(#AmazonAdLink) Both of these studies, along with all the others in this series, are drawn from my book, (#AmazonAdLink) God’s Blueprints for Church Growth.

The Task of the Church (Part II): Growing Adults (Ephesians 4:15-16)

“… but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:15-16

When the majority of people in the United States think of “church growth” they think of a church that has more people attending the Sunday morning service this year than last year. Such numerical growth in the pews leads to a larger budget and maybe a larger building.

So it is not surprising that one popular book on church growth begins with the following statement:

Since 1966, [our church] has grown from 125 to over 13,500 in worship. We have gone through five building programs and two complete relocation projects, the last of which cost over ninety million dollars (including land, construction costs, and architects’ fees). We have gone from an annual budget of eighteen thousand dollars to an annual budget of eighteen million dollars.^[1]

This is the popular definition of church growth. According to most, church growth is measured with bodies, bucks, and bricks, with more people, more money, and bigger buildings.[2]

Since growth is one of the top priorities of every local church, those who measure church growth with bodies, bucks, and bricks will often use whatever means necessary to get such things. I have a comic strip in my office showing a pastor asking his elders for ideas on how to grow the church. He says, “Besides calling every Sunday ‘Easter,’ does anyone else have ideas for improving church attendance?”

I also have an article from TIME magazine about a church whose “Ultimate Goal” was to get 40% of the people in its area back to church within one year. The article reported that in order to accomplish this, the pastor sang and danced the Lord’s praises in an “electric whirlwind” which he termed, “Aerobics of the Lord.” He executes choreographed jumps, leaps, and twists that the faithful try to copy. And when the Spirit really moves, he pours buckets of holy water on his ecstatic audience.^[3]

Yet this is fairly mild compared to what some churches do. One pastor in California collected a file of news clippings about how churches were employing innovations to keep their worship services from becoming dull. In only five years’ time, “some of America’s largest evangelical churches have employed worldly gimmicks like slapstick [comedy] … wrestling exhibitions, and even a mock striptease to spice up their Sunday meetings.”^[4] If churches want more bodies, bucks, and bricks, these are some of the things that churches can do to accomplish this kind of growth.

However, just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should. But maybe the real problem isn’t so much in what these churches are doing, but why. Maybe the problem is that they are chasing after the wrong type of church growth. What if numeral growth is not biblical church growth? What if God’s idea of church growth is not measured with bodies, bucks, and bricks, but with some other measurement entirely?

If this is the case, then most of what we do in church could possibly be wrong! After all, if our definition of church growth is wrong, then the methods we use to achieve this growth will also be wrong.

Thankfully, the solution is relatively simple. If a poor definition of church growth leads to flawed methods to achieve this growth, then the simple fix is to get a right definition of church growth. Once we properly define church growth, then our methods will fall into place as well.

What Church Growth Is

The definition of church growth proposed in chapter 1 of my book, (#AmazonAdLink) God’s Blueprints for Church Growth. I state that church growth occurs when we teach and train the people who are the church to become what God wants them to be so they can do what God wants them to do. This definition of church growth is drawn primarily from Ephesians 4:15-16. These verses show what church growth is and how church growth is accomplished.

The definition of church growth was foreshadowed in Ephesians 4:13, where Paul described the model that church growth is patterned after. A completed building should end up looking like the model. The model in Ephesians 4:13 was Christlikeness. This is what Paul states in Ephesians 4:15 as well. While the first part of the Church program requires us to protect the spiritual children, this is primarily so that the second part of the church program can be accomplished, which is to grow the children into adults. Paul wants his readers to grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. In other words, a church is growing when the people in the church are becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.

Remember, the word “church” is not defined by how many people meet, or even when or where they meet. The church consists of the people of God who follow Jesus into the world. Church growth happens when spiritually immature Christians (the spiritual children of Ephesians 4:14), are corrected, trained, taught, encouraged, and equipped (2 Tim 3:16–4:4) in such a way so that they become spiritually mature Christians.

Church growth happens when the individual Christians who make up the church grow into spiritual maturity as exemplified in their Christlike behavior toward other people. They grow by learning the Bible and learning to obey the Bible. They grow by learning what their spiritual gifts are and finding ways to put them into practice so that they become who God made them to be. Church growth, therefore, is about building up one another to Christlike maturity and service.^[5] Ultimately, they do this by learning to live and love like Jesus. That is biblical church growth.

Logically, this means that it is possible to grow a church and actually shrink in size. If a church of 100 loses 50 members, but these 50 become more like Jesus Christ, then that church is growing. Alternately, if a church of 500 doubles in size, but few mature into Christlikeness, then that church is not growing, even though they have gone from 500 to 1000 in attendance. With this understanding, it is entirely possible that a church is still growing even if they lose most of their people, hardly have any budget, and have to sell their building. A local church with few bodies, bucks, and bricks can still be a vibrant and growing church. A church in which the people are maturing is a growing church, regardless of how many people there are, where they meet, or how much money is in their ministry budget.

It is helpful to think about church growth the way we think about family growth. Nobody believes that only large families are successful. While I myself come from a family with ten children, and while I believe my parents were very successful in raising all ten of us, my family was not “successful” because there were ten children. Similarly, we don’t think a family is a failure because they don’t “grow” from two kids to four, or from four kids to eight. A family with only one child, or even no children, can be successful if the members of that family grow together in unity, love, and faithfulness to each other and to people in the world. This is true of a husband and wife with no children just as it is true for a family with ten or more children.

Furthermore, we don’t think that a family is a failure because the parents don’t get raises at their job every year or buy bigger houses. Some of the richest families in the world are also the greatest failures at being a family. Family “growth” and success is not accomplished by increasing the size or wealth of the family, but by growing in maturity and love with each passing year.

Just as with a family, so also with the church. True church growth occurs when Christians grow up into Christlike maturity, so that they love God, love each other, and love the world more with each passing year. The goal of the church, according to Ephesians 4:15, is for Christians to grow up into maturity, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. When this happens, church growth happens as well, for the people are growing into Christlike maturity.

How Church Growth Is Accomplished

The entire paragraph of Ephesians 4:11-16 has been building up to this single point. Once the spiritual children in the church have been protected from false teachers and false teachings, it is time for them to mature and become spiritual adults. How does this happen? Paul writes that growth into maturity comes through speaking the truth in love. The primary method to accomplish church growth is by speaking the truth, and speaking it in love.

Speaking the Truth

The phrase speaking the truth is one word in Greek. This word is used only one other time in Scripture (Gal 4:16), where it refers primarily to teaching the Word of God or preaching the gospel (cf. Gal 4:13). If the phrase means the same thing here, then Paul is writing that the primary way church growth is accomplished is through speaking the truth of Scripture with an emphasis on gospel-related truths.[6] This means that teaching and learning about Scripture is one of the primary keys to church growth. One reason God provided Scripture is so that His people could learn it and grow into maturity as a result.

Yet the preaching, teaching, and learning of Scripture is often the one thing that many Christians do not want or desire. Many local gatherings of believers tend to focus on everything but the teaching and learning of Scripture. Yet this is simply a sign of spiritual immaturity. While new Christians desire only sweet milk, mature Christians crave the meat of the Word of God. It is the teaching and learning of the truths of Scripture that turns baby believers into mature adults, and helps guide adults into the proper way of life.

Yet although the church has the largest and most fascinating collection of infallible truth that exists in the world, we tend to keep the light of God’s truth locked up in the closet so we can focus on the latest fads of entertainment and newest insights from popular psychology. Walter Kaiser writes this:

In the midst of all the feverish activity to restore the church once again to her former position of influence and respect, all sorts of programs and slogans have appeared. But regardless of what new directives and emphases are periodically offered, that which is needed above everything else to make the Church more viable, authentic, and effective, is a new declaration of the Scriptures with a new purpose, passion, and power. This we believe is most important if the work of God is to be accomplished in the program of the church.^[7]

If the church is going to protect children and grow adults into spiritual maturity, we must focus on the truth of Scripture. Though the church doesn’t have a monopoly on truth, and while many in the world are not ready to hear the truth, it does seem strange that the church is often cautious about boldly proclaiming the truth of Scripture to the Christians in the church. Rather than offer the one unique and shining jewel that we do have, we try to keep people’s attention with poor copies of worldly music, entertainment, and social clubs … and we will always fail.

The one thing the church can offer, and the one thing the church is instructed by God to offer, is also the one thing we fail to offer. What is that one thing? It is truth. The truth of God is the one thing that sets the people of God apart from all other people on earth. We have something they need, and something they crave in their inner-most being. We should, therefore, be focusing on the truth, and specifically, the infallible truth of Scripture. When people start to hear the truth, and when their lives begin to get transformed by the truth, they cannot get enough of the truth. They soak it up like rain in a dry and thirsty desert.

Only truth transforms lives. Only the truth of God helps people grow spiritually.  And when lives are transformed and people begin to mature, then the church begins to grow. But speaking the truth by itself is not enough. Paul goes on to clarify that when we speak the truth, it must be presented in love.

Speaking in Love

Some Christians seem to focus primarily on speaking the truth, yet with a lack of love. If they see someone who is in sin or who has a false belief, these Christians feel it is their responsibility to point it out. We all know Christians who always seem to be critical and judgmental of others. They are on the lookout for those who say or do something wrong, and when they find some real or imagined fault in others, they feel it is their responsibility to point it out. Such Christians believe that truth is the highest ideal and that they are God’s appointed defenders of truth in this world.

This tendency is sometimes found in those who claim to have “discernment ministries.” Such ministries seem to do little more than point out the errors of other ministries. A while back, in the span of a few weeks, I watched one of these ministries attack James Dobson and his “Focus on the Family” ministry, Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” Rick Warren’s book, (#AmazonAdLink) The Purpose Driven Life, the theology of several well-known pastors, and the phenomenon of contemporary Christian music. Such ministries see themselves as defenders of the truth who help keep Christians on the “straight and narrow” road to heaven. Yet they do little more than divide the church.

Of course, there are some who err on the other side. The opposite extreme is found in those ministries and Christians who just want everybody to get along, to love one another, and be in agreement on all things. They only want positive words to come from their pulpits and out of their printers. They never want to rock the boat or stand up for the truth. Their greatest fear is that someone might get offended by something they say.

Jay Adams has noticed this modern tendency and writes:

In some circles, the fear of controversy is so great that preachers, and congregations following them, will settle for peace at any cost—even at the cost of the truth, God’s truth. The idea is that peace is all important. Peace is a biblical idea (Rom 12:18 makes that clear: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with everybody”), but so is purity. The peace of the Church may never be bought at the cost of the purity of the Church. That price is too dear.

But why do we think that we can get along in the world or for that matter, even in the Church, without conflict and controversy? Jesus didn’t. Paul didn’t. None of the preachers of the apostolic age who faithfully served their Lord were spared controversy. Who are we to escape controversy when they did not? The story of the advance of the Church across the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Rome is a story of controversy. When the gospel is preached boldly, there will be controversy.^[8]

These two approaches reveal two extremes. Some teach the truth without love, and others teach love without truth. But in Ephesians 4:15, Paul calls for both. He calls for a balance between truth and love. To err on one side or the other causes great problems. Truth without love is harsh judgmentalism and dogmatism. Love without truth is blind sentimentality. But truth in love is compassionate concern.

Truth without love makes Cactus Christians: they’re full of good points, but prickly, and painfully difficult to be around. Love without truth makes Cotton Candy Christians: they’re sweet and look good, but there’s nothing of substance to anything they say or do. They’re just a lot of fluff. But truth in love makes Christlike Christians. They are not afraid to speak the truth, but know that such truth must be spoken in love, and that sometimes, love requires a person to not speak at all, but live the truth instead. A Christlike Christian seeks to balance truth and love. Truth, as important as it is, must always be taught in a loving manner.

The difficulty, of course, is that every “truth-telling” Christian thinks they are speaking the truth in love. I have heard Christians say the most hateful things, and when challenged about it, have defended their words by saying, “The loving thing is to tell them the truth, no matter how painful it might be.”

But when it comes to speaking the truth in love, the question is not whether you think you are loving, but whether the other person thinks you are loving. If you speak something you believe to be true, and the other person believes your words or actions were hateful and harmful, there is a good chance you were not speaking truth.

When we properly understand God, Scripture, and correct theology, it will always lead us to love. This is why love is the litmus test for correct beliefs. If our beliefs, doctrine, and theology are leading us to be judgmental, mean, and rude toward other people, then the truth is not in us. Where there is no love, there also is no truth. If someone truly knows the truth, they will be the most loving person you know.

This is exactly what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13. He says that even if you have all knowledge, but have not love, then you have nothing. This means that even if you can win at Bible trivia, can recite hundreds of Bible verses, and can argue theology with the best theologians in the world, but have not love, then you have nothing. Without love, there is no truth. Without love, knowledge counts as nothing. If you know the truth, it will lead you to love, and love provides evidence that you know the truth.

Furthermore, I would argue that love is the main truth which Christians should be preaching, teaching, and revealing through our lives and actions. Since God is love (1 John 4:8), all truth about God will be wrapped in love, focused on love, revealing love, and leading people to love. If the church could focus on only one truth to teach and practice, it should be the truth of love. The main truth presented by the church should be that God loves us, accepts us, forgives us, and desires nothing more than to be in fellowship with us.

As always, Jesus is the perfect example of how this is carried out. During His life and ministry, He never avoided the truth, but spoke it plainly in the most loving words possible. Though Jesus often had disagreements with the religious leaders of His day, and though He spoke many hard words to them, I doubt that a single one of them ever thought that His words were hateful, mean, or cruel. Though the words of Jesus are often read in harsh, accusatory ways today, it is possible to read the “hard” words of Jesus with a loving, pleading, and beseeching tone. When you do this, the words of Jesus take on a completely different meaning, which better matches the overall tenor of His life and ministry. The tone and demeanor of Jesus were always full of love, even when He had hard truths to speak.

God behaves similarly, which is not surprising, for Jesus perfectly reveals God to us. What is surprising about God’s revelation of truth to us, is that He rarely speaks truth to us until we are ready and willing to hear it. God does not sit us down on the first day of our Christian life and beat us over the head with every wrong thing we do and incorrect belief we hold. Instead, God reveals His truth to us slowly, over time, as we mature and become ready to hear it and respond to it. This means that it is loving for God to withhold the full truth from us. It is loving of God to slowly reveal truth to us over time.

Sometimes, God will not point out our faults to us unless we honestly ask that He do so. We all sin in various ways all the time, and often, we are unaware of the myriad ways we disobey God. But in His patience and loving kindness, He waits to reveal our faults to us until we ask for Him to search our hearts and see if there is any wicked way in us. Even then, He gently whispers to us by the Holy Spirit about the skeletons in our closet, or He kindly takes us to Scripture to reveal our faults to us. But God never beats us over the head with some harsh judgmental attitude or hurtful words. Softly and gently, tenderly and kindly, He washes our feet with the water of the Word and cleanses us from all sin.

When we seek to speak the truth in love, we must seek to follow the example of God. Just because we see faults in someone else, this does not mean we are obligated to point it out. And even when we are invited, within the boundaries of a close friendship, to lovingly correct someone else, we must never do so in harsh, judgmental, or accusatory words.

It is also critically important that we seek to be part of the solution. When we correct someone, we must also be willing to take the time and effort to help that person through their faults and mistakes. We must never “hit and run.” When Jesus set out to wash the filthy feet of His disciples, He didn’t simply point out the dirty condition of their feet, but actually got a basin and a towel and knelt at their feet to wash them Himself. Jesus took the role of a servant and came alongside them to wash their feet for them. When we see somebody with “dirty feet,” we must be willing to help them wash their feet. If we are not willing to help, then we should keep our mouths shut.

Another example is found in Acts 9:10-13. God tells Ananias to go see Saul who has been blinded. Saul’s reputation of persecuting Christians has preceded him, and so understandably, Ananias is a little scared. He says, “God, I don’t think that’s the best idea. If Paul doesn’t kill me, he’ll imprison me for sure!” Ananias clearly and blatantly rejects God’s command.

Now if we were God, most of us would do one of two things in the face of such disrespect. We would either flat-out rebuke the man, saying something like, “You sinner! Away from me you evil doer!” This response would be truthful, but not very loving. This kind of response would be truth without love. The other way to handle such disobedience would be to ignore it in the name of love. In this case, God could have said, “Ananias, I understand your fear. I would be scared too. So it’s okay if you don’t want to obey me right now. Maybe someone else will come along.” This seems to be loving, but there’s not much truth. In fact, in the name of love, such a statement actually contains a lie. It is not okay to disobey. Very often, when love is the goal at the expense of truth, lies creep in (which is not very loving).

These are two of the possible responses to Ananias’ disobedience. The first is to be so focused on the truth, that we beat people over the head with it saying “Obey or else!” The other is to be afraid of offending people, and say, “Okay, I understand that you’re scared. If you don’t want to obey right now, that’s fine.” These are the two extremes. One reveals truth without love, and the other reveals love without truth.

But God speaks the truth in love to Ananias. In Acts 9:15, God said, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” God says, “Go. And let me give you some reasons why you should. I am not rebuking your lack of wisdom for resisting My viewpoint. I am also not denying your feelings of fear. Instead, I am telling you why you should obey, and also telling you that everything will be okay.” This response is both truthful and loving. So in Acts 9:17, Ananias went.

This is how God deals with us as well. He never gives us truth without love, and never hides the truth in the name of love. Instead, He always speaks the truth in love. Scripture repeatedly tells us that God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and wrath (Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). When we resist and rebel, He gives us reasons to obey. If we continue to resist and rebel, His reasons slowly but surely become much stronger, until, after a while, He begins to discipline us. Truth balanced with love is how God deals with us and how we are to deal with one another.

Here are eight tips on how to achieve this balance between truth and love. If you sense the desire to correct someone who is sinning, there are several things you need to think through before you talk to that person.^[9]

1. First, remember what the ultimate source of truth is. If you feel someone is in sin, you had better have a strong biblical case. You cannot base truth on what your opinion is, or on what your traditions are, or on what some pastor, teacher or author said. God’s word is truth. Jesus prays in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.” Before you confront someone with the truth, make sure you have a biblical case.^[10] This helps too, because then it is not you saying “I think you are wrong” but it is God’s Word saying “Here is what you are doing wrong.”
2. Second, make sure God is actually calling you to address the problem. Maybe He just wants you to pray about it. In fact, it might be a good idea to do nothing but pray about it for a whole month before you say anything—just to see God work. Also, it is often true that when God points sin out to us, it is actually our own sin He is pointing out, but we often project this conviction of sin onto others. Recognize that when you become aware of sin in others, it might actually be your own sin that God wants you to see.
3. Third, ask yourself what you might have contributed to the problem. Often, the problem you see in others is a problem that you yourself contributed to (Paul wrote about this earlier in Ephesians 4:1-6).
4. Fourth, try to discover what your motive is in pointing out the error. Maybe you simply want to get noticed, or maybe you want to get back at someone, or maybe you have had a bad day and feel like lashing out at someone. If you are unsure of your motives, spend a lot of time in prayer before going to the person.
5. Fifth, if you confront, are you doing it in a biblical way? Have you gossiped about this to anyone or, according to Matthew 18, are you following the steps for church discipline? Always try to keep the circle small.[11]
6. Sixth, you might want to ask yourself if you are demanding perfection. Nobody is perfect except Christ – not even you. And remember that with the same measure you use, it will be measured out to you at the judgement day. Are you overcritical and judgmental, or are you gracious and understanding about other people’s failures because you know you have your own struggles?
7. Seventh, if you do confront the person, can you give input in the form of constructive suggestions rather than outright criticism and complaint? Rather than just point out sin, provide some steps to correct it, or explain how you yourself struggled with this problem in the past, yet was able to experience victory over it.
8. Finally, are you willing to be part of the solution? God may be showing you this error because He wants you to help out, not to criticize. This final point is critically important. Since we are all part of the church body, we are all supposed to help and love each other into wholeness. If we are not willing or able to love and serve others in their areas of sin and weakness, then we probably have no business pointing out their sin to them. It is not loving to point out someone’s sin if we are not also willing to help love and help them through it.

These eight ideas will help you balance truth and love, which leads to personal growth.

Since God wants His church to grow, and since the church consists of the people of God, this means that the first stage of church growth involves the personal growth of individual Christians. And people grow mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually when they encounter the truth of God spoken in love. In other words, speaking the truth in love leads to the personal growth of those who hear it

Personal Growth

In the last half of Ephesians 4:15, Paul writes that we will grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. This statement reveals two truths about personal growth. First, it reveals that when we grow, we grow up in all things. This is growth into complete maturity. When we grow in this way, everything about us changes. God wants us to grow and change from spiritual children into spiritual adults. But this requires going through spiritual adolescence.

The teenage years are a rough time for most people because it is a time in which they transition from children into adults. It is during these years that people change mentally, emotionally, and physically. Many teenagers think they have all the answers, even when they don’t. Also, hormones begin to rage, which causes numerous changes. Male voices start to deepen. Hair grows in strange places. There are physical changes as well. Legs and arms get longer. Muscles begin to grow, and female bodies start to develop curves. Some kids become quite awkward as they learn to deal with all these changes.

Something similar happens as Christians mature. Our tastes and desires start to change. We develop different interests than those we once had. Like teenagers, we sometimes become “know-it-alls,” condemning and criticizing everyone who believes or behaves differently than we do. We might bounce around from group to group, theology to theology, trying to find “the one.” We might also enter into a stage of spiritual awkwardness. But God wants us to grow up into all things, and although He gives us everything we need for life and godliness, we need to grow into these areas so that we can become mature adults.

The second truth about growth from verse 15 concerns the goal. The goal is to become like the Head of the church, Jesus Christ. This is quite humbling, of course, since no person will ever fully be conformed to the character of Jesus while in this life. This means that we will never fully mature. Any Christian who thinks they have “arrived” in their spiritual maturity is deluding themselves. As long as we compare ourselves to Jesus Christ, we will always fall short.

Teenagers provide another good example. Teenagers often have heroes, whether they are musicians, sports stars, or movie actors and actresses. It is not uncommon to see Junior High girls trying to look and act like some famous female musician or movie star, while Junior High boys attempt to emulate NFL quarterbacks or rock stars. As a result, teenagers often copy the behavior and antics of these “heroes,” whether good or bad. However, regardless of how well a fourteen-year old boy throws the football, he will fall short of throwing like Tom Brady. There is always room to grow.

It is the same for us as Christians. Our hero should be Jesus Christ, and we should want to talk like Him, be like Him, and live like Him. But we should also realize that there will always be room for growth and development. We can never stop striving after the goal of maturity in Jesus Christ. We should make decisions and choices in our lives with this goal in mind. When people look at us, they should be reminded of Jesus Christ. With Jesus Christ as our head, we will experience personal growth into all things.

This finally leads us to church growth. When individual Christians grow into Christlike maturity as described above, the church grows as well.

Church Growth

Paul concludes this revolutionary passage on church growth by summarizing and reminding his readers that all growth is accomplished only when every part does its share. Just as a body will never mature if the arms refuse to work, so also a church will never grow if certain members refuse to take part in God’s work. Paul writes that:

… the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:16 is a summary of everything Paul has taught up to this point. He previously mentioned the spiritual gifts God provided to help church leaders train the rest of the church body to carry out church ministry. Here, Paul basically says the same thing, and points out that when each member does its share, church growth will occur.

Church growth is not primarily when more and more people are added to the church, but when each individual person in the church grows into Christlike maturity and starts using their spiritual gifts to love and serve other people within the church. When every part does its share, the church grows into health and love. This causes the growth of the body, which is true church growth.

A healthy and mature body knows what each part does best and how to use those parts correctly. An eye does the seeing, the ear the hearing, the mouth the talking, the feet the walking, and the hands the working. And according to verse 16, every part, even down the joints, needs to do its share if the body is going to grow into health and effectiveness.

God is the one who created the church, just as He created our physical bodies. And He put the church together the same way He put our bodies together. Each part of our body is like each person in the church. Each part serves a purpose and has a function, and each part is connected to every other part so that the whole body works together as a whole to accomplish what God wants and desires. When every part does what it is supposed to do, then the body grows into a healthy, mature, and complete person, glorifying God and serving the world. It works exactly the same way for the church body.

Furthermore, when it comes to the health and growth of the church, it is best to follow the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you feel like you are not being helped, loved, served, or fed in the church, rather than complain about it, make sure you are doing what you can to help, love, serve, or feed others. It may be that you are not being edified in the church because the person who should be edifying you, is not being edified by you.

In this way, church relationships are symbiotic. Other parts of the body of Christ may be weak and sickly because you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing to help them. And since they are weak and sick, they cannot do what they are supposed to do to help you. Since someone needs to step up and serve, it might as well be you. The best way to have your own needs met is to start meeting the needs of other people. When you help, love, and serve others, this allows them to grow in health and maturity, which allows them to start helping, loving, and serving you.

When each part does its share, then each part is cared for by all the others and so the body remains healthy. The mouth could not eat if the hands did not bring food to the mouth. But if the mouth refused to eat, the hands would not have enough energy to bring food to the mouth. When every part does its share, the entire body is strengthened, so that every part can function for the benefit of every other part. When every part serves, the whole body grows.

This is when church growth occurs. Whether we’re talking about two people, two-hundred, or two-million, when those people love and serve each other, it causes the church to grow. This type of church growth does not require gimmicks, ingenuity, creativity, cleverness, or fancy marketing schemes. Every part of the body has a task, and if every part does its task, the church grows. It is so simple—only God could have designed it. These are His blueprints for church growth.

The End is Love

Paul’s instructions on church grown ends with love. As Paul laid the groundwork for what he would write about church growth, he frequently mentioned the importance place of love in the life and health of the church. We are to be rooted and grounded love (Ephesians 3:17), to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:19), and bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2).

As Paul concludes the section of his letter about church growth, he returns to the centrality of love. We are to speak the truth in love so that we may all work for the edification of the body in love. Church growth only happens within the context of love.

Love is the beginning, middle, and end of church growth.

Love causes Christian maturity, and Christian maturity results in love.

If you want your church to grow, don’t focus on programs, budgets, or attendance numbers. Instead, just focus on love. As we love and are loved, we will all grow into the love of Christ, and each person will become mature spiritual adults, who are able to love God, love each other, and love the world just like Jesus Christ. This is true church growth.

Notes:

[1] Bob Russell, (#AmazonAdLink) When God Builds a Church, (West Monroe, LA: Howard, 2000), 3. On page 8, he does qualify this statement by saying that “Although we rejoice over our numerical growth, we know that God doesn’t measure success in terms of attendance, offerings, or size of buildings. He measures effectiveness in terms of faithfulness to His Word, conformity to Jesus Christ, and ministry to those in need.” The rest of the book is excellent in laying out 10 principles to grow your church, but still, it seems that the basic message of the book is “Do these 10 things, and you too can have a church that grows numerically.” Cf. p. 10-11.

[2] See my book, (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks (Dallas, OR: Redeeming Press, 2015).

[3] Sol Biderman and Sao Paolo, “Padre Marcelo Rossi” TIME Magazine (Feb 28, 2000).

[4] John MacArthur, (#AmazonAdLink) Ashamed of the Gospel (Wheaton: Crossway, 1993), xvii.

[5] This is seen partly by the noun “growth” in verse 16: auxesis is only used of spiritual growth (cf. Col 2:19). The verb in Ephesians 4:15, auxano, is sometimes used of physical growth, but always has in mind factors outside oneself, or an element of life placed within a person by God, which brings about the growth. This kind of growth is never a self-achievement.

[6] The gospel, of course, is not simply the message about how people can go to heaven when they die. The gospel is every truth from Scripture related to the person and work of Jesus Christ. In other words, all biblical truth is gospel truth. See J. D. Myers, The Gospel According to Scripture.

[7] Walter C. Kaiser Jr., (#AmazonAdLink) Toward an Exegetical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 242. Italics mine.

[8] Jay Adams, (#AmazonAdLink) Preaching to the Heart (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Press, 1984), 17.

[9] Modified from Cathy Miller, “Ten Questions to Ask Before you Complain to Church Leaders” (Moody Magazine, Issue 96, 1996), 80. See also, Ken Sande, (#AmazonAdLink) The Peacemaker (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997).

[10] Cf. Bob Russell, (#AmazonAdLink) When God Builds a Church (West Monroe, LA: Howard, 2000), 153.

[11] This does not hold true for predatory sins that harm others, such as rape, murder, abuse, or threats of physical violence. In such cases, it is your responsibility to go straight to the police or authorities.

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Thankfully, in Ephesians 4:14-16, God, through the pen of Paul, provides some clear instructions on what the church is supposed to do. There are two parts to these instructions of God about the task of the church, and so we will consider them in two different studies. This study will look at Ephesians 4:14, and the next one will look at Ephesians 4:15-16.

(#AmazonAdLink) Both of these studies, along with all the others in this series, are drawn from my book, (#AmazonAdLink) God’s Blueprints for Church Growth.

First, however, I want to invite you to download an app that has recently added my YouTube Channel to their recommended resources. The app is the Grace Zone. It is a free app available on the Apple store and the Google Play Store. Along with my YouTube Channel, the app also contains hundreds of recommended resources from other Bible teachers and authors. I highly recommend you get the Grace Zone App.

• Grace Zone for Apple
• Grace Zone for Android

The Task of the Church: Guarding Children (Ephesians 4:14)

“… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …” (Ephesians 4:14)

Anyone who has been around children for very long knows that they can say and believe some of the most amazing things. One little boy came home from Sunday school very excited about the lesson he had learned in Genesis 2 about how Eve was taken from Adam’s side. But a few days later, he came home from school in a very distressed mood. When his mother asked what was wrong, he replied, “My side hurts. I think I’m going to have a wife.”

Another little boy, after being told that God is One, asked when He would be two.

I also read about a group of children who were asked what God does all day. One responded, “He walks on water.” Another said, “He lives! He lives!” A third said, “He organizes heaven, sending people down here in cloud elevators so they can help us earth people out.” One of the little boys said, “He builds boats. All kinds of boats. Nobody knows why.”

When this same group of children were asked what God creates, one little boy answered, “God makes bees with little wings all day. Probably out of mud.” A different child said, “He makes grass a lot of the days. That takes up a lot of hours. Did you ever see how many pieces of grass there are?”

Then they were asked if they could name any of the Ten Commandments, here is what a few of them said:

“Buckle up for safety!”

“Don’t smoke in the bowling alley.”

“Don’t drink beer.”

“Brush your teeth.”

“Don’t go to work on Sundays. And if your boss says she’ll fire you, call in sick.”

“Don’t copy someone else’s paper.”

“I think ‘Don’t kill’ is one. But maybe not.”

“Don’t eat when you have a fever and feel like throwing up.”

“Say ‘No’ to drugs.”

“Don’t talk to strangers.”

“Thou shalt not stab.”

This is part of the wonder and joy of working with children. They are so trusting and have such vivid imaginations. But at the same time, children have some of the most amazing misconceptions and misunderstandings. Sometimes this is the result of their own immaturity and innocence, while at other times, it is due to their gullibility. Children are easily deceived. Children can be told the most outrageous lie and they will believe it because they often don’t know any different.

There was an old Peanuts comic strip where Lucy told Linus that snow didn’t fall from the sky the way most people thought. Rather, it grew up from the ground in the night like a flower and then the wind blew it around. Linus, because he didn’t know any different, believed her.

Children are easily tricked. Easily deceived. And most of the time, it’s a cute characteristic that children have. Almost any story can captivate a child’s attention. Almost any magic trick, no matter how silly, can amaze them.

But it is far from cute when adults have the same gullibility. What is adorable in a child is not at all adorable in an adult. Children are not supposed to stay children forever. Children are to grow up and mature so that they become productive members of society. Sadly, many adults, though they may have matured physically, are still mentally, emotionally, and psychologically immature. It is a sad state of affairs when this happens.

