Real Maturity

In our quest for togetherness it is well that we check again the Ephesian formula for—"real maturity. . ."

AN UNIDENTIFIED wit has said it very well: "Cooperation solves many problems. A bunch of freckles would be a nice coat of tan if they would just get together." Togetherness in any enterprise is an essential ingredient in the success of an organization. In the work of the church it is indispensable. Just now, when the world seems tottering on the brink of chaos, coordinated evangelism under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit seems the only hope of fulfilling the Great Commission. Every agency and department of the church must achieve synchromesh with every other. The church that will not pull together is destined to pull apart. The maturity of an organization may be measured largely by the degree of unity in thought and action it has attained. I believe our work is established on the premise that it is the major, if not the sole, concern of the church to lead boys and girls, men and women, to an encounter with God as revealed in Christ, and then to prepare them to be with God and Christ throughout eternity. But soul winning and soul holding are not mechanical processes nor mass phenomena. Evangelism involves persons individuals equipped by God with the right and the ability to form judgments, to make decisions. Thus in our work we must be more concerned with motivation than with methods, with dynamics than with mechanics; and certainly we must be more preoccupied with godliness than with gimmicks or gadgets. What then must be our approach in order to have real success?

The Ephesian Formula

A significant answer is suggested by Paul in his Ephesian letter. Reading from Dr. J. B. Phillips' rendering of Ephesians 4:11-13: "His 'gifts unto men' were varied. Some he made his messengers, some prophets, some preachers of the gospel; to some he gave the power to guide and teach his people. His gifts were made that Christians might be properly equipped for their service, that the whole body might be built up until the time comes when, in the unity of common faith and common knowledge of the Son of God, we arrive at real maturity that measure of development which is meant by 'the fullness of Christ.' " We note in this passage a logical pattern or sequence. The gifts of Christ through His emissary the Holy Spirit were to provide for leadership and guidance, then for the equipping of Christians for their service. Thus the whole body was to be built up, complete unity was to be achieved, and finally, the attainment of "real maturity," "the fullness of Christ." Full Christian maturity is not achieved in the body of Christ until complete unity is a reality. Notice Paul's reference to the whole body being built up and the ultimate arrival at real maturity.

The Church and the Body

The apostle's likening the church to the human body is a very apt illustration. Just as the human body is made up of various organs and functions and possesses a variety of gifts and abilities, all functioning in unity despite diversity, so the church through Christ's gifts is to have various organs and functions and a variety of gifts and abilities, all operating harmoniously. This is essentially the basis of departmental organization in the church body.

The marvel of God's plan for the rescue of mankind is illustrated in the call of the apostles. Ellen G. White notes that "the apostles differed widely in habits and disposition," and that "all the disciples had serious faults." But these diverse personalities and characters were to be welded together into an amazing unity through con tact with the electric personality of Christ. "These were brought together, with their different faults, all with inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil; but in and through Christ they were to dwell in the family of God, learning to be one in faith, in doctrine, in spirit. . . . Christ is the great center, and they would approach one another just in proportion as they approached the center." The Desire of Ages, p. 296.

There was a deep purpose in the call of these men and there is in the call of those who today are to succeed them. It is an astounding truth that "Divinity needed humanity; for it required both the divine and the human to bring salvation to the world. Divinity needed humanity, that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man. So with the servants and messengers of Christ. Man needs a power outside of and beyond himself, to restore him to the likeness of God, and enable him to do the work of God; but this does not make the human agency unessential. Humanity lays hold upon divine power, Christ dwells in the heart by faith; and through co-operation with the divine, the power of man becomes efficient for good." Ibid., pp. 296, 297.

Unity and Diversity

The Spirit of Prophecy writings make very clear that there are to be departments in the church, with men chosen to foster various lines of work, each department maintaining its identity, yet all working in harmony, each complementing and supplementing the others.

"Let every department of our work, I every institution connected with our cause, 1 be conducted on considerate, generous lines. Let every branch of the work, while maintaining its own distinctive character, seek to protect, strengthen, and build up every other branch. Men of varied ablilites and characteristics are employed for carrying forward the various branches of the work. This has always been the Lord's plan. Each worker must give his own branch special effort; but it is the privilege of each to study and labor for the health and welfare of the whole body of which he is a member." Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 174.

This is possible only if all labor under the impulse, guidance, and power of the Holy Spirit, directed by the divine Head of the body. Full submission to the Head is the only way to unity and "real maturity." But the primary goal of the co-operative effort of all organs and functions of the body is that there shall be healthy, happy, mature Christian individuals.

Feed That Body

What then is required for healthy growth and maturity in the body of Christ? If the church is like the physical body it will need food a balanced diet, adequate nutrition. What about the body of Christ as it enters the last third of the twentieth century? Are there not distressing symptoms of spiritual malnutrition? Are not many members giving signs of being undernourished? Perhaps for some it is a process of slow starvation; some may be suffering for what nutritionists of America call hidden hunger, a phenomenon in which the subject eats a sufficient quantity of food, but not of the proper kind, or not in proper balance. There are many young and old, in our churches who are hungry and they know it! They will come where real food is to be found. But many stop coming when they discover that they are not getting very much when they do come. This is one of the greatest challenges facing leaders, pas tors, and teachers in the church today.

