Feb

22

The Value of Maturity

February 22, 2007 |

People lead groups for many reasons, but I have one overriding purpose no matter what type of group I’m leading. Or just about any other form of ministry for that matter.

The first principle I address in Why Didn’t You Warn Me? How to Deal With Challenging Group Members is this: The Purpose Of Any Small Group Is To Bring Each Member To Maturity In Jesus Christ.

This principle is the hallmark of any group I lead. And I believe that an effective small group can contribute to faster and deeper growth than almost any other type of ministry. I’ve never been interested in just warming a seat in the church service. I’m not even excited about evangelism in isolation. Yes, it’s important to worship and hear the Word taught. And it’s vital to be a soul-winner. But in the American church, we have so many Christians who, even after 20 or 30 years in the faith, may grow older but never seem to grow up. People who attend church, but don’t get involved. People who are won to salvation in Christ, but don’t mature.

In Ephesians 4:11-15, the apostle Paul reminds us that the gifts and offices are given to the church “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (emphasis added). Note that, contrary to how many Christians live, this maturing process is not optional. Becoming mature is the purpose of every Christian and equipping people for maturity is the purpose of leadership.

Why is this important? Paul continues, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

Today, as in Paul’s day, we live in a world that is full of false teaching, dishonesty, and deceitful schemes. Tolerance is the watchword. Anything goes. Orthodoxy is scorned with, “Whatever you believe is fine. Just don’t impose your beliefs on me.” In such a society, it’s easy to be thrown off course. It’s easy to lose track of what is an essential of the faith and what isn’t. Unfortunately, relying on the Sunday morning service alone won’t bring the average church-goer to the level of maturity required to counter the culture of this world.

Many people grow older, but few grow up. Familiar Proverb

 

Excerpted from Why Didn’t You Warn Me? How to Deal With Challenging Group Members, Standard Publishing 2007.

 


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