1. We Speak the Truth Lovingly (15a)
1. We speak the truth in love to those outside the church (“evangelists” v.11). This makes the body grow wider. We know the Great Commission, but do we carry it out?
2. We speak the truth in love to those inside the church (Eph 4:25). This makes the body grow stronger. Richard Baxter, “If they can see you love them, you can say anything to them.”
3. We receive the truth spoken in love by others.
If this is how we “grow up in every way,” then speaking/receiving the truth in love should be central to your Christian activity. Part of the “work of ministry” is to receive the truth expounded by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers (Eph 4:11-12).
As many as 70% of college students leave the faith during their freshman year! Many of them will still claim to be Christians, but most will never return to regular church attendance. Anyone leaving for college needs to immediately plug into the campus ministry. Don’t forsake Sunday worship either. Build your friend group around your faith and it will be strengthened in your college years.
Thom Rainer’s research revealed that new Christians are five times more likely to remain in a church five years later if they plug into a small group (SS, WNF). Why? Because the engagement they receive and contribute is critical to their maturity. We should think beyond the Sunday morning and evening worship services. The Church is an extension of our family. In fact, Jesus said it is more fundamental than our family.
Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
Growth results for the speaker and hearer. Willing to speak/receive the truth in love requires maturity.
Speaking the truth in love guarantees that you will offend someone. Galatians 4:16 “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Offending someone is not the goal, but it is a necessary consequence.
On the other hand, while it’s true that “Facts don’t care about your feelings,” you should! Don’t compromise or sugarcoat the truth. Speak the truth, but do so with love—not hatred. Without love your words are nothing but noise (1 Cor 13:1).
Don’t be motivated by hatred, but love. That doesn’t mean we will always speak with a soft tone. When your child runs into traffic, you don’t say “Sweety, I wouldn’t do that…” You scream at them to “STOP!”
We should love our neighbor enough to tell them the truth in the most compelling fashion possible.
› The Church grows up when we speak the truth lovingly, but it also requires…
2. Christ Unites Us Corporately (15b-16a)
The object into which we grow is “the head, into Christ.” He is the one knitting the body together, joining each member. But he is also the one supplying the nutrients that sustain our growth.
1. Christ is the “causal source” (Hodge). We mature as we are transformed into the likeness of Christ by the work of his Spirit. Philippians 3:20–21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
2. All members connected to the head and one another. In Colossians 2:19 Paul warns against false teachers who would encourage them not to hold fast “to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” Christ’s work in us overflows to bear fruit in the lives of those around us.
We church-hopped a lot when I was a child. By fourth grade my brother wanted to stay at one particular church. It took another 3 years before I enjoyed going.
The summer before 7th grade was the first time when I distinctly remember thinking differently about church. Instead of taking me out of my friend group for a few hours every week—the people at church became my friend group.
That shift came before I ever really paid much attention to the message I was hearing. My maturity didn’t start with a love for Christ that filtered down to loving people. It was when I met genuine, Christ-like people, that my love for Christ began to take root.
We must depend upon Christ and each other. Your experience may have been quite different from mine, but this passage implies that we grow up into the head. That means the members have a critical function in showing hospitality and welcoming visitors. They are the hands and feet of Christ bringing others in and building everyone up into the head.
Time and time again that friendly welcome is the testimony we hear from our new members. It is so encouraging and I know it is not manufactured but genuine warmth. That is the kind of community that only Christ can build. It’s the kind of community that grows organically because you know everyone you bring will be enfolded too.
› The Church grows up when we speak the truth lovingly, Christ unites us corporately, and when…
3. Each Member Works Properly (16b)
“Properly” literally means working according to its measure (Eph 4:7, 13, 16). It has a practical purpose built into it. We should not think of this as separate from the previous point. Christ remains the source of our growth, but his work is accomplished through each member playing a part.
Thomas Sowell has done some excellent work on the topic of equality/equity. He says the modern solution seeks “make believe equality” by taking what others have produced and distributing it to those who haven’t produced as much. They argue that equality can only be achieved through artificial enforcement by the state. As if Marxism needed a second chance.
Historically, the state has only made the outcomes much worse. The welfare program, increasing the minimum wage, and affirmative action have only produced outcomes that are far worse than prior decades. One thing “make believe equality” certainly increases is animosity and hostility.
Although we are all equally connected to Christ—thus we all share a right standing with God—we do not all receive equal measures of his grace. In other words, as it is in the world, so it is in the church. We should not expect equal outcomes.
But Christ has perfectly accomplished the work that justice required so that all of us could have equal standing before God—as adopted sons and daughters.
Although none of us have been given identical gifts or even proportion of gifts, neither have any of us received a sufficient proportion of gifting to accomplish our kingdom work in isolation. We must learn to cooperate with others if we expect to mature.
That means everyone will have some attribute where they contribute, and they are often better at that than others. Rather than becoming envious of their gifts, we should relish their involvement. It should inspire us to advance the cause further.
The attribute that ties all of this together is love. Colossians 3:14 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
1. We communicate with love.
2. Christ unites us with love.
3. We cooperate in love.