Highlands Fellowship The Book of James: Maturity Transcript
Well, hey everybody and welcome to Highlands Fellowship. It's so good to have you over in Bristol and Marion at our country venue and the chapel, all of our cafes, online and on TV. It's just a wonderful time that we get to spend together today and it was so amazing getting to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with you last week on Easter Sunday. God is good and he is doing something incredible in and through this church and it's exciting to see. So, let's never get tired of inviting people to come and see what God is doing. Let's never get tired of sharing our faith. Let's never get tired of making disciples, loving our communities, and changing the world.
This good work that God has purposed us with, it really is good work and it's worth us living our lives and giving our lives each and every day to the work that he's called us to. And I just want to tell you how excited I am today. We're starting a new series called the Book of James. That'll be our focus for a number of weeks. And this series is going to be all about living authentic faith, living it out daily as we go about our lives. And I'm going to start this week with a message that I believe is extremely important to set the tone. And then we're going to go through and we're going to teach through the whole book week by week and we'll get finished when we get finished. All right, so let's go.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest causes of problems in our world today is immaturity. Not a lack of information, not a lack of opportunity, but a lack of maturity. And when I say maturity, I don't just mean age. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about just getting older, right? It's about how you respond and how you think and how you believe. It's the ability to think clearly instead of reacting emotionally to things that come up in our lives. It's choosing what's right instead of what's easy. Maturity is responding with wisdom instead of impulse. It's remaining steady when life is difficult.
And when that kind of maturity is missing, you see immaturity everywhere. I mean, people say things that they shouldn't say, right? They make decisions that they shouldn't make. They react instead of respond, and they let emotions drive all of their actions. And if we're honest, it's not just a world problem. We see it in our own lives. We see it in the church. We've all said things that we regret. We've all made decisions that we wish we could take back. We've handled situations poorly because we weren't thinking clearly. And the root of so many of our problems is the simple truth, we haven't learned to respond with maturity.
It's that simple. And deep down, we know it. We feel the tension. We all feel the gap between where we are and where God wants us to be. And my desire is that we would begin to close the gap by doing what's necessary to become more like Jesus in the way that we think and in the way that we live. So, I want to start with a simple observation about life. In almost every area of life, growth isn't just encouraged, but growth is expected, right?
So, if a child doesn't grow physically, we get concerned. If somebody doesn't mature emotionally, it creates problems. If an employee doesn't develop professionally, they eventually get replaced. No one celebrates stagnation. No one says, "That's fine, you know, just stay the same forever." Growth is normal. Growth is expected. Growth is even necessary. But for some reason, when it comes to our faith, those expectations, they seem to disappear. Something shifts, and spiritual growth is often treated as optional.
Culturally, even in church, we've created space for people to believe without ever really growing. We don't expect transformation. We settle for just attendance. We don't expect maturity. We're satisfied with, you know, just being familiar with one another. We don't expect change. We just assume time is going to take care of it. So, what happens is, over time, we kind of begin to adopt a belief, and we live like it's true, right? That growth is optional for our faith.
And when there's no expected growth, right? When there's no expectation for you to take next steps, there's no urgency to change. Which is why it's entirely possible for someone to follow Jesus for 5 years, 10 years, even 30 years, and still not be spiritually mature. Still be reactive, and still be inconsistent. Still be easily shaken by the things of the world. Still living a faith that hasn't fully shaped their everyday life. And here's the tension. We've normalized something God never intended. And that is, we often assume that time produces maturity. But in reality, only intentional faith produces maturity. Time alone doesn't grow you. The way you respond does.
And that's exactly why the book of James is so powerful. Because James is not writing to impress you. He's writing to challenge you. Like he's not interested in what you say you believe. He's interested in what your life actually shows. And right out of the gate, before he talks about your words or your decisions, your relationships, your habits, he establishes the goal. And that is that God's desire is that you would grow up spiritually. That's God's desire.
So, let me set the stage as we get into the book of James. Like, who is James and who is he writing to? So, let's begin with James chapter 1, verse 1. It says this, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations greetings." So, this is brief, right? But, it's loaded. James is the brother of Jesus, and he's the leader of the Jerusalem church. James is writing to believers who are scattered because of persecution, social pressure, and sometimes even strategic mission. They're not comfortable, okay? They're not settled, they're not living easy, predictable lives. They're dealing with pressure. Lots of uncertainty and disruption each and every day. In other words, they are living in real life, okay?
