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*Walking toward Maturity *(Part two)
*Ephesians 4:13-16*
With the runaway success of the Church Growth Movement, I fear that a whole generation of churches and church leaders is in danger of forgetting the difference between growth and maturity.
As one man said, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
Or, as Dr. Al Mohler puts it, “A crowd does not equal a church.”
This is a critical distinction for us to understand.
We began last week looking at the idea that a worthy walk is a walk toward maturity.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul is describing for us a model for the ministry of the church.
We learned that Christ has gifted all believers and given gifted leaders to the church so that the church might be equipped to do the work of service.
This, in turn, leads to the building up of the body.
There is an obvious element of growth in that picture.
As we continue looking at this passage from vv. 13-16, we see that the trajectory of the growth is toward maturity.
It is not aimless growth.
It is not malignant growth.
It is growth, building up, toward maturity.
The biblical picture of a growing church is not measured by mere attendance statistics, the footprint of the facility, or the giving trends.
It is not based on how polished the preacher is, how slick the promotional materials, or how often they get mentioned in the press.
The biblical measure of growth is whether people are moving toward maturity in Christ.
Of course, this forces us to ask some questions.
If maturity is the mark of true growth…
* What are the marks of maturity?
* What are the marks of immaturity?
* What instruments or processes does God use to move us toward maturity?
As we make our way through vv.
13-16, we will seek to answer these questions and get a feel for what it means to walk toward maturity.
I.
A Pattern for Walking toward Maturity
A.
Marks of Spiritual Maturity.
1. /Unity of the faith/ = not the subjective act of belief,
but the objective content of what is believed.
In other
words unity in the faith means agreement on the
essential truths that define Christianity, unity in the
gospel.
2. /Unity in the knowledge of the Son of God/ = like faith
just mentioned, unity in the knowledge of the Son of
God also marks the move toward maturity.
The idea
of knowledge here is best understood again in an
objective sense.
In other words, learning more about
Christ.
It is unity in our understanding of Christ.
3. /Christlikeness/ =/ To the fullness of Christ/ = spiritual
adulthood or Maturity that is marked by being like
Christ.
The idea of fullness implies a life that is a
reflection of Jesus Christ.
So, it is not simply
intellectual unity or factual unity.
It is putting that
knowledge to work so that our lives begin looking
more and more like Him.
4. /Loving service/ = it is clear from verse 16 that another
mark of spiritual maturity in the church is when all
believers are serving one another in love by using the
gifts Christ has given them to build up the body.
B.
Marks of Spiritual Immaturity.
1. Note the contrast in v. 14 between adulthood and
childhood.
There are marks of immaturity as well.
2. /Doctrinal instability/ = the picture is that of a boat
being tossed around by a storm at sea.
It is carried
here and there by every new blast of wind.
In this
case, it is every new gust of teaching that comes
along.
3. /Spiritual gullibility/ = the word trickery literally
means “dice playing.”
The picture painted in v.14
is one in which gullible people are manipulated by
schemers who employ deceptive methods to take
advantage of others.
(reminds me of the shell games
I used to see in downtown Dallas).
APPLICATION~/ILLUSTRATION:
Beloved, we are living in a time when doctrinal instability and spiritual gullibility characterizes much of the church.
Consider the evidence.
* /Long held doctrines which have historically defined evangelicalism are now routinely questioned or flatly denied/.
* Justification by faith through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness (NT Wright and others with New Perspective theology)
* The complete foreknowledge of God of all things has been denied by Open Theists.
* The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross has been denied by some in the Emerging Church.
Steve Chalke called it “cosmic child abuse.”
* The Emerging Church movement has called into question whether there is such a thing as objective, absolute truth.
A paper by Tony Jones of Emergent Village says that orthodoxy is an event, defined by the community, not an objective doctrinal standard established by the Bible.
* /Doctrinal instability and spiritual gullibility have made many Christians and churches subject to fad-driven faith./
* Books and products with little or no foundation in biblical study or theology become bestsellers.
Has anyone forgotten the Prayer of Jabez?
* Authors and preachers who deny essential Christian truth are touted as visionaries and leaders.
T. D. Jakes is a good example.
He denies the doctrine of the Trinity.
Yet, he ends up speaking in nationally known venues Ed Young Jr.’s Creative Church Conference as a model for other pastors and churches to follow.
* A band-wagon mentality exists in which many churches are looking for the next magic bullet to help them “grow” so they uncritically adopt the latest program from the latest mega-pastor and implement it.
* Churches have adopted worldly models from Fortune 500 corporations as their model for pastoral ministry.
Dear people, these are signs of spiritual immaturity.
We must be careful that we do not trade our birthright of true spiritual maturity for a bowl of the porridge of worldly success.
There is a difference between growth and maturity.
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