Scripture: Selected Scripture
Date: August 21, 2011
Speaker: Sean Higgins
God is our Father and we want to please Him. His Son is our Brother (per Romans 8:29), the Head of the Church, and we want to follow His lead. He promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18), to sanctify His Bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). To this end He provides the church with shepherds to serve her, Scripture to strengthen her, and His Spirit to secure her.
We’re considering criteria from His Word to help us evaluate our own maturating process as a congregation. So far we’ve surveyed that a maturing church has:
We’ll try to cover the remaining five this morning.
A maturing church has, fifth,
It may seem redundant to say that a maturing church pursues maturity. It may also seem redundant to say that a runner must run. But runners who make nachos instead of making strides won’t finish the race. Likewise, even though progress takes time, we must keep putting one foot in front of the other. I already made the case that leaders in the church should be models of pursuing maturity. A maturing church will be full of saints taking steps.
On one hand, we are presently called “saints” (for examples see Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2, etc.; the substantival use of the adjective, ἅγιος), those who are the set apart ones, the holy people. Already “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3, 4). On the other hand, we must make every effort to be more who we are. Peter urged all of his readers, because God already gave them everything pertaining to life and godliness:
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8)
The author of Hebrews commands the pursuit of saintliness:
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
We must “strive for” (ESV), “pursue” (NAS), “make every effort” (NIV), hunt, run down, move decisively toward (peace with everyone and) holiness. It takes Spirit-driven decision and desire. We must crave the Word so that we may “grow.” We must speak the truth in love so that we grow up in every way into Him who is the head (Ephesians 4:15).
Maturity and purity meet in holiness, and holiness in the whole body must be pursued. Individually, the Lord disciplines us as sons because He loves us and so “that we may share his holiness” (Hebrews 12:7-11, especially verse 10). That’s part of the reason for church discipline as well.
A little poison poisons the whole glass (see the power of leaven in 1 Corinthians 15:6) and impurity in one part of the body will affect the whole. While Paul’s instructions for discipline had benefits for the person—to cause them to realize their need for Christ—it also protected the people. Paul explained to the Corinthians:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9–13)
We’re all connected, for suffering and rejoicing (see 1 Corinthians 12:26). So those who are spiritual “should restore…[one] caught in any transgression…in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). (See also Matthew 18:15-20)
The saints must love holiness and they must help one another to it. We pursue Christlikeness together, and a maturing church will do this in a Christlike manner including patience and gentleness and forgiveness as well as clarity and hatred of evil.
A maturing church has, sixth:
”If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ “died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15). As new creations, we live for Christ and we worship Christ.
District meetings of new creations are also known as churches, geographical assemblies and expressions of Christ’s Body. When these congregations gather on the Lord’s day, they must enjoy worship.
When I say “enjoy corporate worship” I mean it two ways. We enjoy it as in we possess the benefit of it and we enjoy it as in we receive pleasure from it. Corporate, cooperating worship isn’t (by definition) performed by some for others to watch; it is an act of the assembly. A woman is no less a dancer because she’s not the lead. She makes the dance a dance. And if the two know what they’re doing they get great enjoyment from it. This time is for the church to collect and harmonize her voices before God, not merely to get instructions for worshipping Him some other time.
We share fellowship with God together and can’t ever be the same. True worship transforms us. The culture of our congregation grows out of the soil of our corporate worship; group exultation in God orients our week.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
We become what we behold. That’s why it’s so important that “the old has passed away” and that we no longer live for ourselves. Then we were idolators, worshipping false gods all the time and becoming more deaf, dumb, and blind in soul by the bow. Now, by the Spirit’s omnipotent writing in our hearts, we live and are being changed more and more into the glory of the glorious One.
Our corporate time together will transform us to the degree we contemplate deep and long on the God of overwhelming greatness. We’re working hard through regular and fresh liturgy to make every Lord’s day a fat kid that spins the merry-go-round of your week; but that’s everyone’s enjoyment. Spasmodic assembly and careless participation will retard our growth.
A maturing church has, seventh:
A church’s maturity will be visible when her members meet and when they disperse. God made seven days in a week and, while the full body unites to offer praises on one of those days, the individual parts reflect God all the other days on the calendar, too.
God made men to bear His image, to reflect His Trinitarian likeness. At the least that means that He created them for responsibility and relationship (I recently preached a couple sermons on this topic, so I’m not going to exposit Genesis 1:26-28 right now). We are multi-faceted beings, not truth-tubes and not biped Bible brains. We are persons who plant trees and plow fields, who harvest fruits and vegetables, who market our produce, or cook meals, or serve meals, or eat meals with friends. If you’re somewhere in that process, do your part with God-glorifying gusto.