And I think that matters, because what James is about to teach us is not theoretical. This is not some type of classroom Christianity. This is not abstract theology. This is how faith works when life is hard, when it's messy, and when it's unpredictable. And instead of starting with comfort, instead of saying, "God is going to make everything better," James starts with something deeper. God is working to make you mature. That's what God's doing. God's will for every person is that they grow and that they mature. And in Hebrews chapter 6, in the first part of verse 1, the Bible says, "Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity." God says, "Grow up."
And that's exactly what we're going to be doing throughout the course of this series. That's why we put so much emphasis on the make disciples part of our vision by encouraging small groups. It's because we want to help you grow. We want to help you grow spiritually. We want to help you grow emotionally. We want to help you grow mentally, and that can take place when you're connected in a group with people who love you and care about you. We want you to grow in every way and to experience life with Jesus.
So, what is maturity? What is maturity? And how do you know when you've arrived? Well, first, let's start with what maturity is not, okay? So, maturity is not an age. It has nothing to do with how long you've been alive or how long you've been a follower of Jesus Christ. You can be a Christian for 50 years and still not be mature. You know, I heard somebody say this, and I think it explains very well the situation that we find the church in today, and that is "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up, right?" I've seen some 50- and 60-year-old kids. Maturity has nothing to do with age. Granted, God's idea is that as we grow older, we get more mature. That's the desire, but that's not always the case.
Next is this. Maturity is not a certain appearance. You know, some people, they just look mature. Some people just look more spiritual than the rest of us. They have this dignified look. They look like they're holy. And then the rest of us, we're just out of luck, right? But the fact is, you can look really spiritual and not be spiritual at all. So, it has nothing to do with your appearance. Another thing is that maturity has nothing to do with your accomplishments. It has nothing to do with what you achieve. Because you can accomplish a lot and still be very immature. You don't have to be mature in order to win awards or to make a bunch of money, okay?
Another thing is maturity has nothing to do with education. It doesn't matter how many degrees you've gotten, how much education you've gotten. You know, when I graduated from high school I thought I knew it all. I really did. And then I went to college and I thought I don't know so much anymore. I started to realize that I didn't know anything. You know, you can have more degrees than Fahrenheit, but that does not make you mature. God says maturity is determined by the posture of your heart. The posture of your heart. The condition of your heart is what makes the real difference. It's the posture of your heart that will produce character or not. Your character is everything.
D.L. Moody once said, "Character is what you are in the dark." So, your reputation is what people say about you. Your character is what God says about you. And God looks at your attitude. He looks at your inner posture and that determines whether you are truly mature or not. And God wants more than knowledge or activity. He wants you to grow up in Christ-like attitudes. So, how do we measure spiritual maturity? It's definitely not by comparing ourselves to others. It's not by the position that you have in the church or in our culture. We measure maturity by how our lives align with the word of God.
And James gives us a clear guide. And the Greek word for mature that he uses means complete, whole, and fully developed. So, I want to give you five marks of maturity. Five marks of maturity from the book of James, practical signs that your faith is real, that it's growing, and that it is shaping your everyday life. So, the first one is this. A mature person maintains perspective in trials. So, James speaks directly to this right at the beginning of chapter 1.
And we'll spend some more time on this one next week, but James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 says this, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. So, let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." So, how do you handle trials? The first test of maturity is how you react to your problems. I mean, think about the last time things didn't go your way, okay? Maybe your car broke down, maybe your phone died, or your computer crashed right before the big deadline, right?
So, first there was probably panic, like, "Oh, no, not again." Then frustration, "Why me?" You know, next comes the grumbling underneath your breath, maybe even a few colorful words that you'd rather forget. Finally, there's blame, like, "If anybody had done their job, this wouldn't have happened right?" And that's a step-by-step crash course in negative attitudes under pressure. And the truth is, that's exactly what James is warning us about. Trials don't just test the situation, but they test us. And how we respond, especially when things go wrong, shows whether our faith is growing toward maturity, or whether we're still reacting like the world reacts instead of reflecting Christ's attitude.