The same thing can happen when it comes to spiritual maturity. When people first believe in Jesus, they are born again into the family of God, and are spiritual babes in Jesus Christ. No matter how old they might be physically, they are spiritual children. And just as humans are supposed to mature as they get older, the same thing is supposed to happen with people the longer they are “in Christ.” But just as physical maturity can sometimes be stunted, so also, some Christians never mature into spiritual maturity.

In fact, it is a sad reality in the church that many modern Christian adults are childish in their thinking. While immature spirituality should be expected from a new believer, many Christians remain childish for far long. While every Christian starts off as a baby Christian, some Christians remain that way for most of their Christian lives.

God wants baby Christians to become mature Christians. He wants Christians to move on from “milk doctrines” that make us feel warm and fuzzy, and start ingesting the meat truths of the Word that we mull over and think about (cf. Heb 5:11–6:3). It is only when Christian do this that they lose their gullibility, and become able to discern good from evil, truth from falsehood, correct doctrine from heresy.

As we think about growing the church God’s way, we have learned that God’s church grows as the people of the church develop into Christlike maturity. And believe it or not, this maturing process is the main activity which God desires for the church. Though people often say that evangelism and world missions are the primary activities of the church, effective evangelism and world missions only take place as Christian mature in the faith and develop Christlikeness in their beliefs and behaviors. All of the activities of the church in this world depend upon Christians growing into spiritual maturity. The task of helping baby Christians grow into mature Christians is to be the primary program of the church.

One of the important parts of planning and constructing a building is the “Architectural Programming” phase. This phase of the design process usually begins before the blueprints are drawn up or the ground is broken. This phase of the construction process helps determine what kind of building will be planned and built. Architectural Programming determines how large the building will be, what materials will be used, how many people the building can hold, the number of rooms it will have, and a whole range of similar details. Therefore, it is appropriate to think of the programming of the church. And as we have just seen, “The Program” of the church is to turn baby Christians into mature followers of Jesus Christ.

God’s Program for His church is not primarily about a music program, an educational program, or a youth program. God’s Program for the church He is building centers around helping people mature in the faith. While music, education, and youth events might help people mature, they are not the only ways that people do mature. God does not care so much about the number of meetings at the church, or the frequency and variety of church events. He doesn’t even care about the number of people. The primary thing God cares about in the church is whether or not the people within it are developing into spiritual maturity.

So when a local gathering of believers is trying to decide whether or not they are accomplishing God’s will for the church in their community, they must not look at the numbers of bodies who sit a pew, the amount of money collected in the offering, or the square feet of the building in which these things take place.[1] The only Program God wants to know about is whether or not the people who make the church look, act, and love more like Jesus this year than they did last year.

This is exactly what Paul writes about in Ephesians 4:14-16. Back in Ephesians 4:13, Paul wrote about the model for the church, which is the measure, stature, and fullness of Jesus Christ. He now turns to describing the two steps for accomplishing this Program in the church. The church must first seek to guard and protect new believers (Ephesians 4:14), and then it must seek to help guide and grow mature believers into greater depth and Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:15-16).

These two aspects of the church Program will be considered in two different studies. This study looks at the topic of guarding the spiritual children in the church (Ephesians 4:14), and the next study will consider Ephesians 4:15-16 about guiding and growing spiritually mature Christians into greater depth and Christlikeness.

No Longer Be Children

When Paul wrote about children in Ephesians 4:14, he was not thinking about those members of the church under the physical age of ten. He had spiritual children in mind, regardless of whatever physical age they might be. A new believer is a child in the faith, whether they are five years old or ninety-five. When we first believe in Jesus, we are born again into the family of God, and start our live as a spiritual babe in Jesus Christ. But we are not to remain in such a state.

The sad fact, however, is that many Christians remain in the infant stage for far too long. While many Christians sit in pews and sing worship songs on Sunday morning for decades on end, some of them remain immature the entire time. So Paul calls the church to help these Christians grow up so that they will no longer be children.

But how can you tell who is a spiritual child and who is not? Christian maturity comes down to two things: beliefs and behaviors. Christian maturity is not measured by how much time a person spends sitting in a pew or reading their Bible. It is measured by how well a person understands the life of God and how well their own life imitates His. Let us briefly consider both aspects, beginning with beliefs.

Beliefs are critically important for growth into maturity. We are what we know. Furthermore, sociologists and psychologists have discovered that a person’s view of God largely determines how that person lives. People who believe that God is vengeful and angry will often be violent and unforgiving. People who believe that God is gracious and loving will more readily love and serve others. So the beliefs of a person help guide that person’s behavior.

Yet how can we know which beliefs indicate maturity? Scripture helps us in this regard. For example, Hebrews 6:1-3 contains a list of six key doctrines which are foundational for every new Christian to understand. The author of Hebrews states that people must understand these six truths in order to move on to the true “meat” of Scripture. These foundational teachings are (1) repentance from dead works, (2) faith toward God, (3) the doctrine of baptisms, (4) the laying on of hands, (5) the resurrection of the dead, and (6) eternal judgment. Do you understand and comprehend what the Bible teaches about these six areas? If not, then according to the author of Hebrews, you are still a Kindergarten Christian. This is not wrong; it just means you have some learning to do.[2]

Sadly, by using this one instrument to measure the maturity of modern, western Christianity, it appears that the majority of Christians might very well be classified as immature. Earl Radmacher was exactly right when he once said that American Christianity is a mile wide but an inch deep.

Similarly, A. W. Tozer said that much of the failures of our Christian experience can be traced back to our habit of skipping through the corridors of the kingdom like children through a marketplace, chattering about everything, but pausing to learn the value of nothing. The church has great power and influence in society, and our presence is evident by the vast number of church buildings and Christian slogans that dot our cultural landscape, but few Christians have progressed much past a milk diet of basic Christian truths.

These basic truths are a great first step, but they are only the first step. We must move on to maturity. We must grow up.

But it is not just theology that indicates maturity. It is not just about what we believe. It is also about what we do. Proper Christian behavior is also required for growth into Christian maturity. Earlier in Ephesians 4, Paul revealed that spiritual maturity can be measured by involvement in ministry. Each member of the church is part of the work Crew on God’s construction site, and each person only grows into Christlikeness as they discover the ministry to which God has called them and start practicing it in their life.

Church ministry is not fulfilled by sitting in a pew on Sunday morning while trying to stay awake during the sermon. Christian behavior does not consist in smiling happily while chatting with friends in the foyer for twenty minutes on Sunday. True Christian ministry and behavior consists of how we live our day-to-day lives with our friends, family, and coworkers. It is measured by how we interact with our neighbor, the server at the restaurant, and the check-out lady in the store. Ultimately, the true test of Christian maturity is love.

In fact, love brings us full circle, back to our beliefs. Christianity is known for its large diversity of beliefs. This is one of the reasons there are so many denominations. How can we know which beliefs are right and which are wrong? The answer is love. Love is the litmus test for good theology. More specifically, love that looks like Jesus Christ is the litmus test for good theology.

If our beliefs do not lead to loving behavior toward others, then we can be sure that our beliefs are wrong. Since God is love, and everything God does is focused on revealing His love, this means that when God’s life is working through us, we too will live with love for others.

But sadly, once again, much of Christianity is not known for its love. Though we Christians often describe ourselves as loving, the average non-Christian rarely describes us in similar terms. Instead, words like “hypocritical, judgmental, and mean” are more often used.[3] Therefore, on this basis, much of modern Christianity can be described as immature. Christians who do not have a ministry and who are not lovingly serving others through the daily and weekly use of their spiritual gifts are not living the way a mature Christian would. Many Christians are immature Christians because they are not doing what God intended the members of His church to do.

Many people seem to think that the longer they are Christians, the more mature they become as a Christian. But this is just not true. Maturity in Christianity is not measured by the length of time one has been a Christians. While it is true that a new Christian cannot be a mature Christian (1 Tim 3:6), a long-time Christian may not be a mature Christian either. A man who has been a Christian for forty years is not necessarily more mature than one who has been a Christian for two. Maturing in the faith takes discipline, correction, training, teaching, instruction, and lots of practice (2 Tim 3:16–4:4).

It is like anything else in life that takes time and practice. For example, I play bass guitar. I’ve been a bass player for thirty years. When I first started playing bass guitar, I remember talking to every bass guitarist I could about how to play the bass. I wanted tips and suggestions on how to improve my ability no the bass. One question I always asked was how long they had played bass. Most of the answers I got were in the eight to ten-year range. So as I set out to learn bass, I couldn’t wait to be able to say that I had played bass for ten years, because by then, I would certainly be good.

But I never took a single lesson. I never bought an instructional book. I never took a class. In fact, after the first year of playing, I put the bass aside, and have only played about a dozen times since then. Yet I still own the bass, and I pick it up every couple years to play for twenty minutes or so. Yet I can truthfully say that I have been playing bass for almost thirty years. However, I am worse today at bass guitar then I was at the end of that first year. I have not improved because I have not practiced. So also, just as length of time does not guarantee mastery of a musical instrument, length of time as a Christian does not guarantee maturity in the Christian life.

But everybody must start somewhere. And everybody, when they first believe in Jesus for eternal life, starts out as a newborn Christian. They are an infant. A spiritual babe. As new Christians, the first thing they must do is focus on growing up. They must learn what to believe and learn how to behave.

However, just like regular children, new Christians don’t really know what they need to grow up. They don’t know how to talk, eat, get clean, or move around. All they really know is that sometimes they are hungry and sometimes they are tired. Sometimes they cry a lot. If given a choice, many of them would pick candy as the main element of their diet, and television as the main activity. But this is because children simply do not know what is good for them. They must be taught and trained by loving, protective adults. The children in the church must be protected and provided for. Those who are spiritually mature must guard the children and give to them what they need. This is what Paul goes describes in the rest of Ephesians 4:14.

Guarding Children

In Ephesians 4:14, Paul mainly emphasizes the guarding of spiritual children. He writes that there are false teachers prowling about, looking for immature Christians who can be led astray. Therefore it is the responsibility of the spiritually mature Christians to make sure that this does not happen to the immature Christians. It is the responsibility of the spiritual adults to guard the spiritual children from false teachers and false doctrine.

God wants the people in His church to have correct doctrine. And although God makes all believers into new creations when we first believe, this does not mean that all of our incorrect ways of living and wrong ways of thinking are instantaneously and completely corrected. Though we pass from death to life when we believe in Jesus, this transformation does not immediately affect all our beliefs and behaviors. We still retain many bad habits and ideas. It is the responsibility of the church, and specifically the pastor-teachers, to teach and train new Christians about what they are supposed to believe and how they are supposed to behave.

God gave the ability to some Christians to use the Word of God to teach and train other Christians, so that these new Christians can start doing the work of ministry. When new and immature Christians are taught what to believe and how to behave, they grow up in the faith and start loving and serving others, so that the entire church is strengthened. But until new Christians have matured a bit, they often fall prey the false teachings that abound in our fallen world. This is why it is important for church leaders to guard immature believers from false teaching and false teachers. Let us consider both dangers more closely.

From False Teaching

Ephesians 4:14 reveals that when new Christians are not adequately guarded by mature Christians, several bad things happen. First, the immature Christians are tossed to and fro. Like a child in a professional wrestling match, immature Christians get tossed around in the ring when they try to stand against sin and Satan. They are easily defeated and easily deceived. This is because they have not yet been trained to correctly discern truth from error. They fall prey to false doctrine and those who teach strange ideas.

This has been true of new Christians since the very beginning of the church. The early church fought against numerous heresies. One of the earliest was the heresy of the Gnostics. In the Greek language, gnosis means knowledge, so the Gnostics taught that in order to receive all that God wanted for you, you had to be given a special and deeper knowledge of God. This heresy led a lot of Christians astray, and the book of 1 John was written to combat an early form of this heresy.

Sadly, various forms of Gnosticism are still rampant in the church today, especially among those that place a heavy emphasis on gaining special knowledge, blessings, or experiences in the Christians life. Gnostic ideas are also found in the dualistic tendencies of some churches to emphasize the spiritual realm over the physical. Any group of believers that focus more on the Holy Spirit than on Jesus has likely succumbed in various ways to this ancient heresy. After all, the Holy Spirit does not like to take center stage, but always points people to Jesus. So mature Christians today can help immature believers avoid these ancient false teachings.

Then there was the heresy of Arianism. This teaching has nothing to do with Hitler’s sadistic dream of an Arian race. Instead, this false teaching claims that Jesus Christ was not fully God, but was just a human like the rest of us. Many Christians fell into this trap in the early days of the church, and there are some even today who argue that Jesus was not God, but was just an enlightened human who shows us the way that we too can become enlightened.

Later in church history, the church struggled against the heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagius taught that humans were born sinless and that, through sinless living, could attain heaven by good works and human effort. Many followed his path, and indeed, many still do. Any time you encounter someone who teaches that good works are necessary to make it into heaven, you are encountering remnants of the Pelagian heresy. Oddly, many of those who most loudly decry the Pelagian heresy turn around and teach the necessity of good works in order to attain heaven. They say things like “Salvation is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone” or “Faith without works is not really faith at all.” Such statements show that good works are required to attain heaven.[4] The anti-Pelagians have become Pelagian.

We could go through the centuries of church history and list one heresy after another, one false teaching after another. The truth is that the church is always being attacked by falsehood. But as every new wind of false doctrine rises, the church also rises against it, to teach the truth and call people to hold fast to what we have received. Nevertheless, there have always been those within the church who were immature, who were children, and who fall prey to these false teachings. They are the ones that Paul refers to in Ephesiains 4:14 who are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

The picture Paul describes is of a small boat on a stormy sea getting tossed to and fro by the waves. Those who have been on a stormy sea, or even on a stormy lake in a small boat, know that it is a very frightening experience. Every swell threatens to capsize or crush the vessel. And there seems to be no end to the threatening waves. They just keep coming, one after another, pounding, crashing, and breaking. You expend all of your energy trying to get to the safety of the shoreline without seeming to make any progress. This is how it feels to be caught in the torrential waves of false doctrine. It is frightening and exhausting.

A new Christian reads some book or hears some teacher who says one thing, and the statements seem to be logical and biblical, so the new Christian thinks that what they heard was correct. They often begin to excitedly tell their friends and family about what they have learned. But it is not long before one of these friends questions or challenges some of these ideas, and suggests that the new Christian read a different book or hear a second speaker who teaches the opposite. When the new Christian follows this suggestion, these new ideas also sound logical and biblical. So the new Christian becomes confused, and a little bit scared. They want to believe what is right, but have trouble determining which teaching is right and which is wrong. After a few of these issues pile up in their minds, they begin to feel battered, beaten, and tossed about by the winds of doctrine.

But note that the waves which might toss a small boat back and forth will barely touch an ocean liner. The church is a like the giant ocean liner. Church history, tradition, and teachings provide stability in the storm and firm decks on which to stand, so that there is no fear for those on board. But those who stray from the teachings of the church will get tossed to and fro by the waves, and will face the fear and uncertainty that comes with them. It is the church’s responsibility to call all new Christians to board the ocean liner, where they can gain their sea legs in a manageable and safe environment.

Paul continues this line of thinking by the next phrase in Ephesians 4:14, where he describes these children as being carried about with every wind of doctrine. Again, picking up the imagery of a boat at sea, this would be like a boat which has no sail and no oars. A boat of that kind is at the mercy of the wind. If the wind blows east, the boat goes east. If the wind changes direction and blows west, the boat goes west. A boat without any way to maneuver is a boat that is carried about with every wind. And that is exactly what happens to children who have not been grounded in the Word of God. When people fail to become founded upon the Word, they get carried about by every wind of doctrine (cf. Jude 12; Heb 13:9).

But it is not just the winds of doctrine that blow immature Christians around, it is also the false teachers who teach these doctrines. The false teachers are the true danger that Paul focuses on in the rest of verse 14, for without false teachers, there would be no false teaching.

