Ephesians 4:12-13: Nobody Moves Me But God.

...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

Why do leaders encourage service as the focus of all encouragment, cajoling, teaching, training, mentoring and resource allocation? Because of the results it produces in the church: The church is "built up." Mutual service produces a result healthier and more fruitful than any self-help or self-actualization program can achieve. Why? Because the Bible recognizes that fundamentally, each of us is inadequate. Inadequte to live healthy, fulfilling, generous lives. We need each other.

One of the areas where we really need each other is stability. Often, the perspective we need is not found in our own experience, but in the experience of those around us in the church. When we are built up, we are stable. Paul puts it like this:

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. - Ephesians 4:14

We would like to remain innocent, like children. We would like to remain unaware and trusting, like infants. We even idealize such simplicity and naivete. But young ones are easily confused. There are lots of people willing to tell you how to live your life. There are lots of plausible leaders and self-proclaimed gurus dispensing clever and convincing methods and world views and plans for us. One Dr. Seuss book introduces the Sneeches, who are broadly divided into those with a star on their belly and those without. A clever man introduces a machine which, to the horror of those born with stars, imprints stars on the bellies of all Sneeches. Then, he introduces a machine to remove the star to main the visible divide between the two classes. On one memorable page, the Sneeches are shown cycling in a figure 8 out of the machine that installs stars and then back into the one that removes them, while the clever man clutches a healthy wad of money.

But Paul points out that strong, serving church help us avoid the follies and confusion. These church-goer advantages come because of the maturing process inherent in serving each other and building each other up.

1. Our Lives Stablize. Children are easily captivated by new ideas. Children have a sense of wonder there; a sense of discovery at each new thing.  As adults we sometimes regret how mundane our perception of the world has become. Part of growing up in Christ is knowing when to hoist the sails, so to speak, to catch a fresh wind, and when to refrain. Someone recently remarked about a friend of mine that they were often surprised a few days after talking with him, when they would hear him say something, because in the intervening time he had talked with another. Mature people choose who or what will move them.
2. Our Lives Gain Direction. Much of marketing today is focused on making us dissatisfied with who we are and how we do things--convinving us that it is old, boring, sub-standard or routine. Those messages are all around us and can leave us in a state of seeking, but never finding; looking, but never landing. We are "blown here and there", never finding a direction. It is a trap, a self-perpetuating system which prevents progress by emphasizing the difficulty of any determined course of action. In the face of the trauma of change, we settle into a life of maintenance and self-comfort building.
3. We Escape Cynicism. One of the primary ways in which the world causes us to oscillate back and forth without direction is that of cynicism. Born both out of anger and pride, cynicism pokes sticky fun at any who would choose any direction at all. The more determined the direction, the more pointed the remarks. Cynicism is one of the trademarks of the "cunning and crafty": the use of ridicule to tear down opposing positions. And once one position has been reduced to rubble, cynics turn their bombardment onto the next. Someone once said, "Poke a cynic and find a burnt idealist." Been there, tried that and I'm not letting anyone get there either.

It is easy to lose perspective. It is easy for us to lie to ourselves. We need  people close enough to tell us the truth. We need people who we trust enough that their example is one we are willing to try out. We need people committed to a common purpose and direction. That is the church.

"His intent was that, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known..." - Ephesians 3:10

 Don't let anyone move you except God. And what God tells you, he should be telling others. So double check with the godly whom you trust to make sure you have heard clearly. Once you have heard the truth, and confirmed it with the godly wise, camp on that, because that is the rock.