Growing up into Christ: A Biblical Model for the Pursuit of Christian Maturity

In 1956, Christian author Richard Halverson argued that Christianity was on the verge of its greatest challenge, a challenge hastened by “the consummate progress of man’s genius” which “has precipitated a crisis in human affairs.” The challenge in reference was immaturity. Viewed by some as a “truce of error” or an “immoral deadlock,” Halverson contends that it was a “tragic substitute for the peace for which the world languishes.” Halverson is right! The world languishes without hope or answers, like sheep without a shepherd, wandering aimlessly looking for solutions. While this may appear to be a physical or sociological problem, in reality, it is a spiritual problem that demands a spiritual solution: “Either Jesus Christ is, as He claimed to be, the one adequate answer, or Christians have nothing to say to an un-certain, explosive world.”