God has designed His church to function like a loving family that you can invite people into. Church is not a place to issue edicts; church is a place to nurture growth. Church is a place for shepherds, not generals. Church is a place that exists for the purpose of helping people grow and mature from being spiritual babies to being spiritual adults.
Now, I’m not knocking babies. I love babies! Babies are always beautiful, even when they’re ugly. Whenever a mother brings a newborn infant into the church for the first time, smiles widen and a crowd forms. Right? People swarm around to see and to touch and to coo and to beg for permission to hold this little package of joy in their arms. Babies are great.
I love toddlers, too. I think the best entertainment in all the world is to sit and watch a little one, like Madison Erbaugh or Joshua Lopez, putter around and explore their world, and hear them giggle for glee when you toss them into the air and catch them on the way down. That’s great fun!
God loves infants and toddlers, as well. Jesus praised little children for their humble and trusting faith (Matthew 18:3,6), He opened His arms so they could come to Him, and warned people not to ever harm them. Jesus loves babies a lot!
But nobody thinks it’s cute when a person remains a baby for too long. If a small child never learns to walk and talk, never figures out how to feed himself, never outgrows his need for diapers, it’s a sign that something is terribly wrong. If your baby were to ever stop growing up to maturity, you’d call it a tragedy. If your teenagers were still acting just as immature as they did before they turned two, you’d be on the phone looking for professional help. Why? Because although we all love babies, we expect every baby to grow.
When God calls us to be His children, we all start out as spiritual babies. Jesus said that before we can ever be a part of God’s family and enter heaven, we must be born again (John 3:3). The apostle Peter tells us that we all start out our Christian lives as "newborn babies" who need the pure milk of the Word. (1 Peter 2:2). That is our spiritual starting point for all of us.
But God does not want any of His children to remain baby-like forever. Just like every other father does, our Father in Heaven wants His children to grow! Specifically, God wants us all to grow up and to mature by continually becoming more like His first and favorite Son, Jesus Christ.
I invite you to open your Bible to Ephesians 4:11-16. This portion of Scripture that we will be studying today explains this concept of growth perhaps more clearly than any passage. This is a central, core passage that is going to help us all to understand why our involvement in a local church is so vitally important to our spiritual life. In Ephesians 4:11-16, we learn what we need to do in order to make sure that we grow up as a Christian the way that God desires us to grow.
Last Sunday, in Ephesians 4:7-10, Paul described how the risen Christ has given each and every Christian a spiritual grace-gift which we are now to use for His glory within His church. We pick up his flow of thought in verse 11 -- "It was [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers..."
Verse 11 spells out four specific gifts of church leadership, each one of which involves teaching God’s Word.
When God gave birth to the church in the First Century, He used apostles and prophets to establish healthy believers by means of writing down the New Testament Scriptures. Today, God continues to build up the size and strength of Body of Christ through the work of evangelists, many of whom serve as missionaries around the world, and pastor-teachers, both of who teach the Scriptures to people.
But why bother? What’s God’s goal behind a pastor teaching the Bible to people? God’s answer to that question, in verse 12, is that the job of evangelists and pastors is -- "to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..."
Now let’s compare God’s job description to the stereotyped "pastor" in our culture who is expected to preach, lead, administrate, visit, marry, bury, care, and counsel. In many people’s minds, he’s supposed to be the superman generalist who "does" all the ministry for the flock, putting out all the fires, oiling the squeaky wheels, and solving all the problems.
But that’s all backwards. Ephesians 4:12 makes it very clear that a pastor’s main role is to equip and prepare God’s people to do the work of the ministry. How? By training the members to meet each other’s needs. My primary job is to help you to grow spiritually so you will become willing and able to do the ministry of the church. You pay me to get you to do the work!
Look again at verse 12 -- "to prepare God’s people for works of service". This word "prepare" comes from a Greek word [katartizo] which speaks of repairing and preparing a person’s life in order to equip him and get him ready for service.
For example in Matthew 4:21, this same word is used to describe James and John as they repaired and prepared their nets for fishing. It says (v.216) this involved cleaning the nets of seaweed and sticks, then mending parts of their nets that had been torn or damaged, and then untangling and folding their nets so that they would be quickly useable at a moment’s notice. All of this preparation was so that their nets would be ready to catch more fish. [These nets were not being prepared for storage, but for service.]