From False Teachers

Paul continues in Ephesians 4:14 to write about the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. False teachers are tricky, cunning, and crafty. They are deceitful. They plot schemes and carry them out. Part of this is because they themselves are deceived. Many false teachers, I believe, don’t set out to become a false teachers, and often do not realize they are false teachers.

Most people who teach false doctrine are fully convinced of the truth of it themselves. False teachers truly believe that they are right. This is what makes them so persuasive. They honestly believe that they have discovered a set of truths which everyone needs to believe. But the real truth is that they too have been deceived and tricked into teaching what they teach.

There are, of course, some who purposefully set out to deceive. The old Steve Martin movie, “Leap of Faith,” though intended to be a satire of modern-day healing ministries, also revealed how some false teachers are simply in the ministry for the money and the fame. Some don’t believe a word of what they are teaching, but they teach it anyway because it bring in lots of money.

Nevertheless, for the most part, false teachers do not know they are false teachers, and therefore, false teachers are hard to recognize. False teachers do not wear signs proclaiming who they are. They are, as Jesus said, wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15). Sometimes, the most vociferous and argumentative defenders of the truth, who go about accusing everyone else of being a false teacher, are false teachers themselves.

Furthermore, just as no false teacher believes they are a false teacher, nobody sitting under a false teacher believes that they are receiving false teaching. After all, if a person knew that they were learning from a false teacher, they would stop listening to them. Nobody intentionally listens to and obeys a teacher they know to be false and deceptive.

So how do false teachers become false? It happens in a variety of ways. Sometimes a teacher gets tired of not getting the attention they think they deserve. So in order to get attention, they invent or develop a brand new idea or an exciting way of teaching, and oftentimes this teaching turns out to be false. Through sly words, fine-sounding arguments, and phrases that tickle the ears, they gain support and popularity.

Though they do not intend to teach falsely, they do not teach with the right motives. Rather than teach to spread the truth, they teach to gain popularity or a following for themselves. They want to be known and recognized. They want to be the largest church in town or the most popular podcast online. Often, money is a factor as well, so that rather than teaching to grow spiritual children into adults, they teach to grow their own wallet and bank account.

This means that two reliable signs of a false teacher is when they only seem to care about growing the numbers of followers they have, or they often talk about giving money to support them and their ministry. Any time a teacher starts talking a lot about numbers, red flags should go up in the minds of the mature Christian. The sad reality is that these false teachers are not just led astray themselves by the lure of power and riches; they also lead astray spiritual children who have not been grounded in good doctrine.

And lest we get too puffed up with pride about our own ability to spot false teachers and sniff out bad doctrine, we must recognize that all Christians (including you and me) have occasionally fallen prey to false teaching. In fact, we can also say with a high degree of certainty that all Christians (including you and me) currently believe some false theology. There is not a single person on the face of the earth who is 100% correct in everything they believe. This is why we must continually be learning, studying, refining, and correcting ourselves under the authority of Scripture.

If you have been caught up in error in the past, or if you are afraid of being caught up in error in the future, you can mature and protect yourself from false teachers by taking time and making effort to study good biblical teaching and listen to good biblical teachers. Ask God to reveal to you where you are wrong in your thinking and theology, and then ask Him to direct you to good resources and teachers who can help guide you into the truth. Most importantly, never be afraid to question or challenge anything you believe. You can only discover false ideas if you question those ideas.

To truly see where you are lacking in your theology, seek to put into practice what you have learned. Only by ministering and serving others will you be able to see if what you are learning is truly leading you into love. After all, love is the litmus test for good theology. When you learn and live this way, you will no longer be spiritual children (cf. 1 Cor 13:11), tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, but instead, you will become a mature and Christlike spiritual adult.

This is the first aspect of God’s Program. It is what keeps us from false teaching and false teachers. Although Ephesians 4:14 mainly talks about the importance of guarding the spiritual children in church, the other aspect of proper parenting is giving to the children, or providing for them. Paul doesn’t mention this, but it is appropriate to include it because there is so much confusion today about what exactly a new Christian needs.

Giving to Children

Children are not born into this world knowing what is good for them. They need to be trained to eat their vegetables rather than fill up on licorice and Twinkies. They need to be told to not sit too close to the TV, to go to bed at a decent hour, and to treat other children with respect. If parents allowed children to make all their own decisions, few children would live past the age of ten.

It is the same with spiritual children. When we first become Christians, we do not know what is good for us. We want cotton candy sermons that are light, airy, and sweet on the tongue. We want high-energy music that gives us goosebumps. We don’t want to hear about getting rid of sin or practicing spiritual disciplines. We prefer to be carried everywhere, and don’t want to learn how to walk in the Spirit. And oftentimes, when we don’t get our way, we throw temper tantrums and get angry at the leadership of the church for not giving us what we want.

Sadly, most churches today seem to operate under the conviction that new Christians (and even non-Christians) know best what they need. They run surveys to discover what the “felt needs” are of new and non-believers, and then organize the church around these needs. When the church operates under this mentality, it functions like a family that assumes children know what they need. The end result of focusing solely on these “felt needs” is that the young Christians remain weak and sickly children who never grow up or mature.

I agree that it is critically important to meet the physical, emotional, relational, and psychological needs of new and non-Christians. After all, if we only seek to meet the spiritual needs of people, we have fallen into the ancient trap of dualism, thinking that it is only the spiritual aspects of life that matter. The church is to minister to the whole person. Nevertheless, the church must not primarily take its cues from new believers or unbelievers about what the church should be doing and offering. Why not? Because new Christians and non-Christians don’t really know what they need. They know what they want, but this is quite different from what they need.

If parents met only the “felt needs” of their children (as far too many are now doing!), we would be near the end of civilization as we know it. When my daughters were young, they thought they needed a dog, a pony, a kitten, a fish, a horse, a lion, a bird, and just about every other animal they saw. When it came to food, they thought they needed jelly beans, licorice, chocolate ice cream, juice, chips, and green olives. (Yes, my oldest daughter loved green olives when she was two.)

But as parents in the family, my wife and I (actually, my wife more than I) knew what our daughters needed better than they did. Did they need food? Yes, but not junk food. They needed healthy food, and we added in sweets and candy as a treat after the healthy food was eaten. Did they need companionship and something to take care of? Yes. It is good to develop the caretaking abilities of children. But they didn’t need to be Noah, gathering two of every animal they saw. Did they need time to relax and be entertained? Sure. But this doesn’t mean they get to watch television all day long.

The same is true for the church. Those who are more mature in the faith and who know sound doctrine, should be the ones who decide what to teach. And those who, through constant practice, are able to discern good from evil (Heb 5:15), should be the primary decision-makers about what to give to the new and immature believers in the church.

New Christians do not know what they need. Most think they need big churches with numerous options and lots of activities to divert their energy and attention from the troubles of life. They want a large children’s program and youth group, forty-five minutes of quality, heart-pounding music, and a dynamic speaker who takes them on an emotional roller-coaster complete with side-splitting jokes and tear-jerking stories. When they leave church, they want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside and as if God Himself has sung them to sleep.

None of these are bad things. Youth groups and children’s programs are good. Quality music is a must. It is a sin to bore people with the sermon (the ideas in Scripture are the most exciting ideas that exist). And people should absolutely feel closer to God when they hang out with other believers. But these are not the only things that new Christians need.

New Christians, like new babies, need milk—and lots of it. Milk helps newborns grow, and it helps protect them from sickness and disease. There is also a bond that forms between the mother and the infant as the baby feeds. Spiritually, the mother of the new Christian is the church. So with all of these benefits, it is the responsibility of the spiritually mature adults in the church, and especially of the pastor-teacher, to make sure that milk is what new Christians get. Whether it is provided through a special service or in a small-group study, new Christians need spiritual milk.

What is spiritual milk? It is nothing but the pure and simple teaching of the Word of God, and the activity of showing them how to practice these truths in their lives. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:2 that Christians, as newborn babes, should desire the pure milk of the Word, so that they may grow (cf. also Heb 5:11–6:3). If a church is not giving to its people the clear and systematic teaching of Scripture, complete with explanation and application, and finished off with actual practice in the community, then they are not giving to the people what they need. Such church leaders are starving their children and should not wonder why the Christians in their church never seem to mature.

And note that as a child grows and develops, they eventually should become self-feeders. That is, while it is important for parents to feed their children when they are young, people should not continue to be fed by their parents for their entire life. Part of the maturing process is that children learn to prepare their own meals and feed themselves.  So while it is a valid criticism for new Christians to say that they “are not being fed” by the church, it is not valid for those Christians who think they are mature to make the same complaint. By the time a baby Christian becomes a mature Christian, they should be able to plan, prepare, and eat their own spiritual meals.

If parents continue to feed their children for 48 years after they are born (barring any special mental or psychological factors, of course), that parent is a failure. At some point or another, those parents must show their children the door, saying, “It is time to be an adult on your own.” Yet ironically in the church, it is usually those Christians who consider themselves to be “mature” who complain that they are “not getting fed” by the pastor’s sermons. It is important to be fed spiritually … when you are spiritual baby. But as you mature as a follower of Jesus Christ, you should learn to feed yourself.[5]

And so it is a pastor-teacher’s responsibility along with the other overseers of the church, to protect the church from false teaching and false teachers. The best way to do this is to provide good teaching from good teachers, and then lead by example on how to live out these teachings in our daily lives. It is not enough to tell a child they can’t have Twinkies and soda pop every day. The spiritual leaders of the church must also provide good, healthy meals to the children so that they can grow and mature. These children will ultimately be able to study Scripture for themselves and teach it to others also.

As great as children are, the main goal of child-rearing is to help them grow up to become productive members of society. This involves guarding them from harm and giving them what they need. The same is true for the church. As great as new believers are, the goal of the church is to help new Christians mature into productive members of God’s kingdom. For this to happen, they need to be protected from what will harm them and they need to be guided into sound doctrine. This is what Paul goes on to explain in Ephesians 4:15-16.

Notes:

[1] See my book, (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks (Dallas, OR: Redeeming Press, 2015) for more on this subject.

[2] I have written a book on all six doctrines, but it is not yet published. Join my discipleship group at RedeemingGod.com/join/ to get notified when this book is available.

[3] See Dan Kimball, (#AmazonAdLink) They Like Jesus But Not the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan: 207) and David Kinnaman, (#AmazonAdLink) UnChristian (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012).

[4] See J. D. Myers, The Gospel According to Scripture  for a longer explanation of why such statements are wrong.

[5] For a longer explanation of this point, see the article here, which is mostly written by Vince Antonucci: “Waa! I’m Not Getting Fed!”

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Note: This study is from my book, (#AmazonAdLink) God’s Blueprints for Church Growth.

The Model for Church Growth (Ephesians 4:13)

… till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … (Ephesians 4:13)

My  brother is an architect, and several years ago, the firm he works for was hired to design an addition to the largest church in town. During that time, I remember stopping into his office when the planning process was in its final stages. He was working on putting together a miniature chipboard model of what the church building would look like with the expansion.

He was almost done with the model at the time, and I remember looking at it in awe. He had cut out all the windows. He had made topographical contour lines and inserted little trees here and there on the model grounds. When I expressed my amazement at the details, he told me that while he didn’t include them on this model, he sometimes adds little cars and people.

Upon seeing the incredible detail, I asked him how much time such a model takes. He told me that while the length of time depends on the complexity of the model. This particular model took a couple hundred hours and cost several thousand dollars.

A couple hundred hours and several thousand dollars? I wanted to gag. What this mega-church spent on a model could have supported my struggling little church for several months. Aside from that, it seemed like a terrible waste of the architect’s time. But I had seen other construction models of this sort before, and so I asked my brother why churches and companies spent money to have these models built. The reason, he told me, was that models help generate interest in the building project. Models help with fundraising and vision-casting. People like to see what the end result will be before they get on board to donate money. Statistics show that money spent on the model generates more money for the actual project.

As I left his office that day, it occurred to me that God also provided a model for His church. God, as the Architect of the church, in His endeavors to expand the church, created a model for us. But God’s model was not for the purpose of raising funds, but was provided to inspire and show us what the church will look like. God’s model helps generate interest in the building project so that we serve in the church as God intends. As we continue to look at God’s Blueprints for Church Growth, we see in Ephesians 4:13, the model for the church. Ephesians 4:13 says this: “… till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:13 contains three aspects, or three dimensions to the Model God seeks for His church.^[1] Just as all architectural models are made in three dimensions, width, depth and height, God’s model also has three dimensions. The width of God’s model is the unity among Christians. The depth of God’s model is the maturity we develop. The height of the model is our growth into Christ-likeness.

Width: Unity

The first dimension, unity, is found in Ephesians 4:13. This text continues from Ephesians 4:11-12, which inform us that the Foremen equip the Crew to serve in the church until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

This makes sense considering the context and structure of the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 4–6 makes up the practical application section of Paul’s letter based on the truths he taught in Ephesians 1–3. Paul begins chapter 4 by instructing his readers to walk in unity. This is what the first 16 verses are all about. He wrote in Ephesians 4:3 that Christians should endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit, and now, in Ephesians 4:13, he writes that the first dimension of the church model is unity.^[2] In other words, unity is what should characterize the church.

Yet too often, churches are more likely to be characterized by strife, division, and personal differences of opinion. Churches are divided over theology, politics, leadership, music style, finances, ministry opportunities, community involvement, what is and isn’t sin, and numerous other issues. It sometimes seems there is nothing the church will not argue about.

This is why unity is the first dimension of the church that God wants to build. Since division and strife is the default position of most of the world, a church that is known for its love and unity will be a light in the darkness, showing the world how to live in peace.

When unity develops in the church, it allows all people to work together for the common purpose to which we are called. But this doesn’t mean we are all clones. We do not all work in the same way on the same projects. To the contrary, biblical peace enables us to live in our own unique way and with our own unique contribution, allowing others to offer their unique insights and contributions as well. Unity occurs when everybody does what he or she is best able to do in order to serve others. Unity comes when all share a common goal, a common purpose, a common vision, and a common direction, but within a framework of letting everyone be unique.

This is how it works with any building. A building consists of a wide diversity of pieces and parts, yet everything is put together with a unified purpose. Not everything is a window or door, but all the pieces—including the windows and doors, as well as the nails, wires, pipes, beams, paint—work together to make the building functional. Where there is no common purpose or unity of theme and goal, the building will not be functional or safe for those who use it.

Several years ago, I worked as a caretaker at a summer Bible camp. One week I was told that the camp needed a storage rack for the life-jackets and canoe paddles, and I was asked to build one. The person who asked me to build a rack never bothered to ask if I knew much about construction, and I didn’t bother to tell them that I was a complete novice in such matters. In hindsight, I should have asked for a quick introductory tutorial.

Prior to this, I had never really built anything, but I figured that it couldn’t be too hard to build a little rack for paddles and lifejackets. So without any sort of plan or preparation except for some vague idea in my head of what I wanted to build, I started throwing 2x4s together. I didn’t really do any measuring, but just took some scrap lumber lying around that looked “about the right size” and nailed them to some trees. I then decided that since the life jackets were outside, it might be nice to protect them from the rain, so maybe I should put a roof over them. Once again, I nailed a few pieces of lumber together and then fastened some plywood on top, then found some scrap metal roofing to finish things off.

As a result of my lack of planning and knowledge, the “shack” I constructed was anything but unified. It was about eight feet square and five feet high. Yet even this was overkill, since all it had to do was store about twenty lifejackets and ten paddles. It had no foundation except a tree root and two cinder blocks. Since I knew nothing about construction, I was unaware that the 2×4 framing studs for the ceiling needed to be spaced to match the 48-inch sheets of plywood. So the plywood pieces I nailed to the ceiling overhung the 2×4 frame by about 10 inches on each side. To make matters worse, I had failed to measure the metal roofing, so that when I went to screw the metal roofing pieces to the plywood, the pieces were too long. I dealt with this by getting out the tin snips to cut them down to size, leaving sharp jagged edges. Furthermore, when I screwed the metal roofing to the roof, I used the wrong size of screw, and many of the screws punched through the plywood to the underside of the roof.

