Driving down the road the other day, I was enjoying the leaves being flung from the trees by the wind. Swirling and dancing reds and golds that would eventually come to rest by the roadside. I was reminded of Ephesians 4:14,
“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”
“Then…” When? After what? After we receive the gifts Christ gave to the church–apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). If we aren’t in church, in fellowship with other believers, how will we be equipped? Yes, we need to be reading the Word for ourselves and for the purpose of examining what we hear like the Bereans did (see Acts 17:11). But we need to be sharpened by being with other believers, and we need to be built up “until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
And that’s when we won’t be tossed like leaves in the wind. If you don’t regularly attend church to be built up and sharpened in your faith, your maturity will be sorely lacking, and your ability to discern truth will be muddied. Get anchored in the Word, and in the Body of Christ!
Lauri Hawley 