[In ancient literature, this same word is also used to describe a physician who realigns a dislocated limb in its socket or who sets a broken bone, bringing healing from the pain of injury and putting it back into proper relationship with the rest of the body. Paul uses this word to describe bringing people to wholeness by completing what’s missing for their full spiritual development (2 Corinthians 13:9,11).] That’s the result of being repaired and prepared too. It gets you ready to be effective fishers of men.
The way it works is that through the process of being equipped, trained, prepared and completed, Christians are restored to their proper dignity as ministers. According to 1 Peter 2:4,9, if you are a believer, you are a priest. Maybe you see yourself as just a regular, everyday, garden-variety Christian, but God sees you as part of a holy and royal priesthood. The ancient medieval distinction between clergy and laity, between priests and lay people, is completely unbiblical. The Bible calls you a priest! One of the key Baptist doctrines is "the priesthood of the believer".
What it means is that you and I are spiritual equals. I am no better than you are in the eyes of God. The fact that I went to seminary and wear the title of "pastor" is insignificant. God gives you authority to do ministry. You are not a second-class Christian. You are a minister. We have an entire congregation full of ministers. That includes you. So, if God gives you a vision to launch a new ministry that is uniquely your own, my desire is to release you to do it.
So when you’re talking to other people, please don’t call me "your minister," because according to the Bible, all of us are ministers. Please don’t call me "Reverend," because only God is worthy of that title. Don’t call me "clergy", because the Latin "clericus" means "priest", and scripturally, we are all priests before God, and your prayers are just as effective as mine. So, keep it simple; just call me "Dale". If you need to use a title, call me "Pastor". The younger kids can call me "Pastor Dale". But please, no priestly pedestals. Why? Because you are the ministers! Claim that title for yourself. You have a ministry!
[In fact, a legitimate question for me to ask you is, "How’s your ministry going?" Do you see it? God’s plan is -- "to prepare God’s people for works of service". The word for "service" or "ministry" in the Greek is diakonias, which is where our word "deacon" comes from.]
And the goal of your service for God is, stated in verses 12-13, --It is "so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Wouldn’t you agree that maturity doesn’t happen overnight? Maturity takes time. God can grow a squash in three months, but He’s not interested in growing Christian squashes. God wants to grow Christian oak trees that are strong and tall, and that process requires several years. It takes time to practice what we’ve learned before we can really claim to know it. Simply accumulating more knowledge in your head is not enough; only when you are able to apply your knowledge in your experience can you say that your knowledge is mature.
Think about that. If you had a young daughter, would you teach her to swim by having her take a correspondence course in swimming? Would you teach your son to drive by tossing him a driver’s manual, but never giving him a chance to drive? Of course not. To really learn, she’s got to get down into the water; he’s got to get behind the steering wheel and practice on low-traffic roads. In a similar way, the only way that you and I can ever grow spiritually mature is by putting our biblical knowledge into practice in the daily experiences of our lives, and that takes time. [As Hebrews 5:14 says -- "solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."]
So, what does maturity look like? It looks like Christ. If we are growing in maturity, our character is becoming shaped to be more and more like Jesus Christ. God’s goal is that through our mutual ministry to each other, we will each grow up to become like His first and favorite Son, Jesus Christ. He is the "ideal man". He is the epitome of perfection. The longing of every soul is to be more like Jesus. By serving each other in the church, as a church to become strong through both unity in our convictions and though maturity in our character.
But why? Why do we have to keep growing up spiritually? Why can’t we just stay like we are now? Paul answers that question in verse 14. He contrasts maturity with immaturity by drawing a stark contrast between baby Christians and mature Christians. Look at verse 14 -- "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming."
As I read this verse, in my mind there are scenes of a ship being tossed about and swamped by a powerful storm at sea, such as on Swiss Family Robinson or The Perfect Storm. Those kind of hard-hitting waves might be great if you’re a professional surfer, but not if you are a baby on board! A baby would not survive the ride.
