Growing into the fullness of Christ

We start out as new born babes, then little by little we grow up. This is true physically but also spiritually. Like many, I thought I knew most everything after I first completed reading the Bible all the way through. At age twenty-one I was some years away from being even physically mature, much less anywhere close to approaching spiritual maturity.

            When I was thirty-one, a whole decade in the Faith, I thought I was a spiritual giant. I did have a MDiv. degree from a top-flight seminary, had been ordained, and had pastored a church, already. I even was the head of a growing ministry and would occasionally see my picture in a newspaper. I was a big deal, or so I thought. And, what goes up comes down. And I hit hard on the rocks when that happened to me.

            Things hadn’t changed much by age forty-one, or fifty-one, though there was some growth I suppose. Sixty-one, seventy-one, looks like I’ll notch eighty-one, God willing, and I will still be working on growing up into the fullness of Christ.            

            How about you? Can you make an honest assessment of yourself? If so, you are blessed indeed. Let’s look at some verses that may speak to us.

1 Peter 2:2:

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation.”

I Corinthians 3:1-2:

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people; but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with mild, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready.”

Hebrews 5:12-14:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

It is not wrong to admit we are not yet mature, in fact, it is an indication of a developing and healthy maturity. A Bible college or seminary degree does not automatically make us mature. Sure, I had written a systematic theology by age thirty-five and had five books published by major publishers, but I was a long way from mature. I had yet to go through a divorce, which necessitated my need to resign from a thriving ministry I had founded coming out of the Jesus People Movement.

            There is a real need for us to be honest with ourselves. Otherwise we cannot live a healthy Christian life. Too often churches and Christian organizations lose patience with those of us who act immature and cause difficulty, and to a degree this is understandable, but we ourselves, brothers and sisters, we cannot be afraid to make an honest estimation of who we are. To do otherwise is to harm ourselves mentally and emotionally.

A very good reason

One of the reasons for this book is the hope that the church of Jesus Christ in our own day would be mature to the point of helping those who are in the midst of the often painful struggles that characterize spiritual growth. At minimum Christian leaders need to be aware that there is a maturing process. Pastors must understand this or they will be ill equipped to help the infants develop beyond that stage.

It is essential to understand that we ourselves grow up at different rates from each other. I have been guilty of expecting others to be further along in their growing up than they were and thereby end up judging them. I will admit right now that as a pastor I have damaged others by expecting too much from others. And I wish, looking back now, people would have been more patient with me.

            In the years of my struggles, and rebellion, I was as it is said, “thrown under the bus.” During the times I needed brothers and sisters in Christ the most, I was ostracized. And as painful as it is, I had done the same myself in earlier times.

Again, we grow up at different rates. Therefore, we must be patient with ourselves and others. And I am not meaning that we should excuse sinful behavior. We cannot rush growth, yet at the same time, we should strive for it.

The work of Christian leaders

The leaders in the body of Christ have a responsibility to help those under their care. Paul puts it so very well in Ephesians 4:11-13:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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.

It is within the fellowship of a body of believers that there is the best opportunity for growing up in Christ. The old principle of “iron sharpening iron” applies; this dealing with others is where growth takes place. The lone wolf Christian will grow very slowly, if at all. We need others around us, people who know us, people who are willing to invest their lives into us, that we grow up even if by friction.

Yes, it is risk taking, but it is natural. The older I got the more I collided with my parents and my brothers. It was all good for me though I did not understand the dynamics of family life. At school there was even more clashings, and these proved to be invaluable. Others in the pews, people from different backgrounds, differing points of view on politics, theology, and more—iron sharpening iron.

Physical and spiritual maturity and directly connected

Growth depends on a number of factors: food, exercise, love from the family, encountering life, and learning to cope. Going through disappointments, coping with illnesses both physical and emotional. Refusing to give up when we are defeated. Struggling through difficult times, like “dark nights of the soul,” learning how to love, learning to deal with our own rebellion and sin, experiencing disappointments, coping with illnesses, both physical and emotional—all essential to developing a healthy maturity. 

A slow growing up

Our growing up is a little at a time, it is almost inperceptively. And it is His gifting to us as John expressed it in John 1:16: “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

Not until we are in His presence, in our resurrection body, experiencing full joy and maturity, will we be all that we can be,

Eleven

On Teaching the Bible

“You take the Bible too seriously,” she said, “There

are lots of other holy books but you never mention

them.”

She was right and I told her so. “When you love

the Lord you will love His Word, too. Then you will

like it that I preach the Bible.”

“Never!” came the response and she hung up the

phone.

         

My conviction is that the Bible is the inspired Word

of God. People wrote the Bible, yet in a way we

do not understand, it is God’s own Word. From Genesis

to Revelation it has been “breathed” by the Holy Spirit.

The Scripture is therefore reliable and without error; I

can trust what the Bible says.

Views of the Bible range everywhere from, “It is

not the word of God, simply the word of man,” all the

way to the “mechanistic” view, which essentially holds

that the Bible was transmitted by God writing through

human hands much like automatic writing in occult

practices. Certainly there are many views that would

fall in-between the extremes. My tendency is to avoid

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On Teaching the Bible

the controversies; I generally, though not always, stand

clear of the “Bible battles”.

