Page 14 - Mission Journal

MISSION &

ISSUES

Dr. Caroline Njuki

The journey towards spiritual ma- himself up while holding on to furni- ed.
turity may begin with a spiritual ture, then standing, and finally walk- Spiritual maturity is the backbone

awakening, which eventually becomes ing. A friend told me that her son did- of the mission. The mission is articu-
a way of life. This evolution can help n’t crawl either but would pull himself lated as proclaiming the gospel and
us to engage in mission meaningfully. up using the family dog and walk with making disciples of Christ through the
The spiritual maturity journey could it until he could walk by himself. manifestation of the love of Jesus.
be compared to a baby’s journey from As a child, spiritual awakening and Christian leaders must prepare believ-
birth to maturity. ers to become spiritually mature to
A newborn baby is con- serve in ministry meaningfully to en-
fined to one place with no gage in mission.
ability to turn on its own.
Years ago, in Africa, moth- Those in mission have "a strongly
ers were told to turn the ba- felt aim, ambition, or need" to make a
by every two or three hours positive change in their congregations
to not lay on one side for and the world around them. Some in-
too long otherwise, the baby vest their focus on addressing the neg-
might end up with some de- ative impact of global warming; oth-
formity. ers focus their energies on human
I’m not sure if this was rights issues, children's or women's
“old wives tales,” but this issues, in addition to spreading the
was reinforced into new "good" word while preaching. But
mothers right after delivery whatever their mission, it starts with
until they left the hospital. their passion and enthusiasm.
At the initial stage of its de- Christian leaders such as apostles,
velopment, the baby cannot prophets, evangelists, pastors, and
recognize anyone in the teachers have reached a level of spir-
family. itual maturity that enables them to
As time goes by, the ba- awareness can be the beginning of a carry out the responsibility of preach-
by becomes aware of its surroundings journey towards maturity and fulfill- ing the gospel and nourishing their
and gets familiar with the mother, fa- ment. (1 Corinthians 13:11 When I communities. They can represent
ther, siblings, and finally, other house- was a child, I used to speak like a God's Kingdom on earth, influence
hold members. The baby eventually child, think like a child, reason like a society, interpret God's ideals, and
learns to move, sit up, crawl, and fi- child: when I became a man, I did address issues of injustice, alleviate
nally start to walk! It is the baby’s away with childish things). suffering, etc.
mission journey to maturity.
During this time, the baby invests The word mission comes from the In our journey towards spiritual
every effort to accomplish its Latin words mitto (to send) and mis- maturity, we take one step at a time to
“mission.” Its efforts can be com- sion (sending), so simply put, we as a reach a higher degree of conscious-
pared to the journey towards spiritual church are missional and are sent to ness and humbleness. It brings us
maturity, which doesn’t happen in a proclaim the good news and make dis- closer to living in a harmonious rela-
day, and involves twists and turns. ciples of Christ. There are many ways tionship with each other and the
Each child takes its own time during to deliver missions or good news, alt- world. Maturity is the knowledge that
the various stages and uses different hough this is up to debate. Some comes with purposeful intent. It
methods. Some skip a few stages alto- would say, “The Great Commission?” evolves as we become more aware of
gether. is primarily referencing God’s send- who we are, our mission, and the state
My baby brother never crawled. ing. For the purpose of this article the of our being.
He went from sitting, then pulling various meanings will not be includ- As mature Christians, we continue

14 Mission Journal