I recently met a group of village pastors who felt discouraged that their congregations were not as dedicated to the Lord as they ought to be. They described their flocks as “Sunday-only sheep”, and they asked for a word of encouragement.
We later met at a brother’s house, over a table of hot tea and sunflower seeds, where I shared the following message about abiding in Christ. We began here…
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 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, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Key Thought: The Goal of Mutual Maturity
God ordained church leaders (including shepherds, Eph. 4:11-14) to care for the flock. We’re to lead them, feed them, and even sacrifice ourselves for them—all while we train them “for the work of the ministry.”
But to what end? Do we make these sacrifices just to keep the church going? Is legacy our main ambition, or is it something deeper?
Paul tells us that our main goal in all of this is mutual maturity, that together we all “grow in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ.” (Eph 4:15)
This is something I honestly forget, even as a missionary. Sometimes I think the goal of preaching is to educate, to finish a book, or to make sure everyone understands doctrine correctly—or at least that they agree with my understanding of doctrine, right?
But this is not the goal of ministry or the pastor’s purpose. The REAL goal—the reason pastors exist—is to lead the flock towards mutual maturity in Christ.
Key Phrase: “into Him…into Christ.”
Throughout the short book of Ephesians, Paul uses the phrase “in Him” (or a version of it) 36 times—at least in the English rendering. Check out even just the first chapter, beginning in Ephesians 1:1—”Paul…to all the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” He then continues throughout Chapter 1:
- v.3 “God has blessed us in Christ“
- v.4 “God chose us in Christ“
- v.7 “In Christ we have redemption through his blood”
- v.11 “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance”
- v.12 “We hope in Christ“
- v.13 “When you believed in Christ, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit in Christ“
The more I read this epistle, the more the phrase stands out to me. If it’s such an important phrase to Paul, I think it’s important to understand what He means by it. For this, I’m asking myself two questions:
- What does it mean for a follower of Jesus to be “in Christ”?
- How can this help us pastors find more joy in the shepherding role God has given us?
Pt. 1: The Problem
I think it’s easy for us pastors who read the Word regularly and teach the Word weekly to think we that obey as much as we should. We somehow convince ourselves that we’re doing OK, that we’re at least better than the people we teach, so there’s little urgency to fix what we know is internally, spiritually broken.
But doesn’t that flawed way of thinking remind you of anyone? Consider for a moment the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14:
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Here’s what it comes down to: We believers often take for granted the awesome fact that God is in us, so much so that we forget also to be in Him.
I don’t know about you, but I can sometimes go days without remembering that God almighty lives in me! I can coast on the highs of yesterday’s victories, and forget His presence and fail to abide in Him.
Pt. 2: Christ in Me and Me in Christ
What does it even mean, that God lives in me? Check out this awesome prayer from Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21:
- “I pray…that according to the riches of [God’s] glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (16; see also Eph 5:18)
- “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (17; see also Col 1:27 and Rom 8:10)
- “That you may be filled with all the fulness of God” (19; see also Eph 4:4-6).
Notice it? In one simple prayer, Paul here writes that all the Persons of the Godhead are “in” the believer. It’s incredible! It’s real.
The Gift and the Choice
Once God enters my heart at salvation, He remains there eternally—Scripture affirms that a true Child of God could never lose his salvation (note for example the sealing promise and guarantee of the Holy Spirit in Eph 1:13-14). Yet as a child of God with the Spirit of Jesus living in me, I still must regularly choose to be filled with Him (Eph 4:19, 5:18).
God’s empowering is our pursuit, not our unconditional gift (Eph 3:16; 4:16, 20). Failure to pursue this filling isn’t a loss of salvation, but it is a loss of spiritual control—literally, Spiritual control.
Abiding in Christ
So when I make this choice to be “filled with all the fulness of God,” I choose to go beyond having Christ in me by abiding in Him as well. It’s the next-level kind of spirituality that differentiates the countless “pew warmers” and “Sunday-only Christians” from those who live in fervent, daily obedience to Him.
Oh, just listen to these sweet, devastating words from our Lord Jesus in John 15:4-5:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from you can do nothing.
Talk about a key passage for discouraged pastors! This warning and promise from Jesus is why we can enjoy God’s other promises, like this one through Paul in Philippians 4:13:
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
We get this strength when we actually live of the truth of Galatians 2:20 (not just know it or understand it):
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved and gave himself for me.
It Comes Down to This
Pastors and other church leaders, stop thinking about the Sunday-only, pew-warming Christians in your church. Bring the spotlight back on yourself for a minute and make certain that you’re not attempting this ministry alone.
You cannot do this work by yourself. You must—absolutely must—abide in the Vine. Apart from Him, you can do nothing. In Him, you will bear fruit.
Why the heck do we ever try winging it on our own!?
Pt. 3: How to Abide in Christ
Knowing my problem is half the battle. Now how do I fix it? How does a guy “abide in Jesus” anyways?
“Change My Mind”
Charlie Kirk first went viral with his “Change My Mind” booths on college campuses, and it’s a great slogan. It’s also the answer to how a believer can actually abide in Christ: by changing how he thinks.
This isn’t Manifestation mumbo-jumbo, but Scripture. Listen to Paul again in Eph 4:20-24:
But that is not the way you learned Christ! —assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to the your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
We often view this old-to-new process as a 2-stepper: “Put off. Put on.” Done.
But in this passage, Paul clarifies there is a third important step: “Put off. Renew your mind. Put on.”
A believer can’t just stop an old habit by starting a new one. It requires determination and purpose and a whole new way of thinking. It requires renewing the mind through the power of the Spirit.
A Common Theme
This renewing of the mind is a common theme in Paul’s writings:
- Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Rom 12:1-2)
- You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Col 3:9-10)
This Colossians passages shows us that renewing the mind means to live each day with the mind of Christ:
- Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. (Phil 2:5)
- We have the mind of Christ. (1Cor 2:16)
We have it through his grace in salvation, and we grow in it through the Word. Thus it behooves us who lead the flock to make this conscious, daily decision to abide in Christ—to live in Him just as He lives in us.
Conclusion
Pastors and others, I write all this as an encouragement. It’s possible that some of you pastors see very little fruit in your flock. Perhaps some in your church are “Sunday-only Christians.” Perhaps some in your church have attended faithfully for years but have never shown spiritual growth or interest in serving God. Perhaps some members of your church aren’t even born again.
Just remember that it’s not your responsibility to bear fruit. Go back to John 15:4-5 and be comforted again with the truths Jesus shares:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from you can do nothing.
Your responsibility is to abide in Christ. When you do that, He will bear the fruit through you.
So What Should a Discouraged Pastor Do?
Put simply:
- Care for you own soul first. Don’t be satisfied just to have Jesus in you—be filled with Jesus! Abide in Him.
- Care for the other souls second. As you abide in Jesus, He will bear fruit through you. Ephesians 4:11-15 is a great passage about how church leaders are to function. Our responsibility is to guide others into how to do the ministry. We can’t force maturity in others, but we can be examples of maturity for others—and together we can all grow into maturity.
- Leave the results to God. You can’t make a seed grow, but you can plant seeds and you can water them. And always, you can leave the results to God.
©2025 E.T.