And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Paul describes the Spiritual maturity of the Church in a very specific way in his letter to the Church in Ephesus, on the Western edge of modern-day Turkey. He tells them that we all grow up from immature, easily influenced children into one grown person, even Jesus Himself.

Spiritual maturity requires shedding the priority of the individual and gaining the shared perspective of the body of Christ. Through that growth, we all share in the increase, building up the whole Church in love. It is only through that change in perspective that we can really become mature and become a complete person, of whom Jesus is our head.

Ethan Kirl