Offer Yourself to God to See what an Adult Looks Like
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
Ephesians 4:11–13 ESV
Bret and Mark and others have asked us to ask God this question lately:
”Lord, how do You want me to serve Your Church?”
If we ask that question, God’s answer will eventually be that we become apostles (sent ones), prophets (speakers on God’s behalf), evangelists (good news spreaders), shepherds (care-giving servants), and teachers. That’s what God does to build up His church, and He has very low standards for those that come for on-the-job training.
But if we come to Him submitted and willing, God will call us to varying levels of each of these. We may shepherd people in the lobby on Sunday morning or teach via blog posts, but we are all growing up together into the full stature of a mature Body of Christ.
Sometimes people complain that something is lacking at their church. I like to disarm them by saying “Yes, they are waiting for you to grow up!” Like a bunch of teenagers that know what it is to be grown up but haven’t gotten there yet, the Church has seen the glory of God but is still waiting for it to be on full display. We are all growing up together as the Body of Christ, and it takes all of us maturing in Him together to see it fulfilled. When Christ returns, we will all be like Him (1 John 3:2) but until then we are growing.
Submit yourselves to God, therefore, like interns. Like people who have shown up just to learn and grow and become a mature adult, let’s ask God and others to teach us about the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings via email every day by visiting Feedburner and clicking ‘Get Daily Bible Readings delivered by email’ over on the right side of the screen. You can also see them on Facebook or Twitter