The following message was delivered at SGBC on Sunday, March 8, 2009.
WHY DID GOD GIVE MINISTERS TO CHURCH? – PART 4
Ephesians 4:13b-14
INTRODUCTION
For the past few weeks, we have been studying why did God give ministers to his church? That answer is clearly found in Ephesians 4, verses 12 and 13. Verse 12 first states the immediate goal, namely “for the equipping of the saints,” then, it is followed by four long-term goals, which are: 1) toward the work of service, 2) toward the building up of the body of Christ, 3) the doctrinal unity, and 4) biblical maturity. Hence, for the past three Sundays, I’ve tried to unpack the first three long terms goals.
This morning, we come to the fourth and the final long-term goal, namely biblical maturity. In other words, God gave his ministers to his church to equip his saints, so that the equipped saints would move toward biblical maturity or as Paul puts it “to a mature man” in verse 13.
A Progressive Development of a Christian Maturity
Scripture portrays a progressive development of a Christian. It depicts several stages of spiritual development. First of all, it begins with the spiritual rebirth.
· NAU John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
· NAU John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Secondly, Scripture speaks of another stage of spiritual development, namely newborn babies.
· NAU 1 Peter 2:2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.
This makes sense, since it is impossible to be like newborn babies without the spiritual regeneration.
Thirdly, Scripture speaks of the developmental stage of being like spiritual children. Again, it only makes sense to move from the spiritual rebirth to newborn babies, to now, the stage of being a spiritual child. Apostle John uses this particular noun teknia exclusively in the entire NT (cf. 1 John 2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21).
Fourthly, Scripture speaks of the developmental stage of being spiritual young men. This particular stage is mature than being spiritual children, yet not mature enough to reproduce himself (cf. 1 John 2:13-14). The same Greek noun is found in Acts 2, which is actually an OT citation of Joel’s prophecy:
· NAU Acts 2:17 ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
Finally, the last developmental stage that Scripture points out is the spiritual fatherhood (cf. 1 John 2:13-14). Notice Apostle John twice mentions knowing from the beginning, which implies there is some time gap, meaning, years of spiritual mileage. In fact, the word “stature” (helikias) in the phrase “the measure of the stature” in Ephesians 4:13 refers to “mature age, years, or time of life.” It is a clear indication of developed manhood or maturity, as oppose to someone who is a novice or newbie. One of the characteristics of a mature person is that he has experiences. He is seasoned with sufferings and trials, and even has several battle scars to prove it. Hence ultimately, God gave his ministers to his church to equip his saints, so that the equipped saints would move toward biblical maturity or as Paul states “to a mature man” in verse 13.
What Does Maturity Look Like?
For the remaining time I would like to answer: what does maturity look like? Paul could have come up with all sorts of characteristics, but according to verse 14, he points out one critical characteristic, namely, we should not remain in childishness or immature stage.
The way verse 14 is laid out grammatically is important to observe, because the answer to the question “what does maturity look like,” Paul offers a negative answer, “we are no longer to be children.” In other words, the answer to a positive question is a negative answer. According to verse 14, maturity is no longer to remain in childishness, but as verse 15 states “to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, Christ.” Hence, for the remaining time I would like to expound on the characteristics of childishness or childish immaturity.
Characteristics of Childishness or Childish Immaturity
1. A lack of experiences.
He lacks the experiences of life, sufferings, and difficult trials. That is why Scripture warns of having a biblically immature person in the position of church leadership. According to 1 Timothy 3:6, there is an undividable connection between immaturity and pride.
2. Emotional (cf. Matthew 13:20-21).
3. Fickleness or easy to change one’s mind (cf. Acts 28:1-6).
Fickleness or easy to change one’s mind shows through generally moving from one thing to another (e.g., relationships, church), inability to finish something what was started, lack of stability in holding a job for a long period of time, and so on. Like in Matthew 13, he is a quitter when things don’t go well for him. Hence he lacks endurance and perseverance.
