison, he would not have met the cup-bearer and the baker and would, ultimately, not have met Pharaoh. He was in the right place at the right time for the next ‘God-instance’ to occur – God clearly engineering the situation, for Joseph was there to serve these two men and they had their dreams on the same night. In prison, Joseph had continued to use his God-given gifts of administration and organisation. God gives practical as well as spiritual gifts and all are needed. Now, Joseph has the opportunity to use a spiritual gift (interpreting dreams) to help other people.

God clearly brought these two people into Joseph’s life so that he could minister to them through his own life experiences and giftings. God gives us gifts and brings us to situations where our God-given practical and spiritual gifts can be used to bless others, and even when we feel we are not in the ‘best place’, God still brings people to us who are in need! God served these two men (using his practical gifts) and also interpreted their dreams (using his spiritual gifts.)

Joseph clearly recognised (Gen 40:8) that interpretations belong to God; he knew that glory and power belong to God alone. He understood that he was merely the conduit, God being the source. We are channels of blessing, not makers of blessing and we do not own the gifts God has given to us. We need to acknowledge God as the Giver of all gifts and give all praise and glory to Him alone. Nonetheless, a key factor in Joseph’s success was not only his humility and his willingness to give God the glory, but his willingness to use the gifts God had given him.

It must have been difficult for Joseph to interpret dreams, given that the last time he had done this, he had ended up being sold into slavery by his brothers! It would have been easy to keep quiet – to ‘zip it’ – and let the opportunity pass. The favourable interpretation to the cup-bearer must have seemed easier to give, but the baker’s reaction can have hardly been favourable towards Joseph! In the same way, it takes courage to speak out what God tells us to, for our past ‘failures’ often hinder us from doing what God tells us to do the next time. Joseph chose to use the gifting, even though the conditions for spiritual growth must have seemed limited in a prison! He recognised that with great gifting comes great responsibility and he chose to use his gifting because of his confidence in God.

The results of this step of faith did not look encouraging, however. Nothing seemed to happen. The cup-bearer forgot him. He was still in prison, in exactly the same position as before. The interpretation of the dreams proved accurate, but he remained languishing in prison, which must have been disheartening. Nonetheless, God had not forgotten Joseph and was still at work in this situation. It was simply that God’s timing was not yet right.

When the time is right, the dreams God has planted in our hearts will become reality. In the meantime, even when nothing seems to be happening, we have the ongoing choice to ‘zip it or not.’ We choose to obey God and use our practical and spiritual giftings wherever we are. The rest is up to God, but He will always honour faith and obedience.

As usual, this year seems to be hurtling along at an almost dizzying speed! We are already past the half-way mark in February. Below are details of some meetings coming up in March to note in diaries and on calendars. (By the way, have you claimed your free church calendar yet?)

• Friday 7th March at 6 p.m. (Furlong Road Methodist Church)
• Sunday 9th March at 10.30 a.m. (Cherry Tree Court, Highgate)
• Saturday 29th March at 6 p.m. (GPCC)

Further details of these meetings are given below:

• The Women’s World Day of Prayer will be at Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne this year. The service has been written by Christian ladies from Egypt and has the title ‘Streams in the Desert’ (perhaps a little too apt for this country, given recent weather!) All are welcome (not just women!) and there will be refreshments served afterwards.
• The first service to be held at Cherry Tree Court care home will be on 9th March and on the 2nd Sunday morning of each month thereafter. Please note that there will be no service at our church on Market Street on that morning; all are welcome to join us at Cherry Tree Court. Some of our church members live there and we are keen to be able to serve them and our local community in this way, adding this service to our usual regular ones as a form of outreach. There is an excellent restaurant at Cherry Tree Court, so if you want to stay for refreshments after the short service and get to know residents better, please bring some money for this!
• The next ‘Churches Together’ meeting will be at our church this time, starting at 6 p.m. on 29th March. We had a great time in January at the Salvation Army Church and are looking to further deepen our relationships with other Christians from the local area. It will be a time of prayer, worship, fellowship and fun, with refreshments served after the meeting.

Casting Crowns’ ‘You Are The Only One’ takes up the theme proclaimed by Peter that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ: ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12) Contrasting the desperate situations we find ourselves in with the hope that comes into our lives when Jesus is present, the song reminds us that God is the only One who can calm every storm, right every wrong and set us free.

‘One more mother with a broken heart
One more family is torn apart
One more orphan out in the cold
One more fear that takes control
One more tangled in the same old lies
One more shackled to the same old highs
One more scared of what tomorrow brings
And one more chasing yesterday

Lord, let Your kingdom come.

Who can right every wrong?
You are the only One.
Who can calm every storm?
You are the only One.
You alone are Father, Saviour, Spirit, Healer, Redeemer
Lord of all
You are the only One

One more sceptic to believe
One more prisoner has been set free
One more longs to be Your hands and feet
One more standing for the least of these
One more praying in the morning light
One more shining in the darkest night
One more life worth fighting for
No greater love worth dying for

Lord, let Your kingdom come
Lord, let Your will be done

I want to know You more
I want to make You known
I want this world to see
That You’re alive in me
Jesus, You’re the only One.’ (‘You Are The Only One’, Casting Crowns)

Dave’s sermon on Enoch asked the question ‘How can I walk with God in a world that is hostile to God?’

We tend to think – naïvely, foolishly and erroneously – that it was easier for the saints in the Bible to walk by faith because people were more God-fearing in those days and they did not have to contend with the common disregard or hostility to God which is a feature of Western society nowadays.

However, as Dave pointed out, this is a fallacy. Enoch lived at a time just before the flood, when man’s wickedness was so great ‘that the thoughts of his heart were only evil all the time.’ (Gen 6:5) All of the Bible saints know the pressures of walking with God amidst a hostile and wicked world: ‘Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace, but when I speak, they are for war.’ (Ps 120:5-7)

Our task is not to complain at the difficulties of living by faith, whether that is amongst the paganism still rife in many countries, amongst the lies of other religions which deny the truth of the gospel or amongst the secularism which denigrates God in our Western society. Instead, we are to draw close to God, secure in the fact that when we do this, He draws near to us. (James 4:8) As we fix our eyes on Jesus, looking up to see those things by faith which are invisible to the natural eyes, we are able to walk to a different drumbeat:

‘I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see/ Because this broken road prepares Your will for me.’ (Jeremy Camp, ‘Walk by Faith’)

On this journey – which we make in company with a host of others who can encourage and cheer us along the way, understanding that maturity ‘consists in a long, unhurried prayerful walk of becoming reconciled to God and to others’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Practise Resurrection’, P 117), we discover that God is working, not only in our lives, but in the lives of those around us, for Isaiah says, ‘All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you.’ (Is 60:7) Even those who are currently afar off can be brought into God’s kingdom by His grace. Enemies can become friends. The slow work of reconciliation goes on, unfettered, even when we are chained in prison (as both Joseph and Paul testify.)