Churches Designed to Mature
Our children are growing every day. It’s noticeable and beautiful. But our children are also growing in maturity. This is not as visible. It’s painfully slow, but still beautiful.
Children are designed to mature into adults. When they don’t, we notice something’s wrong and wonder what happened. In the same way, churches are designed to grow into maturity.
Thankfully, God doesn’t turn us loose to figure out how to grow up on our own. He’s provided his people a means to their maturity. This is what we find in Ephesians 4:7-16.
We can summarize this text like this: Jesus gives his church ministers of the word to equip the church to build up the church. God’s design is that his word would equip his people to do his work of maturing his body.
Ministers of the Word
Verse 8 says that the ascended Christ “gave gifts to men.” Then in verses 11-13, Paul explains how Jesus did this, and how it works in local churches. The main idea here is that some gifts release the other gifts.
The gifts listed in verse 11 are all word-gifts. All these people are ministers of the Word. They all speak. My view is that the apostles and prophets were irreplaceable and foundational gifts to the church (2:20), and that “evangelists” and “shepherd-teachers” are contemporary expressions of those foundational gifts.
“Equip the Saints”
What are these word-gifts meant to do? Paul’s argument in verses 12 and following is that the exalted Jesus gave the word-gifts to the church to release the church for ministry, for the sake of the church’s unity and maturity. Again, some gifts release the other gifts.
Paul says in verse 12 that the word-gifts are given to “equip the saints.” This means that ministers of the word are primarily equippers, not administrators, life-coaches, counselors, or managers.
What does “equipping” mean? “Equipping” means helping someone become adequate at something. When you start a new job, you probably don’t feel ready for the work. But as you get trained, as you get equipped, and as you start working, something amazing happens over time: you start doing the job! And you may even start doing it really well. All because someone took the time to equip you.
How do we do “equipping”? Equipping is primarily done through teaching because the ones doing the equipping are minsters of the word. Any trainer will tell you that their job is to essentially help people by teaching them. The only way to learn something is to be taught and then to practice over and over.
“For the Work of Ministry”
Who’s supposed to be equipped? “The saints.” This isn’t a special class of Christians. This is all Christians. All Christians need to be equipped. But why do Christians need to be equipped? “For the work of ministry.” Broadly speaking, this means, “the work of serving each other.”
All of God’s people are ministers and therefore need to be trained for ministry. I love how Paul Tripp describes this in his book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands. He says, “Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals, but that simply is not the biblical model. God’s plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ. The leaders of his church have been gifted, positioned, and appointed to train and mobilize the people of God for this ‘every person, everyday’ ministry lifestyle.” Tripp says that the Bible’s model for ministry is “all of my people, all of the time.”
This is a radical change from the consumeristic mindset of many churches. A church’s culture must change for every member to see themselves as a participant rather than a consumer. Churches aren’t like restaurants, where a few people are busy serving while everyone else watches. Churches are families, where everyone’s in the kitchen preparing a meal together. Everyone has a job. Everyone contributes. Everyone enjoys the fruit of their collective labor.
Do you realize that, even in a small church like ours, it’s impossible for the elders to meet all the ministry needs that we have? And that’s okay because the elders were never meant to be the only ones doing ministry. I love how Pastor Jamie Dunlop puts it: “Elders lead ministry, deacons facilitate ministry, the congregation does ministry.”
What’s your ministry in our church? In what ways are you giving yourself for the good of others? Think more organically, not programmatically. Whose faith are you strengthening? Many church members spend their entire lives being equipped but never get around to ministry. We’re equipped for a purpose. A soldier is trained for battle. A doctor is trained for surgery. A teacher is trained to teach. A Christian is trained for ministry.
“For Building Up the Body of Christ”
Paul goes on to say in verse 12 that the church is equipped “for building up the body of Christ.”
You may be prone to immediately think about numbers, thinking that “building up” means growing in attendance, membership, and giving. But that’s not what Paul is referring to.
Paul uses the word elsewhere to refer to how we treat one another. Romans 14:19, “Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” 1 Corinthians 14:26, “When you come together…Let all things be done for building up.” “Building up” the body of Christ is something we do together. It’s relational and mutual.
One of the primary ways we do this is through our words (Eph. 4:29). What we say to each other, what we teach, sing, and pray should build up the church. The church grows as we use our words to encourage and reassure and admonish and pray for one another (v. 15).
Paul says at the end of verse 16 that Christ makes the body grow “so that it builds itself up in love.” Christ grows us as we strengthen one another with words spoken in love. “Building up the church” has far more to do with the church’s spiritual condition than its physical condition. “Building up the church” is concerned with a church’s relational health.
The role of the word-gifts is to help the church build up the church, not to grow it numerically. The job of our elders is to help you build up this body, to encourage you and train you to do the work of building up the church.
How Do the Elders Seek to Equip You at Preston Highlands?
Because the main way the church is equipped is through the word-gifts, our elders are committed to training you for ministry primarily through our Sunday morning worship gathering, where we all gather to read, sing, pray, and listen to the Word of God. We also seek to equip you through Training Classes on Sunday mornings at 9:00, the Wednesdays in the Word podcast, community groups, and book giveaways.
