“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.8 This is why it[a] says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”[b]9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.14 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. 15 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. 16 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. (Eph. 4: 7-16)
In today’s focus passage, we just heard the words of a Christian missionary. Twice in that passage we heard the word, “grow,” or “growth.” But this missionary, Paul, is not thinking about growth in the numbers of new churches on the mission field, as we might expect. Nor is he thinking about growing the size and numbers of each congregation which will hear the reading of this letter. No mortal has the power to make churches grow in size or number. God does that. These words are about the growth of God’s kingdom in this world. God does that, too. But for that we do have some power and responsibility. God’s kingdom grows as you and I cooperate with God to grow in Christ-like character and spiritual giftedness, and as our relationships grow in depth, in love and in Christ-like character. The more we grow to think, talk and act like Jesus, and the more of us there are thinking, talking and acting like Jesus, the more the kingdom of God grows in the world. That kind of personal, spiritual growth, in Christ-like character, in leadership capacity, and spiritual gifting for ministry, are what makes God’s kingdom grow. And divine kingdom growth is what makes churches grow in size and number, and not vice versa.
We grow to talk, think and act like Jesus most in those relationships and settings in which people, talking, thinking, praying and acting like Jesus, “speak the truth to each other in love.” That truth might be hard to hear sometimes; without truth, our words to each other cannot really be loving. They may be tactful or polite, but to withhold truth from each other when it is needed is not loving. Yet for every truthful word of concern or correction, there should be at least two words of encouragement, praise and appreciation, because those are truthful, too. We probably all have met people who prided themselves on being, “brutally honest,” but it’s more likely that they are just, “honestly brutal.” Without love, our words to each other may be factual, but they’re not truth-full. Praying together, and worshiping together, also qualify as “speaking the truth to each other in love.”
Only so much of this kind of growth can happen here on a Sunday morning. And actually, this worship service is as much for God as it is for us. A better setting for sharing and receiving our spiritual gifts for growth is in face-to-face encounters and relationships of anywhere from two people to twelve. Get bigger than twelve and you start to have an audience, more than a relationship, a class more than an encounter. And the best places for such encounters and relationships are wherever we are most ourselves, usually in our homes, but maybe also at a picnic table, in a coffee shop, the lunchroom, or a restaurant. And so the title of this message: Taking the church outside of the church for……(drumroll)….the growth of God’s kingdom, in us and through us.
Obviously I’m using the word “church” in two ways: I mean taking the church, as a people, or the church as its life and ministries, outside of the church as a building, a sanctuary. No; I’m not saying we should stop meeting here on Sunday mornings. Nor am I trying to be cute with a title like that. “Taking the church outside of the church for the growth of God’s kingdom in us and through us,” describes nothing short of a culture change, a mental shift which brings us back to the original New Testament ideal of church.
But most of us have grown up in a culture and a mindset in which church is a place we come to on a Sunday morning. Or is it just me? Now I’d like us to think of church also as a people sent forth from this building, or as an experience, as ministry, even as a movement, that we take out from here.
People often think of this Sunday morning gathering as the place to which we come, and the people to whom we come, to be filled and refreshed after a week of hectic living and juggling all sorts of duties and difficulties. I hope we are. But what if we thought instead of this gathering as when the week starts, so that we might take what we have learned and heard and received through worship, education and fellowship, out into the world and this week of our duties and difficulties? So that worship, Christian education and fellowship continue in our living rooms, around our coffee tables or our kitchen tables, on our patios, in the workplace lunchroom, at the neighborhood park, or even a neighborhood tavern, like where Richard Caton brings church every Saturday?
The small group inspirations and invitations that we’re going to hear in just a moment are just some of the ways in which we might take church outside the church for growth in God’s kingdom, into our livingrooms, lunchrooms, classrooms, wherever. If these encounters and relationships should connect us with Christians from other churches, or with non-churched people, that has a kingdom of God feel about it, too. As people in these settings speak the truth to each other in love, as they exercise their own spiritual gifting, and as they receive ministry from other people’s spiritual gifting, growth happens. We can tell there’s growth if we become more like Jesus. Such growth has to touch other lives around us. And so God’s kingdom not only grows in us, God’s kingdom grows through us.
In a moment, we will hear about the kind of small group passions and interests God has laid on the hearts of some people in our congregation. If you don’t hear an invitation to a small group that appeals to you, pray about it, and see if one doesn’t start later that attracts you, and scratches where you itch. Maybe God might even move you to start one related to your pain, your passion and your spiritual gifting. If that sounds scary, know that Jana and I are committed to helping and supporting any small group leader get started and keep the group going. We’ll get the small group starters together occasionally to support each other and compare notes. There will be other opportunities as other groups start and end, because taking the church outside of the church is not a one-and-done event; it’s a way of life; it’s a culture shift, a mindset, for the growth of God’s kingdom in us and through us, now and until God’s kingdom comes… “on earth as it is in heaven.”