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In Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up sings proudly, “I’ll never grow up — not me!” Perhaps we have sung that same tune in our faith? This week’s message invites us to leave behind childish ways and grow into the mature, joyful disciples Christ calls us to become. Please read more:
Several years ago, as I’ve mentioned before, I had the opportunity to perform in many civic theater productions. When you’re in a musical, you hear those songs so many times during rehearsals and performances that it’s hard to get them out of your head. One of the shows I was in was Peter Pan. I was one of the pirates, but like everyone else in the cast, I found myself humming Peter’s famous song long after the curtain closed:
“I’ll never grow up, I’ll never grow up, I’ll never grow up — not me!”
It’s a catchy tune, but as I reflect on it today, I see that Peter’s defiant refusal to grow up is a fitting metaphor for the spiritual life. The Bible calls us to mature in our faith, to grow in wisdom, love, and understanding. Yet for many of us, it’s easy to get stuck in the early stages of our faith, and like Peter Pan, we sometimes don’t want to grow up.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. Jesus did say, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). He was speaking of childlike faith, a faith that trusts, loves, and depends on God with simplicity and humility. But what often happens is that we confuse childlike faith with childish faith.
A childlike faith is beautiful; a childish faith is stunted. Paul drew that distinction when he wrote, “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11).
Many of us, though, still cling to childish ways of thinking about God. We want God to solve all our problems, grant our wishes, and make life easy. When things don’t go our way, we pout or withdraw. Our prayers can sound like a spiritual wish list rather than a conversation of love. We might say we trust God, but we still insist on keeping control.
Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen automatically. Just as a child must be fed and nurtured to grow, so too must our souls be nourished with Scripture, prayer, and the sacraments. Peter urges believers: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, so that through it you may grow into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
But notice that he doesn’t want us to stay on milk forever. In Hebrews 5:12–14, the writer gives a gentle but firm rebuke: “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk is still an infant in the knowledge of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature.”
In other words, the goal of our Christian life is growth, moving from milk to meat, from comfort to challenge, from self-centeredness to self-giving love.
So why do we resist growing up? Maybe because it’s comfortable to stay where we are. Children live carefree lives under the protection of others. Growing up means taking responsibility. Spiritually speaking, growth means surrendering our illusions of control, facing our sins honestly, and allowing God to stretch us. That’s uncomfortable.
In Peter Pan, the Lost Boys never grow up because they live in Neverland — a fantasy world where adventure has no consequence and time stands still. Many Christians live in a kind of spiritual Neverland too. We stay busy with activity, but we resist interior change. We attend church, say our prayers, and think that’s enough, but we don’t allow God to mature us in compassion, patience, and holiness.
Paul challenged the early Christians in Ephesus with these words: “We must no longer be infants, tossed by waves and blown about by every wind of doctrine… Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ” (Ephesians 4:14–15).
Growth requires effort, discipline, and surrender. It means being teachable when corrected, humble when praised, and faithful when tested.
There is a deep beauty in spiritual maturity. The more we grow, the more we resemble Christ, the One who was perfectly obedient to the Father. Mature faith does not lose its joy or wonder; it deepens it. It’s the difference between the shallow excitement of a child’s Christmas morning and the quiet, profound gratitude of a parent who understands the gift of love behind it.
As Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… that you may grow in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 3:16; cf. Colossians 1:10). Growing up in faith doesn’t mean losing our joy or imagination; it means learning to direct those gifts toward God’s glory rather than our own comfort.
So maybe it’s time for us to sing a new refrain, not “I’ll never grow up,” but “Lord, help me grow up in You.” Let us ask the Holy Spirit to move us from childish faith to childlike trust, from spiritual milk to solid food, from Neverland to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Heavenly Father, I no longer want to be tossed about by the waves of life and blown in every direction by our modern world. Help me each day to mature in faith and knowledge of You. Grant me the desire to leave my spiritual Neverland and help me to “grow up” in the ways of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen!
AMDG
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Please take a moment to share your thoughts about today’s message below.
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