By Veronica A. Arntz
In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes that we must
grow into the maturity of our faith. We read that members of the Church are
given different gifts for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).
These gifts are meant to be used until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles (Ephesians 4:13-14).
There are a few things to note here. First, attaining the
full measure of the faith in Christ is not an autonomous process; rather, the Church
as a whole is meant to strive for maturity in the faith. Second, as members of
the Church, we are designed to attain
a fullness of the faith not found in childish understanding. We cannot merely
rely on simplistic doctrines or teachings; rather, we must fully embrace
Christ’s call to pick up the cross and follow Him, which is a manifest teaching
in all the Church’s doctrines. If we embrace the cross of Christ in His teachings
and in our lives by attaining the “mature manhood” in Christ, we will be able
to avoid those false doctrines, which can easily confuse those who are immature
in the faith.