We simply must provide ample, palatable, nourishing food, suitable to the age and the ability to assimilate. We know that it is not possible to nourish or to satisfy the appetite of a growing boy with a soda cracker and a sip of water, even though it may be administered three times a day. Neither is it reasonable to suppose that we can satisfy the soul hunger and soul need of our members with a few leftovers, hastily warmed up on Friday night, even though they be served with a flourish on Sabbath morning. We must see to it that our members receive spiritual food, well-balanced, well-prepared, and attractively served.

Breathe Deeply

Yet food alone is not the answer to growth and health. In speaking of the needs of the physical body, Sister White wrote: "In order to have good blood, we must breathe well. Full, deep inspirations of pure air, which fill the lungs with oxygen, purify the blood. They . . . send it, a life-giving current, to every part of the body." The Ministry of Healing, p. 272. A new awareness of the role of oxygen in producing good blood and the role of exercise in inducing deep breathing is probably the reason that the huffing and puffing of the jogger is heard in the land today. More people are "running for their lives" than ever before, for they recognize that food is not enough to bring complete health and to fend off degenerate heart and circulatory diseases. The little book, Aerobics, by Maj. Kenneth Cooper, is significant perhaps be cause it organizes and systematizes information already at hand in the counsels of the Spirit of Prophecy writings. To me the book is a kind of allegory to emphasize what the church needs in order to produce healthy Christians, both physically and spiritually.

Yes, the body needs air, the pure air of prayer. "Prayer is the breath of the soul." Sufficient oxygen is possible only through proper exercise in proper amounts. Both literally and figuratively, he who does not labor does not breathe deeply enough. Strength, health, and growth are possible only if one has good blood, and good blood is to an important extent the product of ample pure air. The Bible says that "blood is the life," or that the "life is in the blood."

Today the emphasis is upon the need for revival and reformation. Reformation for many Seventh-day Adventists (and may I be so bold as to include some workers?) may need to begin at the dinner table or the public lunch counter. Also parenthetically, perhaps there should be a radical change in the intemperate practices of holding in terminable committee and council sessions.

We Must Exercise Too

The body also needs exercise. Lack of proper and adequate exercise is likely to result in one of three conditions: loss of appetite, dyspepsia, or obesity. Candor can only admit that there are many persons still on our church books who seem to have lost all appetite for spiritual food. These are the church dropouts, and in North America, and in some other world areas, there are an astounding number of these. There are others, however, who may never miss Sabbath school or church, who buy and read many good books, who subscribe to, and read, our church periodicals, and who in many other ways appear to get an abundance of good food. But they appear to be spiritual dyspeptics. The symptoms show in a joyless, sometimes Pharisaical religion. These may appear to be quite sanctimonious at church on Sabbath morning, but they are just plain cantankerous at home, and often at work. A third class also seem to obtain sufficient spiritual food, and they grow fat! Their condition is one of religious obesity, an unhealthy growth. They manifest this in faultfinding, criticism, and gossip. These are the trouble makers in the church who "throw their weight around" in an almost wholly negative way.

What is basically wrong in each of these cases? Is it not that they fail to obtain ad equate exercise of the proper kind? Some one has remarked, half facetiously, that the only exercise some church members seem to get is in running down fellow members, in jumping to conclusions, in carrying next week's troubles, in sidestepping responsibility, or often in just plain pushing their luck! After all is said and done, there is more said than done and here lies much of the problem. The inner secret of good health is in having good blood. The motives, ideals, attitudes, and influence; the evidences that Christ lives within these are what constitute good blood for the Christian. Good blood and adequate circulation come from good food and pure air, but only if there is proper exercise. So we must help our people to obtain adequate exercise in witnessing, steward ship, and personal involvement in soul winning, all in proper balance.

Make It Real

Unfortunately, some in the church seem to have developed a superficial concept of religion. They realize they must have food, yet they content themselves with spiritual snacks or TV dinners. They have a kind of ritualistic few moments with the Sabbath school lesson before turning out the light, a hasty few seconds with the morning devotional reading if time permits before rushing off to work. Then there may be the habitual attendance at Sabbath services. With this the person says, "There! I've eaten." The individual knows he needs air; but prayer, the "breath of the soul," is shallow, a superficial repetition of set phrases. This person may be persuaded to exercise, but it is infrequent and listless: a small club of the missionary journal, a few hours Ingathering with the singing band, a dollar a week for the Sabbath school missions offering, and he says, "There! My exercising is done." Admittedly, this is a caricature but are these not familiar features? Too often there is not the spiritual growth and vitality that the body of Christ must have if it is to attain to the "fullness of Christ."