James says in James chapter 1 verse 12, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." Notice what James is saying. Maturity isn't about never facing problems. It's about how you handle them. It's about persevering with the right heart, with the right attitude instead of reacting in panic and frustration or blame. Maturity isn't just about what happens inside of you. True maturity actually shows up in how you treat the people around you. A heart that is growing in Christ doesn't just survive trials. It also cares for other people while you're going through them.
That's why the next mark of maturity is just as important. Number two is this. A mature person notices and cares about others. James chapter 2 verse 8 says this. "If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right." A mature person notices and cares about others. They don't just see their own needs, but they see other people's needs as well. They understand their hurts. They're not just interested in themselves and what they have going on. Let's take children for instance. Children, when they're immature, they only see themselves. They want the toy, right? They want the last cookie. They want the best seat in the car. Is somebody else is sad or left out? It barely even registers.
But, here's the thing. As kids grow, they start noticing other people. They offer a toy to a friend, maybe even comfort a sibling when they're crying, or maybe they cheer up a friend who's struggling. That shift when they begin thinking beyond themselves is a picture of what God wants in us spiritually. Spiritual maturity is the same way. And it's really it's a heart that looks up from where we are and what our own things are going on, what our own issues are, and it looks up and it starts to see what other people have going on. And God says that love, that love being interested in others is a mark of spiritual maturity.
Number three is this. A mature person thinks before they speak. All right, a mature person thinks before they speak. James chapter 3 verse 2 says this. We all stumble in many ways, and I think this is a major understatement. Nobody's perfect, but we all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. You know, the first thing a doctor will do when you go in for a checkup is they'll say something like this. Hey, stick your tongue out, right? And they use your tongue to check your health. God does the same thing spiritually.
In World War II, there was a saying that said, "Loose lips sink ships." Loose lips destroy lives. They hurt people. You know, I heard somebody say this about gossip. It's hearing something you like about somebody you don't. Self-control is shown by how we control our tongue. James chapter 3 gives us several illustrations that we'll get into a little bit more deeply later on in the series. But he says our tongue is like a rudder. It's like a bit in a horse's mouth. It's like a spark. It's like a snake. It's a spring. And he says that you put a little bit in a horse's mouth and that can control the whole direction of where that horse goes. A little rudder on a boat can control the direction of the boat.
What he's saying is your tongue, which by size is very insignificant, controls your life. What you say directs your life. What you say can also destroy your life. It can bring joy to people's lives or it can bring discouragement to people. But your tongue is a powerful force, whether it be for good or for evil. Have you ever caught yourself saying something like this? Well, I just speak what's on my mind. You know, maybe you're even proud to say that. But let's be honest, okay? Sometimes what's on your mind isn't helpful. Sometimes it's critical. Sometimes it's impatient. It can also be selfish. And sometimes what's on your mind should probably just stay in your mind. It should never come out of your mouth, right?
And James calls that immaturity when we just speak whatever we think. Words are actually a reflection of our heart. And what you say and how you say it shows whether your faith is shaping your life or whether you're still reacting to every thought that pops into your head. A mature person doesn't just say what they think. A mature person thinks before they speak. They pause. They consider it, and ask, "Does this build up or does it tear down?" Ephesians chapter 4:29 says this, "Do not let any unwholesome or negative talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." And the keyword there is any. You know, if it doesn't build somebody up, don't say it. Even if it's true, right? If it doesn't build up, don't say it.
A mature person manages their mouth. It doesn't matter how long you've been a Christian. If you can't master your mouth, then you've missed the point. James chapter 1:26 says this, "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep their a tight rein on their tongues, deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless." You know, if I've memorized 100,000 Bible verses, right? And been through every Bible study that's ever been written, and go to church, and never miss a service, but if I'm a gossip, my religion is worthless. If I spread rumors, it's worthless. If I'm always saying things that are not accurate or exaggerate or speak impulsively, it's worthless. The test of maturity is to manage your mouth so that no corrupt communication or negative talk comes out of your mouth.
And you might say, "Well, you know, I don't say stuff like that, but sometimes I'll put it on social media or share it, you know, or just text it to a friend." It's the same thing. That's a way of communicating. And maybe you encourage somebody to say something. That can be so destructive. Speak the truth in love means with the right attitude, at the right time, in the right place, and with the right motive. That's what speak the truth in love means. The Bible is very, very practical. And it doesn't matter how much you know about the Bible, if your attitude isn't like the attitude of Jesus Christ, then you're missing the point.
