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. (Eph. 4:13)
Expanded Passage: Ephesians 4:13
Every church wants to grow numerically, or at least it should. Defined biblically, that kind of church growth is certainly a worthy goal. But the Bible has even more to say about a different kind of church growth—the personal growth of individual believers.
Aslan, the great lion who represents Christ in C. S. Lewis’ classic Chronicles of Narnia, leads his small army of the faithful to a momentous victory in The Last Battle, the final book in the series. There is no time for celebrating, though; no one is permitted to rest on their laurels. The battle is won, but not the war. There is more ground to gain, more territory to take. Aslan’s command echoes through the rest of the book, repeated again and again: “Further up and further in!”
“Further up and further in” are Christ’s orders for the new Christian. There’s a lifetime of growth ahead. “Further up and further in,” he says to the mature Christian, and anyone who is truly mature in the faith sees the need to go deeper into the things of God.
When Paul told the Ephesians that the Lord’s goal was for the body of Christ to be built up, he was specifically referring to Christian maturity, not statistics. Evangelism is critically important, but so is discipleship.
Churches that are truly “growing” grow both ways.
Pursue your spiritual growth further up and further in.
Bob Black is a third-generation Wesleyan minister and professor emeritus of religion at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