Life with both windows down is not worldly if it is done to reflect God who made the world and commanded men to subdue it and have dominion over every living thing. Bible studies are fine so far as they contribute to life, but so is writing books and riding bikes and painting fences and balancing your checkbook.
[Our breed of churches doesn’t father well-rounded image-bearers very well. We either produce thoroughbred idolators, those who love the flesh and world all the time, or we are half-bred idolators, those who serve the flesh and the world because they want to eat, who feel guilty about it most of the time. We need to grow up into living by the Spirit in the flesh.
Grown-ups know that nothing is wrong with cake, that cake can be good. They also know not to eat the whole cake. That’s why we let adults use knives and divvy portions. That’s not an argument for “all things in moderation,” that’s an argument for getting wisdom.]
We work hard with people. We’re connected even when we’re only with a few others. Fellowship is not a verb in English, but it is in Greek (κοινωνέω). The early church was devoted to the fellowship (Acts 2:42).
A maturing church will have more and more members who do ALL that they do—whether they eat or drink or go to school or work or camping or do pull weeds or go to birthday parties or weddings or neighborhood barbecues—not as their god, but because they love God who made all these things. Make a point about God EVERY place.
A maturing church has, eighth:
This world is not our final home. Our citizenship is in heaven, we are exiles and strangers here, a peculiar people. And God doesn’t rapture us to heaven immediately after professing faith in Christ. Why? Evangelism, yes, but not evangelism in passing out tracts only.
I love the tension of sojourners with roots. We’re exiles in homes. Pilgrim made progress, but he stayed in the same place.
We get married because God made male and female and said it wasn’t good for the male image-bearer to be alone. The marriage commitment may be romantic and it is reflective of Christ and His Bride. A Christian marriage is distinct. Viewing children as a blessing, rather than disruptions of noise and smell and immaturities, stands out radically in a me-first world. Parenting is the first place we show the gospel, dying to bring life. Talk about evangelism opportunities and then teaching them to observe all things Christ commanded.
A happy and holy family is a sight to behold, a city on a hill, a light hard to extinguish. Family isn’t what keeps us from ministry, it is part of what makes a maturing church. Think Colossians 3:18-4:1, Ephesians 5:22-6:9, 1 Peter 3:1-7.
That extends into our communities as well. We have to love righteousness persuasively. We have to defend the defenseless, vote for marriage (when we’re able), honor good authority and submit to unjust authority, pay our bills, and honor our contracts. We work hard and educate kids so that they can image-bear well, in distinct ways.
Consider Paul’s instructions in the early part of Titus 2 for various persons in the church and then the distinct community of people God is making in the world:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14)
A maturing church has, ninth:
We cannot mature by natural means. We will not marry, parent, work, study, witness, or worship without grace and Spirit. We will lose the battle against spiritual forces if we fight independently and in our own power. We need God, we must depend on Him to work, believe that He will, and ask Him to do so. We must be devoted to pray for spiritual things, even as the early church was devoted to prayer (Acts 2:42).
Prayer is particularly important for Christian’s engaged in the spiritual battle. After listing the spiritual armor, Paul told the Ephesian church to pray in all things:
[be] praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, (Ephesians 6:18)
Note in particular Paul says, “to that end keep alert,” be vigilant, stay on the lookout, be on your toes. Peter similarly said,
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (1 Peter 4:7)
Making disciples, pursuing maturity, working with integrity, parenting with gospel consistency, worshipping, those are no little things to the enemy and he will aim all his fiery darts to extinguish our faith. So we must pray. Our influence for Christ individually and corporately depends on our praying.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)
Our prayers are battle, calling God to our aid. Our attitude in all this is gratitude.
Mature people are thankful people. Immature people are selfish and whiny. It takes a grown-up to see how many good things God has given. It takes a grown-up to be thankful in war, war against unrighteousness, against the evil one, against immaturity.
A maturing church will be a thankful church, starting in her prayers.
I tried not to throw in the kitchen sink to this series, and yet these points still miss things such as being Spirit-filled, stewarding spiritual giftedness, caring for the needy (James 1:27), practicing forgiveness. But that’s alright because God doesn’t mind taking His time to make His point.
A maturing church has leaders who model growing maturity, believers who love God’s Word and live by it, Christians who believe the gospel into practice, disciples who intentionally make disciples as they go, saints who pursue holiness all around, new creations who worship God, image-bearers busy doing and doing with, sojourners who grow families, and spiritual soldiers who pray hard with the thankful switch in the On position.
Thankfulness is a great point to finish with, because we have every reason to be thankful that Christ matures His church even when we see all the ways she needs to, that we need to, grow up. We have work to do, no doubt, and we fight forward with thanksgiving.