Variety Colossians 1v28

‘It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.’  COLOSSIANS 1:28

I’ve got a five-year-old who’s currently football mad. He’s making lists of the most important pieces of kit to buy, asking, ‘Is this good food for footballers?’ before every meal, reading football encyclopaedias (yes, they do exist!), and training every morning before school with his mates. He’s making sure that his time alone in the garden kicking his ball (AKA destroying my plants) and his time playing on a team are helping to achieve his goal – becoming a mature footballer.

When we meet on Sundays and midweek, do we, like Paul, have our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus? Do we seek to build up everyone in the church, whatever age or stage they’re at, so that we all grow more like Jesus? Or do we leave that to the ‘professional Christians’, turning up purely to be fed and leave? Do we keep our attention on Jesus with the focus of a five-year old determined to become a professional footballer? Because that’s worth gathering for!

Jo Trickey,London Institute for Contemporary Christianity