Ephesians 4:14

Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching, and by the cunning and craftIness of men in their deceitful scheming .

When we, the church, are mature and attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, then we will not be easily moved from our faith in Christ. This is talking about the state of the church rather than specific individuals, although it is obviously as true of individuals as it is of the Body of Christ.

this state of maturity brings with it a measure of strength and stability. The winds and storms of life do not sway an adult as they might do a small child. We have strength, experience and resources that a child left alone would not have.

the church is surrounded by enemies who seek to destroy her. The only way to survive is to grow strong in the Lord, to become mature under the tutelage of the five- fold ministry gifts.

in the Bible waves often refer to the constant stirring and restlessness of humanity without God; in other words, a godless culture.

these waves batter the church. Popular opinion is always opposed to the church, because God’s perspective is opposed to human opinion. Society wants to go its own way in respect to sexuality, abortion, families, marriage, euthanasia, and so on. These are the core issues of any society, and western culture is rapidly accelerating away from biblical values on these and other issues.

there is constant pressure on the church to modify its teachings, to modernise its beliefs. The world wants the church to endorse its sinful desires rather than to condemn them.

when the church is mature, it resists these waves that come against it. It refuses to be pushed around by popular opinion and stands firm. Churches that are not mature find themselves compromising and ultimately overwhelmed by the waves so that they lose their distinctiveness and ultimately die.

the church should be directed by the wind of the Holy Spirit. It can be instead “blown here and there by every wind of teaching.”

There are many false teachers in the church. To be a false teacher does not mean that a teacher is wrong at every point. No, they are often right at most points, but they overemphasise a particular doctrine.

prosperity teaching is one such doctrine. God wants to prosper us, but that means He wants us to live good and virtuous lives in fellowship with Him. Prosperity in God’s ways comes from living generously and faithfully within the means that He gives us. Prosperity teaching twists this to say that God wants all of his disciples to be wealthy by the world’s standards.

“new” teachings seem to arise several times a year. it can be tiring just keeping up with the latest fashions. These teachings are like competing winds that blow the church in all directions.

god has called the church to be faithful and patient, to walk in humble obedience to him. New teachings might seem exciting, but they distract us from our purpose.

another way that the church is buffeted about is the cunning and craftines of men in their deceitful scheming.

there are people, both men and women, who seek to use the church as their personal domain of power. Some are pastors, but many are not. They want to use the church as a means to exercise control over other people.

in the 1990's, there was a movement in the church called “Shepherding.” Under this teaching, people were taught that they were not to make any decision unless it was first submitted to the pastor. This was totally unbiblical and served as a means for pastors to control their parishioners.

many churches have been destroyed by people insinuating themselves into a position of power and undermining the legitimate authority of the pastor or other ministers.

these crafty and deceitful schemes of people will cause an immature church to fall apart. The need is for those churches to be mature so that they have discernment in seeing the true motives those who would come into steal and destroy .

The encouraging word in this verse is that when we are mature we can withstand these enemies.

over many years I have seen people try to established churches on poor teaching, or on the sheer strength of their personality. But these things have no foundation. The pastor or church planter has no real relationship with Christ, so how can they build anything for Him?

the church needs to be led by genuine men and women of God, the five-f old ministers placed by God, not by the appointment of human structures.

Key points in this verse

• the church has many enemies who try to overcome it

• we must be mature in the faith to withstand opposition

• false teaching will blow the church in every wrong direction

• we must be wary of the craftinessof people and their deceptive schemes.