When I Grow Up...

Introduction

One of my favorite things to ask children is this, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This question brings about so many different answers. Now the answers usually change with age and gender, but typically you hear things like...

“I want to be a...

ballerina, doctor, scientist, astronaut, police officer, firefighter, princess, baseball player” or, at some point if you would have asked Larissa she would have said, “a janitor.”

But, the answers to this question usually starts out as something sweet and innocent. The children want to grow up to be like someone or something they look up to, something they want to emulate. As they grow older, and realize how hard, or how much time, or how much effort it takes to be some of those jobs they change their answer, and, sometimes, they never quite figure it out.

When I was asked this question as a child, if I’m remembering correctly, my progression went like this..

Baseball player, astronaut, construction worker, photographer, musician, counselor, pastor, doctor, and then pastor again.

But, this morning, I’m curious, what do you want to be when you grow up? Now, this may seem like a strange question at first, since you are all pretty much grown up, but I want you to keep this question in your mind as we read through Ephesians 4:1-16 again,

Ephesians 4:1–16 NRSV

1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” 9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

As we read through this Scripture, you may have started picking up on two different sections. It seems that Paul begins by talking about one common thing, and then shifting to something else.

In verses 1-6, Paul is talking quite a bit about unity. He’s calling for the church to unite under their similarities and their connection to the truths of the one God and his one work of salvation.

Then, in verses 7-16, Paul’s focus shifts from unity in the church to a focus on the diversity of gifts within the church.

But, before we go any further, it’s important for us to understand the context of these passages. So, let’s learn a little bit about the city of Ephesus and the people that gathered to make the church.

The city of Ephesus was an important port city on the west coast of Asia Minor. It was a place of great civic importance, one where many wealthy people lived. As a Roman city though, and like others, it held more servants than it did wealthy. Now, the city held one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis. In Greek mythology, Artemis was the sister of Apollo, a virgin archer-huntress. This Temple made Ephesus the center for Artemis worship, and it encouraged a fascination with magic, the occult, and brought about many religious ceremonies and lifestyles that paid homage to Artemis.

The church in Ephesus was certainly an outlier, something strange to the rest of the people. While a majority of the people were worshipping the goddess Artemis and Caesar, the church in Ephesus was worshiping the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.

As you can imagine, the struggle between a new way of living and the old way of living would have been very difficult. Worshiping the Greek gods was not a “let’s gather together on a Sunday morning for an hour, sing a few songs, and listen to some guy speak for a few moments.” No, it was a lifestyle, a way of living. It was, at its core, an identity.

Meaning, we have this incredibly diverse, very important and prestigious port city, where the people are either pagans, Hellenistic Jews, or Christians. Diversity was a huge deal here, but this diversity wasn’t based on something under Christ, but on beliefs outside of Christ.

Paul begins this part of his letter by calling for unity within the church, knowing that the people there came from various backgrounds, previous beliefs, and lifestyles. But, how can unity like this exist in a place so diverse already?

Well, Paul begins by urging the believers to not simply identify themselves as believers, but to actually live like they are believers. This means a complete and total lifestyle change, a breaking away from the norms of the old and a movement into the norms of a believer.

We read in vv. 1-3 that the believers are to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Paul says, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Now, this calling is not just a occupational calling. Right, you’ll hear pastors especially talk about being “called” into pastoral ministry. The calling here that Paul refers to is not that, but a calling to belief in Christ. It’s a calling to simply be a follower.

So, he says that they must walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling of being a believer. To do this one must be humble, gentle, patient, and able to bear with one another in love. Those who walk to the walk are eager to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

To Paul, unity wasn’t just a word attached to the name of the church, nor was it something that was simply said, it was something real, something visible.

Now, you have to image that as the people who first heard this letter were listening they were probably thinking, “oh man, I’ve got to get along with that guy?” Right, there is still this struggle between the Jewish people and the non-Jewish Gentiles. Yet, Paul says, “no, unite in the Spirit.”

Now, in vv. 4-6 Paul continues this discussion of unity, but it’s no longer about the believer, but what they believe. He describes God’s unity. He says that there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Paul is saying that not even God is divided, nothing of God is divided, so why should the body (being the church) be the exception?

Now, beginning of verse 7, Paul begins to talk about something that seems to be counterintuitive to unity, diversity.

