Ephesians 4:12-16 (part two) – Conversations with God

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his 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.  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 people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Father, without a doubt we are prone to be childlike in the least beneficial ways.  As a child can be easily swayed, so we too can be tossed around by false teachers who are after our money and our souls.  When we fail to be “grown up” in our understanding of the faith we become easy targets.

So there seems to be a fine line we must walk.  We must be open to and teachable by Your gifted leaders, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  But we must also be responsible students who take care for our own education and not just believe something because someone says it.

For sure there are some teachers we will have implicit trust in.  But if we are not like the Bereans, who searched the Scriptures to verify what Paul was telling them, we are less noble learners than we should be and we open ourselves to windy doctrines.

So help us to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in love to one another and take responsibility for our growing up into You.  You are our Head, Lord Jesus, You are the One from whom all true growth takes place.  You orchestrate our individual “parts” to supply what the other parts need.  You make love the secret ingredient that spurs our growth along and makes us worthy representatives of Your headship.

Help me do my part!