Is there anyone here who used to read On Being magazine?
For the final edition of that quality Australian Christian magazine, before its relaunch as On Being Alive in February 1998, the editors asked a range of Christian leaders about their expectations and their thoughts on probable trends for the Australian church.
Several common perceptions stood out: an increasing reliance on lay ministry, the need for greater emphasis on repentance and prayer, the challenge of Christian witness in a postmodern culture. Another shared concern was articulated by the late Gordon Moyes, then Superintendent of Sydney’s Wesley Mission, in his usual confident and forthright manner:
Mainline denominations are in free fall. Decline is rapid . . . There is no future until there is a renewal of biblical Christianity . . . [I fear] continued acceptance of a humanist agenda. More members, especially those seeking a feelings-based faith, will settle not for the meat of the word or even the milk of the word, but merely for the froth.[1]
We may not understand precisely what Dr Moyes meant by “a renewal of biblical Christianity,” or the “humanist agenda,” or his pouring cold water on a “feelings-based faith.” Those phrases probably tell us more about the man than about the church’s future. But his analysis and warnings deserve a thoughtful response, even a quarter of a century on.
Dr Moyes was, of course, alluding to the biblical text we have read together this morning: Hebrews 5:11-6:3, and the problem of spiritual immaturity, an apparent lack of what we call “faith development.” If there is a continuing crisis of spiritual leadership and practical discipleship, resulting in a decline in church health, there is also a sense of confusion about how to fix what is broken.
We can do worse than going back to the basics at a time like this.
A healthy church draws on five balanced biblical purposes: worship, evangelism, service, fellowship and discipleship. Today, we’re looking at the church as a discipling community, a community committed to encouraging all its members to grow deeper and stronger in their faith, as together we seek to follow Jesus.
The Macquarie Dictionary defines a ‘disciple’ as “a follower of Christ,” or “an adherent of the doctrines of another.” Jesus attracted many disciples, and chose twelve who learned from his teaching and from observing and imitating his way of life. The pattern was repeated by the early church, and through the past 2,000 years. Today, the Christian education and mentoring of young women and men (and older ones too) remains vital for the health of tomorrow’s church.
In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, Ted Engstrom retells a Native American story about a man who found an eagle’s egg and placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with the chicks and grew up among them.
Every day, he did what the prairie chicks did, thinking he was one of them. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects; he clucked and cackled; he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground.
Years passed, and the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky, hanging motionless on the wind currents, and soaring aloft with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
“What a beautiful bird!” the changeling eagle said to his neighbour. “What is it?”
“That’s an eagle, the chief of birds,” the neighbour clucked. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.”
So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought, and died in the false belief that it was a prairie chicken.
Most of us can identify with that eagle in one way or another. When it comes to Christian living, don’t be like that eagle! Don’t be content with the status quo. Don’t remain content with where you’re at now. With God’s help, keep growing, keep changing, keep developing, keep learning.
There are several barriers to spiritual maturity. Many factors can prevent us from realising our potential in Christ: ignorance, laziness, fear, distraction, lack of good leadership.
The biblical text that we call the letter to the Hebrews was written to warn Jewish Christians against turning away from Jesus and returning to their comfortable Jewish ways. The writer of Hebrews says, “Hold onto your faith in Jesus!” There are three barriers here to spiritual growth in the Christian way:
We may be slow learners (5:11). Do you feel like you’ve entered a season of life where you’re back-pedalling, and allowing yourself to be carried along without effort, without direction? Be aware of your situation, and resolve to do something about it, with God’s help.
We may forget basic Christian teaching (5:12). This can happen to all of us. If your life is heading in this direction, take the time to recall what originally drew you to start following Jesus. Return to the basics, and rebuild the foundations of your faith. Have confidence in what you believe, and why you believe it to be true.
We may avoid ethical challenges (5:13-14). Perhaps you’re unwilling to cut old ties, or some new challenge has crossed your path, leading you to question your ethical framework or take the popular road instead of the path of principles.
It may take hard work and sacrifice, but facing our ethical challenges, and withstanding various kinds of temptation to do wrong, builds character and blesses not only ourselves but others.
God wants us to grow and flourish. What is this text saying to us today? It offers several encouragements to spiritual maturity.
First, spiritual maturity is an attainable goal (Heb 5:12-13). If you’re feeling deflated, or dejected, don’t be daunted; don’t be discouraged. Press on! Reach for the goal! Take that next step forward.
Second, spiritual maturity is the result of conscious discipline (Heb 6:1; 1 Tim 4:7). It will take hard work and sacrifices of various kinds, but the outcome is worth it. “No pain, no gain” is a principle for the spiritual life as well as the gym and the sports arena.
Third, spiritual maturity is a continuous process (Heb 5:14; 2 Pet 3:18). Build on the foundations that you and other trusted people have laid. Keep moving onward and upward. Quality growth takes time. Trust the process.
The most effective and comprehensive way to develop maturity as a follower of Jesus is to engage with the spiritual practices that we discover in the Bible. Serious and sustained engagement with the classic spiritual practices is not meant to be a kill-joy, but to help you be more joy-filled.
An emphasis on spiritual practices is not a reversion to salvation based on works. Scripture is clear that our salvation is never earned, but it requires effort. In grace, God offers the gift of eternal life freely to all, but he does expect us to do our small part in actively following Jesus, and pressing on to maturity in our Christian lives.
Most of us already practice several of the core spiritual disciplines; we just need to refresh our awareness of their centrality, and their potential, and keep pressing on with them.
If you’d like to take this further, there’s a handout listing ten common spiritual practices at the door to get you thinking about what fits well with where you are at. There are also many good books and podcasts to guide you through the field, demonstrating the disciplines and offering tools for implementation in group and individual contexts.
And, in February and March 2026, we are planning a series of sermons and associated activities with Practising the Way, a teaching resource created by Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon and led by pastor and author John Mark Comer.
I want to conclude today by reading an extract from a poem by the Welsh poet and minister, R. S. Thomas, titled, “The bright field” (1975):
Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush.
Turn aside from the mundane, from the rat-race, from the endless pursuit of the acquisition of things, and let God surprise you with grace, mercy, and truth.
Turn aside, and ask God to guide you into spiritual maturity, growing you to your full potential in Christ, so that you may bless others.
Sermon 834 copyright © 2025 Rod Benson. Preached at North Rocks Community Church, Sydney, Australia, on Sunday 9 November 2025. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020).
[1] On Being, December 1997/January 1998).
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