According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones:
The childish mind and mentality is fond of change and craves for the novel and the new. We are told of the people at Athens in Acts 17, that they spent their time “either to tell or to hear some new thing.” That is typical of the child mentality, which is always interested in the latest thing whatever it may be. How typical this is of many Christians today who betray themselves unconsciously by this liking of change and newness! Furthermore, the child likes entertainment and excitement.[1]
4. A lack of self-control.
According to Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was an expert at making observations:
It is because of this that older people have to control them. Children are creatures of impulses and moods; they know little about self-discipline, and are not able to master and to control themselves and their own spirits. The Book of Proverbs tells us that the man who can control his own spirit is a greater man than he who can capture a city. Self-control is a most difficult task. The child who does not control itself; it expresses itself. It wants something, and wants it at once; and shows its temper and displeasure if it is refused. The child manifests an inability to control its reactions and responses to the things that happen to it.[2]
5. Extreme reactions.
Again Lloyd-Jones observes:
A child is either very fond of something or else it hates it; there is nothing in between. It goes from one extreme right over to the other. All the child’s reactions bring out this element of excess and of violence and of lack of discipline and of control. How disconcerting Scripture can be when it holds this kind of mirror before us! The true and adult Christian is not to react violently and excessively; he is to manifest discipline and control, and an element of temperance.[3]
One of the examples of extreme reactions is extreme dogmatism, where there is no room for disagreement on secondary matters, but that everything is viewed as essentials. For instance, what is historically considered as the Five Points of Calvinism, some people make it into Seven Points or more. And if you don’t agree with extra two or more points, you’re not considered as a true Calvinist and so on, which is a pure nonsense. One of the problems with extremely dogmatic people is that they only know one thing, but does not consider other possible perspectives or perceptions that may not pertain to essential matters.
Another example of extreme reaction is easy agitation. Some people are easily agitated with others. They’re easily bugged, grouchy, and easily express their dissatisfaction about things and/or people. The heart of the issue is self-centeredness, self-absorption, which springs from the fountain of pride.
Another example of extreme reaction is being passive aggressive.
6. Impatient.
Namely impatient about God’s will, so he feels like he has to help God out by doing things what he thinks is right. As a result, he gets into a deeper trouble.
In biblical maturity, there are no shortcuts. And there are no shortcuts to spiritual disciplines. A sign of immaturity is shown by impatience, since he or she always wants to advance quickly.
7. A lack of discernment.
Textually, that is what Paul describes here in verse 14. The fact that the apostle exhorts the church that we are no longer to be children implies that some people in the church of Ephesus were childish and immature. Since the church is made up of people with different maturity level, it is inevitable that you’re going to have a mixture of biblically mature and biblically immature people. That’s simply a reality of any church.
As Paul points out here in the text, the most dangerous characteristic of biblically immature people is a lack of discernment. They are “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” This speaks of spiritually gullible people because there is a lack of depth, understanding, and stability. Their understanding is shallow and short of substance, hence they are unstable.
How to Address Childish Immaturity?
Due to time, it is simply this: you have to teach, rebuke, correct, and train them in righteousness. Just like all children need constant reminder, teaching, rebuking, correction, and training, you do same with professing Christians who are immature. Where does this happen? Local church! How does this happen? With the Word of God! According to 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”
As many of you know, the Scripture is absolutely authoritative, sufficient, and profitable for 1) teaching (doctrine) – that means, it tells us what is right; 2) for reproof – that means, it tells what is not right; 3) for correction – that means, it tells us how to get right; and 4) for training in righteousness – that means, it tells us how to stay right.
Biblical admonishment or admonishing a fellow Christian is a Christian privilege, not your entitlement. And this is one of the tremendous blessings and privileges of being a member to a local Bible-centered church. The person who would do the admonishment needs to first examine him/herself, so that he/she is not guilty of hypocrisy (Galatians 6:1). And the one who will receive the admonishment from a fellow brother or sister needs to, first, be quick to hear and slow to speak. This requires a teachable spirit and a humble heart. But when you keep interrupting the conversation, be quick to speak in a defensive way, it only shows that you are immature and only confirms that you need a biblical admonishment.
And when you receive an admonishment, please operate your mind under the premise that your admonisher is doing what he/she is doing because that person has the best interest for your soul and wellbeing. Receive with an attitude that you are being loved, not hated.
· NAU Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