Let's look at number four. Number four is this. A mature person makes peace, not trouble. You know, I think this is critical in the world that we live in today. We are called to be peacemakers. But the truth is, conflict is absolutely everywhere. James chapter 4 verse 1 says this, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" He's talking about conflict. And notice where the problem starts. Inside us. He says, "There's an inner quarrel. There's these inner fights, and they come from our own inner desires." Maybe they're selfish wants, unmet expectations. You know, they spill out into quarrels and arguments and fights. You want something, and you don't get it? Well, it's going to be a fight, right? And the root is like selfishness and pride.
So, ask yourself, and be honest, okay? Am I a peacemaker, or am I a troublemaker? Do I like to argue? Am I always looking for a fight? Do I get my feelings hurt easily? Do I get defensive quickly? Do I hurt other people's feelings? Am I a peacemaker, or am I a troublemaker? And the people closest to you, I promise you they already know the answer to this. But God wants you to look inward and measure your maturity by your ability to promote peace instead of conflict. The mark of a mature person is the level of peace that someone has or the lack of conflict in their life.
Paul told the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 1. He basically told them, "You are still infants in Christ. Like you're acting like a bunch of kids, like a bunch of toddlers. You argue about everything. You argue about the Lord's Supper. You argue about spiritual gifts. You argue about leadership. Everything." And that shows a lot of immaturity. Constant conflict, loss of unity, a whole lot of drama. So, why is there so much conflict at home, at work, in church, and even in our hearts? Well, James gives us two main reasons, selfishness and judgmentalism.
So, James chapter 4 verse 3 says, "When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Conflict begins when we put our desires above other people. Pride guarantees disagreements. Look at your prayers. If they're mostly things like, "Bless me, protect me, help me, use me." That's a sign of immaturity. If you're in a marriage right now, if you're married, I want to give you this verse right here. It's a great verse that you need to memorize, okay? It's Proverbs chapter 13 verse 10. It says, "Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice."
I mean, think about it. Every argument in your home comes down to ego and pride. When my wife and I when we have a conflict, it's because I'm proud and I don't want to admit that I was wrong or she's proud and she doesn't want to admit that she was wrong or we're both proud and neither of us want to admit it right? But pride guarantees conflict at church, at home, in school, wherever you are. You or the other person doesn't want to admit a wrong so conflict erupts.
James chapter 4 verse 11 and 12 says this, "Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you're not keeping it but sitting in judgment on it. There's only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy, but you, who are you to judge your neighbor?" You know, the other source of conflict is judging others, judgmentalism. And all of us are guilty of judging. And God says, "Don't be judging people." And if you do this, you're really asking for a fight. You're always finding fault. You're always stirring up strife. You're always spreading rumors. Don't judge.
Why? Why should I not judge? Well, one is I'm not God, okay? And when you judge somebody, you're playing God. And there's only one judge, only one lawgiver, and that is God himself. Number two is only God has all the facts. Like you don't have all the facts. I don't have all the facts. And when I judge you, I'm judging you based on what I'm thinking and I don't really know what's going on in your life. The third thing is I don't know your motives. I don't know what caused you to do something. You can't tell what's in somebody's heart. You don't know. I don't know. Only God knows. So, only God has the right to judge. He has all the facts. He knows everything. He knows all the motives. He sees into our hearts. Like, he's got the truth, so he can judge. But, we are limited in our insight. And we don't have any right to judge others.
The takeaway is clear. Selfishness and judgmentalism are the root causes of conflict, and they are marks of immaturity. A mature person is a peacemaker. Someone who chooses humility over pride. Care over criticism. And love over our ego. God doesn't just want us to survive in life without conflict. He wants us to actively make peace, reflecting his character in the way that we live our lives.
And here's the fifth mark of maturity. A mature person is patient and prayerful. God says the mark of a mature person is that they are patient and that they are prayerful. And those are the two keywords in James chapter 5. Patient and prayerful. And those two things go together. They express an attitude of dependence upon God. And that's what we desire. James chapter 5 verses 7 through 9 says this. Be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door.
