Doctrine and Maturity
2015 Mar 5A friend once told me about a study he was in at church. It covered Christian doctrine; and, he said, "it was good for growing in faith".
An implication of his statement is that the study of doctrine is a way to become mature in faith. However, this is not directly true!
(See Part 2 What is the Value of Doctrine?)
If this were so, then any atheist who is a good student of doctrine could grow in faith. In response to this idea, someone else said, "No, doctrinal study doesn't count for the unbeliever because they don't believe it". So, does that mean that this atheist student of doctrine would instantly become mature in faith if they changed to believe? No, that also is a false idea because maturity is something that takes time. The only underlying truth I see in this line of thought is that the non-Christian will miss out on understanding of doctrine that can come through participation.
Utility of Doctrine
Might it be that a Christian, through their doctrinal study, would necessarily have more maturity than a Christian who knows less doctrine? No, because Christian maturity is evidenced by the way a person lives their life (I Timothy 3:1-7, James 1:27, 2:14-26). Mastery of doctrine is not a requirement for mature Christian living.
We do know that doctrinal study can be a help to becoming a better Christian. We see this because Paul taught doctrine to help Christians correct errors in doctrine. The errors prevented maturity because the bad doctrine had resulted in bad living. Note however that having good doctrine doesn't automatically result in good living. I have known people that professed good doctrine, but were ungodly and morally corrupt.
Maturity and Love
So, how do you measure Christian growth and maturity? By how you love.
This answer is deceptively simple, but is highly profound. It is deceptive because everyone likes love, but we don't see love as having the great importance that God puts on it. Love is profound because once understood in context, it can be seen to be basis for the whole gospel.
To be a Christian (that is, a follower of Jesus) we must be like him (I John 2:6, Ephesians 5:1-2). To be able to be like him, we must be motivated like him. God is motivated by love (John 3:16, I John 4:16). Since we see God most clearly through Jesus (Hebrews 1:3), we must adopt Jesus' kind of love as our motivating value (I John 2:6, 2:7-8, 3:23, 4:19-21). In fact, this is his new commandment to us (John 13:34, 15:12-14,17). This love is a sacrificial love for the benefit of others (I John 3:16). The commandment of love is the greatest of all (Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-37), and fulfills all previous commandments from God (Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:13-14). This love is the evidence that we are disciples of Jesus (John 13:35).
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, they were having severe problems that ultimately all came from a lack of love for each other. So, in the middle of correcting problems in their doctrine, Paul switched to teaching them that, more importantly, they must have love (I Corinthians 12:31 - 14:1). Paul explains elsewhere that his goal for making doctrinal corrections is that there be love in the heart of his hearers (I Timothy 1:3-5). If study of doctrine does not produce love, there is something wrong. So, good doctrine through faith produces love (Galatians 5:6).
Love is profound because this one value guides us to good living in every part of our lives. Love powerfully brings us to obedience of the ideal goal of the law. It does this purely as a side effect of our motivation. note Love encourages good relationships, which are the most meaningful parts of human life. Love is taught by doctrine, so also then this doctrine cannot be deeply understood until we participate as Christians in love. When we live love, we please God (Hebrews 13:1,16). And when we finally appear before God at the end, he will welcome us in his kingdom if we had lived lives evidenced by actions that were motivated (not by law, but) by love (Matthew 25:31-46). note
And God will not welcome us in to his kingdom if our actions had showed evidence of lack of love. Note that someone can obey the law without love. Therefore, obedience to law is insufficient to gain entry into God’s kingdom.
You can make people comply to law, but you can’t make them love. God isn’t ultimately interested in lawful compliance; he wants people who have chosen to be motivated like he is - by love for others.
This love fulfills the law (Matthew 5:17, Romans 13:10, Galatians 5:14). Therefore, living and acting motivated by sacrificial love like that of Jesus is completely sufficient to satisfy the law.
Jesus came preaching the good news of his new kingdom. This is a spiritual kingdom (John 18:36, Matthew 6:9-10) that exists in parallel to earthly kingdoms. The whole of law in this spiritual kingdom is one, the law of love. (see also) And so love is the basis of living the gospel.
The Quality of Love
Our culture talks a lot about love. One pop song said, “All you need is love." How then is Christianity different from our culture?
This answer comes out of knowing what this love is. There are different kinds of "love", and English in particular is problematic because it mixes many kinds of motivation into that one word. However, as can already be seen, selfish desire, physical desire, even casual liking are not the kinds of love being considered here.
What sets Christianity apart then, is the example and quality of love that is projected as our goal: the example is Jesus, and the quality is sacrificial love for the benefit of others. This love is to be the motivation to our actions. This love motivated Jesus to live and die for us; it will motivate us to similar action. Having this love is what it means to be Christ-like. Therefore, this love is also the measure of our Christianity, of our maturity, and is our goal for living. When we see that we are getting better through time at living this love, then we can know that we are growing and maturing as a Christian.
The value system perspective used here is based on ideas from the work of Darren Twa.