Church Growth has become an extremely popular subject in our own day. In this section Paul tackles that subject, but not as we might. Instead of focusing on numerical growth, he focuses on inward, spiritual growth. In what ways does God want the church to grow? Find out in this study!
Teaching Notes:
The Growth of the Body
Ephesians 4:12-16
Intro:
- Notice the emphasis in this section: building up (12), attain (13), mature man (13), measure of the stature (13), no longer to be children (14), grow up (15), growth (16), building up (16). Paul is teaching that it is important for the Church to be built up, to grow, to attain something, to become mature. His whole emphasis here is on the Growth of the Body.
- There is great emphasis today on church growth. Our Christian book stores are flooded with material on church growth. We have seminars, programs, and organizations all dedicated to the idea of church growth. The questions we are asking are “How can we attract the unchurched? How can we meet this generation’s felt needs? Our answers are to use professional drama & music, and give short, unoffensive practical messages. Some churches have gone further and staged wrestling matches between the pastoral staff, use special effects system (smoke, fire, sparks, laser lights). Others have their pastor preaching on top of an army tank, or ascending to heaven with wires, or toppling a tree with a chain saw. The more sensational and spectacular the better.
- Paul’s emphasis here is not on numerical growth, but on spiritual growth. He focuses not on outward growth, but on inward growth. Paul is seeking quality, not quantity. The goals Paul sets out in this section are Unity, Knowledge, Maturity, and Stability. None of these has to do with numerical growth. Now, there is nothing wrong with numerical growth. God is not against numerical growth. On Pentecost, the church grew from 120 people to at least 3,120 people! The churches in the first century were growing churches. Often today the churches that experience the most numerical growth are growing because Christians from another church transfer over to this “new” church. The kind of numerical growth we really need is conversion growth – new converts. However, since this passage is not focused on numerical growth, let’s put that aside, and focus on what this passage is all about – the spiritual growth of the body. Let’s look first at the Goal of Church Growth, and then the Methodology of Church Growth.
1. The Goal of Church Growth:
A. Growth in Unity: “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God” God’s goal is for His church to grow in unity.
What’s the difference between the unity of the spirit and the unity of the faith? Notice that Unity of the Spirit is something we already possess whereas Unity of the Faith is something that we have not attained yet. Unity of the Spirit is a supernatural unity that exists between all believers because they all possess the same Spirit. Unity of the faith is a unity based on believing the same truths. Though we all possess the same Spirit, we don’t all believe all the same things. One day we will – in glory. The maturing process is to continue on earth until glory. We will never be completely unified until we get to heaven, but we are to make unity of faith a goal. How is that even possible with the Church fractured into hundreds of denomination, each one having distinctive that sets them apart from the rest. We have Calvinists and Arminians, Charismatics and non-Charismatics, those who immerse believers and those who sprinkle infants, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, Premillennial, Postmillennial, and Amillennial believers, and the list goes on and on.
How can we possibly grow in Unity of Faith? The entire Christian Church around the world may not be able to do this, but each local church should be striving for Unity of Faith. This is possible if all of us are willing to lay down our biases and study God’s Word with an open teachable spirit. Place to begin is Hermeneutics. How are we supposed to interpret the Bible? Start there with a Literal-Grammatical-Historical approach to interpreting Scripture. We should use the same rules to interpret Scripture that we use to interpret any body of literature. If we are all committed to reading Scripture in context, seeking the Authorial Intent, looking for the author’s train of thought, we have already come a long way towards achieving Unity of Faith. We also need to realize that everyone is in transition. I don’t believe all the same things I did 25 years ago, and I’m sure you have discarded some beliefs and embraced others over the years. We need humility and discernment. A great slogan to adopt is, “I’m convinced I’m right. I’m also convinced I could be wrong.” Then, when all is said and done and we still can’t agree, let’s remember: “In essentials unity – in non-essentials liberty – in all things charity.” As long as we hold to the essentials of the faith, that’s enough. Let’s not divide over non-essentials.
What Is The Faith That We Are To Be United On? Notice the next phrase “and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” This phrase explains the faith that we are to be united on. It is the faith that we have as a result of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. In other words, when Paul speaks of the Unity of the Faith, he’s not envisioning the church believing identically about everything. He’s envisioning the church coming to a greater and greater knowledge of Jesus Christ. Everything always comes back to Jesus Christ. He is the True Focus of the Church always! The better we know Jesus, the more unity of faith we will have.
What should we know about Christ? His Identity (God and man). His attributes. His incarnation. His mission. His death and resurrection and what they accomplished. His ascension. His intercession at God’s right hand. His lordship over the entire universe. His future 2nd coming. His Judging at the Final Judgment.
This Is Not Saving Knowledge Of Christ: the believers Paul was writing to had already experienced that, but he speaks of them “attaining” a knowledge of the Son of God. He’s speaking here of coming to a greater knowledge of Christ, a growing relationship with Him. This is what Paul prayed for in Eph.1:17 when he prays that “the Father of glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.” This knowledge is not only notional, but also experiential. Paul wants the church to grow into an experiential knowledge of Christ.
How Do We Attain A Knowledge of Christ? Meditation on Scripture, insights of others within the Church, prayer, fasting, experiencing His faithfulness, mercy, love, patience and power towards you as you live for Him.
B. Growth in Maturity: “to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result we are no longer to be children…” The Church is likened to an individual going through stages – infancy, toddler, child, adolescent, and adult. God wants His Church to become spiritually mature, which is to be Christlike. He the standard of the perfect man. We will never completely attain complete Christlikeness until we are in heaven. In 3:19 Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they would be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now he says the goal is that they would grow into the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. God’s goal for His Church is that we grow into the fullness of Christ. Are you a growing Christian? Are you becoming more Christlike? Do you love Jesus and hate sin more? Do you manifest more wisdom, compassion, temperance, humility and faith? Don’t settle for the status quo. Don’t allow yourself to be content with a faith that is not growing into maturity!
C. Growth in Discernment: “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” Children are easily fooled. You can pretend to pull off their nose, or tell them that a fat man from the North Pole is the one who brings them presents at Christmas and they will believe you. They are gullible. Paul doesn’t want the Church to be gullible and naïve. He wants us to grow in discernment. Paul speaks here of trickery, craftiness, and deceitful scheming. He knows that men will invent false teachings and bring them into the Church, and he is calling on all believers to be discerning of what they believe. There have been many winds of doctrine that have blown through the Church in the last century. We’ve seen religious hucksters selling the doctrines of positive confession and health and wealth, slain in the Spirit, laughing in the Spirit, barking in the Spirit, setting dates for Christ’s return, teaching that Christ died twice, annihalationism, teaching that Christ returned in the 1st century and won’t return again, and we could go on and on. Some believers are so gullible that they will embrace every new wind of doctrine and fad that blows through the church. They lack discernment. The only place to find objective truth, and thus discern truth from error, is to know God’s Word. It is our anchor to keep us blowing all over the place. All of us need to learn to test the doctrines we are hearing by running them through the filter of Scripture. Your goal should be to know God’s Word well enough, that when you hear something, you can immediately recall Scripture that applies to that teaching to test it. We need to have everything filtered through the grid of Word. If we don’t, we are an easy prey for the cults. Learn what you believe and why you believe it. It’s not enough to simply accept whatever your pastor, or TV evangelist happens to say. Make it your goal to know God’s Word thoroughly.
2. The Methodology of Church Growth:
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- Leaders: Apostles – these are men sent by Jesus Christ with His authority to plan churches and give them ongoing direction. Prophets – these are those who receive messages from God and proclaim it to the Church. Evangelists – these are those who proclaim the good news to the lost. Pastors – these care for the sheep by teaching them the Word. What are all these gifted leaders supposed to be doing? Equipping the saints. The Apostles train others to plant churches, as Paul did with Timothy and Titus. Prophets would equip others to hear from God & proclaim His Message. Evangelists would train others to witness and proclaim the gospel. Pastors would train others to understand and teach Word and care for the spiritual needs of the Church. Vance Havner: “Christianity began as a company of lay witnesses. It has become a professional pulpitism, financed by lay spectators!” The Church is not a bus in which the pastor does all driving and the members sleep in the seats. Ministry is never to be regulated only to the paid professionals. The text says the saints are to do the work of service. What is God’s call on all His children? To do the work of service. We are to be servants. “As each one has received a spiritual gift, employ it in serving one another” (1 Peter 4:10). The Church is to be a mobilized army. Pastors and evangelists are there to equip everybody else to minister (how to witness, compassion towards the hurting, giving to the poor, serving the homeless, etc.) How? Through the Word – 2Tim.3:16-17. The Scriptures equip us to do every good work. Never, ever get the idea that you are supposed to pay the Pastor to do the ministry. No! He is only there to teach and equip you so you can be effective at ministering to others. You are a minister of Jesus Christ!
- Believers:
1) speak the truth in love: Notice that all believers are here called on to speak the truth in love. This should be what our meetings look like. This is essential in order to “grow up in all aspects into Him.” In Romans 15:14 Paul says that he is convinced that all believers are able to admonish one another. But notice that this speaking of truth must be done in love. Can be more interested in winning an argument than helping a brother. Lack of compassion will make truth fall to the ground. Both extremes are unhealthy. All truth and no love produces a judgmental and harsh church. All love and no truth produces a spineless, jellyfish Church.
2) function in the body: “the proper working of each individual part.” Every member has a function (each individual part). Every part of your body has a function. Your bones, muscles, sinews, joints, liver and heart all have a specific function to the proper functioning of your body. Likewise, every member of Christ’s Body has a function, and the whole body grows according to proper working of every part. All have gifts (7-10). What about you? Are you functioning in your gift? If not, you are out of the will of God. If you do nothing, the whole body suffers. Every Christian is in the ministry, including you!
Application: God’s goal for us — Unity, Maturity, Discernment. How are we going to get there? Those with leadership gifts must equip the rest through the Word. All must practice speaking truth in love, and functioning according to their gifts. Let’s do it in 2010!!!
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