The end result of my attempt at construction was a building that was not only ugly and rickety, but also quite dangerous. The edges of the jagged metal roofing were at face level so that anyone approaching the shack had to be careful they didn’t cut their face. But the danger didn’t end there. If they ducked their head to get a life jacket or paddle from the shack, they had to watch out for the sharp screws sticking through the roof.

But it was the first thing I had ever built, and initially, I was quite proud of that shack. Ironically, we had a master carpenter at the Bible camp who was constructing an actual building, and so I, in my ignorance, called him over to assess my work. He had spent weeks so far on his building, but I had put mine together in a few hours and wanted to show off my little pile of scrap lumber to the master carpenter.

He was very kind. He looked at my newly-built shack, and said, “Hmm … Well … It’ll work. All we need it to do is store the life jackets and paddles.” Then he went back to constructing his building.

The primary difference between our two buildings came down to one thing: Unity of purpose and planning. I did not build my shack with all the pieces and purposes in mind. I used the same studs, plywood, and sheet metal roofing that the other carpenter used, but he put his together according to a set of blueprints that showed how all the pieces fit together as a unified whole. I had no unified plan or purpose.

Later that summer, a storm blew my shack over and it got hauled away to the burn pile. Last time I was at the camp, his building was still standing, fifteen years after it was constructed. And by all appearances, it should stand for at least another fifty.

This story of two buildings, one with a unified plan and purpose and one without, represents the two ways that the church can grow and develop. Where there is no unity, the church will crumble into chaos and conflict until the first stiff breeze blows it over. But when the church is built according to the unified model that God lays out in Ephesians 4, the church will grow strong and sturdy so that it stands the test of time.

The great problem with unity however, is that few can agree with what unity looks like. Just as Christians argue and debate about everything from creeds to carpet color, so also, Christians argue and debate about how to be unified. Everybody agrees that unity is important, but few agree on how this unity is to be achieved. For example, some Christian groups seem to think that unity can only be achieved when everybody thinks like them, talks like them, dresses like them, and behaves like them. They want everyone to sign on the dotted line, color within the lines, and toe the party line.

But is this true unity? Unity is not necessarily the same thing as uniformity. We do not all have to be identical in order to live in unity. God is not interested in cloning Christians. Instead, we can learn what true unity looks like by seeing how God designed unity in creation. All of creation works and functions together toward a common divine purpose and goal, and yet it does this with incredible diversity. Each part of God’s creation allows each other part to function as designed and intended. This is the only way God’s creation works.

This is also the only way God’s church works. True church unity is achieved when each person recognizes that all other people have different tastes, desires, interests, and abilities, and rather than see these differences in others as weaknesses to be exploited or flaws to be fixed, this diversity is celebrated and enjoyed as part of God’s plan and purpose for the church. So rather than seek uniformity, true unity celebrates diversity, letting others be who God made them to be, just as we want them to let us be who God made us to be. Unity is not when we love others in spite of their differences, but in light of them.

This means that we don’t all need to be in agreement on everything or act in identical ways, in order to live together in unity. The church can be as diverse as creation and yet still serve God. Nevertheless, there are a few essentials about which all should agree. Paul lists two of these in Ephesians 3:13. He says he wants us all to come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

The Faith

The first item a unified church needs to be in agreement on is the faith. As I discuss in my Gospel Dictionary online course in the lesson on the word “faith”, and in my book, (#AmazonAdLink) What is Faith?, the noun faith is primarily used in two ways throughout the New Testament. The first way is the way we most often think of it, as a synonym for belief. Faith is typically defined as a belief, reliance upon, confidence in, or persuasion about the truth of some claim. Therefore, to talk about faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life is to say that we believe that Jesus is speaking the truth when He says that He gives eternal life to those who believe in Him for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; etc.). We can also believe, or have faith, in the truth claims that God exists, that Jesus died and rose again, and that the Bible can be trusted. This form of the word faith is the most prominent way the word is used in the Bible.

However, there is a second way the word is used as well. At several places in Scripture, the word “faith” is preceded by the article—the word “the”—as Paul uses it here in Ephesians 4:13. In these cases, “the faith” does not refer to believing or being persuaded that something is true. Instead, “the faith” refers to the body of common Christian beliefs or the essentials of Christian life and practice (cf. Acts 6:7; 13:8; 14:22; 16:5; 1 Cor 16:33; 2 Cor 13:5; Gal 1:23; 6:10; Php 1:25; Col 1:23; 1 Tim 1:2; 4:1; 5:8; 6:10, 21).

We use the phrase “the faith” similarly in our own language when we refer to other religions. For example, we might talk about the Mormon faith, the Jewish faith, or the Islamic faith. We could also speak of the Christian faith. In all of these cases, we are referring to the whole system of beliefs and practices which differentiate one system from the others. The Bible uses the term similarly. When the Bible speaks of “the faith” it is speaking of the doctrines and practices which separate followers of Jesus from those who follow something or someone other than Jesus.

So while “faith” by itself refers to being convinced or persuaded that something is true, the phrase “the faith” refers to the set of beliefs and practices that are common to all Christians.  This difference is seen when a person is asked about when they became a Christian, and how long they have been a Christian. In the first case, the question could be phrased, “When did you first place faith in Jesus Christ?” In the second case, the question is sometimes phrased, “How long have you been in the faith?”

Therefore, when Paul writes that God wants Christians to come to unity of the faith, he is giving instructions for Christians to agree on the basic non-negotiables of Christian life and practices. But of course, this is where the problems start, for what are the basics? What are the non-negotiables? I wish Paul would have laid out a few, for this statement of his has created much disunity in the church as we all try to figure out what the central beliefs actually are. If you ask one hundred pastors to name the top 10 core essential beliefs of Christianity, you will likely receive one hundred different top ten lists.

Nevertheless, if we could all sit down and talk things over, maybe we would come up with a few basic fundamentals of the faith. We would, of course, agree that there is a God. There should probably also be a statement about the authority of Scripture (even if we didn’t necessarily all agree on the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture). There would absolutely have to be a statement about the nature and character of Jesus Christ as God incarnate, since He is, after all, the foundation and center of Christianity. Finally, it would also be important to mention one of the main things that separates us from all other religions and cults, which is the foundational Christian teaching that eternal life is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, apart from works. Without this final truth, Christianity is nothing more than just another works-based religion.

Beyond these non-negotiables, there are other things which Christians might want to include. From a historical standpoint, we could probably do no better than to simply point to the Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed, which uphold God as the creator of the universe, the Godhead as existing eternally in three persons, the dual nature of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the reign and return of Christ, and the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

There may be others that we should all agree on if we are going to become unified, but those are just a few examples of the essential beliefs of the faith which Paul mentions here in Ephesians 4:13.

But as was mentioned above, “the faith” includes more than just doctrine; it is more than just a set of beliefs. “The faith” also includes how Christians behave and act toward one another. If church members are going to get along, they might need to agree on a few basic ideas on how to live and act in this world and with each another.

Yet here we must be extremely careful. One generation’s morality issues can lead to sin in a later generation. For example, Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6:9 for masters to treat their slaves well, was used by a later generation as permission for slave ownership.

This is why we must be careful. We must make sure we do not go as far as some churches and denominations do, in having written dress codes, along with rules about drinking, smoking, movies, music, dancing, and cards. Most of these issues are modern parallels to the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols which Paul writes about in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 10. On such issues, we would be wise to remember Paul’s final admonition in Romans 14:5-14 that we are not to judge each other in these matters. God has given some people freedom to do things which others do not have. The fact that each one will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of himself to God (2 Cor 5:10) should be enough of a reminder for us to abide by our own conscience and let others do the same. Operating in this way will greatly increase the unity we have with one another.

Therefore, when it comes to issues of morality, it seems that the only rule which should govern our behavior is the rule of love. Love is the guiding principle and ethic of the person who follows Jesus. As we live and exist within relationships with other people, we do so, not with a list of Dos and Don’ts, but with a desire for love. We are to love others and live in a way that invites them to love us. Issues of morality, therefore, are determined with the whole community of Christians in mind and can shift and change from one generation to another, or from one geographic location to another. There are only two ways to live: by law or by love. The Christian way is love.

So these are some of the Christian beliefs and behaviors which will help Christians grow in unity with each other. In a later letter to the young pastor, Timothy, Paul invited him to watch his life and doctrine closely (1 Tim 4:16). Paul’s admonishment to Timothy very closely reflects Paul’s instructions here to the Ephesians. How Christians live and what Christians believe is what makes up “the faith.” The church grows in unity when it agrees on what to believe and how to live in love for one another. But unity in “the faith” is not the only aspect to growing in unity. Unity is also developed as we grow in the knowledge of Christ, which Paul mentions next.

Knowledge of Christ

The second area which allows Christians to grow in unity with one other is the knowledge of Christ. For growth in unity, there is nothing better than gaining a deeper knowledge of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. But we must understand that the knowledge Paul has in view here is not just a superficial knowledge of Christ. Paul is not just talking about “book knowledge.” The normal word for knowledge is gnōsis, but Paul uses the word epignōsis, which is similar, but means something closer to “knowledge upon knowledge.” It is used throughout Scripture as a full, complete, and detailed knowledge (Rom 3:20; 10:2; Eph 1:17; Php 1:9; Col 1:9-10; 2:2; 3:10; 1 Tim 2:4.; 2 Tim 2:25; 3:7). It is to know something exactly, completely, through and through. It is a certain and sure knowledge. It is this kind of knowledge we are to have of Jesus Christ, and which will lead us into Christian unity.

Yet is this kind of knowledge even possible? No; not in this life. Earlier, Paul wrote that he wanted the Ephesian Christians to know that which cannot be known, namely, the love of Christ (Eph 3:18-19). But how can we know that which cannot be known? How is it that we can gain a full, detailed, and complete knowledge of Jesus Christ? How can we have knowledge upon knowledge?

The answer is to recognize that since we can never fully know or comprehend Jesus Christ, we are to do two things. First, we are to add to the knowledge of Christ that we already have. Since epignōsis could be translated as “knowledge upon knowledge,” it could be understood to mean that we are to be constantly adding knowledge to the knowledge we already have. We are to build on our knowledge of Jesus Christ. We do this, of course, through study, prayer, and following Jesus wherever He goes.

But this constant pursuit of the knowledge of Jesus Christ is dangerous if we do not also incorporate the second element of gaining this knowledge, which is humility. Since we can never fully know Jesus Christ, this means that our knowledge of Him is never full or complete. And therefore, we are ignorant of some things regarding Jesus, and flat-out wrong about others. Anybody who has been a Christian for any length of time can think back to a day when they believed something wrong about Jesus. But through study and growth as a Christian, you grew in your knowledge of Jesus Christ, and came to believe something different today. That experience should always keep you humble about what you currently believe today. For it is only a humble student who will always be a learning student, and it is only a humble and learning Christian who will recognize that they don’t know it all, and therefore, they can seek out and learn from other Christians who might have different perspectives or ideas about Jesus Christ and how to follow Him in this world.

So yes, study and learn from Scripture, while putting into practice what you learn. This will slowly and resolutely conform you to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, which will help you grow in unity with others. But as this process unfolds over time, make sure you also remain humble, allowing the convicting and illuminating work of the Holy Spirit and the sharpening influence of other Christians to teach you ever more about Jesus. This too will help you grow in unity with God, and with other members of His church.

Unity is the first dimension to the model that God has provided for His church. It is something we are to strive for and seek after, especially as we grow in unity in the faith and in knowledge of the Son of God. As we do this, we will also be begin to develop in the second dimension of the church model, which is Christian maturity.

Depth: Maturity

The second dimension of the model that we are seeking to attain is Maturity. This is found in the next part of Ephesians 4:13: to a perfect man. The Foremen of verse 11 train the Crew in verse 12. As the Crew learns to use their God-given gifts for ministry, each one grows into maturity, and the church as a whole becomes perfect.

This does not mean that any one of us will become perfect or sinless this side of heaven. The word Paul uses here for perfect is teleios, which refers to arriving at the end, or goal, for which you were created. It is not so much about arriving at the destination, but about journeying toward it. The quest for Christian maturity is an ongoing journey as we seek to become more and more like Jesus with each passing day.

So Paul’s invitation for the church to become perfect is an invitation to grow into maturity. We know this is what he means because he elaborates further in verse 14 where he writes “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,”

An immature Christian, a baby Christian, is someone who is not biblically and doctrinally grounded. They are not yet able to tell the difference between good theology and false theology, or good teaching and bad teaching. Baby Christians think that as long as Scripture is quoted—the teaching must be okay. Baby Christians think that as long as the pastor or the teacher has some Bible school training, some letters after or before their name, or some pastoral experience, what they are saying must be okay. Baby Christians think that as long as a teacher or a pastor has a few books published or is broadcast on the radio or television they must be correct in what they say. Baby Christians are easily swayed by fine-sounding arguments. Baby Christian do not search the Scriptures to see if what they are being taught is true.

The good news is that a baby Christian can grow up. A spiritual baby can mature just like a physical baby. Human babies mature physically as they eat healthy meals, get enough rest, receive discipline, and are trained to be physically, emotionally and socially responsible. Similarly, a baby Christian can mature by eating a healthy diet of Scripture reading and listening to sound Bible teaching. They can discipline their minds to pray and their wallets to give. A maturing Christian can get involved with other believers so they can learn to serve others. In these ways, the Christian will mature, and the church as a whole will also develop toward its goal and end.

This idea of guarding and guiding Christians will be considered more in the next chapter where we look at Ephesians 4:13. For now, it is important to recognize that Christian maturity is the second dimension of the model for the church. We are to strive toward our goal, or end, for which we were created, the perfect man, the mature Body of Christ, which is what Paul describes next.

Height: Christ-Likeness

The third and final dimension, found at the end of Ephesians 4:13, is Christ-likeness. Paul writes that we are to grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Previously, in Ephesians 4:13, he told us to gain as much knowledge about Christ as we possibly could. Now he tells us to become as much like Christ as we possibly can. One follows the other. Before you can be like Christ, you need to know what Christ is like. Many people think that Bible reading and Bible study is a waste of time, but we are only able to become more like Jesus as we learn more about Him through Scripture. “We get no deeper into Christ than we allow Him to get into us.”^[3] We do this according to His measure, stature and fullness. Let’s look at these one at a time.

Measure

The first way to become like Christ is in His measure. The word measure comes from the Greek metron, which is where we get our word metric. So Paul is saying, “Go to great lengths to become like Jesus Christ in every way. From the smallest little bit to the largest part.” Become like Christ in His measure.

Stature

The word stature frequently refers to age, or number of years. But Jesus only lived to be 33 years old, so Paul cannot be saying then that all we have to do is live to be 33. Instead, the word can also refer to the reputation one gains for themselves as they grow older. In Luke 2:52, when Jesus is said to be growing in wisdom and in stature, we also see that He was beginning to gain a good reputation with other people. As Jesus aged, He gained stature, or a positive reputation, among others.

This is the way it is with all great men and women in history. Nobody knows who the great men and women are when they are first born. Nobody knew George Washington or Clara Barton when they were first born. But as they grew older and matured, they served courageously and self-sacrificially, and as a result, gained a good reputation before others. This is what it means to gain stature.

Sadly, much of Christianity has bad stature. In recent decades, survey after survey and study after study has shown that the average non-Christian has a low view of the average Christian. Christians do not have a good reputation, but are instead known for being judgmental, rude, arrogant, and hypocritical. But we can work to reverse this stigma if we do the things Paul writes about in Ephesians 4:13. If we live in unity with one another and strive to become mature Christians, we will gain a good reputation among outsiders. We will, like Christ, grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

Fullness

Finally, we are to become like Christ in His fullness. This means that we become like Him in every way. We cannot pick and choose which parts of Jesus Christ we want to imitate. We are to become like Him in His fullness. God wants every aspect of the church to be like every aspect of Jesus Christ. Whenever you trying to decide how to act, talk, or behave, it is wise to stop and ask yourself which words or actions look most like Jesus. When we ask ourselves this question and live as Jesus lived, we will develop into the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Christ-likeness involves becoming like Him in His measure, stature, and fullness. Although we’ve seen the three dimensions of the model church which God the architect is building—unity, maturity, and Christ-likeness—when we really get down to what the model looks like, it is this last statement from Ephesians 4:13 that is most prominent. The church’s model is Jesus Christ. If you want to know how you should live, think, and act, all you have to do is look at Jesus. If you want to know what the church should look like, what the church should be doing, and how the church should act—all you have to do is look at Jesus Christ.