He claims that Christ gave each of the believers in Ephesus grace according to Christ’s gift. To back this, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18 and is connecting the two by saying that Christ, as the head of the church, leads the body of believers, the captive, and gives them gifts.

After making his argument to the church that Christ had descended from Heaven to earth and then ascended back after death, he lists the gifts that had been given. Paul says that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.

This list includes different ministries within the church, and Paul is saying that each of these ministries, each of these gifts, they are unique and individualistic. Yet, all are united as gifts from Christ. So, while talking about diversity, Paul is still promoting unity!

But, what’s the point of these different gifts? What are they supposed to do?

Ephesians 4:12 says, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

The whole purpose for people being called to different works and ministries in the church is not to highlight one over the other, but so that these people may equip the saints for the work of ministry. What this means is that ministry gifts that are given to the leaders, when used correctly, will encourage and uplift the other believers (or saints as Paul calls them) to use THEIR own gifts as well.

These gifts, and their use, have a threefold ultimate goal: (1) unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, (2) to create mature believers, (3) to have mature believers who are Christ-like. This is found in v.13. Paul says that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers are supposed to work to lift up the saints and equip them to do ministry so that the entire body of Christ can be united in faith and knowledge of Jesus, so that they can mature, and so that they can be like Christ.

What this means is that unity and maturing can only happen when the saints use the gifts they have been given by Christ for the work of ministry.

He then moves into reasoning. Paul says that all of this is done so that “we may no longer be children.” As he talks to this port city he uses imagery of sailing. He says, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Paul counters those who are mature in Christ with children. Children who are easily tempted, swayed, fooled, and overwhelmed. Within the church these believers are caught up in every doctrine that comes about, believing it all to be true. They lack wisdom and fall to cunning, crafty and deceitful schemes. The maturing believer is not pushed by the schemes of people, but stays rooted to the truth. While deceit sways, the believer speaks truth in love.

Now, Paul concludes this section of diversity by wrapping it under the umbrella of unity under Christ. Paul calls the church the body underneath the head of Christ. When the diverse church, filled with unique and wonderful gifts, matures in their faith, walks humbly, with gentleness and patience, walking in love, and works properly, the end result is a growing body which builds itself up in love.

Now, all of this, these 16 verses, they sound wonderful and nice. But, what does it mean for the audience that’s not in 1st Century Ephesus? What does it mean for us?

Well, earlier as we talked about what you wanted to be when you grew up, and I asked you “what do you want to be when you grow up,” Paul gave us the answer that we should all give.

“When I grow up, I want to be like Christ.”

I would venture to say that many of us here this morning recognize that maybe we aren’t the mature believer that we once thought, but rather, we are the child. We are young in our faith, still immature, still easily influenced by false teachings and feel good statements. There are many of us here and in the world who say and think they are mature believers, when in fact they are but children.

As I grow in my faith, in my knowledge of Jesus Christ, the goal of my growth cannot be “so that I can be a better person.” The goal of my growth cannot be, “so that people like me more.” Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the goal of our growth, and He’s the very one who allows growth in our lives to take place.

It is not enough for us to just say we believe and do nothing more. We cannot continue to be a generation of Christian believers who say we accept Jesus and the truth of Scripture and then sit on our hands waiting for death.

We must strive to grow, to stop being children, and become mature. This means that our lives after accepting Christ cannot look the same as they did before Christ. It means there is a change not in just what we do on Sunday mornings, but in our every day lives. It means that we eagerly search our lives for the gifts that Christ gave us and seek to use those gifts in the church and in the world.

It means that to grow as a Christian, to mature from childhood to Christ-likeness, we must be engaged with one another, prompting each other to grow, holding one another accountable with love, so that we can all stop being the children who are easily swayed, and become the mature believer who sees Christ as the head.

If we as a church, as a group of believers, understand this and learn to live our lives more like Christ, using the gifts that He gave us, encouraging others to use their gifts, we will grow. We will be a center of mature disciples who make more disciples and help them mature as well.

Our walk with Christ is more than a one-time prayer and a golden ticket to heaven, it’s an entire life change that happens not in just an instance, but over a lifetime. So, no matter how old you are, or how long you’ve been a Christian, it is possible that you are still just a child.

So, when you grow up, make your ultimate goal to grow up into Christ, so that you will not only be a mature believer, but so that we can make the Kingdom of Heaven a reality here and now.