What is the pathway to true spiritual maturity?
Is it a special experience that once you have
it, you become mature? Or is it reading the Bible
and praying longer than anyone else? Or what
if it's something completely different than all
of that? That's today on Living on the Edge.
Stay with me. Welcome to this weekend edition
of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are
an international discipleship ministry devoted
to helping Christians worldwide live out their
faith for the glory of God and the benefit of
all people. Now you may be asking yourself, what
does being an authentic, mature Christian have
to do with the idea of hope? Well, today Chip
will tell us as we revisit another message from
our current series, I Choose Hope. But before
we begin, let me encourage you to try using Chip's
message notes while you listen. They contain
his outline, the scripture he uses, and key fill
-ins to help you remember and apply what you
hear. Download them under the broadcasts tab
at livingontheedge .org. App listeners tap fill
-in notes. Okay, here again is Chip with his
talk, Pursuing Hope. We've been talking about
finding hope, experiencing hope, and now we're
going to talk about pursuing hope. Open your
Bibles to Philippians chapter 3. We're going
to look at verses 12 through 16 in just a minute.
But at the heart of finding hope is a spiritual
pathway to God, some way of spiritual development
or spiritual maturity. That is what's going to
give us lasting, deep hope. And so there's a
pursuit. And what I want to do in our time here
is I want to give you four examples because this
gets tricky. This pursuit of hope through a spiritual
pathway, even among Christians. has some real
potholes here and there that I watch believers
go down this direction or that direction and
often get very disillusioned with God because
either they think he's expecting something of
them that he's not, or they're expecting something
to happen that's not realistic. And so they say,
I've pursued lasting deep hope in a relationship
with Christ and quote, it doesn't work. Let me
share four. I think they're rather sad stories,
but I want to give you a spectrum. The first
one is a young gal that I knew many years ago.
She was a co -ed engineering major, very bright,
went to one of the finest academic institutions
in all of America. She came home after six or
eight months and told me that she was kind of
dissatisfied with our church. She was dissatisfied
with her parents. She had met a group there on
campus that really understood the deeper things.
And she began to talk to me about the shortcomings
of our church and most Christians everywhere
and this new group. And she said, I've learned
the deeper teaching. And then she looked me right
in the eye and she said, I have learned the secret
of the deeper teaching is I don't sin anymore.
And I remember going, no, no. I said, so, I mean,
you don't have a bad thought. You don't have
a bad attitude. Nothing comes out of your mouth.
You never do anything wrong. You are sinless.
Like, you're perfect now. And she sat very calmly
and in sort of this kind of weird stupor and
said, yes. And she went on to share a Christian
cult. And by God's grace, I remember years later,
she was delivered out of it. The second example
is of a teammate that I had many years ago. We
were playing basketball together, traveling throughout
South America, and great guy, great friends.
He was another point guard, so we hung out, roomed
together on the road, and we're in all these
different countries and had deep talks at night,
and, you know, two young guys. And I remember
one night, kind of, I think he felt really open,
and he began to really share his heart, and he
goes, Chip, I really like you, and, you know,
we're really good friends, and, you know what,
you're just missing out. And I said, well, wow,
what do you mean? And he said, I have an experience
and you can have this experience. And I have
six airtight passages from scripture. And when
you do exactly what I say, according to these
six passages, you will experience a power like
never before. And then he talked about all the
things that would happen in my life. And he cared
about me. And this is the experience. And if
you don't have this experience, second rate Christian
will never amount to anything. The third. spiritual
pathway that was to give lasting hope was I had
an elderly friend who had a daughter that was
grown. She was literally a musical genius. She
went to that most prestigious musical school
on the East Coast in the entire world, or at
least they think so. She was finishing up her
PhD, but she had recently gone to work with her
husband who worked for a spiritual organization.
And as she came home on break and met with me
being a pastor and her parents being involved
in the church, she was telling me about the vast
untapped spiritual potential that I could have
if I would go to this weekend seminar that had
some scientific tests and that they could help
me for a mere $550 at the time spending this
weekend that would transform my spiritual life.
So number one, there's some deeper teaching that
I can be perfect. Number two, there's an experience
I need to have. Number three, there's a seminar
with sort of science mixed in about tapping into
the spiritual potential that's in all of us.
And then the fourth was, it was bizarre. I still
remember reading it in the paper, actually. It
was the story of a semi -unkept, unsophisticated
woman who happened to be with research later,
a high school dropout. She exercised a mind -boggling
control, if you will, over in the Dallas area
at the time of professors, doctors, lawyers.
