Growth is For Everyone

- Pastor Matt LaMaster - 

I used to work for a church that printed an article for reflection in their bulletin each week. They had for years and decades, and it was a matter of interest to me. One week in my office, a box appeared of expired paper, yellowed with time. As I rifled through them, I curiously searched for the bulletin issued on my birthday, knowing I was born on Sunday. I found this curious quote: “Sunday school is for everyone.”

This is more profound than we probably knew at first.

Why should I become a church member? Why should I go to small groups? Why should I spend time reading the Bible? These are legitimate questions. Many of us have been Christians for years. We have walked with Christ through the good and the bad. Lesson upon lesson he has taught us. We’ve read through the entire Bible! Not only that, but look at our bookshelves for a plethora of Christian literature! Sure, those are good things for other people to attend, people who aren’t there yet. But, I know pretty much everything, already, right? I attend the service on Sundays, isn't that enough?

I am confronted by the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:14-16, “We must no longer be children... we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ...”

Paul uses “we” here. He acknowledges that he himself needs to “grow up” and that he can no longer be childish. Paul knows that the single body of Christ will never be mature until all its individual members are mature. But he also knows that, as John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8). And he knows, that even though he wrote a significant portion of the New Testament, even though he himself had visions of Christ on high, even though he stood toe-to-toe with Peter for walking out of step with the gospel, he too needs to grow.

And if this man whom we revere so much, who has been the fountainhead for Christian thought from Augustine to Billy Graham, from Jonathan Edwards to John Piper, needs to grow, so do I.

Pretending you don’t need to grow is neither truthful nor successful. It will only hurt you in the end. Acknowledging the need for Christian growth is not self-loathing, rather it is humble truth-telling. So may we all, each and every one, no longer be children and grow up into Christ who is the head over all.

This post is adapted from a reflection for Addison Street Community Church.

---