Judging another's Spiritual Maturity

Judging another’s Spiritual Maturity

Based on where we think we are spiritually, whether a new Christian or the pastor of a large church, we may deceive ourselves and either believe we have nothing to share or nothing to learn from those less mature than us. This may lead to an inability to receive from an “ordinary” less mature person.

Think about a two year old you know…. Can they teach you something? My grandson Connor, who is almost two, taught me something yesterday. He was running around a restaurant like a crazy person, displaying his independence. When his dad tried to get him to come back to the table he screamed, “NOOOOO”. I thought about my own life and how I sometimes run around like a crazy person, and when God tries to get hold of me, I rebel!

Recently, while visiting a new church, a pastor asked me, “Why would God choose you to go out on mission when you don’t have a strong Bible knowledge?” Well, I could have felt insulted or said to myself (which I did), “Maybe I need a Bachelor’s in Theology or Religion”. Or I could have felt inadequate (which I did) but then two seconds later God shook me and I replied to the pastor, “God chose me because I was willing and available.

You see, two years ago when God called Gary, Collette and Shelby Uhler, we answered. We agreed to give up everything and sacrifice our own lives. Why? Because God gave us a vision and showed us that something is desperately wrong in some of the churches in America. I could write a whole blog on that subject but let’s get back on point.

Have you ever seen the cartoon, “Pinky and the Brain”? Let me give you my interpretation of the characters. The Brain is always trying to take over the world using his own plan and Pinky is following him around, with a smirk on his face, as if to say, “That will never work!”

So how do we overcome the “Pinky and the Brain” syndrome? Or the opposite “I’m too spiritually young and immature to share anything of value” syndrome? First, we must stop running around like a crazy person, trying to take over the world for God. We must follow Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." We also must have faith and believe God’s Word which says, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’" Mathew 19:26 (NIV)

And lastly, we must be open to hearing from God through many different sources including our two year old grandson.