Growing to the Size of the Container

 

O

ne day I arrived home to find a large pit in our side yard.  The hole had not been there when I left earlier in the day but obviously something had transpired during my absence.  My brother was waist deep in earth, swinging a mattock and shoveling the loose dirt into a large pile.  I knew what he was doing.  For weeks or perhaps a couple of months he had been reading about outdoor fishponds and water gardens and he was now in the process of creating one for our home. 

 

He didn’t want to use a pre-formed container but opted instead to dig his own pond so that it would have the shape and the depth he wanted.  He spent several afternoons breaking up the soil and digging it out of the ground before the hole was just as he had envisioned it should be.  He put the liner in, filled it with water, placed paving stones around the outside to make a nice border for the pond, he put plants and rocks into the pond and let it stand until the whole thing became balanced.   

 

Finally, it was time to introduce the fish.  My brother selected ordinary goldfish for the pond because they are very hearty and adapt well to their environment.  We started off with just a few but soon found they had taken to the pond, so he brought more fish home and put them in the water.  Over time they had babies and soon the pond was teaming with goldfish.  All of the fish grew but some really increased in size.  That’s when Kevin told me that goldfish will grow to the size of their container.  When they reach a certain size, they stop growing but if they are put into a larger container where there is more room to stretch out, they will start growing again. 

 

The application from fishpond to our spiritual walk is not too difficult to make.  Sometimes as Christians, we become stunted in our growth, coming to a dead standstill as far as our spiritual growth or maturity is concerned.  The Apostle Paul addressed this in his letter to the church at Ephesus.  Paul understood the importance and the need for continual growth so that all believers could reach spiritual maturity in Christ. 

 

Ephesians 4:11-13 tells us, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's 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.” 

 

There are three things we need to see in this passage today.  First, notice that it is God who calls people to different areas of ministry and there are more areas of ministry than the pastorate. Teachers and evangelist are also listed in this passage as those who are also appointed by God for ministry.  Second, the purpose of this ministry is to prepare God’s people for works of service.  Notice that it is not the pastor’s role to do the works of service, but to prepare us to do them.  This requires us to be teachable and then available to do the work God has called us to regardless of the task or our feelings about doing it.  Third, the goal of all this is unity in faith and spiritual maturity so that we will experience the full measure of Christ.  Jesus Christ is our goal.  His church, made up of his people, must continually be about the task of building up its members, realizing that the church body is not complete in Christ until every member of that body reaches spiritual maturity. 

 

Like goldfish, we reach a point in our spiritual lives where growth becomes difficult.  We need to be challenged, to receive a bigger assignment, and to be moved into a bigger pond where more growth and more maturity await us.  Moving ponds is not always pleasant but it is always beneficial.  Fish must be caught, taken out of the water, moved, and then placed into a new environment.  While all this is new for the fish, it provides the right environment for it to grow larger and stronger.  The same is true for the believer.  When God is moving us from one pond to another, things sometimes get a little shaky and scary.  But the pond He is moving us to will allow us to grow and become stronger so that we become more and more like Christ.  We never reach the point where we have arrived; there is always something larger, something more challenging, and something higher God has for us to do.  That means maturing and growing in the Spirit and that means being moved from our comfortable pond to one of God’s choosing. 

 

Let it not be said of us today that we have grown to the size of our container.  Rather, let us ask God to provide us with a bigger pond, one that will mature us in Christ, one that will bring us ever closer with our other brothers and sisters in the Lord, and one that will bring us into the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.