Book Summation

Section 6:

Book Summation
We are nearing the end of this book entitled “Becoming a Mature Christian” My purpose for this summation of the book is I am going to try to do something as far as I know has never been attempted before. I am going to try and tie each section of the book together and show how they tie together. This is going to be done by my opinions only based on approximately 40 years of preaching the gospel since I gave my first fumbling lesson to the best of my knowledge at a meeting held in Redding California, in 1968 when I was 16 years of age. The one thing I do remember is the terror I felt during the entire day before I gave what was to be a 5 minute talk. When I finished in my mind I said “Never Again.” And now here in 2008, looking back, I am amazed where God has taken me through these 40 years.

As I said, I have never seen this attempted before, so feel free to either point out my mistakes or to build on the effort I am trying to put forth. I do not normally try to interject my opinions into my sermons or studies without stating they are my opinions and as such I maybe way off base. With that said, I will begin to try and summarize this book "Becoming a mature Christian.” Everything in this section, while based on the Bible and my experience is still my opinion, and as such are open to error.

Faith (A Born-Again Christian)
Faith is the logical place to start because, because when one is studying the subject of Christian Growth, it is necessary for one to be a Christian, before they can grow as a Christian. A Christian is a baptized believer, a born-again believer. As they come up from the water of baptism, it is important for us to realize being a babe in Christ is not anything to be ashamed of, but in the beginning, it is something to be proud of. But as time goes on, if one remains a babe in Christ, soon there comes a time instead of proud of being a babe in Christ one should start becoming ashamed if they have not grown.

As I have said, this is entirely my opinion, but as my opinion, I think after approximately one to two years a Christian should have grown past the stage of being a new-born babe in Christ and should have passed the stage of needing the milk of the word and should have progressed onto the meat of the word.

Carnally Minded
A new born babe in Christ is basically carnally minded, they are basically guided by their feelings and emotions. While the Holy Spirit is given to every new Christian when they are baptized in water for the remission of their sins, the new born Christian is still carnally minded. The Christian life is a growth process that takes the rest of the Christian’s life and hopefully they continue to feed the Holy Spirit is within them so they continue to grow spiritually.

Virtue
As we have noticed the first thing we are told to add to our Christian faith is virtue. Virtue is simply the absence of sin and the presence of good. It is naturally one of the first things a new born babe in Christ would begin doing in the way of adding good to their lives is the weekly attendance of the public worship services of the Church. In the beginning it is natural the new born Christian does not understand the full purpose of each item of the worship service and starts off from a selfish perspective that is what they get out of the service. While still a spiritual babe in Christ, the carnal nature is still strong and emotion-centered. So it is natural they will perceive each item of worship from this perspective.

Prayer
In the beginning of the Christian life, the newborn babe in Christ will naturally be selfish or self-centered in their prayers. It is natural for them to pray for things they feel strongly about and prayer is seen many times, not as a responsibility but as a means of having their needs taken care of. Prayer is a powerful tool in our Christian life, but most of the time, a new born Christian is only vaguely aware of its potential.

Singing
Singing is one of the most under utilized and least understood parts of the worship service in the beginning of the Christian life. Many times new Christians, especially those raised in the Church, seem to take this part of the worship service for granted. In the beginning, it is looked on more as something that should be pleasing to man’s ear and as such many times new members complain because they are embarrassed at the quality of singing that exists in some congregations. Some, who have been converted from the denominational world, miss the entertainment aspect of having choirs and bands, thinking if the music is not pleasing to men’s ear, then it is not pleasing to God’s ear. It is important the leadership of the local congregation quickly teach about the things that are necessary for singing to be pleasing to God and at the same time, make sure even the worst singer in the congregation, has the training to at least make a joyful noise that is pleasing to the Lord. I personally am about as tone deaf as one can get, even before Parkinson’s affected the little singing ability I had. But even I can please God with my singing, if I sing with my spirit and with my understanding. This is one area as my understanding of what God wants and is pleasing to Him has grown so also has my appreciation for this aspect of the worship service.