In vs. 14, this word "infant" refers to a small child who is not yet old enough to speak, perhaps someone of toddler age. As you know, little children are notoriously gullible. They are easily fooled and taken in by strangers who might offer them candy if only they’ll get into his car. Paul here points out the fact that there are some evil people out there who desire to lead young Christians away from the truth. These people are cunning, crafty and deceitful. Paul warns us to watch out for them so we can avoid falling into their traps.
Every new believer begins the Christian life as a born-again baby, and often, it is in that first year or so after salvation that a person is an easy mark to be fooled by false teachers. These are the people who come to your door in pairs and say, "Hi -- we’re from a cult that doesn’t believe in salvation by grace alone, and we deny the Trinity, so we’d like you to listen to us twist the Scriptures in order to pull you out of your church and into ours. May we come in?"
That’s not what they say, is it? If only they were that honest! Instead, what they really say is, "We are Christians in your neighborhood talking to people about Jesus Christ, and we’d like to come into your home to study the Bible with you."
Do you see how subtle, how crafty, how deceptive that is? It can cause an undiscerning, naive baby Christian to be led astray by a phony, false teacher on their doorstep, or even sometimes, on Christian TV.
Paul describes baby Christians as those who are wavering and vacillating, "tossed back and forth by the waves." On the other hand, mature Christians are resolute and determined in what they believe. Baby Christians are gullible, "blown here and there by every wind of teaching", whereas mature Christians are more grounded and steady and rooted in the truth. Baby Christians are easily deceivable, led astray "by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming", whereas mature Christians are discerning and cautious to study the Scriptures for themselves. Do you see that contrast?
The bottom line is baby sailors on stormy seas often sink their ship! It brings spiritual disaster. That is why it is important that you not remain a baby Christian for very long! That is why you need to cooperate with God’s efforts to help you to grow up!
Do you want to grow up? If so, how? How can we keep growing up? What is involved in God’s ongoing plan for our spiritual growth and maturity as children of God?
In verses 15-16, Paul lists out three ways that God grows up strong Christians, and every one of these three ways takes place in the context of our being involved in a local church. He says, "Instead, [instead of being wavering, gullible, deceivable spiritual babies who shipwreck our lives on false teaching] speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
Can you pick out the three things we need to do in order to become strong, grown-up Christians? One, we link truth with love in communication; two, we stay closely connected in fellowship; three, we are willing to do our part in ministry. Let’s examine each of these three steps to maturity.
First, in our community, God wants us to always link truth with love. Verse 15 should be translated, "Being truthful in love". It’s not just referring to our speaking, but to all forms of our communication: our body language, the ideas we imply, the things we don’t say. If we are to grow spiritually, we must be truthful in love. Truth and love must be merged, fused, woven together. It sounds easy, but it’s not. It means, never let your truth be unloving when your confronting someone in conflict. And never let your love be untruthful, for example, when you’re evaluating a person on how they’re doing. [Neither is to be compromised, slighted or neglected. It’s not either/or, but both/and.] Keeping that balance is difficult, but choosing to always be truthful in love is our first step to growing up toward Christlike maturity. Some of us need to make that decision to always be truthful in love today.
[For example, Ruth has a big problem with her husband’s drinking habits, and she wavers constantly between truth and love. Sometimes she nags at him and yells at him about it, being truthful, but not loving. Other times, she goes into denial and pretends as though there is no problem at all; it’s her attempt to be loving, but not truthful. But until truth and love come together, he probably won’t really hear her heart.
Tom has a Christian boss whom he suspects is not entirely ethical in the way he keeps his accounts. This really bothers him, especially since his boss is on the Elder Council, but instead of talking to him about it, he keeps it all locked down inside. He waffles between being lenient and patient to protect his boss’s reputation, and between being angrily confrontive about this apparent sin. Somehow, he needs to be both truthful and loving at the same time.
In Matthew 18:15, Jesus urges us to be truthful in love. He says -- "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." The goal is love and reconciliation in the relationship, but the path toward that goal is to be truthful and up front and honest about how you feel.]