He's saying, "Be patient." And he gives the illustration of the farmer. And if anybody has to be patient, it's a farmer, right? He does a lot of waiting. He plants the seed, and he waits, and he prays, and he hopes, and he expects. But he waits. There are no overnight crops. Same is true in our lives. Just like a farmer has to wait, sometimes we have to wait. We have to wait on God to answer our prayers. We have to wait on God for the miracle that he's going to send our way. We have to wait on God to work in our lives. We have to wait. Patience is a mark of maturity. And the only way you learn patience is by waiting.
My children have had to learn the difference between no and not yet. And for a long time, they thought that not yet meant, "We're never going to get to do it, right?" They thought that it meant no. But it just meant not yet. And many times, God will say to you, "Not yet." And he may not even mean no. He doesn't mean he's not going to answer your prayer in the way that you desire. But he's saying, "You've got to wait. And while you're waiting, I want you to grow and develop."
James chapter 5, verses 16 through 18 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for 3 and 1/2 years. Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." If anybody was patient, it was Elijah. Elijah was patient and prayerful. And that's a mark of maturity.
So, what are the tests? What are the things that we just talked about? First, do you maintain a godly perspective during trials? Like how do you handle your problems? Do you get uptight? Do you get negative? Do you grumble? Do you gripe? Do you complain? Or are you positive under pressure? The second thing is, do you notice and care about other people? Are you sensitive to other people's needs? Are you considerate about the things that they desire, their cares, their hurts, their needs? Or do you simply see yourself? Do you only pray for yourself? Or do you pray for others as well?
The third thing is, do you think before you speak? Can you manage your mouth? Like have you learned to put a muzzle on it sometimes and just not speak? When you have that little juicy tidbit of gossip and it's tempting because knowledge is power, do you share or do you keep it to yourself? You can damage people a lot by just insinuating things. Managing your mouth is definitely a mark of maturity. Have you learned like Ephesians says to let no corrupt communication, no corrupt talk come out of your mouth but only that builds up the community, that edifies the body of Christ, builds other people up according to their needs, not your own.
The fourth thing is, are you a troublemaker or are you a peacemaker? Do you have a tendency to stir things up? Do you have a quick trigger or quick temper where you know, you can get ticked off very, very quickly? Do you carry a grudge around with you? Do you find yourself finding some things to be bitter about and holding on to bitterness? Or are you a peacemaker? And then number five is how long can you wait for an answer to prayer without giving up? Maybe God has every intention of giving it to you. But he's waiting to teach you maturity.
So how did you test today? I know this hasn't been an easy message, but it's definitely one that we need. And it's the start to developing an authentic faith in God that is lived out daily. And it's definitely the type of faith that will make a difference in our community and in our world. I'm excited to grow with you throughout the course of this series and look forward to what God produces in and through our church as we develop maturity in our faith and in our walk with Jesus Christ. Would you pray with me today?
God, we thank you so much for your word and how when we dig deep into it, we'll grow. But we only grow if we're intentional and we respond in specific ways. And so as we read your word, as we dive deep into this book of James, my prayer is that we would see this authentic faith that is lived out daily in our lives and we would allow our faith to change the way that we live. It's not just lip service. Now this is something that we live out. It shows up in our actions, not just in our words. And so God, I know this is going to be a challenging series, but it's going to be one that we need. It's going to be one that'll push us forward and cause us to grow, to develop, to mature in the ways that you desire for us to. So God, help us to be open to what it is you're going to do in our hearts and in our lives as we submit to you and follow you each and every each and every day.
And if there's somebody here today who wants to accept you as their Lord and Savior, who sees that they need to grow and they need to take a next step, pray this prayer. You can follow after him. You can say, "God, I admit that I'm a sinner and I fall short of your glorious standard each and every day. And I want you to know that I believe in you and I believe that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins so that I can be forgiven. You paid that price. And because of that, I give my heart and life over to you. My life is no longer my own. I give it to you and I want to follow you with everything I've got."
And if you've prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God. And the expectation within the family of God is that you grow, that you mature, that we become more Christ-like each and every day. Because really, we want this authentic faith that is lived out daily. So God, work in our hearts, work in our lives, and we're trusting you to produce results in us. We love you and praise you. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. And everybody said, "Amen."