The biggest question that has been guiding my ministry for the past 15 months is, “How does the Church develop spiritually mature believers?”

In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus, he proclaims that Christ gave specific leadership to the Church. He gave it apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. All of them are to equip 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 4:11-13)

The goal of Church leadership is to develop people who are mature in their faith and look like Jesus.

How does that happen? What does it take for someone to want to serve other people? What does it take for people to desire to be in worship every week? What will convince someone to become a generous person with their time and resources? What are the steps necessary for someone to grow beyond infancy in their faith?

We can derive certain concepts from the Biblical stories that are helpful, but there are no set actions to follow step by step. Worship with Biblical teaching, a membership class, small groups, intentional discipleship, and Bible reading groups are part of what we are using. Still, we see only limited results.

The biggest hurdle to making mature believers is the desire of each follower of Jesus. Something must awaken inside of them to create a hunger for the things of God. The Church can’t force people into commitment; it can only create environments and actions for people to use when they are ready.

I desire to see people grow in their walk with the Lord. As a Church leader, I am doing everything to help, but I cannot lead people where they are not willing to go.