“What is the Mature Church?”

This is a piece I found while checking my mail. It was disturbing, to say the least. It seems the more I read, from the Warren churches, the worse it gets. Is there no end to their nonsense. I have added my comments; I couldn’t let it go. I have left this pastors name out, it doesn’t matter; this man could be the pastor in any of a million Christian churches. God help us!

It’s Easter weekend and we’re in the middle of a blizzard!

What do I see when I look out my window?  This male turkey scratching in the snow and leaves.  His beard indicates he’s mature.  In a few weeks he’ll breed as many hens as possible and we’ll end up with little turkey poults running all over the place.

If you have mature birds you’ll soon have immature birds; that’s the way it works.

Three days ago Rick Warren proffered this question for me to mull over. “What is the mature church?”

I knew immediately how I would respond.

When someone makes a statement like the above you need to listen very carefully, because Mr. Quickdraw is just as likely to shoot his self in the foot as he is to give the correct answer.

“The ‘mature church’ is the church filled with immaturity.”

Anywhere in the world, whether plant or animal, the clear delineation of “maturity” is the ability to reproduce.  Immature animals can’t reproduce.  Immature plants can’t replicate themselves.  The definition of maturity is “being fully ripe, fully aged” so the connotation of maturity is obvious.  Where you see maturity you’ll observe new life, babies and immaturity all over the place.

This is just the kind of stuff we have come to expect from the Church of the World. This is not a description of a mature Church, this is a description of how to justify all the worldly, immature masses that fill the buildings of men called Churches.  If the subject matter was “turkeys” then this argument would be valid, but we’re talking about men. Nature has a way of dealing with its defects, those turkeys who never mature, they die, but the church is not at all like turkeys (that point may be somewhat arguable on a different level). Retarded Christians fill the pews and continue to reproduce more retarded Christians. The level of immaturity in Christianity is repulsive and unacceptable. These preachers who promote immaturity are false teachers. They consistently teach their congregations how to live in the world with all their financial advisers, psychologist, business managers, philosophers, and program directors.

Maturity desires reproduction.

Maturity tolerates juvenile behavior (from juveniles) while training its progeny for success in life.

Maturity means “little poults running all over the place.”

The Churches across this land and world are more like turkey farms, bred and raised in total isolation, headed for destruction. These turkeys have never seen the light, and neither have most so called Christians. They are kept in containment by those who make merchandise of their souls; they are nothing but meat for the Devils table. Where in God’s Holy word does this man justify tolerating immaturity. 1 Cor 3:1-3 “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk , not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.”

Heb 5:11-14 “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk , not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk , being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

In these verses Paul spells out plainly the problem with immature Christians; it is carnality, worldliness, slowness, retardedness, and never having grown because they were never given the proper nourishment by those caring for the flock.

If you attend a mature church, be prepared for immaturity.

Where you find mature Christians you’ll find little “babes in Christ” running all over the place.  In fact, if you have been looking for a church where “everyone tithes” or “everyone serves” you’re not looking for a mature church, you are looking for a dying church – aged, impotent and bereft of spiritual newborns because “everyone” is mature.

What about the Church where two or three are gathered together, all very mature, is it a dying Church, weak, impotent and bereft because everyone is mature? What is spiritual maturity any way? Isn’t it the grasping of the elementary fact of faith in God? Jesus instructs us that basic child like faith, (maturity) was a prerequisite of mature adulthood Christianity? These little “babes in Christ” he talks about are not the babes of the living God, who know what faith is, and display maturity far and above what we see in all the “christian” poultry farms they call Churches.

Few things are more disturbing than a flock of adult believers standing around complaining that “no one has come to Christ” while refusing to do something that might result in new life.

So when you bump into someone who acts “immature” at one of our Easter services, don’t complain, and don’t be surprised.  Instead, thank God the “mature in the Christ” are busy delivering newborn babies to the family of God.

This is what is being passed along to the sleeping sheep. This is what thy are being fed. Their buildings are full, I’ll grant them that, convinced that they are breeding machines.

Steve Blackwell