Christ-centered Community Part 6: Corporate maturity as a unified body
Wrapping up the Christ-centered community series by talking about Christlikeness as our goal
Wrapping up Christ-centered Community
This is the final entry in this series on Christ-centered community, where I have laid out a bit of what I think the church is meant to be. As a person who cares a lot about asking questions and providing context for the ones I ask, I wanted to write this series for those who have asked me, “Why?” when I talk about the church. The questions I ask have been shaped by years-long conversations, seminary study, church experiences, arguments (mostly civil), a bit of trauma and (I think, mostly processed) pain, and study with my wife, friends, and others. These six posts stem from and inform my ecclesiology quite a bit, so I will likely link to them in future posts.
A sincere “Thanks!” to those who have read along thus far. You can read the previous entries in this Christ-centered Community series below:
Part 2: Belonging in family (equality in siblinghood)
Part 3: Empowerment in our shared priesthood (and why that was always God’s plan for each of us)
This next and final post is on growth into maturity, and how this is a corporate calling for all members of Christ-centered community and the means by which the gospel effectively reaches and permeates a world in need. Other terms and ideas that are synonymous or go hand-in-hand with maturity are Christian growth, flourishing, discipleship, and the like, so I consider this topic to have a broad reach, and it is one that many qualified scholars have spoken into far more meaningfully than I will attempt to here.1
What is maturity?
Simply put, maturity is Christlikness, and growth into maturity or completion is becoming more like Jesus. When he called his disciples, the simple, “Follow me” imperative carried quite a bit of weight. Jesus’ followers walked with him, listened to his teachings, learned from him, and did as he did. He taught them a new way to live, new teachings to spread, and a new kingdom to help inaugurate. In addition to what they were to proclaim, they were called to a radically new way of living. They were to be marked by humility (Matt 18:4-5, 20:24-28), love and service for one another (Matt 22:37-40, John 13:34), concern for the poor (Mark 10:21-22, Luke 4:16-19, 6:20-21), persecution and suffering (Matt 5:10-12, Luke 6:23, John 15:20, 16:1-4), and so much more.
His followers continued growing in Christlikeness even after he left. The Holy Spirit enabled them to flourish in ways they never could have imagined, and the church became a transformative place for women and men of all ethnic groups.
Maturity in the Epistles
A primary exhortation of Paul to the churches in his epistles is to mature into Christlikeness (Eph 4:15). This involves being characterised less and less by the things of the flesh and more and more by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-25). Here are some examples:
Colossians 1:28-29 We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me.
Ephesians 4:11-13 And he gave [certain gifts]… 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
Philippians 3:15 Therefore, all who are mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well;
James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Other letters carry on this theme as well (Heb 5:14, 1 John 3:2). It is critical to note that the goal of every believer and every church is to be mature, and thus immaturity is meant to be a temporary distinction. Whatever structures are in place, whatever roles people play among the community, the goal is that every Spirit-filled saint be mature in their faith and look more like Jesus each day. Thus, our structures must serve this end and be reevaluated if this vital task is not being accomplished.
An interesting point to note is how maturity correlates with authoritative language from Paul, in particular. There is much more to say about authority and what its role should be in the church. But, I’ll summarize my view by saying that I don’t believe Christians today are to have any form of authority over one another—pastors, priests, elders, etc. (and I refuse to use the term “layperson” or an equivalent, because I think it is undignifying). We are all brothers and sisters in one family, with God as Father, and I think there is enough teaching from Jesus and his followers to beg the question, “Why would authority over one another be necessary among Jesus’ followers?” rather than assume it is always necessary. I believe the only authority in the church should be the Triune God, and we are all subservient to the corporately-discerned movement of the Spirit within every believer and among the assembled body. Our interpersonal relationships are to be characterized by mutuality as seen in the numerous “one-another” passages in the New Testament.2
Back to Paul and seemingly authoritative language, I’ve included the diagram below to help illustrate my point. Keep in mind that he’s talking mostly to churches that are very young in their lifespan. They didn’t have the Bible as we know it. They didn’t have commentaries and theological manuscripts like we do. They didn’t have Augustine or the creeds. Not that having those things today has anything to do with actually being mature, but that’s a topic for another day…
But we can see through Paul’s language and tone that, as communities grew in maturity and Christlikeness, the need for authoritative intervention from Paul lessened. His descriptions of the community reflect their level of maturity as he writes. But, even in the “less mature” churches, he calls them to Christlikeness because the Spirit of the living God dwells in and among them (1 Cor 2:6-16, Gal 5:22-26, Col 1:28), and he calls those who are mature to be even moreso (Phil 3:12-17). They are not limited by their past actions, but have the capacity to mature by imitating Jesus and those who look like him through the Spirit of God.
