(May 21, 2025) Dr Richard Winter continues his vital challenge that Christians should grow in Christ, maturing in their faith. In this Part 2, he shares on some marks of Christian maturity…

1. Participant not Spectator!
This a self-revealing truth! When you join any branch of the military— army, navy, air force, marines, space force— the day you take the oath of allegiance to serve, the day you put your uniform on, you are no longer a civilian or spectator.

From that moment on you are trained to serve—

• To understand that the mission is both to protect and to attack.
• No longer the opportunity to be an armchair critic.
• No sleeping in and leaving it to someone else to do.
• You are fully committed to serving, following instructions.
• Being ready and being aware of where you are and what’s happening.

Day one brings a new awareness to what is happening in your days—

• New lessons are to be learned, a new ‘worldservinview’ is to be understood.
• You are no longer a bystander, but a fighting member of the armed forces.
• Your country expects you to be well trained, to serve even unto death if needs be.
• And you take each mission objective fully to heart.

1. Participant not Spectator!  
This is a self-revealing truth! When you join any branch of the military— Army, navy, air force, marines, space force— the day you take the oath of allegiance to serve, the day you put your uniform on, you are no longer a civilian or spectator.

How different is that to being a civilian who has none of these requirements to obey or to be expected of him or her—

• Military machinery, guns, aircraft, naval vessels are impressive… but because you’re not serving you don’t really know how they work.
• Nor do you know the Esprit de Corp that holds serving members together as one unit made up of many squads, platoons, divisions, armies, navies and squadrons.
• You are a spectator, not under orders. You’re not trained to fight. You can sleep in when you want to, do what you want. All that exercise? Wow… leave that to someone else please.

God-honouring, Jesus-follower, Holy Spirit-filled Christians are not spectators! They are called to serve our great commander to be involved! To quote from that old Charles Wesley hymn—

 Soldiers of Christ, arise,
  And put your armour on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies,
  Through His eternal Son;
  Strong in the Lord of Hosts,
  And in His mighty pow’r,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts
  Is more than conqueror.

The apostle Paul was able to declare ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith’(2Timothy 4:7NASB).

2. Protective Godly Armour
Just in case someone has bypassed some facts about Christianity, the Bible has several scriptures relating to being in God’s army. In Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul tells us to get dressed in your military uniform— put it all on because you are in a war!

• The belt of truth.
• The breastplate of righteousness.
• Protective shoes.
• The shield of faith.
• The helmet of salvation.
• And the sword of the Spirit (God’s word).

The ‘full armour of God’ is a biblical metaphor, representing spiritual protection and preparation for battle against spiritual evil. It’s not a physical armour, but a spiritual shield against Satan’s wiles and temptations.

Remember when you see someone in uniform you know which service he or she is in! When you see a Christian in his or her Christian uniform you will know whether they’re fully dressed or only somewhat! The world doesn’t like military personnel who shame their uniform— nor does it like half-hearted Christians!

Jesus defined the Christian Mission just as our military service know their mission and He gave instructions and specific teaching about it— if you are saved by the blood of Jesus, this mission is for you. Indeed this mission is for every church and every Christian.

3. Particular Backed-up Mission
Jesus laid it out clearly in Matthew 28:18-20—’Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’

As Christian disciples we will have our worldview changed… we will no longer seek to be conformed to the way this world acts and thinks, rather we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit to think and act like Jesus. It’s a totally different view of life!

There is a spiritual war happening all around us. Sometimes visible but much is invisible until we see the results of its evil.The Lord is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9).

The question is— Can we see where we are and what’s happening? A spectator could say, ‘Look: There’s another who’s going to hell. Oh well, it’s their decision not mine.’ But a participating Matthew 28:18-20 Christian would say, ‘Not if I can help it!’

Once we become a Christian it is not a matter of simply watching the world go by— it’s doing something while we have the opportunity! Yes,we should take every Great Commission opportunity to share Jesus and the gospel with the unsaved. But note—

4. Pinpointed Action Involvement
God will probably not ask you to become a missionary and go to Africa or anywhere else on day one! He may do that later when you’re trained and got ministry experience … and are prepared to answer to His calling to be a fulltime missionary. But from day one He will ask you to do put your faith into action locally!

James, half-brother of Jesus, starts with the basics in James 2:14-15— ‘What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead’ (emphasis mine).  

Mature Christians will put faith into action and avoid being a spectator in a world that is filled with people who need help! We must all take note that James highlights that faith without works is dead. And pointed out that ‘good neighbour (Christian or overwise) help’ through faith actions can indirectly lead to witnessing.

In other words, if you have it within your means to help, give to, serve, love, be an example of Jesus, then you shouldn’t just give lip service; you need to put your faith into whatever  action is needed!

