Verse: Ephesians 4:12
“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”
Devotional Thoughts:
What does God want for the Church?
The church is a biblical concept, and yet many times we loop it right in there as part of our social schedule. Like, we go to work, we go out to eat, we attend church. We just sort of loop it into our weekly schedule like it’s simply an extracurricular activity.
But the church is actually God’s idea. Jesus told Peter,
“On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus established his church, and littered throughout Ephesians 4 is the idea that our Heavenly Father wants to see the body of Christ – the church, the believers who make up the body of Christ – grow in Christian maturity, and to do that in unity.
Unity, not uniformity. This isn’t cookie-cutter Christianity. God wants to see his people – regardless of whether you are rich or poor, regardless of your skin color, regardless of your socio-economic status – God wants to see his people band together in unity in order to grow together into maturity.
You see, in God’s economy, our differences don’t divide us or separate us from one another – instead we are united by a common Savior and a common goal. We are united together in Christ at the cross and our goal is to grow together into Christian maturity.
Here’s something we need to understand that completely flies in the face of what culture pushes on us today – our growth in Christian maturity, our growth in our relationship with the Lord – it’s a group project.
And I know that seems so backwards because there’s an undercurrent in our culture that tells us that our relationship with God is just between me and God. Only God can judge me. My relationship with the Lord is no one else’s business. It’s my personal relationship with the Lord. And I want to tell you – that’s a complete and utter lie.
God’s plan A for our spiritual growth – and God doesn’t make plan B’s – is for us to grow together into spiritual maturity. We grow best when we grow together. Here’s what Ed Stetzer has to say:
“Growth happens in community because the Bible places community as a critical step of obedience for the Christ follower. So the Christ follower outside of community is living in disobedience.”