Do as the mature do
Over and over, the model of growth found in the New Testament church is imitation. Less mature believers are encouraged to imitate more mature believers (1 Cor 11:1, Phil 3:17, 2 Thess 3:9, Heb 6:12, 13:7), because their lives are focused on Christ.
Paul writes to churches that are less mature (Corinthians, Thessalonians, Galatians) strongly exhorting them to become more mature. In Philippians, we see Paul praising a community for their maturity with language of partnership, but he exhorts them all the more to look like Jesus (Phil 2:1-14)—and, let’s be honest, the distance between even the most mature of us and Jesus is immeasurable!
But, I wonder if we truly internalize maturity in a way that reflects this reality. Do our ways of doing church energize us toward growing into the fullness of the Spirit who brings us life? I think, far too often, we find our capacities capped—either by our own self-assessments, or by limitations put on us by others. Maybe we see the pastor and think, “Now, that’s a true follower of Jesus,” not realizing we have ruled out ever fully embracing our own equal call to follow Jesus deeply. Maybe you’ve said this of someone who has read their Bible daily for fifty years, teaches theology, or serves as a missionary. Worse, maybe you’ve seen others whose lives or words convince you that you can’t possibly be as Christlike as them. Maybe you’ve been in a church that is built in such a way that you always need that expert to teach you and grow you.
Maybe you’ve never thought that you are called to look like Jesus in a radical, neighborhood-transforming way. But you are.
And you’re meant to do this alongside others in community. This is a community that is familial and marked by equality in belonging to one another as siblings. We are, each and every one of us, empowered as priests to connect people to Jesus. We should be steeped in the Scriptures, learning individually and collectively from the Teacher. We are actively growing in our indispensable gifting and calling. We are looking more and more like Jesus as we grow into maturity. This is Christ-centered community.
Thanks heaps for reading! I’d love to hear anything you have to say, suggestions you may have, or whatever else has come up. So, leave a comment if you’ve got one.
I don’t have a lot of external sources listed in this post, but there are heaps of resources, authors, thinkers, practitioners, and theologians who have much to say on this idea. A few include (in no specific order) Miroslav Volf, Scot McKnight, Aimee Byrd, N. T. Wright, Dan White Jr., Rowan Williams, Christa McKirland, and many, many more. This is a centuries-long concept rooted deeply in the words of Jesus and his followers, not to mention a firmly entrenched idea in First Century Jewish thought.
I realize I am making some bold and contested claims here. Christa and I wrote an article several years ago on this topic: Christa McKirland and Matthew McKirland. “Who’s in Charge? Questioning our Common Assumptions about Spiritual Authority.” Priscilla Papers, Vol. 27, Issue 1 (Winter,2013): 15-25. We have far more to say about it, and more space will be dedicated to the topic in future posts.
Excellent, Matt! Appreciate so much these reflections. I like your remark that immaturity is a temporary state. So much of what counts as immaturity is seen negatively (as is sometimes warranted), but truth be told, we've all been there and (in some cases) remain there on some (many?) of those expressions from the Spirit's presence that are indicators of Christlikeness (Gal 5:22-23).
I especially appreciate that titles, roles, offices don't equate to degrees of maturity. In fact, as you intimate, many of those qualifications for leadership (1 Tim 3) are remarkable for being unremarkable: “Should not get drunk; have a good reputation.” These qualities are elsewhere demanded of all believers (e.g., Eph 5:18). Criteria raised today such as superior intelligence, a dynamic, upbeat personality, an established administrator, an effective counselor, an outstanding chair of committees, a mature believer does not make and, in fact, receive no emphasis in Scripture. Of course, people skills often point to signs of maturity but these are to be the outflow of the fruit of the Spirit, not merely the result of techniques learned in popular seminars or books or experiences in the workplace. The mature set an example for others by the quality of their life, not by the office they may hold. Living a life worthy of the gospel is the call on all and that is the goal every believer is moving toward.
I was intrigued by the correlation you find in authority/immaturity. Just a few moments reflection and it seems obvious to me that those who are on any quest (whether learning piano or growing in Christ) will align themselves under others who are more skilled and experienced than them. This does not necessarily entail that an expert is authoritative per se. Instead, the authority is in the degree of knowledge and expertise one may have. After all, the very definition of disciple entails a station in life that includes learning from and yielding to others who know more than I. So, this correlation makes sense to me. Sadly, however, we conflate maturity with roles and people who have the expertise, which is where we get into trouble.
Just a few thoughts. Looking forward to more!
Peace.