I came across a video the other day of a man who recently found a notebook from his senior year of high school. He graduated more than 30 years ago, so it definitely was a glimpse into his life and mind during a drastically different season of life from where he is at right now.
When I started watching the video, I was pretty curious about what he was going to find as he started paging through it, but then he paused the footage and gave this warning; "When I wrote and drew what is on these pages, I was a much younger person. I was interested in crass and obnoxious things. I was fascinated with all kinds of vulgarity, and I want to warn you before you watch any further that if you don't find things like that funny, you definitely aren't going to enjoy what I'm about to show you." I took that as my cue to end the video there.
But that got me thinking about some of the things I was interested in and fascinated by during earlier seasons of my life. Have you ever stopped to analyze how your interests, priorities, and goals have been changing over time? Do the things you were interested in during elementary school still matter to you now? Does the kind of humor you enjoyed in high school still seem funny? Do the goals you pursued in your 20's still motivate you? Are you serving in the kind of career you daydreamed about in college?
My guess is that some, if not most of those questions can highlight noticeable differences between your earlier years and present day. If we're healthy and we're growing, we're also going to develop wisdom and maturity. Over time, that's what we experience socially and relationally, but that's particularly important when we're talking about our spiritual development as well.
In Ephesians 4:17-32, Paul paints a valuable picture of spiritual maturity and the many ways a believer in Christ thinks, functions, and interacts differently from the unbelieving world.
I. We think differently
““Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” ”
Have you ever gone through a season of life that was so difficult and so draining that you said, "I don't have any idea how I would have gotten through this without the Lord's help." The longer I have known the Lord, the more I find myself wondering about that very thing when it comes to some of my unbelieving friends. I wonder what they're telling themselves when they go through dark and challenging seasons. I wonder if they're trying to see beyond those moments or if they're ignoring their pain because they can't see beyond it.
When someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ, their entire life changes. They aren't who they once were. They become a new creation in Christ, with new priorities, a new perspective, and a greater hope. At one time, they may have lived their life consumed with the priorities of this world and the limited thinking that goes along with that, but now they have the mind of Christ and can see with the eyes of God.
Paul tells us that a mature Christian isn't to continue thinking like an unbeliever. In this passage, he describes an unbeliever's thinking as futile, darkened, ignorant, and hardened. He explains that that leads to callousness, sensuality, greed, and impurity. Basically, he saying that a dark way of thinking will lead to a dark way of living, and the ultimate outcome will be destructive instead of productive.
But believers in Christ don't need to fall into that pattern of thinking any longer. We have become enlightened to the liberating truth of the gospel. We have been empowered to put off the garment of our old desires, and to put on our new self which has been renewed through Jesus. In Christ, we're granted a deeper level of understanding, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we're enabled to walk in righteousness and holiness.
Isn't it such a relief to be graced with the divinely empowered ability to see things differently? Sometimes, it feels like you're able to see right through the deceptive promises of this world. The Spirit of God is opening our eyes and our minds to value what He values, and to respond like He responds when the challenges and temptations of this world are presented before us.
II. We function differently
““Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” ”
One afternoon in 10th grade, I walked into our Biology class and discovered a surprise that very much caught my attention. In the display case that faced the outside hallway, there was a tarantula inside a plastic aquarium. Normally, that display case was locked, but on this day, it wasn't. I don't know where our teacher was, but she wasn't in the classroom when I arrived. The only people there were several of my friends who also arrived early for class.
As soon as I put two and two together, they could see a flash of light in my eyes and a smirk on my face. I knew this was going to be the perfect opportunity to release that tarantula in the school, and I knew my friends wouldn't snitch on me after I did it. A year earlier, I did something similar in another science classroom with a fish that I took out of a tank, so they had no doubt about what was going to happen next.
I slid open the door to the display case and picked up the little aquarium. Then I popped open the lid and prepared to shake the spider onto the floor. But then I paused. Several months earlier, I had asked the Lord to help me grow mature in my faith, and I could hear His voice in my conscience saying, "Don't do it." So I lowered the lid, put the aquarium back, closed the display, and took a seat. I can still remember one of my friends saying, "What happened to you? You've changed. The old John Stange would have done that." He was 100% right, but I wasn't the old John Stange any more.
A mature Christian functions differently in this world. As the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and grips our conscience, we begin to treat each other differently, we stop giving the devil opportunities to deceive us, and we start thinking more about how our actions are going to impact the lives of other people.
Paul gives three examples of how this typically plays out in the life of a growing believer.
1. We speak truth instead of falsehood.
2. We don't hold onto our anger and allow it to become bitterness.
3. We stop stealing and become honest workers who look for opportunities to share our blessings.
If we truly trust in Jesus as our Lord, and sincerely yield our lives over to the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, I believe this is going to be the kind of fruit we'll begin to see. Our manner of speaking will change. Our desire to forgive will grow, and our drive to generously bless others will be noticeably heightened. It's all evidence that through Christ, we've been given a new way of doing things.
III. We interact differently
““Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” ”
One of the most powerful demonstrations we possess of the power of Christ, is the way in which He has enabled and inspired us to interact differently. In many ways, that will be displayed in the ways in which we speak. I think about that specific concept frequently.
It has become obvious to me that the primary way the Lord has been opening doors for me to serve other people is through a microphone and a keyboard. I preach, teach, write, record, counsel, and pray. So when I read this passage of Scripture, my eyes are drawn to the invitation to "give grace to those who hear." That's precisely what's motivating me. As I have received the grace of Jesus, I want to generously share His grace through the words that come out of my mouth.
I look at it this way, I can either glorify the Lord with my words and the ways in which I interact with people, or I can grieve His Spirit. Glorify or grieve. Those are my options. I'm choosing to glorify.
Does it surprise you to think that you can grieve the Holy Spirit? I think many people tend to think of God as unemotional and unfeeling, but that doesn't make sense. He created us in His image, and if I speak disrespectfully to someone, or fail to treat them with kindness, what kind of emotional response would they be likely to give? It's usually a response that demonstrates that their heart has been grieved. So in this passage, Paul is attempting to speak to us on an emotional level. He wants us to see the heart and face of God in our interactions with others. I need to know if the way I speak to and interact with others is bringing a smile to God's face, or if I'm grieving His heart.
And what sense does it make for a believer in Christ to grieve the same Spirit with which we've been "sealed?" What does it mean to be sealed by the Spirit? All believers are protected and preserved by the Spirit of God during this time while we await the day of our ultimate redemption and eternal glorification. He is actively working in our lives to see us through to the end. His presence in our lives certifies and confirms that we belong to God and are part of God's family. As part of that family, I don't want to misrepresent the head of the family, nor do I want to give our spiritual family a bad name by living like my father might actually be the evil one. It reminds me of what Jesus said in John 8:42-44...
“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.””
All that to say, mature Christians have a drastically different way of doing things. Through faith in Jesus Christ, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we think, function, and interact in a brand new way. Let's embrace that truth, and continue to press on toward spiritual maturity and a deeper faith in Jesus.
© John Stange, 2021
