I was studying Romans 15 and something one of my favorite expositors (John Philips) wrote really hit home. It spoke to the issue that is at the heart of Walk With God Ministries… the maturity of the bride of Christ. I felt it was worth passing along.

There is a jellyfish which lives on a rock from which it never moves. It feeds on a kind of seaweed which grows in the decayed tissues of its own organism. As a result it doesn’t have to search for food. It has become the ultimate creature of comfort, but it is one of the lowest forms of life. Its extreme form of comfort is its degraded position in life.

Rom 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Paul was writing to a church at Rome that had a number of gifted members who were equipped to stir up the saints concerning their responsibilities. Paul said of them that they were able also to admonish one another. This needs to be heeded by the bride of Christ today.

The tendency for Christians to settle down needs to be fought continually. That’s why the ministry of exhortation and admonishment is so desperately needed today. We can’t afford to settle down to a comfortable existence in the body of Christ. Our Christian life is a race that we need to run and there are battles to be fought along the way. That’s why we need to admonish one another to be about the  business of the Kingdom, to take up our assigned position and utilize our gifts for the betterment of the bride. We need to be disciplined and determined in our drive to achieve spiritual maturity. If we are, then the bride will be healthy and accomplish everything that is set before her in service of her bridegroom.

A jellyfish feeding and slowly rotting on a rock at the bottom of the ocean isn’t a very pretty picture. Neither is a member of the bride of Christ that only comes to sit in the pew and be fed once a week. That will lead to spiritual decay that will affect the bride as a whole. We need each other and we need to admonish one another to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus. That is a key expression of the love of Christ.