When isn't Christian maturity Christian maturity?

The discussion of what a mature christian is can be either helpful or unhelpful depending on the baggage people come with.  There is no doubting that the bible calls us to grow in maturity.  Ephesians 4:12-14, Philippians 3:15, Col 1:28, Col 4:12, Heb 5:14, James 1:4 are just a few of the passages that aim at or talk about christian maturity.  Christian maturity is vital, it is what enables us not to run from one set of teaching to another set of teaching, it is becoming more like Christ.

But one thing christian maturity is not is impatient or judgmental of others who it feels are not maturing quickly enough.  Because christian maturity does not happen apart from the fruits of the spirit; "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  The mature follower of Jesus will lovingly want people to change and understand more of what it means to be in Jesus but will joyfully, patiently, faithfully and gently encourage that change in others.  Praying for it, discussing it, building others up and so on.

Yet we are naturally impatient people, we long to see people change and become more like Christ.  But our thoughts on christian maturity must not be divorced from the fruit of the Spirit, they are the fruit of the mature.  If we don't have them we are not mature!

That doesn't mean that we don't encourage people to change, that doesn't mean that we accept that life is the way it is and will never change and give up aiming for change, or that we just allow people to coast.  But it does mean we patiently wait as we aim for change as we teach the bible and apply it to others and ourselves.  It means we model change in light of God's word, we talk about what God is teaching us and how we are struggling to apply it to ours lives as enabled and empowered by the Spirit.

It's interesting how often we are impatient with others because we forget how long change has taken in us.  We expect others to grasp ideas the first time they hear them forgetting that God has graciously, lovingly and slowly taught us, shown us our need and repeatedly prompted us to change at a pace at which we could handle.  We expect people to grasp the big idea of a talk and apply it in their lives when they first hear it whereas we have taken hours in the study thinking it and its implications through.

We need to long for change, to aim for change, to teach for a realisation of the gospel in practice whilst praying that God would work in his time.  We need to do everything we can to foster and encourage growing christian maturity whilst not becoming frustrated at the way in which God works that change.