What's our goal?

What is my goal as a pastor teacher? What is your goal as a home group leader or a Sunday school teacher, or whatever service you perform in the church? What about as a member of church as you come along? What is our goal as a church when we meet together?

What is Paul’s goal in Colossians 1? To “present everyone fully mature in Christ.” Paul isn’t just interested in converts, in numbers signing a pledge card or praying a prayer. He labours to present mature Christians.

How? (28) “We proclaim him, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom…” He teaches them about Jesus, and he corrects wrong thinking and clears muddled thinking – that’s what admonishing means. And it is not just for the keenies or those who love big books, or reading, it is for everyone, that word appears 3 times in the verse.

In contrast to the false teaches in Colossae from whom Paul borrows the language ‘perfect’, ‘wisdom’ and ‘mystery’ that he uses in this passage, there are no secrets, no initiations, no rituals as the false teachers said to maturity and fullness, there is the sufficient Jesus Christ.

That must be what we teach, it must be what we continue in. We need to have our wrong thinking about Jesus and what he does clarified, we need his wisdom on how to live. If as a church we ever stop teaching that please bring it to our attention and if we do not repent and change find somewhere that does teach it and labour there, because we will have lost the gospel and connection with Jesus Christ.

But this is about more than just teaching from the front, do you see Paul’s concern here he doesn’t want numbers he wants disciples. We, I, need to repent of this idea that a growing church is one where more people are coming, where we grow from 60 now to 80 or 100. A growing church is one where its members are being taught and being helped to understand more about Jesus Christ, where they are living out what it means to follow him.

Every member ministry means that you are engaged in that, both as those listening to teaching and as those teaching others. As a church mature Christians must be our goal.