Growing Up Together

1 GROWING UP TOGETHER Spring Valley Mennonite; April 25, 2021; Ephesians 4:13-16 The first sixteen verses of Ephesians 4 is one of the most important passages in all the New Testament regarding the method God uses to accomplish His purposes through the Body of Christ which is the church. We find in this passage that the only way we can rightly experience the full blessings which are ours by our position in Christ is within the fellowship of the local church. The first six verses of this chapter tell us a "worthy walk" begins among other believers. Now, a worthy walk is certainly not to be limited to our behavior within the church fellowship, but this is where it begins. We don't learn how to live in a righteous manner out among non-believers, but in the fellowship of believers, with the assistance, guidance and encouragement and accountability within the family of God. Verses 7-12 further instruct us that each one of us has been given a special enablement gift from God-we call it a "spiritual gift." This gift is different than our natural abilities but may incorporate those abilities in its expression. These gifts are given at the time of our conversion, and they are not given primarily for our personal benefit. This is a crucial thought: spiritual gifts are given to build up others within the church. Verses 11-12 speak of how each believer is to be ministering to others, both in and outside of the church-Paul calls it "the work of the ministry." To facilitate this ministry work, God has given the church specially gifted individuals: Apostles, Prophets, evangelists, Pastors and teachers. This review brings us to our text for today, verses 13-16, which defines what "building up the body" means. Observe these verses as I read them. (Read vv. 13-16.) We find here a most important concept for we believers, that of growth. These verses emphasize that: I. GROWTH IS EXPECTED AND NORMAL FOR EACH BELIEVER Growth is seen several places in this passage: verse 13 speaks of "maturity"; 14 gives the expectation that we are to be mature rather than immature children; 15 states clearly that we are to grow up in all aspects into Him" and 16 sums it up by saying that as we as individuals grow as the church grows. So, growth is normal and expected in the Christian life, just as it is in the human body. How tragic it is when a child does not develop in a normal manner physically. In such a case, we spare no expense in diagnosis and treatment. Yet how diligent are we within the church when this normal and expected spiritual growth cycle does not occur? The growth of believers is a major theme in the New Testament. This is an exciting concept, for it counters the idea that once we are saved all we need to do is to sit around and wait for the Lord's return. Salvation is only the beginning point of our spiritual life in Christ. For first 2 time parents, the birth of the child is such a significant thing. But for the new parents, the birth experience is soon overshadowed by the nurture and care of the newborn. Babies are cute and wonderful, but we expect them to grow. Likewise, as believers in Christ, born again from the dead, we are expected to grow in the spiritual sense. Let me pose a question: what determines what a baby will become as an adult, physically speaking? Is it not his unique genetic code, the combination of the combined codes of the parents? This code, incorporated into the child's DNA, determines how he will develop physically. I think there is a fantastic lesson here: each of we believers has been born spiritually by the Spirit of God: 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are new creations in Christ, so I ask you: what is the origin of our spiritual "genetic code?" Is it not from Jesus Christ Himself? This tells me that each one of us has the capacity to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ, the perfect Man. We have within us the capacity for Christlikeness! This is what Paul means when he says in verse 15, "grow up in all aspects into him..." But there are also factors beyond the genetic makeup of a child which determines how well he grows. We all realize how a child's environment affects his growth. Emotional and mental development is subject to many factors. You may have had experience with children or adults who have grown up under conditions of physical or emotional abuse, or even experienced that yourself. One of the great problems of our society is that so many are products of neglectful or abusive homes. As individuals in society suffer, our churches suffer from the arrested spiritual development of their members. A vital question to be asked is: II. WHAT ARE THE FACTORS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH? The development and growth of our physical body present parallels to spiritual growth. For example, consider first proper nourishment. 