Preaching
The preaching service at least in the beginning of most newborn Christians lives is strictly a one way action. The preacher studies and hopefully is able to exhort and encourage the listener, but what most new Christians do not understand, is that it is the part of the preaching that is the listener’s responsibility that determines more than the preacher’s effort the speed the new born Christian grows in maturity.

I have come to this conclusion for several reasons. First of all I have discovered in many cases, even when I have known Christians pretty well, I have been totally off in my guessing as to which Christians will stay in the Church and which ones will not. Secondly I have learned in my studying of the Bible the traits I have looked for in a Christian may not be the ones God expects.

Communion
While I believe very strongly in the place partaking of the communion in a worthy manner plays in one’s Christian growth and striving towards maturity, I have found most newborn babes in Christ do not realize the importance of the communion in their Christian growth. I think this is one of the areas that the leadership of the local congregation needs to concentrate on in the beginning with newborn babes in Christ. How can we expect Christians to continue to put the emphasis on attending the worship service that the Bible stresses if they have not been taught how to make each part of the worship service what it should be.

Contribution
The contribution is probably the most misunderstood and least appreciated item of worship. Normally, the contribution is treated as an after thought of the communion. All we normally hear about it is the little that is said by the man, who takes care of the contribution after he has finished with waited on the table. Normally very little is said about it other than the purpose of this part of the worship service is to help spread the gospel and help the needy saints. While I believe these are important parts of the reasons for the contribution, I personally believe that the Contribution if partaken of properly plays about as big a role in successfully growing as a Christian as does the Communion.

Most newborn babes in Christ deal with the contribution as a necessary, but not very important part of their Christian life. I think this is also one reason why so many newborn babes fall away in their first year as a Christian. This is an area that I personally believe needs more teaching in regards to how to properly prepare for the contribution, how to determine how much each Christian is going to give, and the blessings that come into the Christian life when they give properly.

Submission to God
Most new-born Spiritual babes in Christ have no concept of what is meant by submission to God. They think God does not care what they do at all. I had been raised in a Christian home my entire life and even having been taught what submission to God entailed, I did not really even grasp the basics in submission to God for years. I think I was an about average Christian and like most other Christians, I had a lot to learn about surrendering my will to God.

Submission to the Leadership of the Congregation
New-born spiritual babies in Christ have even less of an idea about what submission to the leadership in the local congregation means. Like many spiritual children in the beginning, I did not understand the role of submission to the Church Leadership. One of the biggest challenges which face both the new born babe in Christ and the Church leadership is to understand the importance of the relationship between the new Christian submitting to the leadership and them growing as a Christian.

Submission to One Another
One of the problems many of us have in helping our brothers and sisters in Christ is when we are spiritual babies we think we know what is best for ourselves and for others, when in reality we do not even realize we are still spiritual babies. Much of the problems that come about in the Church, in my opinion, stems from the fact too many of the so-called leaders in the Church are still governed by their emotions, which means they are still carnally minded, they are still spiritual babies themselves. As young Christians growing up, we tend to become like the role models we have around us.

Submission to the Government
In the first stage of a Christian’s life, they are still guided by carnal reasons. The biggest reason most people of the world probably submit to the government is their parents raised them to obey the laws of the land. A close second reason is they obey because the risk of getting caught and punished outweighs any benefit they might get. So logically they conclude it is for the best.

Submission to Our Family
In my opinion, what ever that is worth, this is one of the most misunderstood ideas within the Church. I was raised to believe the Husband was the head of the House, which I still believe is important to this day. But in my years of slowly maturing through studying the Bible, in the same way that so many today never stop and realize when Jesus taught a Christian could only become a leader through serving others, He was talking about in every aspect of a Christian’s life including the family. It is only when we come to this realization that we can truly become Christian parents or Christian leaders or Christian anything. Jesus came to serve and it is only when we realize that to serve means not being THE BOSS, but rather it means we must find out what the needs of others are before we can ever serve them. When this concept really struck me, then I actually became a fairly decent Church leader, Christian Parent, or Christian minister.

Knowledge
As one starts adding the knowledge of the scriptures to their lives, they quickly learn this is not an easy task. Normally the Christian starts by simply reading the Bible and this is a good place to start. In my opinion one should start with Matthew and read it through to Revelation on their first attempt. The main purpose for this reading is not to gain all understanding, but rather to get an over all perspective of the New Testament.

After having read through the New Testament one time, in my opinion, the next step should be to introduce them to the concept of a concordance and realizing all verses deal with a subject are not lumped together, but God expects a Christian to put forth the effort to study, to gain knowledge. In my experience until a new Christian realizes if you want to understand a topic, such as baptism, you cannot get the overall sense of what God intends by just reading through the Bible. It is essential for Christian growth to understand that God dictated the Bible in the way He did in order to inspire Christians to search the scriptures.

Prayer
Since knowledge is a continual process that builds upon your previous knowledge, one’s prayers do not drastically change overnight. During the beginning of adding knowledge, our prayers are still mostly self-centered. But hopefully as we learn more about prayer, how we are to pray and the power of prayer, we also grow in faith. I do not think prayer just changes overnight, but as we grow as Christians, in a slow process, our prayer slowly changes and matures and improves until through faith, our prayers become very powerful.

Singing
Different people are touched by singing in different ways. I always felt I was handicapped in my singing since I basically was tone deaf my entire life. It was almost impossible for me to know what note I was hitting in regard to everyone else. As a result for a number of years, I was embarrassed by my singing and sang very quietly. Then as I grew in knowledge of what pleased God, I began to sing out, sometimes to the detriment of those around me. But I have come to firmly believe God prefers a joyful noise over a beautiful sounding melody anytime. Man worries about hitting every note properly, God is more concerned about the fact the words and song comes from one’s heart.

Preaching
Another fact I believe that is important for a teacher to know and understand is studying to make sure that the knowledge is being imparted and taught is what the Holy Spirit intended by the words chosen is much more important than charisma or fancy words. Again this is the big difference between God and man. If you remember, Moses was not a charismatic speaker and he felt this would keep him from being a success. God knew better and insisted Moses go do what he was told to do. God was right, Moses became looked upon as one of the most effective leaders of all times, but I do not know if he ever became a charismatic speaker.

Communion
As we gain knowledge and better understand the purpose for the communion and the importance of the manner in which we partake, the more powerful the symbolism becomes and the more precious the communion becomes in our lives.

Contribution
The contribution is the item of worship I began to appreciate most after I came to understand there was much more involved than just the benefits to the needy saints and the spreading of the gospel. These two things are important, but the concept of counting and appreciating the blessings God showers down upon us, I believe, are the real key to using the contribution to grow spiritually. When I truly came to understand the importance of counting the blessings I have in abundance was the day I learned to handle and deal with the two serious illnesses. I have diabetes and Parkinson’s.

Submission to God
As the newborn babes in Christ gain knowledge, one of either two things happen, either the new convert begins growing as a Christian and as they learn more about the commandments of God, they learn that submission to the will of God equates to submission to the Bible or the Christian becomes rebellious and starts looking on the commands of God as tremendous restriction on what they perceive is their liberty. It is natural many times when a new Christian goes though this stage for a period of time, but if they do not grow out of it, they will soon leave the Lord and the Church.

Submission to the Leadership of the Congregation
The growth of a Christian is reflected not only in their submission to God, but also in their submission to the leadership in the local congregation. What many times the new convert does not realize is submission to the Leadership is the part of their submission to God. It is my personal opinion congregations that allow new converts to act as leaders in the local congregation by sitting in on the business meetings of the Church and have equal say in deciding the affairs of the Church are making a big mistake. It is my opinion until men have become skillful in the word of righteousness, until they can understand the basic principles they should not be involved in the business of the leadership of the Church. That is not to say, every member, including the women should not be kept informed of the affairs of the Church.

Submission to One Another
As we gain in knowledge, if we begin to apply it properly, we start wanting to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. Part of the way which we can submit to one another in the early stages of our Christian growth, is that we can volunteer to pick people up for Church who do not have the means of getting there on their own. We can also visit the sick, and if we know members are hungry, we can take food to them. Another thing that is important is we can visit the elderly, mow their lawn, take turns fixing meals for them, help clean their house or any number of things that we take for granted. Little things like this, helps the needy saints very much and is appreciated.