She was a spiritual guide. She took them into
various experiences. She actually had some times
and ways where she told them future things that
were going to happen to them. She assigned a
spiritual guide to them. And then the police,
in investigating the entire web of manipulation,
connected this woman to a series of suicides
of high -level professionals that were all her
clients, who all happened to leave in their will
their money to her. And here's all I want to
say. What all four of these stories have in common
is each one of them is linked. All four had a
pursuit of hope. They had a pursuit of hope.
They wanted to look at a promising future. They
wanted to have a sense that progress is certain.
They wanted to know that life is good. And even
in the midst of their struggles and their ups
and their downs, they were looking for hope and
they were looking for it where most people are
at the end of the day is through a spiritual
relationship where you become growing and become
spiritually mature. So here's what I want to
address. what does it mean to be spiritually
mature? Because if you're not clear on that,
if you're not clear on exactly what it means
to be spiritually mature and what it doesn't
mean to be spiritually mature, and if you're
not on the right spiritual path, your pursuit
of hope can take you down some very, very bad
paths. The apostle Paul is actually going to
answer this question. He's going to define spiritual
authenticity for us. And as he does that, notice
the context here. The context is he's found hope.
But what he knows is as he shares that, that
there's some bad teaching and there's some paths
that even in what he said, people could go the
wrong direction. So here's what he's going to
do. Verses 12 through 16, he's going to explain
to them what spiritual maturity is and what spiritual
maturity is. Is not. Notice what he says. He
says not that I've already obtained all of this.
Or I've already been made perfect. Circle the
word perfect if you will. But I press on to take
hold of that. For which Christ Jesus took hold
of me. Will you underline. Take hold of. And
take hold of me. It's going to be very very important.
Notice in the next line, brothers, I don't consider
myself as having taken hold of it yet is the
idea, but this one thing I do, circle one thing
I do, forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward
to what lies ahead, literally straining forward,
I press on toward the goal, toward the prize
for God, which he has called me heavenward. Straining
forward, he wants to know Christ. personally.
He says, I'm on a journey. Now in your notes,
I want you to write the word disclaimer. What
he's really saying is, is look, I want to know
Christ. I'm as passionate or more passionate
today, 30 years after I met Jesus on the Damascus
road. And we learned that he wanted to know in
his daily life, not just that someday, some way
he's going to be resurrected. He wanted to know
in his daily life, the power of the resurrection.
We talked about experiencing God's strength and
weakness, overcoming temptation, overcoming the
flesh, overcoming difficulty, seeing God's power
actually work through us in everyday life, giving
us patience for people that make us crazy, giving
us a generous heart that doesn't come naturally.
Then he said, not only do I want to experience
the power of his resurrection, I also want to
know the fellowship of the suffering, that in
the ups and downs and difficulties of life, in
the pain that you're going to have and I'm going
to have, we are human. We will have pain in relationships.
We will have pain in our physical bodies. We
will have disappointments. We will be betrayed.
We will suffer. And what Paul said is I want
to share in, I want to experience the presence
of Christ when I suffer. And whether that suffering
is external and people do it to me, whether I
experience it internally in the anguish of my
heart, or whether I suffer because I'm a follower
of Christ, I want to experience the intimacy
and the power and the love and the comfort. that
Jesus promised. And then notice that last line,
as I am being conformed, progressively transformed
into the very likeness of Christ in his death.
You're listening to Living on the Edge. We'll
get back to our series, I Choose Hope, in just
a minute. But quickly, I want to remind you that
we're in the middle of our mid -year match. Thanks
to a few close ministry friends, every gift we
receive until June 30th will be matched dollar
for dollar. For more information about how to
partner with us, go to livingontheedge .org or
call us at 888 -333 -6003. And thanks for doing
whatever God leads you to do. Well, let's rejoin
Chip now for the remainder of his message. So
that's his prayer, but here's the misunderstanding.
Paul, do you have it all together? Paul, have
you become perfect? So I want you to write the
word disclaimer. Not that I already have this.
In other words, I haven't arrived. No sinless
perfection. I haven't been made perfect. The
word means mature. It's a picture of something
that fulfills its design. It's not perfection
as in without fault or sinless. It's the same
word in James chapter one, two through four,
where he says, consider it all joy. When you
encounter various trials, knowing the testing
of your faith produces endurance and let endurance
have its perfecting or perfect result, that you
grow and become mature, lacking in nothing. In
other words, he says, I don't have it all together.
I haven't been made sinlessly perfect, but I
press on. In other words, it's a hunting term.
It's like a hunter who is waiting and then stalking
and then waiting and then stalking. I press on.
In other words, there's a very clear -cut goal.
I don't have it all together, but get it? I'm
progressively on a journey. And here's his passion.
