What Is the Church?Ihe Atụ

The Church Is Where You Grow Up

As a boy, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a sports broadcaster—until I met one and learned what it would take to get there and what it would mean for my life.

One of God’s goals in your life is to see you move from being a boy to being a man. God’s particular interest is that you would grow into maturity. The measurement of being a mature man is Jesus. The more you are like Jesus, the more you become the man God made you to be.

But how do you get there?

In Ephesians 4, we are told that the Church is where you and I grow up. This is not about age; it is about maturity.

God gave some the gifts of being apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Their role is to equip the body of Christ until we all grow up to be like Christ. He goes on to say it is not limited to a few people who have these gifts; the entire Body is responsible for promoting maturity by building itself up in love and through each person doing their part.

If you know anything about the church in Ephesus in New Testament times, you know many different influences shaped the people’s lives. In 1 Timothy, Paul repeatedly warns Timothy about false teachers and to have nothing to do with them. His solution was for people to pay attention to the godly teachers, not false ones.

You and I live in a time when we have more access to more information than ever. This information is often good and sometimes dangerous. A significant issue with the online content you consume is that you have no idea if you are learning from mature Christians. The only way to know is by knowing them personally.

You will only grow up as a man of God by being connected to other mature men God has placed around you in the life of the local church. As you grow in maturity, it is your responsibility to invest in other men's lives and help them grow. The whole Body grows when we build each other up in love. This is God’s blueprint for growing up.

The single greatest thing you can want in life is to grow up and become more like Jesus, and the Church is God’s plan for you to do that.

Prayer: Father, help me to grow up spiritually into a man who is more like Jesus. Amen.

Reflection: Who are the mature Christian men God has already placed in your life through a church? How can you begin to connect with those men to help you grow up even more as a man?

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