Back in Ephesians 1:22-23, Paul wrote that “[God] put all things under [Christ’s] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Note the word fullness again. The church is the fullness of Christ. The church is Christ to the world. If people in the world want to see and know Jesus Christ, they should be able to look at the church as the reflection of Jesus. Since Jesus perfectly reveals God to us, we are to reveal Jesus to others, so that by looking at us, they see Jesus, and therefore, God in us.

So Jesus Christ is our model. Everything we do, think, and say as individuals and as a church should be patterned after what Jesus did, what Jesus thought, and what Jesus said. And as we pattern ourselves after the model of Jesus Christ, we ourselves become a model of Jesus for the world to see.

Conclusion

When my brother built a model for the church expansion, he said that the model helped people see what the end product would look like, which in turn helped people get excited about where the building was going. God too, has laid out a model for us in Scripture. If we want to know what we’re going to look like, if we want to get excited about our future, then we need to develop a complete and thorough knowledge of Jesus Christ, and then seek to live, love, and serve like Jesus.

Only when we all do this will we all come to a unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Only then will we become like our Model, Jesus. How are you and your church doing in living like this Model and revealing Him to the world?

NOTES:

[1] In the Greek, eis is repeated three times, showing that there are three aspects listed here.

[2] These two times are the only times this word for unity (henoites) is used in all of the New Testament.

[3] (#AmazonAdLink) Springs in the Valley, May 21, 147.

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Note: This study is from my book, (#AmazonAdLink) God’s Blueprints for Church Growth.

The Crew

… for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:12

John F. Kennedy once told our nation, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” And for a while, we followed his advice. But consumerism’s viselike grip upon our lives has us once more asking, “What will the government do for me?” According to the Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer, this me-first, entitlement mentality is the type of thinking that led to the downfall of the Roman Empire.^[1] If things continue as they are, this attitude will lead to our downfall as well.

But before that happens, this same mindset will lead to the downfall of the church. Most Christians come to church with the same consumer mentality that motivates them in the rest of life. “What does this church … or that church have to offer me? Whichever one offers to meet my needs, I will go there.” Even the term “Church Service” no longer means, “A place where I can serve” but rather, “A place where I am served.” (See my book, (#AmazonAdLink) Put Service Back into the Church Service).

Pastors and churches that want to be large often cater to this mentality. They give up biblical preaching. They only speak to felt needs. They rarely talk about sin, judgment, the marriage of Christianity and politics, or anything that might make a person feel uncomfortable. Since people do not seem to come to church to get what they really need, many churches have started to offer what people think they want.

Yet nationally, church numbers are still shrinking. Why? Because God did not design His church to be a place that focuses primarily on meeting felt needs. God wants us to meet needs that most people do not even know they have. For unbelievers, their greatest spiritual need is to hear that God loves them, forgives them, and thinks nothing but good about them. They need to hear that they can have eternal life and a relationship with God simply by believing in Jesus. And one of the best ways for the church to share this message of God’s love and acceptance is to show it to them.

The church is the hands, feet, and voice of God, and people primarily learn about God’s love for them by how the church functions in this world. 

But the church also has another function, and that is to teach and train those who believe in Jesus. God designed His church as a place where all believers can be taught God’s Word and be given opportunities to put it into practice.

The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 commands us to make disciples—not just converts. So the primary functions of the church are to invite unbelievers to believe in Jesus for eternal life, and then to invite believers to follow Jesus in this life.  This entire process is called “salvation” in the Bible, and it is not just about how to go to heaven when you die, but also how to serve God and others while you live on earth. The church must tell people how to be saved so that they can serve.

This understanding is critical for the life, health, and future of the church. If we want to get back to being a victorious, life-changing church, each and every person within the church needs to begin by asking, in the words of John F. Kennedy, not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church.

And that is exactly what Ephesians 4:12 calls us to do.

As we look at God’s Blueprints for Church Growth in Ephesians 4:11-16, we have seen that on the construction site that is Christ’s Church, there are four Foremen who oversee the building site. The first two Foremen, the apostles and prophets, led the way in centuries past by writing Scripture. They laid the foundation according to Ephesians 2:20. The third Foreman is made up of all those who have the gift of evangelism. Evangelists speak the Scriptures with power to those who have not heard. As these people believe in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, they become part of the church structure—they become what we could term the walls and the roof of God’s church. And then we learned that the pastor/teachers are responsible for providing light and heat to the church. They do this by speaking the Word of God to Christians, thereby training Christians not just to know the Word of God, but to apply it to their lives.

In Ephesians 4:12, we learn specifically what the pastor/teachers train the church members to do on the Construction site. If Ephesians 4:11 listed the Foremen, Ephesians 4:12 talks about the Crew. It says that God has provided the Foremen for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

The first part of Ephesians 4:12 shows us that the Foremen are to do one thing, and one thing only. They are to equip the saints.

The rest of Ephesians 4:12 indicates what the saints are supposed to do.

The KJV has caused much confusion in this area because of an unfortunate comma inserted after the word “saints.” It reads For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. When read this way, it appears that the Foremen are to do all three things mentioned in Ephesians 4:12.

The Foremen are to:

(1) equip the saints,

(2) do the work of the ministry, and

(3) edify the body of Christ.

With this comma placement, many Christians think that everything is the responsibility of the Evangelists and Pastors/Teachers. Those who happen to not be an Evangelist or Pastor/Teacher believe they can come to church and just soak up all the teaching and worship. So they sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. They adopt a “Here I am; Serve me” mentality.” They let others do the work of the ministry. After all, “the ministry” is what the pastor gets paid to do. As people adopt this mentality, the church begins to look like a football game—50,000 onlookers in the stands desperately in need of exercise, watching twenty-two people on the field who desperately need rest. All of this is the result of a misplaced comma.

But with the comma removed (punctuation is not part of the inspired text, but a simple grammatical diagram of the Greek shows that the comma should not be there) we see that the Foremen have only one task, and the Crew have two. When we remove the comma, as it should be grammatically, we get a much different picture. Visually, the verse layout now looks like this:

The Foremen are to equip the saints to:

(1) do the work of the ministry and

(2) edify the body of Christ.

This is different, isn’t it? The comma determines whose job is it to do the work of the ministry. When the comma is left in, all the work of the ministry belongs to the Foremen. But when taken out, the work of the ministry belongs to all the saints, leaving the Foremen to simply equip them to do it. For the Pastor/Teacher, this is quite a relief!

The Task of the Foremen

Ephesians 4:12 shows that God has provided Foremen for the equipping of the saints. The word equipping means to train, to prepare, to restore, to make fully ready. Equipping is basically just providing the tools and training that the crew needs for the job. And just like on any construction site, God has given us the necessary tools for the job.

There are a wide variety of tools, but all tools can basically be boiled down into three categories: tools that cut (saws and drills), tools that connect (nail and hammer, screwdriver and screw, glue, and every man’s secret weapon, duct tape) and tools that cover (caulking, mud, wood putty). For the church, these same tools are present in the preaching of the Word (cut), praying to God (connect) and fellowshipping with other believers (cover).

Cut

Cutting is done by the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. Often times in Scripture, God’s Word spoken “cuts to the heart” (Acts 2:37; Heb 4:12). Sometimes the cutting is painful when things we are quite attached to must be cut off and removed. But other times, the cutting is a relief and a joy as deadweight is removed and burdens are lifted.

Connect

We connect with God through prayer. Prayer is the glue that keeps us in close contact with God. It attaches us to God as we communicate with Him. It helps us remain in constant fellowship. As we pray, God conforms our thoughts and desires to His will so that the more time we spend in prayer, the more like Christ we live. Prayer connects us with God in a way that nothing else can because spiritual intimacy is born when we pray.

Cover

Fellowship among Christians allows us to get to know one another and develop loving relationships with one another. As we do this, we learn to love another. And love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet 4:8). As we spend time with each other, we forgive one another, and bear one another’s burdens and fulfill all of the “one another’s” of Scripture.

Does your church make these tools top priority? To be properly equipped, you must make sure that you have tools that cut, connect, and cover. An equipping church makes sure that they are teaching the Word of God, praying to God, and fellowshipping with one another. Incidentally, these are the three things the early church focused on (Acts 2:42)^[3] and was one of the keys to their power and effectiveness. Churches can do a lot of things, but if these three are not provided then the church is just spinning its wheels and will not get anything done.

If a church is struggling, the first thing pastors and church leaders should do is determine whether they are adequately teaching the Word of God, providing times for prayer and getting the church together for fellowship. Where one or more of these are absent, you will find a church that is either struggling to survive or is built on the power and ideas of man rather than God.

Once the Foremen have adequately equipped the Crew, the church is then ready to send the Crew out to work. But what is it that the Crew does?

The Tasks of the Crew

On a construction site, it is not enough to have the best-trained work crew if they don’t do any work. They may have the necessary knowledge and all the best tools and resources, but if they don’t do any work, there will not be any progress on the building.

When I lived in Chicago, there was a joke among some of my friends that Chicago only had two seasons—winter and construction. It seemed like the construction crews were always doing some project, but they never got any work done. This was especially true of the road repair crews. I remember one crew that went to work at first light every morning right outside my dormitory window for about two months. I was greeted at dawn every morning with the sound of jack hammers, concrete saws, and yelling voices for two whole months. Every morning I looked out my window to see if I could discover what they were doing. I never did figure it out. They worked for about two months on the same twenty foot stretch of pavement. When they were finally done, it looked exactly as it had before.

Many of our churches are like this. They make a lot of noise, cause a lot of commotion, but when all is said and done, not a whole lot gets accomplished. This is because, in many cases, the Crew does not know what they are supposed to be doing. Ephesians 4:12 clears this up by assigning two tasks to the crew.

The crew is to do the work of the ministry and edify the body of Christ.

The Work of Ministry

The first task of the Crew, after they have been equipped and trained by the Foremen, is to do the work of ministry. This is backwards from how most people view the church structure today. Most of us think that the pastors are hired as “the ministers” and they are the ones who are in “full time ministry.” But Paul turns all of that upside down. The ministry of the church leaders is to teach and train the Christians within the church to be the ministers. On a construction site, it is not the Foremen who do most of the work, but the Crew. This should also be the case in the church.

While God has given the Foremen three basic tools to equip the saints, He has also given a special tool set to each Christian to be used for ministry and mutual edification in the local church. These tools may be helpful in secular endeavors, but are not given primarily for this purpose. Rick Warren, in his national best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, points out that God has shaped us for service. He uses the word SHAPE as an acronym to describe the five things that make each of us unique for our God-given ministry.^[4] They are your

Spiritual Gifts

Heart

Abilities

Personality

Experiences

Let us briefly consider each.

Spiritual Gifts

A gift is something specifically given to you by somebody else. Biblically, we think of these as Spiritual gifts, and they are given to Christians by God at the moment we first believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life. Some people are given only one; others are given multiple gifts. There is a debate among Christians about which gifts there are, how many there are, and which ones are still in use today. There is also a debate on how to discover your spiritual gifts. See (#AmazonAdLink) my book on the Spiritual Gifts for more about how to discover and use your spiritual gifts.

Heart

The heart is where your desires are. The heart contains your dreams and plans for your future. You discover your heart by asking the question, “If I could do anything in life, what would it be?” When you stop and think about this, you are searching for your heart. Frequently, these desires were placed there by God. The Bible says that He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4). This means both that He has placed them there, and that if you chase after them as He intends, He will bring them to fruition.

Certain forms of Christianity have told us that our desires are evil and sinful. But if we want to follow Jesus and serve God with our lives, and be used in His Kingdom, then our desires are God-given and should be sought after and worked for.^[5] Certainly, there are still evil desires within us, but the solution to overcoming them is not to get rid of all desire, but rather, to discern between desires. There is the finest of lines between the greatest of sinners and the greatest of saints. We think they are on opposite ends of the spectrum, but in reality, they are both at the pinnacle of desire. One, however, reaches for the attainment of all his fleshly desires, the other reaches for the attainment of all the spiritual desires. “Desire, a burning passion for more, is at the heart of both … the greatest enemy of holiness is not passion; it is apathy.”^[6] What are your desires telling you about your heart?

Abilities

Alongside Spiritual gifts and our God given desires, each of us have abilities and talents. Everybody has these, both Christians and non-Christians. Sometimes these abilities are natural—we are born with them; other times they are acquired—we learn them through education or an apprenticeship.

Often, these abilities and talents are used by business men and women to succeed in their jobs. Some who have a good head for math become excellent scientists and engineers. People with a love for music might become musicians. Those with good people skills do well in management or sales. We all have abilities that make us better at some things than others. Rick Warren says that on average, you possess from 500 to 700 different abilities!^[7] As we learn of these various abilities, they will help us know more about the particular features of our SHAPE.

Personality

Many of us like to classify personalities. We talk about “Type A” personalities. We take personality assessments. We talk about the four personality types. Sometimes we think that some personalities are better suited for ministry than others, or that certain personalities are ministry handicaps. But the fact is that there is no right or wrong personality for ministry. God made you who you are, and you need to understand that so that you can be who He made you to be in whatever ministry He calls you to do. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to serve God when you act like somebody else. If we try to serve God in areas that require gifts we do not have, the experience is quite frustrating. Be yourself because it is you that God wants; not you acting like someone else.

Experiences

Finally, every single person has a unique life experience. Some people have gone through unimaginable horrors. Others have lived a life of ease and luxury. There are many who wallowed in the depths of depravity, while others lived morally upright lives. Some people experience the loss of a loved one. Some experience daily pain and sickness. Nobody, however, just has an “ordinary” life. There is no such thing. We all have some things in common, but every person has a unique set of life experiences.

God can use these experiences—even the painful ones—to teach and show you the things He wants you to know. These experiences will help you relate with others who have gone through similar experiences. So do not deny them or try to hide them. When you are honest and open about the valleys, mountains and potholes of your life, others who have gone through similar experiences will see and will join you.

Putting the Five Together for Ministry

It is the first task of the saints to do the work of the ministry. But in order to know what ministry they should be doing, every saint should understand their SHAPE. The combination of these five things will help you understand what sort of ministry you would be good at. The combinations and applications are infinite. Your spiritual gifts, plus the desires of your heart, in combination with the abilities and skills you have learned, added to the personality you have developed and the experiences in life you have gone through make you absolutely unique for a certain ministry. If you don’t do what God has prepared you to do, nobody else will.

Maybe you have the gifts of teaching and service, you were raised in a good family, and you have a lot of knowledge and experience in childhood development. In that case, maybe God’s will for you is for you to help other young mothers within and without the church to raise their own children in a Godly fashion.

I know of a man who had the spiritual gifts of evangelism, service, and creative communication, the heart desire to travel and be on the open road, the ability and knowledge to work on motorcycles, a fun-loving and free-spirited personality, and the life experiences of riding motorcycles. He came complete with the tattoos and scraggly beard. This SHAPE made him perfect to start a ministry to Harley riders. And God is using him greatly to fulfill this ministry.

This is also one of the reasons I currently help pastors, authors, and other Christians build websites and their online presence. I have the spiritual gifts of pastor/teacher, and also the experience and abilities of web development and coding, and the heart to coach and help others get their God-given message out into the world, and so I want to help others get their own websites up and running as well.

As each and every saint discovers their spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and life experiences, it will become clear to them and to others what sort of ministry God has prepared for them to do (Ephesians 2:10). It may be unique. It may sound crazy to others. But if God has prepared good works especially for you to do, you need to do them, because nobody else will.