Notice what he says. He says, I want to take
hold of. It means to reach out, to grasp, to
obtain, to actually experience. I want to take
hold of that for which God has taken hold of
me. And so his disclaimer is, am I perfect? No.
Am I pressing ahead? Do I have a goal? Am I seeking
with all my heart to know Christ? Absolutely.
Brothers. I don't consider myself as taking hold
of it yet. I haven't met Christ. I haven't been
transformed. I still have issues. I still have
times where I get angry. I still have times when
lustful thoughts come to my mind. I still have
times when I get discouraged. I haven't taken
hold of it yet, but here's one thing I do get
this. Here's his explanation. I'm not there yet,
but I have a focus. I have a priority. I have
an intentionality and I have an intensity. This
is after 30 years. An intentionality and intensity
that I want to press on to know him. I'm gonna
eliminate distractions and then he tells us how.
I'm gonna forgetting what lies behind. We'll
develop this in a minute. He's going to forget
all of his past failures. He's going to forget
that he was a persecutor. He's gonna not think
that God's down on him, that the things that
he did in his past. are still held up against
him. But he's also going to forget his past accomplishments.
He's been an apostle for 30 years. He's planted
churches. He's already written New Testament
books. I mean, he's had amazing, amazing experiences.
He goes, am I going to rest on my laurels? He
said, I'm not going to live under condemnation
of my past, but there's no way there can be any
complacency like, oh, you know, I've loved the
Lord and I served when I was young and I did
a lot of things and now, you know, it's sort
of the McDonald's philosophy of life. I deserve
a break today. There is none of that in the Apostle
Paul. And so his disclaimer is, I'm not perfect
and I haven't arrived. His explanation is that
I press on toward the goal for the prize of which
God called me heavenly. That phrase, God called
me heavenward, every time it's used throughout
the New Testament, save once. It's about the
calling of God for salvation. He's saying, God
has a calling on my life. I've turned from my
sin. I've received Christ. That calling, one
day, someday, when I die, or what we're going
to find out, he's not quite sure when Christ
returns, I'm going to be with him. He says, he
repeats, I press on. That's my goal. That's the
prize that God has called me heavenward. Then
he has sort of a bit of an admonition. because
he's got problems. Notice this whole book underlying
there's some problems. We had some disunity problems.
They had some persecution problems. We had some
false teacher problems. And so he knows there's
some stuff going on because he's getting reports
from Epaphroditus. And it says, all of us who
are mature, that's our word teleos again. All
of us who have come to a standard of progressive
maturity in Christ, not perfect, but mature,
should have this attitude, the New American Standard
says. And if on any point you think differently,
that too God will make clear. In other words,
this idea that there's no sinless perfection
over here, and this idea that it requires a passionate
pursuit of following God, anybody that has a
different idea, God will reveal it to you. But
then notice his final admonition. Only let us
live up to what we've already attained. In other
words, wherever you're at in the truth that you've
received in the spiritual growth where you're
at in your life right now, in your life right
now, wherever you're at, he goes, you need to
respond to the truth. The fact that I haven't
already arrived or no one's already arrived can
become an excuse is what he's saying. You can't
say, well, you know, everyone struggles. I mean,
most men have a pornography issue. So, I mean,
God understands. I mean, most people understand
that, you know, this is how we live and this
is what's going on. No, no. He said, whatever
truth you've received, you need to respond to.
What the apostle Paul is doing is he's addressing
two extremes. There were two extremes about what
it meant to be spiritually mature. And in very
subtle ways, he's addressed both of them. On
the one hand, spiritual maturity is not compulsive
perfectionism. The test of spiritual maturity
is loving God and loving people and a transformed
life. It's not this external perfectionism. But
there's another extreme, and he addressed that
in the very last verse. Spiritual maturity is
not complacent passivity. Okay, help me a little
bit on what's this really got to do with me.
I want you to lean back. I want you to really
think. I want to summarize some things because
God wants to give you hope. You need to find
it. You need to experience it, but you need to
pursue it. You need to pursue it in such a way
that no matter what you do, you never measure
up is not an option. On the other hand, there's
not just this laxity that I guess God just winks
at everything. Genuine spiritual maturity is
a passionate pursuit. of knowing and becoming
like Jesus. This is Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram, and you've been listening to Part 1 of
Chip's message, Pursuing Hope, from our series,
I Choose Hope. Chip will be back shortly to share
some helpful application for us to think about.
In times of uncertainty, where do you turn for
hope? And how confident are you in your source
of comfort to provide the stability you desire?