Add to this shallow concept on the part of laymen, a virtual compartmentalization of church work by the departments, a fragmentation instead of correlation of efforts among the departments, then it is little wonder that there is so much lost motion, so much dissipated effort, so many frustrated leaders and disappointed people. We must help our members to see that Christian living is a totality of experience in which all the factors mentioned above blend and merge, and each permeates all. Bible study, prayer, Christian witness, and the inner life of ideals, motives, and attitudes, must all be the outgrowth of an inner experience with Christ through the conscious reception of the Holy Spirit.

Then we who are leaders in the various organs and functions of the body must be sure that our promotional motivation is controlled by the Holy Spirit and not by the spirit of self. There must be no insulation or isolation in the work of the church because of unworthy and selfish motives. We must make all that we do spiritual, and then all will be mutually helpful and complementary.

Check That Nervous System

But there is another point as we follow through with the apostle Paul's illustration. I believe we should recognize the need for a sensitive, well-functioning nervous system. In other words, the church, the body of Christ, needs adequate communications. Just as vital nerves direct and control the functions of the body, so there must be vital links of communication in the church body, all directed by Christ, the divine Head.

I am convinced that much is lost in the potential of the church because we do not let one another know what we are going to do, or even what we are doing. Often be cause of poor communications we become more concerned about who is to get the credit for what is done than we are about what is done. Much is lost also because we do not take our members into full confidence when we lay plans and make policies that effect the lives and work of the church members. Our good people respond willingly and positively when they know what is needed, what is expected, and when we let them know that we have full confidence in them. Sometimes, perhaps unwittingly we give the impression that we are hiding something. This surely should not be.

Let us give Christ first place in our lives and in our promotion. Let us invite Him to come in by His Spirit to all of life's experience and ministry. Then let us seek by His grace and by every possible means to lead our people into a similar experience. Then prayer will be as natural as breathing; Bible study will be as desirable and gratifying as eating; personal witnessing and evangelism will be as stimulating and strengthening as regular, vigorous exercise is to the physical body. Then the blood, the ideals, attitudes, and influence of Christ Himself, will flow as a life-giving current to every part of the body. Then we shall attain that "real maturity . . . which is meant by the 'fullness of Christ.' "

 


* From The New Testament in Modern English, J. B. Phillips 1958. Used by permission of The Macmillan Company.

 


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

January 1971

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

New Men for a New Decade

"Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do" (1 Cor. 16:10).

T. C. for Children Too!

WE ARE more than halfway through the Testimony Countdown program in the Macksville and Kempsey churches in New South Wales, Australia, and the blessings are growing each week. A large percentage of our members have attended regularly and have brought their ideas to the discussion periods provided each evening of the program.

I Had Dreamed--But!

FOR years I had stifled the urge to do public evangelism with the excuse that denominational administrators and office workers possessed neither the time nor the aptitudes for the rigor of evangelism. Since college days, as a business student, I was moved by the challenges of evangelistic campaigns. . .

Revival in Oakland

The months of July, August, and September were memorable ones for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Oakland, California. For five nights a week and three times each Sabbath, an evangelistic crusade conducted by the Bay Area Seventh-day Adventist ministers was held in the Oak land Municipal Auditorium. The immediate sponsor of this campaign was the Northern California Conference under the direction of Elder James Chase. They invited E. E. Cleveland of the General Conference Ministerial Association to be the speaker. . .

Adventist Women in Purdah?

Australian women might as well be in purdah, secluded, in the tradition of the East, from all social contact except with their husbands. They are the most uninteresting women outside the Arab world, the most intellectually unstimulating . . . ," according to a recent visitor from overseas. . .

Women of East Brazil Organize Large Shepherdess Club

A recent letter from Mrs. W. J. Streithorst of Brazil gave interesting details of their Shepherdess Club organized at the beginning of 1970. Workers' wives and other women employees of the six fields and five institutions make up its membership. . .

Presenting the Full Gospel

Those persons who have felt the touch of the divine love are obligated to bring to those who have it not a knowledge of that love and God's exalted purpose for man. . .

A Simple Filing System

THERE are many filing systems ministers use and one must find one that will adapt to his method of doing things. Most systems require more time to keep up than the average minister has. . .

On Illistrating the Sermon

THERE are about as many ways of preaching as there are preachers. Nevertheless, there are certain excellences and, unfortunately, certain shortcomings that recur and point the way to failure or success as a preacher. For the purpose of this discussion I shall think of preaching in terms of either the pastoral or evangelistic sermon. For the most part the principles involved apply to both.

Needed---Emphasis on Prevention, Not Cure!

"Why is it, that you as a minister and theologian are so involved in the promotion of physical fitness? Is not this area rather far removed from theology?"

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - SermonView - Medium Rect (300x250)

Recent issues

See All
Advertisement - SermonView - WideSkyscraper (160x600)