Saturday, March 10, 2018
Christian infants
Ephesians 4:14
… that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting …
The Apostle Paul writing here, Ephesians 4:11-16, uses the idea of a ship at sea that is unable to control its path because the winds and the waves are more powerful than it. His imaginary ship is being overpowered in the attempt to chart a specific and particular course to a desired destination. This is the example and imagery he uses to bring our attention to focus on the challenges of living as a Christian and maturing in the faith.
The Christian life, lived the way Jesus outlined and the scripture demands, is never easy. In many ways, we are in rough seas with winds and waves that make it difficult for us to chart the scriptural course. There are issues of the dominant philosophies and worldviews of our time; there are issues of history and culture; there are issues of science and technology; and so on, that affect how life is lived today and what are the challenges and decisions we face.
In the space we occupy there are also issues of doctrine and religious beliefs. We also have to face the presence of the teachings of different religions and, closer to home, we have to face the different doctrines within what we call Christianity. Within that broad definition of what is Christian, there are a variety of doctrines, some in error, and some outright false.
We, therefore, have to have a basis on which to identify that which is sound doctrine. But, many Christians today, spend little or no time focused on learning sound doctrine. In fact, few show up to the sessions where sound doctrine is taught. As Isaiah put it, For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” Isaiah 28:10
Ministers, under Christ, must provide teaching and training in the doctrines of the faith to the members of the church. And all believers must submit to this teaching and training so that there may be unity, progress, and growth. This is the context of Paul’s charge about the members being Christian infants. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” Ephesians 4:11,12.
The primary purpose of ministry, whether as an apostle, or prophet, or evangelist, or pastor, or teacher is to equip the saints and edify the body. These are doctrinal ministers. Today, much of ministry has focused on a variety of things that have nothing to do with equipping and edifying. As we have said before there is much focus on entertainment and emotions, and little focus on teaching and learning.
Of course, it is all well and good, and easy, to blame ministers for any of the failings in our churches, however, the Apostle Paul in this passage, having outlined the purpose of ministry, lays significant blame at the feet of the individual Christians. He was very harsh in calling them, infants.
Simply, a Christian infant is one who has not presented themself to receive the teaching that is to be provided by the doctrinal ministers. The church feels sometimes like one big Sunday school filled with big children who have not submitted themselves for age-appropriate teaching and training.
Every day, as I meet Christians in their various circumstances to which we are called to help, one of the first and most obvious problems is that they do not know the Bible. And those who know it a bit do not know how to interpret it, and how to apply it to their lives. Christian, who by their own choice remain infant, run the risk of seeing their lives destroyed, or their homes and family derailed. This may sound extreme but its true.
Paul warns that there are those who will seek to exploit the fact that the Christian is on schooled in the doctrines of the faith. We should note that those who seek to draw the young Christian or the immature Christian away are not people who do not understand what they are doing, rather they are more often than not deliberately deceitful and evil.1 Timothy 4:1-2.
Then there are the heretics who spin off whole cults. And then there are the false religions, especially those which are prepared to pretend that we all worship the same God and these are all different paths to the same place – that’s a lie! They are not!
These all come in various forms. There are the charlatans among the people of God who want to take advantage of the weak and so spin their own interpretations to deceive and beguile and to abuse. (Often these schemes relate to sex, money & power)
One of the biggest contemporary challenges is over the philosophy that I have rights that trump righteousness. I must be free to live as I like. The righteous requirements of the scripture must not be a violation of my rights.
So people today want to be Christian and live as they please especially where it relates to the big moral issues of the day like sexual purity, marital fidelity, and termination of pregnancy.
Paul ends the passage telling us what Christian maturity looks like. That “we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;” Ephesians 4:13.
Think on these things:
- Do you attend a church that emphasises Bible Study and teaching?
- Do you make it a practice to attend study sessions, where you take notes and ask questions?
- Are you able to systematically explain the things you believe and why you believe them?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would submit to sound doctrinal ministers and mature in Christ.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex