Grow Them to Maturity

Dad’s, if your kids hate to eat their peas and carrots what do you do? Well, there is one thing I know and that is you don’t do is feed them a strict diet of peas and carrots until they grow to like them. Of course not! That would only make them hate you as well as the peas and carrots. You continue to introduce them to peas and carrots over time, hoping that they will get to the point where if they don’t like them they will at least get to where they will eat them because they learn that peas and carrots are good for them.

Why is it then, that we pastors keep on harping on the things our congregations don’t grasp? Our people don’t serve so we harp even more on their need to serve. Our people don’t give so we harp over and over on how they need to give. Our people don’t share their faith so we harp repeatedly on them about how they need to be sharing their faith. It’s no wonder people stop serving, and stop giving, and eventually stop coming to church all together.

We teach our children and help them grow and mature so that they will make the right choices. Once they become mature we expect them to eat what is good for them so that they stay healthy. We teach them the fundamentals and then we teach them more mature subjects until they get to where they can make mature decisions on their own.

Let’s do the same with our church family. Let’s stop harping about the same subjects that they don’t get and lets focus on helping them become mature. Let’s stop trying to change them and let’s start feeding them the food that the Holy Spirit can use to convict them of what they need to do. Let’s help them grow to maturity so that they can begin discovering things for themselves.

Remember, Jesus said He would grow His church. Let’s stop frustrating ourselves by attempting to do God’s work for Him and let’s relax and do what He told us to do, make disciples. If we’ll do that then lives will be changed, we will be a lot happier, God’s church will grow.

Grow them to maturity and make disciples.

Until next time…

Pastor Jim