Pastor/Teachers sometimes find that a person knows what they need to do without knowing what their spiritual gifts, abilities or experiences even are. The way this happens is that they often come to the office after the church service, or sometime during the week, and say something like, “You know what this church really needs to do? We need to set up a skate park for all the skaters in town. I was walking downtown yesterday, and noticed signs up all over the place saying, ‘No Skateboarding.’ What if we built a skate park, and put up signs that said, ‘Yes, Skateboarding!’ Can you get started on it right away, Pastor?”

These kinds of “helpful ideas” normally destroy a pastor. He usually tries to sound positive and encouraging, but inside, he is thinking, “Oh no! Not another criticism of what the church should really be doing. I’m swamped as it is. I can’t take on another project.”

When I was a pastor, this used to frustrate me as well. But then I realized that when people came to me with ideas for what we should be doing as a church, these ideas were probably valid, but they were not ideas for new areas of ministry that I should be leading, but ideas for new areas of ministry that should be led by the person who was coming to me with the idea.

Once I realized this, I first affirmed their sensitivity to what God wants His church to be doing. I would say something like, “That’s a great idea! God is really showing you what He wants this church to do. And I really liked your ideas and the suggestions on how it could be done.” I might even show them from the Bible that their ideas are also God’s ideas.

Then I told them that their ideas reveal the way God had wired them. I let them know that God had given them spiritual gifts, and these gifts help them see areas of need in the church, and ministries which the church was lacking. I let them know this is why they saw this need when many other people had missed it. If I was able, I told them what their spiritual gifts might be. If a man said the church needed to reach out more to the community through acts of service, there was a good possibility that man has gifts of evangelism, service, and mercy. If a lady wanted to see more emphasis on prayer, she might have the gift of intercession.

Thirdly, I laid down a challenge. I tell them that God did not give spiritual gifts just to point out weaknesses in the church. He gave the gifts to fill these weaknesses. Seeing the weakness is simply the Holy Spirit working on the individual to find a ministry in the church. When they tell me what the church should be doing, what they were really seeing was something that God wanted them to do. So I told them to change “Somebody else should …” to “God wants me to …”

Frequently, some people just like to come up with ideas, but not really do anything. So I like to see how serious they are. I ask them to put together a plan, or find someone in the church who will come on board and help them put together a plan for this ministry (After all, this person might not be an organizer/administrator).

Then I left it up to them. I did not shoved them off into a dark corner. I didn’t quenched their desire to serve. Instead, I encouraged them in what may be God’s guidance, and I gave them an opportunity to get their ministry started. If they wanted further guidance or ideas, I made myself available. I wanted to teach and train them to do what God called them to do rather than simply do their ministry for them. In this way, they become the ministers. And when they ministered in such a way, they accomplish the second task of the Crew—the edification of the body.

The Edifying of the Body of Christ

Each person is to minister to others for the purpose of edifying of the body of Christ. While the ultimate goal of all service is to bring glory to God, this is the method by which it is achieved. Each person needs to use their SHAPE for the mutual edification of the other members of the body of Christ.

Edification really isn’t a word we use much anymore. It means strengthening, encouraging. In construction terms, it means building up. As the Bible defines it, true church growth is caused by the mutual edification of the believers. The growth of the body of Christ is caused by people using their gifts to edify, or build up, one another. If you want the church to grow, you need to be asking yourself “What has God called me to do so that I can edify others?”

Jesus Christ has specially gifted you to do exactly what He wants you to do. It is not just that He has a will for your life, it is that He has given you the set of tools you need to do what only you can do. Think of yourselves as having a monopoly on what it is Jesus wants you to do.

Imagine how impossible it would be to get your teeth cleaned if there were only one dentist in town. Not only would he always be busy, but he could also charge whatever he wanted for his services. Worse than this, imagine if this dentist refused to work on anyone’s teeth! What if he got tired of people always coming to him with their toothaches, and the teeth they hadn’t brushed or flossed properly? What if he got fed up with it all, and just said, “No more! I’m not going to work on anyone else’s teeth!” What would happen? Two things would happen. He would eventually go bankrupt and everybody else’s teeth would rot.

That’s the way it is when a person either doesn’t realize what their spiritual gifts are, or refuses to use them. Since we are all unique in our SHAPE, it is as if every person is the only dentist in town. Every person has a monopoly on what they offer. If people don’t know what their SHAPE is, or if they refuse to use their gifts, then not only will they become spiritually bankrupt, but everybody else will rot their spiritual teeth. Each person is unique in what they can offer, and when they fail or refuse to offer it, everybody loses.

This is so important to understand. What God desires for you, and what He has gifted you to do, no one else can do! Yes, others may have the same gifts, but no one else has your God-given personality; no one else has your history or your experiences that can put a particular perspective on what you are doing for God. In other words, no one can do what you do better than you. In Christ, you are unique. You have a monopoly on what God has given you.

So what are you going to do with it? God will not force you to obey Him. He will not force you to do His will. But again, if you refuse, you are the one missing out—and so is everyone who needs what you have. And when too many people neglect what they are supposed to do—people and organizations start dying.

This happened to one small community church. It was the only church in town, but the people who attended never got involved, so the pastor had to do it all. One after another, pastor after pastor got burned out and left. Year after year, the church became smaller and smaller.

The church gained quite a reputation. After a while no pastor wanted to take the church. Finally, a young pastor agreed to come. On his first Sunday, he announced to the eight people who attended that on the following Sunday they were going to have a funeral service for the church. The church had died, and they were going to bury it.

He let the local newspaper know so they could run an obituary. The newspaper thought it was newsworthy enough to put it on the front page.

The following Sunday, enough interest had been sparked, that almost the whole community showed up for the funeral service. They wanted to see what a funeral service for a church looked like. As the people entered the building, there was soft funeral music playing. In the front of the sanctuary was a casket surrounded by flowers and soft lighting. The pastor sat up front dressed all in black.

When the room was packed to overflowing, he stood up to welcome the people, and then spoke a short eulogy over the casket about the dead church. He then told the audience that as it was an open-casket funeral, they would each be allowed, one by one, to come and look into the casket to pay their last respects.

So, one by one, each person came forward—out of morbid curiosity—to look into the open casket. And each one, after glancing in, turned quickly away and walked sheepishly back to their seat.

What was in the casket for the dead church? Nothing but a mirror. As each person looked into the casket, they saw their own face staring back at them. Had the church died? Yes, it had. Why? Because the people no longer did the work of the ministry that God had called them to do.

God has given you something to do which only you can do, and if you do not do it, it will not get done, and the church will be worse off as a result. Jesus Christ has a plan to build His church, and you are in it. Will you follow the directions, or will you fall through the cracks? Because you are a saint, you are a minister. You are part of the Crew. And as a minister in this Crew, you need a ministry, a place of service.

Ask not what the church can do for you, but what you can do for the church.

NOTES: 

[1] Francis Schaeffer, (#AmazonAdLink) How Should We Then Live? (Wheaton: Crossway, 1976), 227. He is summarizing Edward Gibbon’s (#AmazonAdLink) Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. There are five stages of decline. The fifth and final is an increasing desire to live off the state. In other words, “What can the government do for me?”

[3] I take the breaking of bread from house to house to be part of the fellowship. It simply refers to going over to each’s houses to eat a meal and hang out.

[4] Rick Warren, (#AmazonAdLink) The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 236-248.

[5] Cf. John Eldredge, (#AmazonAdLink) The Journey of Desire (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000).

[6] Ibid, 53-54.

[7] Warren, 242.

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Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Have you heard of cryptocurrency? They’re in the news a lot this week, so I decided to talk a a bit about them. I explain what they are, why they’re important and gainin widespread acceptance, and how to get some if you want. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was $1. It hit $48,000 today. Dogecoin is the most entertaining cryptocurrency, which causes many to believe it will be the most successful. It currently sits at $.07, and many believe it will hit $1 this year. Where will it be in ten years?

I personally bought a tiny fraction of one Bitcoin and several hundred Dogecoins this past week.

Best and easiest is Coinbase. Use my link to get $10 of free Bitcoin if you buy at least $100. That’s 10% instant profit though, so you might as well take it.

But Coinbase doesn’t sell Dogecoin. So if you want Dogecoin, use Robinhood. Use that Robinhood link to get a free stock when you sign up.

Reader Email about Tithing

A reader sent me a question about tithing this week. He wanted to know if he is really supposed to tithe 10% to his church or not.

I have written a lot about this before. There’s a whole section on tithing in my book (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks. Here are some links on my site you can read as well:

• The Tithing Tax
• Malachi 3 and Tithing
• Modern Tithing
• Tithe for Your Right to Party
• Tithe 3% to your church
• What Jesus taught about Tithing
• Render To Caesar
• The Widow’s Mite
• Devouring Widow’s Houses
• Don’t Tithe to a Decaying Temple

The bottom line truth about tithing is that most of what we have been taught in our churches about tithing is flat-out wrong. In the Bible, tithing is closer to what you and I would think of as income tax. But even then, the tithe went to help local people, rather than to nameless and faceless governmental programs. Most surprisingly of all, that 10% tithe we so often hear about from our pulpits was primarily for the purpose of hosting a large community party for everyone who came. It was to help pay for everybody to come together once a year for a giant music, arts, and food festival.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but there is nothing in Scripture to support the practice we have today of paying 10% of your annual income to cover the costs of an expensive church building and staff salaries. This doesn’t mean you can’t have buildings and church staff. You can. But what you cannot do is defend the practice from the Bible.

Anyway, the bottom line answer to the question is this: “No, the Bible does not command us to give 10% of our income to the local church.” It is smart to use some of your money to support people, ministries, and causes that you believe in, and to help the poor and needy in your community, but also make sure you are using some of your money to make memories with your spouse and children, and to also enjoy life a bit.

Read some of the articles linked to above (or just get the book) to learn more about what the Bible teaches about tithing.

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

I have previously taught about the Rich Young Ruler here and here.

The passages of Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 all tell the account of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus to ask how he can have eternal life. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth away, and then come follow Jesus. The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. After his departure, Jesus and His disciples have a discussion about wealth and the kingdom of heaven.

This is a confusing text for many Christians because many people think that the term “kingdom of heaven” refers to heaven itself. And so many believe that when Jesus taught about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, He was saying that it is difficult for the rich to receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die.

Thus, it is taught, the rich must give away their wealth in order to have a chance at eternal life.

But this is a works-based message of eternal life and is completely contrary to the free offer of eternal life found everywhere in Scripture.

If eternal life is freely given to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it, it would be a biblical contradiction for Jesus to also say that the rich must give away their wealth to receive eternal life.

Thankfully, a proper understanding of the concept of the kingdom of heaven helps explain this apparent contradiction. When Jesus teaches about the dangers of wealth, He is not referring to the difficulty the rich will have in receiving eternal life, but to the difficulty they will have in experiencing the rule and reign of God in their life here and now on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

The context of these passages provides numerous lines of evidence to show that Jesus is talking about experiencing eternal life in our present life through the rule and reign of God, rather than about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die.

For example, other than the initial question by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16, the rest of the passage is about inheriting eternal life, following Jesus on the path of discipleship, and entering the kingdom of heaven. So despite how the rich, young ruler phrased his initial question, Jesus answer a more important question for this particular person.

The Gospel authors understood this, and so the parallel versions in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30 have the rich young ruler have the rich, young ruler asking how to “inherit” eternal life. Furthermore, Jesus later clarifies in Matthew 19:29 that He is only talking about inheriting eternal life (which refers to the present age experience of eternal life), Mark and Luke use the word inherit for consistency’s sake when they record the question from the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Now which question did the rich, young ruler originally ask? It is difficult to say. Probably he spoke in Hebrew or Aramaic, and so Matthew translated the man’s word one way while Mark and Luke translated it another. But regardless of what was in the mind of the rich, young ruler, however, Jesus answered his question in a way that reached to the heart of the issue, and the heart of the young man.

Wealth in Jewish society

In Jewish society, wealth was a sign of God’s divine blessing. Due to various promises in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was assumed that if a person was observing the law and was wealthy, God had blessed them with their wealth because of how successful they were in observing the law. This belief would obviously not apply to someone like Zacchaeus, who was clearly making no effort to observe the law, but would absolutely apply to someone like this young ruler.

He believed that he had observed the entire law since his youth (Matt 19:20), and everyone else believed it also (cf. Matthew 19:25).

When Jesus instructed the rich, young ruler to give away all his wealth and then come follow Him, Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking about the connection between God’s law and human wealth. Jesus was showing that there is no true connection between the two. Wealth is not an outward sign of inner righteousness.

Jesus wanted to show this young man, as well as the disciples, how to truly live in righteousness, which comes through following Jesus in discipleship and living in light of the kingdom of God. But Jesus cannot do this as long as a person is looking to their own ability to be righteous, or to their own wealth as a sign of personal righteousness. So he tells the young man to discard all evidence or thought of personal righteousness and then come follow Him to see what righteous living truly looked like. But the young man went away because he was unwilling to do this.

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

So the answer from Jesus is not about how to receive, gain, or have eternal life, but how to inherit or experience God’s will, purpose, and blessings for our life here and now on this earth. As we follow Jesus on the path of discipleship in this life we will experience the life God wants for us now and also gain treasure for our future life in eternity (Mark 10:21: Luke 18:22).

All of this is about entering into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25), which is shorthand for entering into the experience of the rule and reign of God in our lives here and now on this earth.

But what about the word “saved”?

Note that the disciples use the word “saved” (Mark 10:26; Luke 18:26), which also causes confusion in the minds of some. But when we recognize that the word “saved” also does not refer to receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die, then the passage retains its message. Jesus is talking about being delivered and rescued from the problems that wealth brings, so that His followers can experience the rule and reign of God in their life now.

The surrounding context makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are talking about discipleship and eternal reward rather than justification and receiving eternal life (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-29).

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

In modern, Western culture, while some people see wealth as a sign of God’s blessing on a person who is fully obedient to Him, this is not a widely held view. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today, I can imagine a scenario in which a well-known, young pastor comes to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to experience God’s life?” The young pastor only asks this because he thinks he is already experiencing God’s life, and believes Jesus will praise Him for his great success at such a young age.

Instead, Jesus says, “Well, what is it that you teach from your pulpit and write about in your books?”

The young pastor would respond, “People must attend church regularly, tithe 10% of their income, read the Bible and pray every day, and not be given to alcohol or drugs. They should also be a good witness at their job by wearing Christian t-shirts, a cross-shaped necklace, and never laugh at crude jokes. Instead, they must hand out Gospel tracts and invite people to church.”

Jesus would respond, “Okay. Go do all of that then.”

To which the young man would proudly boast, “I’ve done all this since I was a kid.”

“Well done!” Jesus would say. “Only one thing is left. Resign as pastor. Stop selling books. Quit preaching. Throw out all your gospel tracts and Christian clothes. Stop tithing to the church. Put your Bible on a shelf for a while, and go have a beer at the local pub. Then come follow Me and we’ll see what’s next.” But the young pastor would go away, thinking that Jesus was a false teacher, for the young man had it all figured out.

In this text, Jesus is showing that there is no such thing as an outward manifestation of inward righteousness. However, if we want to truly experience the life of God in us, and all the riches and blessings that entails, we can stop following religion and instead follow Jesus into a life of discipleship. While Jesus always leads in surprising directions, but also leads us toward a true life with God.

Matthew 19:16-24 therefore, is not about how to receive eternal life, but about how to get rid of the things in our life that we rely on as evidence that we are “good” Christians, and instead just follow Jesus wherever He leads. What things do you look to for proof that God loves and accepts you? That you are doing a “good job” for Jesus? Get rid of such things, and then come to Jesus empty-handed, saying, “Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

When you do this, Jesus will lead you into a full experience of the kingdom of God.

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Church fellowship is critical, but there are a variety of ways God leads us to find this fellowship.

Links mentioned in this discussion with Richard Jacobson:

• Richard Jacobson’s website: Unchurching.com
• The (#AmazonAdLink) Unchurching book on Amazon
• The Unchurching Comic book
• Richard Jacobson’s Animated Explainer Videos on YouTube
• The Unchurching Facebook Group
• Support Richard Jacobson on Patreon
• Richard Jacobson’s TED Talk:

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Seriously.

