Eph 4:14-16 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. NKJV

This entire passage, from Ephesians 4:1-16, stresses the Biblical ideal for church growth. The emphasis that God makes through Paul is that the members of the church should GROW unto maturity. It takes maturity to be lowly minded, gentle, forgiving and being able to bear with one another in agape love (1-3). It takes maturity for all of the members to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It takes maturity that comes from the leaders in the church EQUIPPING the saints for the work of ministry, and maturity on the part of the saints to be trained to be useful in the work of ministry. And it takes maturity for the church to grow to a complete man.

Sometimes, we give up on the idea of perfection in the church as unattainable. So, we don’t even try, and many members remain babes in Christ, never growing, never maturing, never become a complete man in Christ. This failure to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ has hindered the church in its God given mission in reaching out to the lost. When each member realizes their responsibilities in this matter, and that God will hold us accountable for failing to grow and be used by the body, it behooves us to make sure we are doing whatever is necessary to grow!

Paul makes the comparison to growth in the body, the church, to growth in the physical body. In 1 Corinthians 12 and here in Ephesians 4:16 he draws the comparison. What is also interesting in this is that he discusses the right kind of growth.

In America we are facing a health crisis because of our addiction to fast, fattening, foods. We are growing physically because we are eating the wrong kind of food. This kind of growth hinders the body, because cholesterol clogs the arteries; extra weight adds to problems with diabetes, high blood pressure, and significantly adds to the aging process in the body. We are growing physically, but it is not the kind of growth that is healthy to the body. We are killing ourselves with what we eat.

In the Lord’s church the same thing has happened. We have been eating the “junk food” of philosophy, false doctrine, man made doctrines, and man made ideas for the purpose of making the body grow. But is this healthy to the body of Christ? Is compromising the gospel and the truth healthy for the church? No. In the same way fast food is killing Americans, so false teaching is killing the church. Paul warns against this again in this passage. He stresses that Christians should grow so that they should no longer be children, tossed to and for with every wind of doctrine. What is the answer to this? GROWTH ACCORDING TO THE TRUTH PREACHED IN LOVE.

Brethren, for the church to grow, we must grow spiritually. For us to grow spiritually, we must eat the right kind of food – truth! We need to get in the book as never before, study it as never before, and LIVE IT AS NEVER BEFORE!

Church – let’s GROW UP! God demands it!