Our second step toward maturity is to always stay closely connected in fellowship with other members of the Body. When Paul speaks in verse 16 of -- "the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament", he’s talking about enjoining reconciled relationships within the church. It’s the joints and ligaments that connect us with other parts of the Body as we rub up against each other and lean on each other and cooperate with each other. These supporting ligaments refer to the times we study God’s Word together and when we serve together side by side. It is these joints in the body that keep all the parts of the Body interdependent on each other. I can’t imagine a body without any joints, can you? Without the joints, we’d be a sorry dislocated mess! We need those connection points of fellowship in order to grow.
Some of us need to make that decision to get more closely connected in fellowship with other members of the Body today.
Our third step toward maturity is to always be willing to do our part of the ministry. At the end of verse 16 Paul describes how the Body -- "grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." As each part of the local Body of Christ uses his or her spiritual gift to serve in a ministry, the result is that the church grows bigger (in quantity) and it grows stronger (in quality) -- but only as each part does its work.
Some of us need to make that decision to be willing to do our part of the ministry, starting today.
Most of you are familiar with Paul comparing the church to parts of a body in 1 Corinthians 12. Have you ever really thought about what part in the Body you play? What is your role? What is your ministry? What is your area of service in the body of Christ? Maybe you’re an eyeball, or kidney, or big toe, or gall bladder, or jaw bone. Whatever it is, you have a distinct and important function within the Body. You are needed within the Body to do what you were designed by God to do. Christ expects you to do your work of ministry or service in a way that will strengthen His church.
[Some of you are thinking, "I think I’m a vestigial organ." No!] There are no unnecessary parts in the Body of Christ! There are no little people in the family of God. Even if you think of yourself as just a big toenail, just imagine how it would hurt the whole Body if you became ingrown!
If you are a true Christian, Christ declares you to be a valuable and needed part of your local church. You are an unrepeatable miracle! You are a specialized part. No one else can do what you can do as well as you can do it. You cannot be replaced with a substitute part, any more than a surgeon can replace a defective stomach with a pair of lungs. Christ wants you to do in His Body exactly what He’s made you to do because you, as an individual, really do count.
[Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have lost their sense of identity as to what role they play in the Body of Christ. Like someone suffering from amnesia, they are asking themselves, "Who am I as a Christian, and why am I here? Just how do I fit into the family of God? In the midst of all the people and programs, do I, as an individual, really count?" Some people have the funny idea that when they place their tithes in the offering plate, that they are paying the staff to do the work of the ministry for them. No, that’s not so. Our job as staff is to equip you to do your work in the ministry well.]
One of the reasons why God has you here in this local church is that He wants you to grow to become more mature through the process of serving others. God is using this local church to grow baby Christians into mature Christians. That’s why we’re here. We are growing baby Christians into mature Christians.
I was extremely encouraged last Sunday to see that over 100 of you have already signed up to take one of the three short classes we’re offering on spiritual gifts and ministry. As a congregation, you are amazing! If others of you want to also get in on these classes, extra sign-up forms are still available today at the YES Table in the lobby.
By me inviting you to do that today, I’m doing exactly what God has asked me to do. So, if you’re one who’s still sitting on the sidelines, God says it’s my job to do all I can to activate you for front line duty. So, I encourage you to get plugged into a ministry, to get in shape for service, to get prepared to do your work of ministry. Why? So that the Body of Christ may be built up as you grow up to become more and more like Jesus Christ.
That is God’s plan for you! God wants you to be involved in your local church because He wants to grow all baby Christians into mature Christians.
Babies are cute, babies are wonderful, babies are beautiful, but nobody wants to remain a baby forever. It wouldn’t be healthy. That’s why God’s plan for a healthy church is to grow baby Christians into mature Christians. God stimulates us to grow through the process of giving each one of us a ministry, a ministry that forces us to learn and stretch and grow up. It’s a good plan. Our Heavenly Father thought it up. It’s God’s healthy plan for a healthy church.
So, which practical step of growth will you choose to take today? Maybe you will decide to always link truth with love in communication. Maybe you will decide to get more closely connected to others in the Body through fellowship. Maybe you will decide to do your part to serve in a ministry. Whatever God is leading you to do, take that step toward your own spiritual growth today.
