Mature in Christ ... Oh how we long for this to be a description of our lives. Sermons and books and Sunday school lessons have all played a part in equipping individuals with the spiritual disciplines necessary to strive for holiness. These are all good and beneficial but do they lead to the kind of maturity we long for? Sure, practicing good self discipline will aid to the health of individual members in the body, but what of the health of the whole body? After all, isn't the body of Christ made up of many members? Shouldn't we long for and strive for maturity not just on an individual level but also on a corporate level?
It is my hope for the Church that God would give us a vision and a desire that would match His own. We were created in His image and redeemed from sin and death so that we would be a body through which He could manifest Himself and a temple in which He could dwell. We are the family of God. His bride, his children and the brothers and sisters of His only begotten son: our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. I want to be a part of an assembly that is known as "the house of God". Not some building, but a body of flesh and blood made of people who love and serve and stir one another up to love and serve others from every tribe, tongue and nation. A body set apart and marked by godliness.
Maybe I'm reaching for something too lofty. What I long for is maturity in Christ within a body of unified believers with a single banner: our love, devotion, and insatiable desire for more of Jesus. I hope that as we gather together this will be our goal and vision. May we edify one another in such a way that we are made to be one. One with Christ and with one another and mature as an individual, not only an individual person but as an individual body in Christ.
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As in a biblical church gathering, my word is not complete or final. Participation is allowed, encouraged and expected. Please, don't leave without adding something.