Submission to Our Family
As we gain in knowledge, we also need to make sure we are applying our new found spiritual wisdom to our physical family as well. If we are a spouse, we need to make sure our spouse sees Christ in us in every action that we take. If our spouses or parents are not members of the Lord’s body, then the drastic change they see in us should do more to help them have a desire to find out what has caused such a change for the good in us. Many times, if we have been involved in alcohol or drugs or other addictions, the change can be so drastic even people of the world do not recognize us at all. This change of nature hopefully can open up new avenues of study. Many times, if we allow Christ to shine forth in us, one conversion to the Lord can lead to many more.

Girding Loins with Truth
At this point in our Christian growth, we can begin to appreciate and begin to put on the Armour of God. Girding our Loins with truth is a natural part of adding knowledge to our lives. This implies as we begin our studying and reading of the Bible, we start off applying those truths to our lives. It is important we do not become discouraged at what may appear as slow progress in the beginning. We need to recognize we are changing our lives completely. If I had been a clerk in a grocery store for 30 years and decided to suddenly quit my job and become a computer networking engineer, it would take a number of years to even gain the knowledge and experience that would even at best give me the chance at a beginning level job. We need to remember that we need to have patience with each other.

Temperance
As we begin to add Temperance (self-control) to our Christian life this is when people begin to notice the biggest difference in us. Our emotions and the way we react are some of the biggest factors people see in us, so when we begin to change these things for the better, people notice.. If reacting quickly in anger is our nature, it is what people perceive us as, an angry person. So when we begin changing our nature and instead of reacting quickly in anger, we stop and react in a Christ-like manner, it is quickly noticed. But it is also one of the hardest things to change about ourselves. After all, we are working on changing our nature, something we have been forming over a life time. As we begin to change for the better, as people notice, we begin to have the best chance for becoming a change agent for others. This is when we have the best chance to help lead people to the Lord.

Putting on the Breastplate of Righteousness
During this stage of our growth is when we really begin to put on the armour of God. Knowledge combined with self-examination, which is part of Temperance, can be a powerful cause of spiritual growth. Righteousness, which is always doing the things God wants, is a natural outgrowth of studying combined with self-examination. As we study and come to the understanding of the things God wants us to do, this is when the protection of the Breastplate of Righteousness begins to show in our attitudes and our life.

When someone accuses us of being wrong religiously, we have been studying and doing the things God wants us to do, therefore during this stage of our Christian growth, we are better able to fend off the blows that before would have caused us to doubt.

Patience
When we grow to the point of adding patience to our Christian lives, we now should have grown to the point where we recognize goals are goals of righteousness only when they are based on the Word of God. As we progress in our Christian life, the goals we set and strive towards become more complex and require more effort.

Prayer
During this stage of our Christian growth, our prayers become more goal oriented. For example, several times in my Christian life, the congregation I was with decided to set goals regarding prayer and the work. In every case, the work began exploding with new prospects and new converts. As long as the congregation prays for the work and God would help the local congregation to come in contact with those who are honestly searching for the truth, if the prayer is offered in faith, trusting God to answer, I have never known it to fail.

Also this is the time during a Christian’s life men begin making the effort to lead the public prayer. From experience, I have found because of the nervousness of doing things for the first time, it is best to start the young men off by having them say the opening or dismissal prayer for the midweek services. This does not mean the midweek services is less important, but from experience, since generally fewer people are at the midweek services, the novice feels less pressure and is less likely to make mistakes. My recommendation is even during the mid-week service, the novice should write down notes to help them remember the things they want to say.

We also need to remember women in the Church need to be taught to pray just as much as a man. While the women are commanded to keep silent in the public worship services, this does not mean the private prayers of women are not as powerful as of any man. Too many times, we neglect teaching the women on how to fulfill their responsibility just because they are to keep silent in the public worship service nor to be in authority over the man. We do so to our own detriment and we as leaders will give an account to God in the Judgment Day for not fully utilizing all of our talents. Leaders of the local congregation need to make sure and not ignore the responsibility of the woman just because she is a woman. It is the leadership’s responsibility to help each member to grow to fulfill their God given place in the body.

Singing
This is also the time in the convert’s Christian life that knowledge combines with the setting of goals to help us in all aspects of our growth. The same is true of singing. While God does not expect us to do more than we are capable of, He does expect us to try and learn to sing from the heart to the best of our ability. For example, I am naturally tone-deaf. That is I can not match my voice to that of other people and I have always had difficult time hearing the pitch of my own voice.

One time, years back, a sister in Christ approached me after services and told me I had thrown her off during the singing of one particular song. I started to apologize when she interrupted me, she said, “No, You do not understand. You hit every note, and it confused me so much that I couldn’t hit my notes.” I have always been thankful that God commanded us to make a joyful noise unto Him. But this does not excuse me from trying to the best of my ability. Especially since Parkinson’s has affected my vocal chords to such an extent that my voice is almost completely gone.

This is also the time in each male novice’s spiritual growth the leadership starts encouraging them to lead songs. Many times, leading a song is the easiest place to start encouraging a young male Christian to take a more active role in the Church. Even if they do not know how to pitch their own songs, they can always learn by doing.

Preaching
When we grow spiritually to the point of setting goals, Christians, both men and women, need to be able to give a reason of the hope that is within them. Every Christian needs to be able to study with their friends and neighbors in a private capacity. This is also the time that the men in the congregation begin learning to teach publicly. What I normally did wherever I taught, I would ask the young men in the congregation to read my text. In my opinion, this is an effective way to get a young man to gain the experience and courage to stand before the congregation. As my voice deteriorated, even though my name still appears on the teaching schedule, everyone in the congregation knows that Don French by Proxy will be speaking. That is, I write out my lessons in full and other men read my lessons for me.

The point I am making is that there are many different ways to help encourage the young men in the congregation to get the experience to study and teach. Also I am very thankful to the congregation at 64th Street in Sacramento, California, for not only allowing me to but also encouraging me to continue to find inventive, but scriptural ways to use my talents for God.

Communion
From my own experience, the Communion is the hardest, most nerve racking new experience for a man to lead when they do it the first time. What I have found to help is a two-pronged approach. First I try to study with a young man about the importance of the communion and as part of this study, have them practice at waiting on the table. Secondly, I have the young men write out what they think is appropriate and go over it with them until we are both satisfied it is scriptural as well as they are comfortable with what they need to say. Then I have them take the notes up with them for the first few times. This approach is both scriptural and encourages them to give a chance to try to grow spiritually in every part of the worship service.

Contribution
In the area of Patience (setting goals), I believe it is important for Christian growth for one to understand not only the place the contribution plays in the area of showing appreciation to God, but also in the area of setting goals. I believe one of the most important aspects of the contribution is the time that we as Christians spend counting the blessings we receive from God. The contribution, if partaken of properly, helps us as Christians appreciate the many blessings that God has given us. I believe the payback to the Church in increased giving is secondary to the appreciation and realization of how much God actually blesses us every day of our lives.

Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Setting goals is almost synonymous with having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Setting goals in regard to studying is what Paul is talking about. It is easy to tell when a young convert starts growing spiritually. It is when they begin to learn how to study the basic principles of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. The importance of taking the time necessary to study to understand the sense of what the Holy Spirit intends in a verse or group of verses and coming to the realization God does not want His people to take the easy way out, but He wants us to study and spend whatever time it takes to understand a subject before we either teach on it publicly or conduct a private study on the subject. God is not pleased with a lazy disciple.

Godliness
Godliness is the time in our path towards Christian maturity that our Christian growth turns outward. This is not to say that none of the other steps can not be seen and are entirely inward, but rather the primary focus of each of the previous steps, in my opinion, were directed inward. Now Godliness which the Bible, through example, teaches us is comparable to physical exercise in that Godliness does for the spiritual body what physical exercise does for the physical body.

This is also the time a Christian becomes more involved in the war against Satan. As a result the need to use the armour God has provided us increases dramatically.

Taking the Shield of Faith
It is during this time in our Christian growth our need for the shield of faith becomes abundantly clear. After all, the shield of faith is not used as much until we start being attacked by Satan. It is also during this time a Christian again is at risk of falling away. Any thing we allow to weaken our faith, increases the chance we will become discouraged and give up. It impossible in the space of one book or even one hundred books to cover all of the possibilities since they are different with each person. I have known of examples of men who were valiant soldiers for the Lord, who I thought would remain faithful unto death, who for different reasons, did not use the shield of faith at the right time and they have fallen by the wayside. I do not want to give the impression I think that I am any better or any stronger than any of them. I have just been blessed by God in helping me see the way of escape at certain times. For example, one time when I felt that I was being attacked unfairly and was ready to give up the fight, a brother in Christ called me on the phone and said a few words that happened to strengthen me. If I had not received that phone call, there is a good chance that I would not have had the faith to help me make it to the worship services the next Sunday morning.

Putting on the Helmet of Salvation
At this juncture in our Christian life, we also need to make sure we understand what salvation is all about. As we have seen earlier the helmet of salvation is designed by God and given unto us to help us keep our wits about us. In the instance of the Roman soldier, we saw the purpose of the helmet was to protect their heads so as to turn potentially fatal blows into inconsequential slaps. The helmet of salvation does the same thing for the Christian, how can anything physical be worried about seriously when the Christian understands they have a home with God for an eternity. I believe this was why so many Christians who became martyrs were able to stand for the Lord and go through the things they suffered. After all, what do we have to fear? Anything that mankind could bring against us is very temporary, while a home in heaven with God is permanent.

Talking the Sword of the Spirit
It is at this time in the Christian life our study and preparation begins to pay off. When we begin to actively fight the good fight of faith, it is essential we have become skillful in wielding the sword of the Spirit, the Bible. In the same way that a skilled swordsman learns to parry what could be a fatal blow and turn the enemies blow into a counterblow that can destroy the enemy, so our knowledge of the Holy Scriptures can turn a spiritual attack into a potential victory, by our use of the various verses in the Bible, we can block a blow that is aimed at our faith and hopefully put our opponent off balance to where we can hopefully convert them to the truth. We must always remember and never forget that our purpose is not to belittle another person’s beliefs, but rather to convert them to change sides and fight with the Lord.

Brotherly Kindness
At this point in the Christian life, one has grown to a point where they can truly begin to display the love Jesus Christ has commanded. One can never truly know what they would do under every circumstance, but when a person reaches this point in their Christian life, they can be reasonably certain if they are living for one another and putting their brothers and sisters in Christ, they would be willing to die for them. While we hope we are never put in the position to make that kind of choice, God expects us to grow and demonstrate the type of love if the choice had to be made we would be willing to give our lives for each other. This is how the world knows we are truly followers of Christ, Christians.

Charity
If we reach this level of Christian growth, we are truly mature Christians. This agape type love which is the type of love that is possible even though it is difficult. This level of love demands we love our enemies that we return good to those who do evil to us. It is one thing to love those who do good things for us, but if we are going to truly become like Christ, we must learn to examine ourselves and honestly see what is necessary for us to grow to be as much like Jesus as we can. This last step is difficult, but God would not expect it of us, if it could not be reached with His help.

Section Summation
As I close the summation of this book, I want to make it clear I do not claim to have covered everything that deals with the topic “Becoming a Mature Christian.” When I started this book, I had no idea of the complexity of the topic, let alone the time it would take to even come to the beginning of an understanding of the subject. I feel I have learned much while preparing this book and the biggest most important thing I have learned is how little I know and understand on this subject.

I have spent the last 35 years in studying and concentrating on studying and teaching on how to mature as a Christian and one of the first things I realized is this is an area in the Church that information and knowledge is sadly lacking. Even though I had the good fortune of studying with the two preachers I respected the most for their knowledge, dedication, and compassion in this area, is Ervin Waters, and Jack Cutter, I still had to grope my way along. When I realized even great men like these could sin and fall by the wayside, I became even more convinced of the importance of writings in this area.

I am probably not the best person to even have written on this subject, but as I feel the importance of at least laying a small foundation, hopefully more qualified men than I will be inspired by the little I have been able to put down in words to take up the task and hopefully do a much better job.