Is it possible that maturity in Jesus is not only about you?
Is it possible that being a disciple of Jesus is also for the sake of everyone else? Our families? Our places of work? The society in which we live? Consider what the Apostle Paul says,
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)
We should pause and reflect: not only . . . but also . . . .
When the Apostle Paul talks about the famous mind of Christ passage in the following verses (see Philippians 2:5-11) he precedes that conversation by making reference to looking out for other people. He says that we are to look (σκοποῦντες), to pay attention to details, and to focus on our neighbors’ lives and circumstances. What are our neighbors doing? What are their needs? How can I help them? How can I pray for them? Few of us are very good at being outwardly focused because our culture has conditioned us to look to ourselves first. This point is so important that the Greek text can actually be translated this way:
Let each of you look not to his own interests, but to the interests of others.
That perspective seems pretty radical, and it is! Yet the Christian life is radical, and at a minimum Christians are called to think and to live in a very different way from the society around us.
So how do we get there? How do we change? Most people in the world need a major conversion experience. Some people have grown up in the Church. Either way, every change that is long-lasting and habit-forming takes time. Our faith in Jesus grows in a series of steps. So I have published a new book called The Search for Home: Steps of Grace in John 1-4. The book is not meant to be read quickly. God wants us to slow down, because the steps we take change us one day at a time. Yet strictly speaking it’s not a devotional book. Unlike so many other books, The Search for Home has a sequential teaching function. Therefore here is an opportunity to grow in both character and knowledge.