Spiritual maturity under attack from within the body?

Shouldn't Christians hold themselves to Biblical standards? Not perfection, but a knowledge of the Bible enough to know what is "Christian" behavior and what is not? A relationship with Jesus that includes understanding His instructions, that because they are designed for our good, that we should want to follow them, and live inside the goodness that He wants for us?

I guess I figured that was a major part of being a Christian: working out our faith, learning, growing, maturing. We're all at different points in that journey, sure, but if we are believers, we should all be moving in the same direction, pressing toward the same goal. We should look to more mature believers to set an example in word and deed, to be encouragers and to inspire us to keep moving forward in our own spiritual maturity.

I find sometimes though, that when someone does hold themselves to that standard, makes that effort, and publicly does seek to spur others toward spiritual discipline, love, and good deeds...that some other Christians mistreat them, ridicule them, or deride them for it. Call them things like judgmental, sanctimonious, self-righteous, etc.  Some of the most scathing and damaging insults I've seen have been levied from one Christian to another. 

The result is a serious lack of mature believers willing to be bold and live their faith out loud, because of repeated abuse. They leave it to the pastors who were never meant to be solely bearing that weight, and under which many of them fall.

Another result is stagnation in the lives of those mature believers - who then begin to feel washed up and useless or stale in their prayer life. Without imparting their knowledge, without raising up and encouraging others, their faith becomes routine and boring. Their own spiritual growth stops advancing.

Instead of attacking people of faith when they speak out and fulfill their purpose as disciple-makers, we need to listen to them, and when we feel pricked by their words or convicted by their example, we need to spend time with God in prayer, not lash out in name calling tirades that reveal our weakness. It's ok to be pricked, to be convicted, even to be offended! If we're faced with a Biblical truth that we're not comfortable with, it will offend us until we take it to the Lord and work it through with Him. But it's not the messenger who has offended us. It's the Bible, and biblical principles, so our conflict is not with a person, but with God, and the solution is to surrender our will to His in that new area that has been uncovered.

We need more mature believers to speak up, to teach and disciple. We need example-setters, people who aren't perfect, but are willing to live transparent lives and illustrate faith and relationship. If the immature are allowed to bully the mature laypeople in our churches, isn't that backwards and counter-productive? How will anyone grow, at any level, if that is the status quo?

Conversely, the mature believers have a grave responsibility to guard their lives and doctrine closely, so that as they do live a transparent life, discipling and leading by example, that their example is a pure one above reproach. They should be humble and receive (appropriate) correction when it is warranted, be quick to apologize, clarify, recant, or repent depending on the situation.

This seems like basic Faith 101 stuff, but it continues to be an issue that is not restricted to any one church or denomination. Nothing I've just said is new, it's all a regurgitation of biblical principles...and all of us can benefit from them.