You Can Make a Difference! (4)

Ephesians 4:11-14

 

God has designed His church to function like a loving family that you can invite people into. Church is not a place to issue edicts; church is a place to nurture growth. Church is a place that exists for the purpose of helping people grow and mature from being spiritual babies to being spiritual adults. How does that happen...

First, in our community, God wants us to always link truth with love. Verse 15 should be translated, "Being truthful in love". It’s not just referring to our speaking, but to all forms of our communication: our body language, the ideas we imply, the things we don’t say. If we are to grow spiritually, we must be truthful in love. Truth and love must be merged, fused, woven together. It sounds easy, but it’s not.  It means, never let your truth be unloving when you’re confronting someone in conflict. And never let your love be untruthful. Keeping that balance is difficult, but choosing to always be truthful in love is our first step to growing up toward Christ like maturity.

In Matthew 18:15, Jesus urges us to be truthful in love. He says -- "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." The goal is love and reconciliation in the relationship, but the path toward that goal is to be truthful and up front and honest about how you feel.]

Our second step toward maturity is to always stay closely connected in fellowship with other members of the Body. When Paul speaks in verse 16 of -- "the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament", he’s talking about enjoining reconciled relationships within the church. It’s the joints and ligaments that connect us with other parts of the Body as we rub up against each other and lean on each other and cooperate with each other.  Do you know why we are always pushing our Fuel Groups at you? You cannot grow spiritually without the body of Christ around you.

These supporting ligaments refer to the times we study God’s Word together and when we serve together side by side. (Serve days, Fuel Groups, ministry teams, prayers teams) It is these joints in the body that keep all the parts of the Body interdependent on each other. I can’t imagine a body without any joints, can you? Without the joints, we’d be a sorry dislocated mess! We need those connection points of fellowship in order to grow. Coming to church on Sunday is good, but if that’s the only connection point you have, then you need to step-up and really get connected. (Fuel Groups)

Our last step toward maturity is to always be willing to do our part of the ministry. At the end of verse 16 Paul describes how the Body -- "grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." As each part of the local Body of Christ uses his or her spiritual gift to serve in a ministry, the result is that the church grows bigger (in quantity) and it grows stronger (in quality) -- but only as each part does its work.

Some of us need to make that decision to be willing to do our part of the ministry. Most of you are familiar with Paul comparing the church to parts of a body in 1 Corinthians 12. Have you ever really thought about what part in the Body you play? What is your role? What is your ministry? What is your area of service in the body of Christ? Whatever it is, you have a distinct and important function within the Body. You are needed within the Body to do what you were designed by God to do. Christ expects you to do your work of ministry or service in a way that will strengthen His church.

There are no unnecessary parts in the Body of Christ! There are no little people in the family of God. Even if you think of yourself as just a big toenail, just imagine how it would hurt the whole Body if you became ingrown!

If you are a true Christian, Christ declares you to be a valuable and needed part of your local church. You are an unrepeatable miracle! You are a specialized part. No one else can do what you do as well as you can can do it. You cannot be replaced with a substitute part; any more than a surgeon can replace a defective stomach with a pair of lungs. Christ wants you to do in His Body exactly what He’s made you to do because you, as an individual, really do count.

[Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have lost their sense of identity as to what role they play in the Body of Christ.

Like someone suffering from amnesia, they are asking themselves, "Who am I as a Christian, and why am I here? Just how do I fit into the family of God? In the midst of all the people and programs, do I, as an individual, really count?" You count!

Some people have the funny idea that when they place their tithes in the offering plate, that they are paying the staff to do the work of the ministry for them. No, that’s not so. Our job as staff is to equip you to do your work in the ministry well.] One of the reasons why God has you here in this local church is that He wants you to grow to become more mature through the process of serving others. God is using this local church to grow baby Christians into mature Christians. That’s why we’re here. We are growing baby Christians into mature Christians.

It’s God’s healthy plan for a healthy church.
So, which practical step of growth will you choose to take today? Maybe you will decide to always link truth with love in communication. Maybe you will decide to get more closely connected to others in the Body through fellowship. Maybe you will decide to do your part to serve in a ministry. Whatever God is leading you to do, take that step toward your own spiritual growth today.