1 Peter 2:2: "...like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word that by it you may grow in respect to salvation..." The Word of God is the food of the believer, absolutely necessary for growth. The point is that we must be "taking in" the Word. Being in this service, the main teaching time of the church, is a good beginning, but only a beginning. Adding Sunday School, home Bible studies, personal devotions, solid Christian radio and television programming, and reading Christian books-all these add spiritual nourishment. And our growth will be proportional to our spiritual diet. About 20 years ago a man brought a lawsuit against McDonalds claiming his health problems were caused by his 40 year habit of eating fast food. And his claim is probably true, although blaming someone for his bad habits and poor choices is foolishness. But apart from the lack of merit of the lawsuit, there is a spiritual lesson here: we can take in spiritual "junk food" which isn't very nourishing. There are churches which dispense junk food every Sunday. This is also 3 true with books written for the Christian audience, television, and radio programs, as well as music. As we need to be discerning what we eat, so discernment is required for the spiritual food of which we partake. Good spiritual food is necessary for proper spiritual growth. Not everything labeled "Christian" truly is worth consuming. But we must remember that it is not only hearing the Word but following and obeying what it says. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments. James calls for us to be "doers of the Word" (James 1:22). A second Christian growth factor corresponds to a child's family environment, or the people with which time is spent. Growth occurs within a body of believers; this is one of the main points of this whole passage. We are part of a body which grows as each member contributes. Verse 16 says that growth occurs together. An arm or leg severed from the body ceases to grow. Just as a child with a good family thrives, so Christians thrive in a healthy church. A third factor in spiritual growth has to do with the individual choices we make. A child with the best family and the best food can still make destructive choices which will stunt his physical, social, and emotional growth; for example, a child from a good family can choose friends with poor moral values, or he can choose to take drugs. From my experience as a Pastor, the single most important factor for growth for a Christian is in the choices we make. Often we resist applying the principles we find in scripture. We can choose to not listen or to not obey when the Sprit is speaking to us. We can choose to live with such a full schedule that there is no time for ministry activities. We can choose to pursue the pleasures of sin rather than the pursuit of righteousness. The power to choose is an awesome gift from God, but the good news is that God greatly rewards those who make the right choices. Are you choosing to follow hard after God this morning? Is it your choice to not miss a single bit of God's goodness? The goal of growing spiritually, like that of physical growth, is maturity. What does maturity look like? When I was a child, my mom marked my height on the woodwork going into the kitchen. A couple of times a year she would mark my height and that way I could see how much I had grown. It is more difficult to measure spiritual growth, isn't it? Are there metrics by which such growth can be measured? I think the Spirit is giving us some indicators of maturity in these verses. III. INDICATORS OF MATURITY The first indicator is found in verse 13 in the worlds "to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." Simply stated, the indicator is Christlikeness. How do we measure up compared to Jesus? 4 If you are like me, this indicator is somewhat discouraging. I would much more like to compare myself with other people, for I can always find someone who, in my opinion, is less spiritual than myself! Yep! If I can compare myself with others, I can look pretty mature. A child came to his day and announced that he was now eight feet four inches tall. "Really?" said his dad. "Show me your ruler." The son was using a six-inch ruler, and actually, he was only four feet two inches tall. It is a universal truth that we tend to think we are much more mature that we truly are. The reason we are over-estimating ourselves is that we are using the wrong ruler. Don't measure your maturity against anything other than Christ. Anything less would give us too much "wiggle room." The second evidence of maturity is spiritual and doctrinal stability. Children are notorious for having a short attention span. They constantly flit from one thing to another. In fact, a good rule of thumb is that children can concentrate for one minute for each year of age, i.e., a three year old can concentrate for three minutes. Nothing holds the interest of a child for long. This is the point made in verse 14. When we vacation on the North Carolina coast, a favorite activity is playing in the waves. It is common for the winds to pick up in the afternoon and the waves get bigger. The rougher the surf, the harder it is to stay on an inflatable raft. The floats get tossed around by the waves because they are so light in weight. That is the picture of an immature child, a "spiritual lightweight" who is being tossed and blown here and there by the waves of unbiblical teaching. We are involved in a battle of ideas. Our enemy is crafty and is the "father of lies." He delights in hiding an ounce of error in a ton of truth. Notice the words used in verse 14 to describe the tactics of evil in our world: trickery, craftiness, and deceitful scheming. As a result, unstable and immature believers are in danger of being drawn away from the solid truth of the Word. For example, take the hot issue of the day, gender identification. What does the Bible say? "And God created them male and female." Two genders, determined at birth. It doesn't matter what a person wants to be, but our devilish culture tells us that each person can decide what gender he or she wants to be. It threatens women and girl's athletics. Laws are being passed which make it illegal for a parent to interfere with any choice a child wants to make regarding gender. Anyone criticizing such laws is guilty of "hate speech." And woe be to you on many college campuses if you refer to someone contrary to the pronoun they prefer! The culture is a very strong force which can draw untaught and ignorant believers astray. Another example is the common word "spirituality." It seems many people seem to be pursuing this goal of "spirituality." That's a good thing, right? Our culture affirms this idea. But spirituality can mean anything from worshipping nature to evangelical Christianity. 