The Pulpit Speaks: November 11, 1961

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

“But when I became a man” — 1 Cor. 13:11

Every one today wants to be grown. Mothers everywhere are looking at little John and Sue, trying to find signs of maturity. Careful records are kept telling when he took his first step, uttered his first word, or grew his first tooth.

Book after book tells the parent that these are indicative of the maturity of the child. If many of these signs don’t show up soon, parents get concerned that the child is not growing as he should.

But what is this thing called maturity that causes so much concern among people today? A few days ago, Ann Landers gave a good picture of what we should have as we think in terms of “maturity.” First, she says that maturity embraces many things. The first thought should be the ability to see the picture as a whole. Far too many times, many of us see only a part of the picture; in the whole scheme of things, we see only a part — and a small part of the picture at that.

In the second place, a “mature” person is able to stick to the project or situation which he has started. The ability on the part of many to stick to a task once begun spells defeat as far as the picture is concerned. Somewhere down the line, each one of us must be able to evaluate a picture and then stick to it. The very fact that many people are unable to stick to a task is evidence of a lack of maturity.

Again Miss Landers declares that maturity is the ability to face the unpleasant things of life and keep going. It is at this point that many fail to measure up. In these instances, many people spend entirely too much time fighting the unpleasant things of life than accepting them and making the most of them.

The life of Jesus brings this to our attention very vividly. Had Jesus taken time out in His life to fight those forces that sought to destroy Him, He would have never achieved His mission. In a like manner, many of us fail to accept the unpleasant things of like and, thereby, never exhibit the best of which we are capable.

Time and time again we see people with natural abilities who never live up to what is expected of them. How many lives do we see daily that are wasted because they fail to do that which they are capable of doing? Life is so designed that survival is predicated on doing the best of which one is capable. This idea carries with it the idea of being able to keep one’s word.

When we speak of maturity, we think of a person being able to see a situation and designing means able to conquer the situation. Life is full of situations that demand that each of us must put the most into it. Nothing short of this will ever show to the world that we are mature.

Paul tells these Corinthians that when he became a man, he put away childish things. This it the thing that must happen to each of us. Not only must we be satisfied with physically growing, but we must also grow morally, spiritually, socially and culturally. Any time we fail to do this we fail to mature.

Another factor marking maturity is shown in the ability of one to give up the non-essential. Too many times people tend to carry the immature things on into adulthood with them. They cry at the slightest provocation, they become angry for no apparent reason, or hold on to small peeves when these things long ago should have been forgotten.

All of these things tell those about us — and should tell us — that we have failed to grow up. If we are ever going to be mature, we will have to give up these things.