Growing Up Together

On Sunday we considered Paul’s vision in Colossians 1:28–29. He proclaimed Christ, he warned and taught with all wisdom, he aimed at presenting everyone mature, and he toiled with the strength God supplied. It is a compact but powerful picture of the Christian life. And it makes one truth very plain: maturity is not a private project. Maturity is a church project.

That runs against the grain of our age. Our culture tells us that maturity is independence, self-expression, and standing on your own two feet. Scripture says the opposite. True maturity is learning deeper dependence on Christ and steady interdependence with His people. You cannot grow in Christ if you detach from His body.

And yet church life is not always easy. Living closely with other believers brings both joy and pain. At times you will be encouraged and lifted up. At other times you may be disappointed, misunderstood, or even hurt. Some of you know this ache very personally. Perhaps a careless word cut deep. Perhaps you felt overlooked or let down. The temptation in those moments is to retreat into distance. “If this is what church is like, I would rather keep my guard up.”

But Paul’s vision of maturity will not let us retreat. He reminds us that growth comes through proclamation, through teaching, through warning, and through perseverance together. And sometimes it comes through the very hurts we experience. In Colossians 3:13 he writes, “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” To forgive, to forbear, to reconcile—these are not detours from maturity. They are the very path to it. God stretches us, as muscles are stretched, so that we grow in patience, humility, and love.

This is why covenant membership matters so deeply. To belong is to commit, and to commit is to grow. Growth will come through the ordinary life of the church: gathering under the Word on Sundays, sharing life in Growth Groups, sharpening one another in men’s and women’s studies, opening the Bible with a brother or sister one-to-one. These are not optional extras. They are God’s chosen means to form us into the likeness of Christ.

So let me ask you plainly. Who has permission to speak truth into your life? Who can come alongside you with a warning or a word of teaching? Are you leaning into the ordinary rhythms of church life where growth actually happens? And when you are hurt, do you withdraw, or do you step forward in grace, forgiving as Christ forgave you?

None of this is easy. Paul described it as toil, even struggle. Yet he was clear that the energy for it does not come from us. “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Christ Himself supplies what He commands. His Spirit strengthens us to forgive. His Word steadies us when we are tempted to drift. His presence keeps us when we feel weak.

And here is the hope: one day the struggle will be over. One day there will be no more misunderstandings to bear, no more wounds to forgive, no more immaturity to correct. Christ Himself will present His bride mature, complete, and radiant. The day of toil will give way to the day of glory.

Until then, let us not settle for childishness. Let us not retreat when we are hurt. Let us keep growing up together into Him who is the Head. Maturity is a church project, and the Lord will finish what He began.