5 Many of these people would self identify as agnostic or atheistic saying they are "spiritual but not religious." Of these "spiritual" people, individuality and independence are high values, and the freedom to define God as they want is an identifying characteristic. The danger is that many immature believers have bought into the opinion that all spiritualities are equal. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." Religious fads ebb and flow in society. A mature Christian knows what the Bible teaches and measures every doctrinal idea against Holy Scripture. He is stable in His beliefs. Verse 13 speaks of a knowledge of the Son of God which leads to maturity. Every cult can be evaluated by how they treat Jesus Christ, the Son of God. A mature believer does not deviate even a little bit from the Biblical truth of Jesus Christ. To deviate puts one's soul in jeopardy, for there is salvation in no one else other than Jesus. Stability in sound Biblical doctrine and truth is a mark of spiritual maturity. Another evidence or indicator of maturity is seen in verse 15: it is love joined with truth. Many have seen this as license to point out sin in someone else. When we need to correct someone, it is to be done with love and humility. And that is true, but correction of someone else is not the primary meaning of this phrase. "Speaking the truth in love" is a single word in Greek and can best be translated "truthing in love." It applies primarily to my own life, not to others. It is so much more than just speaking the truth; it is living the truth in a loving manner. I don't know about you, but I find this mark of maturity to be somewhat troubling. I have no problem speaking the truth, standing here before you preaching the true world of God. It is quite another story to open myself up completely to examination of the way I really am. But that is a mark of spiritual maturity. Do we really want to know the truth about ourselves? About our inconsistencies, or mistakes or shortcomings? I resist that! I don't want to admit that there is anything wrong about myself. In a book by V. Gilbert Beers is a quote that relates. It reads, "Error is the inevitable consequence of living. Mutual error is the inevitable consequence of living together. Argument or fault-finding is the defensive mechanism to preserve an ego in trouble. Confession is the sacrifice of ego on the altar of love. Forgiveness is the balm of healing that sooths and heals the wounds of error. Joy is the fresh new path, stretching out before the forgiver and the forgiven." "Truthing in love" is a mark of maturity, living honestly and admitting mistakes. Self-discovery is frightening and perhaps shocking but exceedingly healthy. Pastor Ray Ortland once said, "The moment you begin to take a good, square, honest look at yourself and see yourself as you are, with all the façade stripped away, may be most painful but also the most hopeful moment in 6 life." It is hopeful because from then on you can live freely, not trying to protect anything, not needing to live in dishonesty any longer. That is "truthing in love." And it is a mark of maturity. There is one final indicator seen in verse 16, and it is best described as cooperation. The mature Christian does not try and go it alone. He realizes his interdependence with others in the body. He needs them, and they need him. Paul uses a word here which is used only one other time in the New Testament. It is the word translated in English as "being fitted and held together." Note that it is in the passive voice, someone is doing the fitting and holding we believers together-we don't do that part ourselves. God has placed us where we are in the body of Christ, in the place we are to be, among the believers He wants you to be with because you need them and they need you. The acceptance of the ministry of other Christians to you is both a factor in spiritual growth as well as being an indicator of maturity. All the parts of the body are designed to minister in harmony with one another. Part of maturity is realizing that we are all different, with a different mix of gifts and abilities, and accepting those differences. Everybody does not have to thing or be just like you. One last thing I will say about growth: it is a process. Real maturity is attained over a lifetime. While being honest with yourself, also be patient. We all have the spiritual "genetics" to become like Christ. Keep your face turned toward the Lord, keep plodding with one another down the pathway, growing in faith. God is not finished with you yet. Remember Philippians 1:6: For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."