Someone might say, ‘But I thought my faith was only about believing in God, and not what I do?’ James anticipated this question, and in verses 18-20 wrote: ‘Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that— and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?’ (emphasis mine).

D. L. Moody the great evangelist said: ‘Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather.’ And James says in verse 17 that seeing and not doing is a sin… ouch… a sin? Yes! To quote this verse in the Message Bible— ‘Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?’ 

In other words, when you see the need, start walking to it and see if you can fix the problem!

5.  Partiality Concern Warning
Military personnel are trained to be cautious. When you do anything unto the Lord, you’re putting your faith into action and a word of caution needs to be given here ie You don’t have to meet every need of every person; only the needs that the Holy Spirit directs you to.

And why? Christians need to exercise discernment, because some people can take advantage of  well-intentioned believers. So avoid favoritism or partiality… as James point out: as James point out: ‘My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism’ (James 2:1).

Christians may not like to admit it, but even in church people can be partial toward certain people. People are easily impressed with others concerning the amount of money they make, the car they drive, the clothes they wear, their job, the number of letters after their name, their looks… the list goes on and on.

There have even been studies that demonstrate that attractive students get more attention and higher evaluations, good looking patients get more personalised care from their doctors, handsome criminals receive lighter sentences than less attractive convicts, and good-looking people make 11% -15% more money than unattractive people.

Do you think such studies are telling us the truth? Have you seen this in your life experience? There are two major reasons why favoritism is sin—

(i) It is inconsistent with God’s nature
God doesn’t show favoritism, because it’s contrary to His nature, so to show favoritism stands in opposition to the character and nature of the Lord.

Just think about the weather— does God show favoritism with the elements. No, He sends rain and sun on everyone not just those who believe in Him. Matthew 5:45 states that God makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, that He sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. This scripture emphasises God’s universal care!

Dr Luke wrote about Peter understanding that God doesn’t only love the Jews but every one of His creation. He recorded that Peter commented that ‘I now realise how true it is that God treats everyone the same … He accepts people from every nation. He accepts all who have respect for him and do what is right’ (Acts 10:34–35NIRV).

If God accepts everyone but we don’t, it’s because we elevate one person over another, and sin.

(ii) It is forbidden
Why? Because it not only shows the way we pander to certain people, it exposes hidden discrimination against others.

James clearly says so: ‘Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?’ (James 2:3-4).

Favoritism violates the law of love because God has instructed us to know not only Jesus’ Great Commission but to know and live His Great Commandment of John 13:34— ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’

James 2:8–9 follows up on this— ‘If you really keep the royal law found in scripture, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.’

God is not impressed with someone’s net worth, appearance, education or wardrobe; none of these things matter to Him. He evaluates a person’s worth solely on the basis of the value that that person has attached to life… which God sees as being of inestimable value!

We are to see each other as God does; irrespective of all the social stigmas or relative value that we place on people. So what will we do? Faith in Jesus requires us to spring into action wherever we are! Christians who do nothing are not loving or serving God.

James challenges us to get busy loving people as God loves us. We don’t work just to get our heavenly rewards; we put our faith into action because we want others to have the same blessings!

6. Persevering Serving Followers
Serving one’s country is tough at times, it can be a load, a yoke! I mentioned above that training is a vital part of service… recruits are promptly trained by experienced leaders.

Regarding serving Him, Jesus said: ‘Become my servants and learn from me. I am gentle and free of pride. You will find rest for your souls. Serving me is easy, and my load is light’ (Matthew 11:29-30NIRV). Message Bible reads, ‘Walk with me and work with me— watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.’

The danger of living today is that we can live with a Christianity that makes you comfortable but costs you nothing. We must strive to be a force of people that is disciplined, educated, prayerful and dangerous to the kingdom of darkness.

It is too small to live a life that means just going through birth, schooldays, work, retirement and death. We must bless people, encourage people, and represent God in all phases of life.

It’s too small of a thing to just leave our city in the poverty of a poor Christian witness. It’s too small a thing to just make a ‘trivial’ effort to reach unreached people. For those us who live in the wealth of easy gospel access we must share our wealth with the world.

It is God’s master plan and we better not think too small. People will know us by what we do… if we are well-trained followers of Jesus, we will bring glory to God. Matthew 5:14-16NLT is clear on this: ‘No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.’

Yes we will face trials— but we will preserve through them and in doing so our words must match our actions.

7. Prominent Christianity Highlights
I’ve shared some marks of one maturing in our Christian growth! There are others… but allow me to remind you here that—

At salvation you get a new life—

• A new worldview.
• A life without the penalty of past sins.
• An eternal relationship with God.
• A command to share Christ with others and to love thy neighbour.’
• And’… an opportunity to suit up, put your uniform on, and let the world know you are in ‘God’s Salvation Army.’ (Now that’s a good play on words).

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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com  Link: Hiding From God? Haven’t You Got it Yet
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