Most Christians are doing more harm than good with how they attempt to “share Jesus” with others.

Many of the modern “evangelistic” efforts of Christians only do harm to the cause of Christ and the message of the gospel.

If you want to see what I mean, I “explain” it all in parable form through my new book, (#AmazonAdLink) Adventures in Fishing for Men.

This book is an allegory, or parable, about evangelism. In it, a nameless man (Is it you? Is it me?) attempts to become a world-famous fisherman … all without ever catching any fish.

The book is funny, hilarious, entertaining, and most of all, insightful and instructional.

Here is what some others are saying about (#AmazonAdLink) Adventures in Fishing for Men.

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Adventures in Fishing for Men

This book was originally published back in 2012, but it has been significantly revised and expanded. It contains 50% new material, and also has a set of Discussion Questions to go along with each chapter.

These discussion questions will help you use this book for your small group class or Bible study. And since this book is humorous, if you use it for your small group Bible study or discussion group, it will be unlike any other study you have done. You will still learn, but through story and humor instead!

Did you want to learn about evangelism through humor?

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Let me explain.

The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail Against It

In my book, (#AmazonAdLink) The Death and Resurrection of the Church, I point out that the very first time Jesus talked about the church, He said that He was going to build it and that that gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

When most Christians read this, they imagine the church as this impregnable fortress, with huge white granite walls, behind which all the people of God huddle together in safety as the forces of evil attack from outside.

When most Christians read Matthew 16:18, they think Jesus is saying that the church He is building will be a place for Christians to safely wait out the onslaught of the invading hordes of hell.

But this is exactly the opposite of what Jesus says. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Do you see? Jesus is saying that the church He is building will go to hell and storm the gates of hell.

In other words, who has the gates and walls which keep out the invading army? Not the church, but hell.

And therefore, who is the invading army? Not hell, but the church.

When Jesus describes the church He is building, it is not the church which has the walls and gates, but hell. And it is not the devil and his forces that are attacking the gates of the church, but the church which is attacking the gates of hell. It is the church which will go to hell to rescue those who are there.

The gates of hell are under siege by Jesus and His church.

It is not the church that is attempting to hide behind gleaming walls as against an invading army. No, it is Satan and his minions who are huddled behind their blackened walls, hoping that the gates will hold.

Jesus says they will not. Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail. They will not stand. The gates of hell will fall to the invading church.

Of course, this presupposes that the church is on the offensive. That the church is invading hell. That the church has followed Jesus to hell. That the church will go to hell with Jesus.

It’s an exciting prospect!

But there is something else in Jesus’ statement as well.

Where is Hell? It is Here and Now

If the church is here in this world, and if Jesus is leading the church to attack the gates of hell now… then this means that hell is here and now as well.

It has been said that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. If that’s true, the second greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the church that hell existed only in the afterlife, and only for unbelievers.

The truth, as indicated by Jesus Himself in Matthew 16, is that hell is here and now.  Hell is a kingdom on this earth, and Jesus launched His attack on the gates of hell by inaugurating the kingdom of God on earth. We are now in the middle of a struggle between two kingdoms, and Jesus has shown us that the gates of hell will crumble and fall so that His rule and reign will cover the earth, until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Rom 14:11; Php 2:10).

If the church is going to go to hell with Jesus, then this means that the gates of hell must exist here and now, on this earth, during our lives, so that we can go to hell and attack the gates.

In his excellent article, “Hell is a Kingdom,” Brad Jersak writes this:

“Hell is a kingdom, located wherever people are imprisoned and oppressed by the ‘the powers’ and death-dealers of ‘this present darkness’—whether it’s the military-industrial-complex, corporate or political beasts, or any personal affliction, addiction or obsession of choice. … Jesus is not calling the death-snares of this world hades metaphorically in anticipation of the actual subterranean post-mortem hades. Just the opposite: the afterlife mythology of hades is a metaphor for the actual human condition ‘here above.’ The rhetoric or hell is less about the eschatological future and more about educating us in the ‘two ways’ or ‘two kingdoms’ competing for our allegiance here on earth.” (Sinner Irenaeus, aka Brad Jersak, “Hell is a Kingdom: The Missing Motif Reconstructed,” 6).

The message of the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus must be read in light of the idea that hell as a present reality.

It is to the humans caught in the kingdom of hell that Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 4:17) This is not a promise to claim as we wait to die so we can go to heaven and spend an eternal bliss with God. This is a war cry. It is the declaration of Jesus the thief, entering into the strongman’s house, to tie him up and steal his possessions. What possessions? This world and the human beings upon it (Matt 12:29).

So the Church Should Go to Hell

The terrible, tragic reality is that while the church gets so caught up in the debate about who goes to hell, and how long they will be there, and whether or not hell is a place of eternal suffering or temporary purification, we are ignoring the people living in hell on earth all around us.

The debate about hell keeps us from helping those who are suffering in the kingdom of hell here and now. Isn’t that sadly ironic? We strengthen and enable hell by discussing and debating hell.

So where do you see the gates of hell in the lives of your family members? Where do you see the influence and power of hell in your neighborhood? Where do you see hell in your town or city? How can you go to hell by rescuing and delivering them?

Where do you see people living in addiction, bondage, guilt, shame, and fear? Where are they abused, maligned, neglected, forgotten, overlooked, abandoned, and forsaken? Where are they sold? Where are they starving? Where are they seeking love?

Wherever you see such things, you see the gates of hell.

What is the plan of attack to charge these gates and tear them down? With Jesus at your side, these gates will not prevail against you.

There are two kingdoms at war in this world, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of hell. Jesus is calling you to participate in one by storming the gates of the other.

Will you answer the call of Jesus and go to hell with Him?

This post is part of the May Synchroblog, in which numerous bloggers around the world write about the same topic on the same day. Links to the other contributors are below. Go and read what they have to say about the topic of hell.

• An Investigation into the Biblical Concept of Hell – Justin Steckbauer
• To Hell and Back – Soulcare Ministries
• The HELL You Say!  – Nathan Jennings
• Forbidden Fruit = Hell’s Flames – Michael Wilson
• How long does hell last? – K.W. Leslie
• The problem of those unable to Love, or the question of hell as a reality – Bram Cools
• Hell No! – Mike Edwards
• Five Misconceptions about Annihilationism – Wesley Rostoll
• Knowing Who You Trust – Tim Nichols
• Heretic (Belated) Fridays – Bradley Jersak – Her Gates Will Never Be Shut– Scott Sloan
• Hell – A Place of Passionate Desire – Alan Stevens
• Oh, Hell, NO! – Liz Dyer

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Yes, we Christians argue over some silly things.

In my book, Dying to Religion and Empire, I talk about how some Christians view baptism as a magical incantation in which the right words need to be said in order for the magic spell to actually work. The whole thing is ridiculous.

But when Christians think that baptism is required to gain eternal life, then it also becomes important to make sure that the baptism is done in the right way with the right words.

Of course, when we realize that baptism is NOT required for eternal life, then this entire debate fades away into meaninglessness, but we already talked about this…

But let us try to solve the debate anyway … because … you know … Bible.

The Origins of the Baptism Debate

When people want be baptized “in the right way,” they argue about when baptism should take place, how much water is necessary, where the baptism can occur, who can perform the baptism, what actions should be performed during the baptism, and what words need to be said along with the baptism.

And again, according to some, if you don’t do all of it right, then it doesn’t work. Yes, just like a magic spell taught to Harry Potter at Hogwarts School of Magic…

Now I am not going to try to solve the ENTIRE baptism debate, but we might be able to solve that last one, about which words need to be said at the baptism.

The debate began because the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 seems to be at odds with the actual practice of the Apostles in the book of Acts.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus instructs His apostles to “baptize … in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” So when many people get baptized, they say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

But when we get into the book of Acts, we see that the apostles baptize “in the name of Jesus” (Acts 2:38; 8:12; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5).

So what gives? Some suggest that when Jesus says “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” He means “in my name.” Because … you know …. the Trinity.

Of course, God the Father’s name appears to be Yahweh, and as far as we know, the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a name, so is it really accurate to say that “Jesus” is the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Yet if we baptize “in the name of Jesus,” aren’t we then disobeying the very words of Jesus where He instructed us to baptize “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”?

And the debate rages on, with both sides accusing the other of practicing illegitimate baptism.

How can we solve this?

Well, it starts by disavowing all these Christians who waste their time and energy with idiotic arguments over words … but there is also a key to help us solve the argument.

The Key to the Baptism Debate

Baptism is not a translation of the Greek word, but a transliteration.

When people translate from one language to another, they look at the word in the original language, and then provide the equivalent word in the new language. So hamartia gets translated as sin , theos as God, and so on.

But for some inexplicable reason, there are a few Greek words which Bible translators failed to translate. Instead, they transliterated these words, which involves changing the Greek letters of teh root word into English letters and then calling it good.

So Christos becomes Christ and euangelion becomes evangelism.

This is what happened with the word baptism as well. It is a transliteration rather than a translation. The Greek word is baptizma, and it was transliterated as baptism.

How does this help?

Well, if we translate the Greek word baptizma in Matthew 28:19-20, we get a clue as to what Jesus might have actually been teaching … and this leads to the one crazy suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20 that might help solve this particular baptism debate.

The 1 Crazy Suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20

So as everyone knows, Matthew 28:19-20 is the “Great Commission” in which Jesus gives some final instructions to His disciples. And he wants them to take the things He has taught and teach these to other people also.

That is, Jesus wants His disciples to go and make more disciples.

And discipleship involves teaching and training other people about what they should believe and how they should behave. It is teaching people about life and doctrine. And not just “classroom teaching” but teaching by example and showing people how to live.

Anyway, none of this is challenging, new, or crazy. Everyone knows all this.

But here is the crazy suggestion … What if we actually translated the Greek word baptizo in Matthew 28:19 instead of just transliterating it? Is that crazy, or what?

The Greek word baptizma means immersion (the verb baptizo means to immerse).

So if we translated the Greek word, the verse would say this:

Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you …

Jesus instructs His disciples to make disciples and to teach everything He has taught to them, so that the people they teach are immersed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This doesn’t necessarily mean “dunk them under water while saying a few words over their head.”

If I told you to “immerse yourself in this blog,” would you think you had to go take a bath while reading this blog? No. You would think that I was inviting you to read a lot of blog posts for the next days or weeks.

If I told my daughter to “immerse yourself in math” to prepare for the exam, would you imagine that I was telling her to go swim around in a local river with her math books under her arm? No. You would understand that I was telling her to study hard.

If I told my wife, “I want to immerse you in my love,” does this mean that I want to plunge her under the water in a swimming pool while saying “I love you”? No. It means I want to show her in tangible ways how much I really do love her.

Similarly, if Jesus says, “Go immerse people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” is He saying, “Go dunk them under water while saying some words over them”? I think not.

Instead, Jesus is saying, “I have taught you lots of things over these past three years, and I want you to go and teach these to others also. Go immerse them in the teachings about God the Father, about Me, and about the Holy Spirit, which are the things I have taught you. Spread this teaching around the world.”

Jesus is telling His disciples that as they have immersed their lives in His for the past three years, they now must go and invite other people to immerse their lives in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Sooo … You side with those who think we should baptize “in the name of Jesus”?

No! If you think that is the point of this post, you’ve missed it entirely.

There are no magic words. It is not about what words you say.

As long as we Christians keep arguing about words, we are missing the entire point of the teachings of Jesus … and we should go immerse ourselves in His teachings some more.

Look, if you want to get dunked under water, go ahead. For some, it can be a wonderful ritual, full of symbolic significance.

But the real thing Jesus wants us to do is to learn about Him, learn about God, and learn about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus wants us to follow His example of death and resurrection so that we lay down our lives for others.

Jesus wants to show us how to die to ourselves so that we can rise again to real life in Him.

So let us all stop arguing about the method, mode, and magic words of baptism, and instead start living for Jesus and loving others like Jesus … just as He commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20.

Understanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

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As many have said, a gospel message that doesn’t work at home should not be exported elsewhere.

This is why Jesus told us to take the plank out of our own eye before we help someone else take the speck out of theirs (Matt 7:1-5). Paul said much the same thing when he instructed elders to take care of themselves and their families at home before they thought of leading others (1 Tim 3:2-5).

Living the gospel always begins in your own heart.

What does the gospel do in your heart?

It teaches you to love yourself. It teaches you that you are lovely, that God made you to be uniquely you.

This is what Jesus meant when He said to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). He was saying that before you can love your neighbors as the gospel calls you to do, you must first recognize the gospel truths that you yourself are loved, forgiven, and accepted. Before you seek to live out the gospel among others, make sure the gospel has brought reconciliation and redemption into your own heart and mind.

Once the gospel has touched your own self, it is then that it can begin to emanate out from you in concentric circles toward your family, your friendships, your work, and to the rest of the world.

The first person the gospel touches is yourself.

Every person walks wounded through life. We have scars from childhood, shame from our past, fears about the future, and uncertainty about our worth. We believe lies about how little we are loved. The truth of the gospel is that all is forgiven, there is nothing to fear, we are of inestimable value, and God loves us more than we can ever possibly imagine.

I get emails every week from people all over the world who feel that there is no way God can love them, forgive them, or accept them into His family. In a fit of anger they cursed God. At a rough time in their marriage they committed adultery or got divorced. Even if there is no serious sin in someone’s life, bad things happen to all people, and when these things happen, the tendency of the average human being is to think that God is punishing them for something.

But God does not punish.

The first truth of the gospel is that God loves every person in the world so much, that He would do absolutely anything for each one of us (John 3:16).

The lie of Satan is that God does not love and cannot forgive; the truth of the gospel is that God always loves and only forgives.

Until we begin to understand this, we will never see the beautiful truths of the gospel for what they are, and we will never be able to live within those truths as God desires.

Once we begin to recognize how much we are loved, it is then that God begins to do His greatest work in us. He then begins to show us that each one of us is completely unique, and that these things that make us who we are were given to us by God, not so that we could cover them up and become like everyone else, but so that we could magnify the glory of God by living as only we can live. The glory of God is best reflected in the glory of a life that embraces and celebrates what makes it unique.

Knowing you are loved brings you the freedom to be you

As you begin to understand the gospel, and how much you are loved and forgiven, you will then begin to find the freedom to live in this world as only you can live. You will find the freedom to stop the endless cycle of trying to be someone else, and will discover that God wants you to be you. You will discover that you do not need to be like anyone else, but simply need to be the best you that you can be. God made you to be uniquely you, and He wants you to live fully in the reality of who you are.

As you discover your strengths, abilities, talents, and desires, and as you live fully within those areas, you will be reflecting the glory of God and the gospel to the rest of the world. You most fully reflect the glory of God when you reflect the glory of yourself as God made you to be.

I recently watched the movie, Kung Fu Panda 3 with my daughters. In the movie, the main character, Po, is able to defeat the villain, Kai, by harnessing the secret powers of a village of pandas. What sort of powers did they have? Well, a few were really good at napping. Others loved to roll down hills. Some of the children liked to play hacky sack. One female panda was quite good at ribbon dancing. While these may not seem like powerful or useful skills which can be used to defeat an enemy, Po was able to teach, train, and encourage this village of pandas to be the best they could be at whatever they were good at, and when they all worked together, their skills complimented each other to defeat Kai.

This is how it works in our own lives as well. God made me to be me and you to be you. There are things you are really good at which I can never do, and vice versa. If I try to be you, or you try to be me, neither of us will ever live up to our God-given potential, and we will never be able to help each other in our battle against sin and Satan.

The only way the gospel can advance in this world is if each of us recognizes that we are perfect as God made us to be, and we rejoice and celebrate in the things that make us unique, and then we all work together to advance the cause of the gospel. When we do this, the gates of hell will not prevail against us.

So who has God made you to be?

The gospel calls you to live fully in that reality. If you do not know who God made you to be, the best way to discover this is to return to the knowledge that you are fully loved. And if God loves you, you can love you too.

It is within the safety and security of this knowledge that God begins to blossom and flourish the dreams He has for you and your life.

So begin with the knowledge that you are loved, and then see where God takes you from there.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

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