Ephesians 4:11-16
One of the great joys of my life is being part of the church. And if I’m honest, one of the great pains of my life… is also the church. My guess is you’ve felt that tension too. Being part of a spiritual family can fill your heart one moment and frustrate it the next. You celebrate people’s greatest joys, and you walk with them through their deepest sorrows. But sometimes, we fall short, we let people down, we don’t show up well. It’s a reality of being a part of a community of people who are still in process.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts language to this tension better than almost anyone. In Life Together, he writes, “Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community… God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious.” Then he adds that the one “who has become disillusioned with his community… begins to be what he should be in God’s sight.” In other words, the death of our idealized “wish-dream” of church isn’t a crisis, it’s the beginning of real community. When we stop demanding perfection, we can start learning how to love actual people.
This is exactly the kind of community Paul described in Ephesians 4. He reminded us that spiritual maturity is never something we achieve alone; it’s something we grow into together. Christ gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, not to perform the ministry for us, but to equip everyone for works of service. And when each member serves, encourages, forgives, speaks truth in love, and uses their God-given gifts, the whole body grows stronger and more like Jesus.
I love the picture of people being formed together. Not a collection of autonomous individuals, but a family learning how to grow up side-by-side. In a culture obsessed with individuality and independence, the gospel calls us into togetherness and interdependence. Jesus doesn’t just save individuals; He forms a people. And people grow by showing up for one another, by confessing sin, bearing burdens, sharpening each other, and reminding one another of grace.
And because we are all people still in process, the church can be a painful place. But it’s the very place God intends to grow us. Community really is the classroom of transformation. It’s where we learn to encourage, forgive, share our pain, enter into vulnerability, and have hard conversations seasoned with truth and grace. It’s all part of the Spirit’s shaping work in us.
The goal isn’t a perfect church. In fact, if you find one, don’t join it because you’ll probably mess it up! No, the goal is a maturing church, a people increasingly shaped into the likeness of Christ, together. Today’s invitation is simple: show up again. Offer your gifts. Receive someone else’s. Forgive. Encourage. Lean in. Because this is how we grow up, not alone, but together.
Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor