Tuesday, 10 March 2015

GET YOUR DUMMY AT THE DOOR

It is surely an endearing thing to see a baby with its nappy on and dummy in the mouth, but what would you say if you saw a twenty-year-old with a nappy and dummy?  How about hundreds of these "babies" together?  The New Testament teaches without any equivocation that God desires to see all His children come to maturity.  "Until we all...become mature" (Eph. 4:13).

Unfortunately the reigning church culture of our day is almost preprogrammed to maintain its members in an infantile stage of spiritual development. When a church culture is primarily focused on numbers it is not surprising to see multitudes of "babies" together in one building in a permanent state of juvenile leader-dependence.  Sómething has to be done to grab the attention of these fidgety little ones.  Consequently programs and entertainment almost always take precedence over discipleship within this culture.  To be sure, seeing so many babies together looks impressive and even successful, but we have been called to be a growing "body', a living temple, and an army of God - not a daycare facility. 


According to the New Testament the purpose of the gospel and church life is bringing us to spiritual maturity in order to move our focus away from ourselves and onto those we need to disciple in all the nations of the earth (Mt. 28:19), with a view to théír maturity in Christ. If we remain in the same dependent relationship with leaders and teachers for decades we have a serious problem!  It is imperative for the health and future of the true church that we reach a maturity that enables us to fellowship with one another on equal terms as those who have received a "like precious faith" (2 Pet. 1:1).  Our roles and responsibilities will always differ, but our relational reality múst mature into the rich enjoyment of our shared heritage in Christ.  The alternative is scary - relationships that stagnate in a static and lifeless structure.  Something that moves and yet has no life in itself we call a machine.  God is looking for a living and growing organism, not a machine.

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