This post is the first of a three-part series entitled “Growing Up, Pursuing Unity, and Serving Christ.”

“Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love for the proper working of each individual part.” (Ephesians 4:14-16)

The Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians while sitting in a Roman prison around 60 AD. He had previously visited Ephesus and founded the church there on his second missionary journey. As he established the church, he faced challenges because the city was a center of pagan worship with a specific commitment to the goddess Artemis. In fact, the temple to Artemis in Ephesus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis was a “queen of heaven” and her worship emphasized fertility, virginity, and the protection of childbearing. Ancient tourists streamed into Ephesus to visit the temple to Artemis and were encouraged to purchase a replica that they could take with them anywhere in the world to continue to worship her.

As Paul spent time in Ephesus and performed miracles, the gospel changed lives and spread across the region. Followers of Artemis, and those who made a profit from her worship, stirred up a riot in the city. This resulted in Paul leaving to begin his third missionary journey. He was led by the Holy Spirit to compose his letter to the Ephesian church to encourage and equip the diverse body of believers he had left behind when he was driven out of the city. 

The first three chapters of Ephesians provide a summary of the gospel. Paul details the blessings received by believers who have been adopted into the family of God and describes the mystery revealed in Christ as He brings all who place their faith in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles, into unity under Himself. He describes how, though we were once dead in our sin and enemies of God, we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus. He tells how Jesus tore down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles and unites all of humanity into one body with Jesus as the cornerstone of the new dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. God’s marvelous plan to bring the Gentiles into the family of God is revealed through Paul, and it is his mission to preach and have this message be understood.

The fourth chapter of Ephesians begins with the word “therefore” and provides a clear transition, indicating that Paul wants his readers to know that considering all he has just told them, they are now to go and do something. He reminds his recipients of their identity in Christ and how they are to walk out their calling in unity by holding onto the equipping God has provided through the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. In Ephesians 4:14-16 Paul encourages his readers to become mature, stable, and undeceived followers of Christ who maintain unity as they serve the body. Paul is acutely aware that as new believers, the recipients of his letter are prone to deception, just as an infant who has not yet learned to avoid danger is prone to wander into treacherous situations or consume an unhealthy diet. Paul knew that false teachers existed who would try to lure new Christians away with strange teachings that might look appealing but would not provide the nourishment they needed to become mature followers of Christ.

He also addressed the issue of immaturity in his letter to the church at Corinth and describes the spiritually immature in this way in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?” The above passage points to envy and strife as barriers to receiving solid spiritual nourishment. Discontentment with what others have that we do not have and stirring up discord over trivial matters can stunt our spiritual growth and hinder the growth of those around us. The enemy loves nothing more than to divert our energy toward things that divide and away from sound doctrine that unites the body of Christ.

The author of Hebrews also addressed spiritual immaturity and writes in Hebrews 5:12-14: “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness because he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.” Distinguishing between good and evil is what we refer to as discernment and comes from the Latin word meaning “to separate.” One who is discerning has the spiritual maturity to separate good from evil or truth from error. Charles Spurgeon said that discernment is telling the difference between right and almost right. Many false ideologies that we see today attempt to address very real concerns but miss the mark of truth just enough to be dangerous.

I love Chick-fil-A peach milkshakes. After all, they are packed with juicy chunks of fruit and smooth and creamy milk. These ingredients meet the need for some of the nutrients that help my body function properly. But they miss the mark because they also contain enough sugar to make them bad for me if I make a steady diet of these yummy delicacies. We can only grow in discernment as we routinely consume a healthy spiritual diet of truth from God’s Word and avoid things that may be easier to swallow but are bad for us. Temporary ease rarely provides any lasting benefit to our souls.

Paul also describes spiritual infants as those who are tossed by the waves and blown around by the wind, an experience with which he was surely familiar as he describes in 2 Corinthians 11:25 his experience of being shipwrecked three times and spending a night and day adrift at sea. I can only imagine the helplessness and hopelessness that must have been present in those moments. If placed in this situation, I would probably be tempted to grab onto anything that happened to float by with the hopes that it would keep me from drifting further away from safety. When you are drowning, any piece of wreckage seems like a good option even if it isn’t solidly built and made to stay afloat in the middle of the sea.

But we are reminded in Scripture that there is only one thing that can truly be trusted to keep our heads above water and on course in this life. In Hebrews 6:19, we are reminded of the hope we have in Christ as an anchor for our souls. If we place our faith in Him and hold fast to the only one who is truth, we don’t need to look to the world at other strange doctrines that would add or subtract anything from the purity of the gospel. The danger of many false ideologies is the addition of works to attain salvation, and works will never keep us afloat. We can’t dog paddle hard enough to keep from drowning in a sea of hopelessness. Only God’s grace can accomplish that for us.

Our gracious Heavenly Father provides resources for us as we seek to grow up spiritually, become more discerning, and anchor our hope in Christ. The primary tool available to us is Scripture. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.” God literally breathed out His perfect truth to us through human authors and has miraculously preserved it for us through the centuries. When the world tries to tell us that the truth is within us, that it is always evolving, or that truth is whatever might feel right in the moment, we can be confident that His unchanging truth is available within His Word to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us to function as part of the body of Christ.

When we place our faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and provides help for us in the task of discernment. Jesus says in John 14:26-27 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” We have a counselor who is on call 24/7 to whisper truth to us when the enemy of our souls stands ready to deceive us at every turn.

One additional resource is available in the form of more mature fellow believers. Scripture commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 to encourage and build each other up. Proverbs 27:17 says we sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. Titus 2 contains specific instructions for more mature believers to instruct the younger in sound doctrine. So, when the world wants to cancel and criticize, the body of Christ is called to respond differently. We are to build up and help each other become more effective instruments of God’s grace by working together to shine light and truth into a dark and dying world. Part two of this series will expand on the pursuit of unity around truth within the body of Christ.