Our goal is not information downloading. Our goal is to see your life transformed by the Word of God so that you can then help others know and follow him. God will talk to the elders one day about how we carried out our equipping ministry (Heb. 13:17). And church members will talk to God one day about how you stewarded what you were given (2 Cor. 5:10).
A Mature Church
Verse 13 says that this equipping work should continue “until” the church reaches unity and maturity. Interestingly, Paul doesn’t use the plural form “mature persons” but rather uses the singular form “mature person.” He’s referring to the church, saying that the church must “attain to a mature person.” We often think of maturity only in terms of individual believers, but in this passage the emphasis is on the maturity of the church.
How do we know if a church is maturing? Using this section as a guide, a maturing church is “walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which they’ve been called” (v. 1). A maturing church is growing in humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love (v. 2). A maturing church is growing in unity and peace (v. 3). A maturing church is humbly and joyfully following the lead of their leaders, applying what they learn, and using their gifts to strengthen other believers (vv. 11-12). A maturing church is full of members who’re seeking to use their gifts to build up the body (v. 12). A maturing church is a church that is collectively growing to look like Jesus Christ.
Maturity Is for Our Spiritual Safety
Verse 14 says that the church must mature for our own spiritual safety. Being a spiritual child is dangerous because a spiritual child isn’t strong enough to hold their ground when a storm of false doctrine blows in.
When me and the kids ride on a lazy river, I can walk against the current if I need to. They can’t. I’m strong enough to go against the current. They aren’t. A spiritual child doesn’t have the strength to walk against the current and is therefore more susceptible to drowning. A spiritual adult has the strength to stand in a storm of “every wind of doctrine.”
Growing in maturity means growing in our ability to discern good doctrine from bad. One of Satan’s primary ways of hindering God’s work in the church is by misleading immature believers who aren’t grounded in the Word. This is why so many evangelical Christians have become Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses or part of the Word of Faith movement.
Relatedly, the number of evangelicals who believed unfounded conspiracy theories over the last several months reveals a dangerous immaturity in the church in America. Just because you read it on the Internet or heard it from a friend doesn’t mean it’s true. Mature believers “test everything” and “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21).
There’s a supernatural and evil power behind those who twist the truth of Christ and his word. Our enemy wants to pervert and destroy all that’s good and true, so we must watch and pray.
“Grow Up in Every Way”
In verse 15, Paul says that the church needs to “grow up.” Even Paul knows he needs to grow (“we”). Maturity is the goal of every Christian and every church. It isn’t optional, it’s essential. A Christian wants to mature. They aren’t okay with immaturity. We’re to grow up “in every way.” There aren’t any areas of our lives that we don’t need to grow in.
The rest of the verse helps us understand more specifically how we need to “grow up.” We’re to “grow up into him who is the head, into Christ.” In other words, we’re to grow to look more and more like Jesus.
If we think about what Jesus was like, we’ll see some of the ways we need to “grow up.” Jesus had deep affections for God. We should be growing in our affections for God. Jesus was obedient to the Father. We should be growing in obedience. Jesus knew the Scriptures. We should be growing in our understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus was led by the Spirit. We should be growing in following the Spirit’s leading. Jesus always spoke truthfully. We should be growing in truthfulness. Jesus loved people regardless of their ethnicity, social status, or sin. We should be growing in our love for all people. Jesus loved his enemies. We should be growing in love for our enemies. Jesus’s life was marked by generosity and sacrifice. We should be growing in generosity and sacrificial love for others. Jesus pursued the lost. We should be growing in our pursuit of the lost.
The Source of Our Growth
Verse 15 says that Jesus is the goal of the church’s growth. Verse 16 says that he’s the source of its growth, “from whom…” Verse 15 emphasizes our responsibility to “grow up.” Verse 16 says we’ll only grow up if Christ grows us up. Our responsibility and God’s sovereignty are side by side.
Jesus is the one who makes the body grow. He gives us his life, his Spirit, his Word, and his gifts, all of which guarantee that his work in us will be completed. Paul says, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).
God’s sovereignty over the church’s growth shouldn’t lead us to be passive spectators, but active participants. None of us are too young or too old to grow up. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean that God’s going to go easy on you. You don’t get a pass because you’re new to the faith or the church. And you don’t get a pass just because you’ve been a Christian for a long time. None of us are where we need to be. We all have immaturity that needs to be worked out.
Jesus Died for Our Maturity
And one day it will all be worked out and we’ll all stand before Christ completely mature. But, while we wait for that day, God doesn’t allow us to park the idea of maturity out back. Instead, from heaven, Jesus gives his church ministers of the word to equip us for the sake of maturity. Maturity was on Jesus’ mind when he sat down at the Father’s right hand.
Of course, we can’t grow if we aren’t alive. If we haven’t been born again by the Spirit of God and made alive in Christ, then we won’t grow in Christ. Dead people don’t grow. Only those who’ve repented of their sins and put their trust in Christ will be growing in Christ. And those in Christ will give evidence that they’re in Christ by their growth and maturity in Christ.
Jesus didn’t die for a static people. He died for a dynamic and growing and maturing people. Jesus died, rose again, and ascended back to heaven to create a people on the earth unlike any other people on the earth, a people who’re growing daily to look more and more like Jesus.