As Chip teaches through Philippians chapter 3,
he'll share what God has to say about our fears
about the future and how feeling secure is possible
even when anxiety comes. Learn how to embrace
a more resilient hope that will help you face
each day with certainty and peace. Well, Chip's
with me in studio now. And Chip, you've been
a pastor for nearly four decades. And with that
experience, you have a unique perspective into
what these church leaders are facing. And that's
why over the last few years, you felt such a
burden to come alongside them to encourage and
support them. Well, that is absolutely right,
Dave. I spend lots of time meeting with pastors,
not only individually, but in smaller groups
and then sometimes very large groups. And I don't
know if those listening have thought a lot about
this, but ministry leaders carry a very heavy
burden and they face unique battles. They're
pouring out all the time. The phone never stops
ringing. The emails for help, the demands on
them can be overwhelming. With a few exceptions,
most pastors are barely making it financially.
We at Living on the Edge, we're deeply committed
to providing real support, genuine encouragement,
and practical resources for their spiritual,
emotional, and even physical well -being. And
your generosity makes it possible for us to offer
seminars, one -on -one crucial coaching, and
practical help to pastors here in the U .S. and
around the world. And when we help a pastor get
healthy, guess what? The flock gets healthy as
well. If you care about Jesus' church and you
care about those he's called to lead them, would
you please prayerfully consider joining us in
this mid -year match? Your gift will really make
a difference. That's right, Chip. So if you believe
God is calling you to encourage and support pastors
with us, now's a great time to become a financial
partner. Because from now until midnight on June
30th, every gift we receive is being matched
dollar for dollar. There are only a couple of
days left to be part of our mid -year match.
So call us right now at 888 -333 -6003 or go
to livingontheedge .org. That's livingontheedge
.org or call 888 -333 -6003. As we close today's
program, we join the Apostle Paul telling us
that he's learned that being religious... You
know, tithing, fasting twice a week, being the
greatest intellect of the day, knowing all about
God is no substitute for really knowing him and
pressing in. And then I love his disclaimer here.
He says, not that I've laid hold of it yet. So
he's not saying that I've got it all together,
but what he's saying is that our struggles don't
define us. The real issue here is spiritual maturity.
And how do you become spiritually mature? And
I have a little schematic. I have a little picture
on my notes. And on the far left, it says spiritual
maturity is not compulsive perfectionism. In
other words, it's not legalism. It's not just
all you do. It's not external. And then on the
far side, I say spiritual maturity is not. complacent
passivity. In other words, it's just all God.
It's just all grace. I can live however I want.
And, you know, God's going to make it all happen.
And there's no responsibility on my part. In
fact, in the middle, then I say, spiritual maturity
is a passionate pursuit of knowing and becoming
like Christ. And that really means that the test
of your spiritual maturity isn't how often you
go to church, not how many wonderful experiences
you've had or not had. Spiritual maturity is
measured very, very simply. It's how much do
you and I love God and love people? Because,
see, the Spirit of God entered our life when
we trusted Christ as our Savior. Theologically,
we were taken out of the kingdom of darkness
and placed in the kingdom of light of his beloved
Son. And the Spirit of God takes up residence
in us, and so we have all the power we ever need
to be all that God wants us to be. And that's
his part. And the Spirit lives within us longing
to produce the life of Christ. And what Paul
is clear to say here is that it requires a passionate
pursuit on our part. But it also requires that
we forget what lies behind. You know, there's
some of you that are just stuck. And the abortion,
the divorce, the separation, the addiction, the
prescription drug thing that you just, I mean,
it still haunts you, the bad decisions, you're
living in the rearview mirror. Now, what I want
you to know is that God has forgiven and taken
care of those things. And the Apostle Paul says,
forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward
to what lies ahead, I press on. And so I'm going
to encourage you not to be passive and not to
think that just reading the Bible more or going
to church more will make you more like Christ.
It's important, but it's about relationship.
Could you pause wherever you're at right now
and sit quietly and say, Lord, is there anything
in my life or my attitude or my belief system
that's keeping me from drawing near to you? and
you having your way to produce the life of Christ
in me. Great challenge, Chip. And if you're sincere
about wanting to deepen your faith, we have some
resources to help. Go to truespiritualityonline
.org. You can order Chip's popular book, True
Spirituality, get the small group materials,
or watch countless insightful videos there. These
tools were designed to show you the clear path
to becoming a genuine follower of Christ. So
check them out today. That website again is truespiritualityonline
.org. You've been listening to a selected program
that we wanted to share from this past week.
To hear more from Chip's series, I Choose Hope,
go to livingontheedge .org or the Chip Ingram
app. Until next time, I'm Dave Drewy saying thanks
for listening to this weekend edition of Living
on the Edge.