Growing by Serving

It struck me last week when reading that day's 21 Day Challenge passage that sometimes I miss the boat on what it really takes to mature. When most talk about maturing in their faith they almost exclusively talk about "learning something." I think that is why so much emphasis is placed on the sermon in a service. People feel like if they learn some thing then they are growing. The reality is that just because we hear something doesn't mean we have grown. We have to actually put it into practice before we can say we have grown.

In Ephesians 4:7-16, though, a model is given that doesn't have much to do with listening to a sermon or studying. It has everything to do with serving though. In fact, in verse 13 and 14 Paul is so clear that we mature to the point that we are not "tossed back and forth" by deceit when we SERVE. I almost always talk about the motivation for service being twofold:

1. Jesus said to do it;
2. It is a great experience.

Those reasons are still valid, but Scripture also teaches that the main result of serving is that we actually mature in four ways:

1. Unity with other Christ followers;
2. Experience a vibrant relationship with Christ;
3. Have confidence in what we believe;
4. Have the ability to speak truth to other Christ followers.

Having said that, I don't want to minimize the role of sermons in our growth. I have to say that since I am a preacher. :) But perhaps, we should not forget that most growth actually comes from putting into practice what we hear. That is never more true than when we are serving.