who "gets" it

Recently I found myself in a room of spiritual friends and leaders, thinking together of how to define spiritual maturity.

In previous years, we've often used the ambiguous phrasing: who "gets" it. It's purposely undefined, because every time we seem to start writing definitions of maturity, they become cold and robotic, or cumbersome and wordy. Or both.

Trying to define an intuitive concept.

Thinking about who "gets" it as a follower of Christ is not supposed to be a judgemental activity. It's so much more a thoughtful inclusion: a mental and heart loop that says, "who do I want to connect with? Who is as resolved as I am to follow Jesus even on the days we both can't find up?

So we finally came up with some sentences that help create a definition. Today I sat and refined them with my thoughts, and came up with the following:

------
Someone who "gets" it:
- describes a living relationship with God that would remain even if their community fell off the map
- in awe
- makes personal life choices under God: wants God’s way
- returns to the scriptures again and again to find God’s way
- believes that life is short and we only have one life to live; feels that Jesus’ Great Commission applies personally
- embraces personal weaknesses – knows that God shows real spiritual power in them
- emotionally understands their “lostness”; “forgiven much loves much”
- oriented towards others
- highly values “we” – community, hospitality, sharing lives and possessions
- derives sense of purpose from the bigger vision of the Kingdom of God
-----