Seasoned and Matured

I love hearing stories of how over some twenty years someone worked their way up through a company, from being a lowly janitor to vice president, or even CEO. It says a lot about the individuals themselves, who dedicated the bulk of their lives to rising through the ranks of a corporation, but it also serves as a lesson to those who want everything, right now, without delay.

It would be laughable if someone applying for a job walked in for the interview, and when asked what position he was applying for, he would say, “boss! I want to be the boss!”

Never mind that others were there before him, or that he wasn’t qualified for the position he desired, he wouldn’t know what to do if someone made them instant boss in the first place. In order to perform in a particular job, you need a certain set of skills. Those skills are learned over time, through diligence and effort. One must be seasoned and matured to succeed in the real world, but for some reason, we do not apply the same metrics to the spiritual world.

When it comes to spiritual things, when it comes to spiritual gifts or callings, we have no patience whatsoever. We wake up one morning thinking we know better than everyone else, and what’s worse, we take it upon ourselves to set things right, demeaning and talking down to individuals who’ve been walking in obedience for decades on decades.

Their maturity level doesn’t matter. The fact that they are proven and seasoned, called and equipped doesn’t matter. We’ve shown up on the scene, and now we will show the world just how smart, brilliant, and theologically sound we are.

If anyone dares contradict the fallacy of our argument or insist that perhaps we should take a while to pray, fast, read the word, and grow spiritually before considering ourselves juggernauts and titans of theology, we throw a tantrum and call everyone unloving.

Then, just for good measure, we adopt a persecution complex accusing everyone of unwarranted backlash because those we are trying to convince of our brilliance are standing on the truth of scripture rather than relenting and seeing things as we would like them to.

What so many of today’s new breed of in your face upstarts fail to realize is that their own actions and tantrums betray their lack of maturity. The fact that they are unwilling to allow for the reality that some things will remain a mystery and that the Word must have the final say regarding spiritual matters reveals just how much they must grow before they come to the place of being able to teach others.

Nobody wants to start on the janitorial staff anymore. Everyone wants the corner office, company car, and golden parachute before their first day in the trenches, and that’s just unrealistic.

If not for the very real possibility that those who ignorantly go off halfcocked will cause harm to the innocent and those who are babes in Christ, their actions could serve as a cautionary tale and nothing more.

It is because they inevitably cause harm and bring shame to the household of faith that maturity must be insisted upon, and the standard of the Bible must be upheld at all cost. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.