The Holy Spirit must reveal, even apply Scripture

in any case. Unconverted people will neither love nor

appreciate the Word of God. The natural or

unconverted person does not understand the things of

the Spirit of God. (see 1 Corinthians 1:18, 2:14)

Christianized people, those, who have experienced

false conversion, will be ambivalent toward the Bible

at best and will have trouble understanding it. The

Christianized can have an intellectual knowledge of

the Bible, but will not come to love and cherish it. The

Bible is a Holy Spirit book about Jesus, and only the

Holy Spirit can make it understandable.

Pastors teach the Bible. This is the chief

mechanism by which the Apostles’ doctrine is

communicated to the Church. (see Acts 2:42)

How is the Bible taught? One answer is: it must be

taught in context. This is more complicated and

important than it might first appear, and I am going to

present, though briefly, one reason why the Bible’s

context must be clearly defined.

We must see that the cultural and religious context

of both the Old and New Testaments is Jewish.

Philosophers reference two fundamentally distinct

mindsets or ways of thinking about the world— a

Jewish, Hebrew or eastern mindset and the western

mindset. These are two differing ways of approaching

almost everything, and this is particularly important

when it comes to the Bible.

The Jewish or Hebrew mindset understands, for

instance, that to say “in the name of Jesus” is to be

making reference to the person and work of Jesus in

totality including His deity and humanness, His death

on the cross, His burial, His resurrection, and His

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For Pastors

ascension. When the Christian says, “in the name of

Jesus” this is what should be meant. This is the Hebrew

mindset.

In contrast, the western mindset would take “in the

name of Jesus” in a much more literal fashion that

almost approaches a magical way of thinking. The

phrase is thought to have power in itself, in its very

utterance. If the phrase is not pronounced at the end

of a prayer, for example, the prayer would be considered

ineffectual—this is a “western” view of prayer. The

western mindset, that more literal approach to the

Scripture, has been popular only for the last couple of

hundred years. But it has almost become normative in

many branches of evangelical Christianity.

In order to adequately teach the Bible then it must

be put in its Jewish context. It is helpful, additionally,

for the teacher of the Bible to understand the life and

times of the Bible writers. There are many other points

on teaching the Bible that can not be made in this short

chapter.

The learning of and teaching of the Bible is a

lifelong enterprise. If a pastor does not read the biblical

languages, Hebrew and Greek, other tools can be used

to compensate. A good concordance—an exhaustive

concordance—is essential. A Bible atlas will find good

use. I think it is important to have an interlinear Bible,

both the Hebrew-English Old Testament and the

Greek-English New Testament. I have known pastors

to gradually pick up a considerable command of the

biblical languages using interlinear Bibles. Bible

dictionaries are very useful. Commentaries of the Bible

as a whole and of individual books, especially those

that incorporate analysis of the languages, can be

obtained. I do not accept commentary as truth certainly.

On occasion, I have consulted many commentaries on

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On Teaching the Bible

an issue and never agreed with a one. But they can be

instructive even if they only serve to clarify what it is

that must be rejected.

More and more I like to consult Spurgeon on a

passage of Scripture. If a pastor is blessed to have

Spurgeon’s sermons, indexes will locate what Spurgeon

said about many texts.

Bible study tools are fairly expensive. I imagine if

I had to replace essential study tools I now have the

cost would be around $2000, not an insignificant sum

but a worthwhile investment.

I spend nearly as much time preparing for a Bible

study with three or four people as I will for the Sunday

morning service. I must admit that I am the one who

benefits most. Preparation for Bible teaching and

preaching is a most valuable and profitable time. Study

of Scripture is what I love second most about the

pastoral ministry.

My preference is to teach the Bible verse-by-verse.

I am not particularly concerned with covering a certain

amount of material. One verse may supply enough for

an entire study; sometimes a whole chapter may be

covered. But more than likely a paragraph or two will

be gone over in any case.

In the Bible studies I teach I do not make an effort

to be entertaining, I merely seek to expose the

Scripture. The truth of the Bible is enough; it is not

necessary for me to be exciting. Of course, it is no virtue

to be boring.

The Scripture must be dealt with as it really is.

Some parts of it are difficult to understand. The Bible

teacher must be able to admit when a particular passage

is difficult, even obscure. Any teacher of the Word who

has been at it for a time will adopt a humble approach

to the Bible. One of the most annoying tendencies of

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For Pastors

a teacher is the intimation of extraordinary knowledge

of the Scripture. Being willing to admit to a lack of

understanding of a passage or concept or saying is

becoming of the Bible teacher. Often I will present

contrary views on a passage and even seem, for didactic

reasons, to champion them.

It is the Holy Spirit who must impress the truth

upon any hearer. The teacher, then, relies upon God’s

Spirit to be the real teacher though every effort is made

to handle the Word of God appropriately and honestly.

Teaching the Bible from the pulpit is a favorite form

of preaching because the gospel is on every page. My

preaching is sometimes very much like teaching though

I believe the two are different. Teaching is exposing

the Scripture, preaching is applying it to the converted

and unconverted. Teaching from Scripture becomes a

sermon when the truth of it is applied to the hearers.

At Miller Avenue we have a “Bible Exposition,” which

is verse by verse teaching of the Scripture. Then a

hymn is sung before the sermon is presented.

I do not consider myself to be much of a preacher

though I strive to be the best preacher I can be.

Preaching and teaching go together, both are essential.

I think it is accurate to say that I have placed my

emphasis on teaching. My feeling is that if I can

communicate the Scripture then I am moving along

toward fulfilling my pastoral responsibilities.

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On Teaching the Bible

         

  Do you see a difference between teaching and

preaching?

  How do you see yourself in terms of strengths and

weaknesses?

  Do you take any pleasure in teaching the Scripture?