Ephesians 4:12: Serving IS Growing Up.

"..to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." - Ephesians 4:12-13

As we saw last time in Ephesians 4, Paul has just shown how the gifts that God gives each one in the church are meant to be used to encourage ministry ("works of service"), making the church a sort of ministry incubator. But he goes on to say that when we serve, it not only changes the lives of those served, but the lives of those serving.

Notice the word "we" in verse 12. The body of Christ is built up by people serving until we reach unity in faith and knowledge and become mature. Who is the we? Step back to verse 7 where it says, "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." The "we" here is referring to all of those who were given spiritual gifts by God--that is, the church.

The church advances, not by focusing our God-given talents on ourselves, but rather by redirecting them outwards And in the mutual service we are all built up, both the server and the served.

Notice also that this service is the path to maturity (not just our own, but those around us). Paul continues, "...until we all reach the unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature..."

Service has three side effects:

1. We get together. Service sets aside personal agendas and prioritizes the agendas of others. "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4
2. We know Jesus better. When you serve, you learn in a very down-to-earth, day-to-day way, experiential way to be like Jesus who took "the very nature of a servant" (Philippians 2:7) and what makes his heart beat faster. 
3. We grow up. Service helps us progress towards the type of people God designed us to be. That term "mature" (and the definition which follows) refers reaching the final or optimal level of development.

We you put eggs in an incubator, you expect that the result will be healthy chickens. When you put new followers of Jesus in the ministry incubator, you expect that the result will be servants.

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45