That was the theme at the Leaders’ Conference 2025. We gathered with 150 church leaders from 68 churches from across Eastern Uganda to focus on what God has in store and in mind for us as leaders. And we chose to focus on Ephesians 4…and boy, did it hit home!

Ephesians 4 is such a powerful chapter where Paul is talking with this group of leaders and a church that he has a close, personal relationship (as we see in Acts 20). These are people whom he has poured out his heart, mind, and life. He begins the book of Ephesians giving God glory and thanks for all the growth and faith of the Ephesian church: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:15-16) Paul is encouraged by their faith, but he still wants to urge them – to push them – into something deeper and more mature. He begins from chapter 1 praying that they “may know him better” (1:17) and that God will strengthen them to “have power to grasp” the immeasurable love of God (3:18) in order that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (3:19). Paul is praying some POWERFUL prayers for his friends in Ephesus.

But the church in Ephesus was at a crossroads of culture and religion. Being one of the most famous sites of pagan worship in the Roman Empire (the ancient wonder of the Temple of Artemis was in Ephesus), the Church in Ephesus had to daily choose to follow Jesus amidst great pressures to choose MANY OTHER ways to live. We see in Revelation 2:1-7 that even Jesus had a lot of encouraging words to give the church in Ephesus but that He sees they are abandoning their love for Him in order to mix with the world. And this is the same kind of world that we all live in today, especially our brothers and sisters here in Uganda.

The words of Ephesians 4 call the leaders (and the church) to “live lives worthy of the calling [they] have received” (4:1). Paul then goes on to outline WHAT that looks like: humble and gentle, patient and loving, and completely unified in peace (4:2-6). When we were teaching at the conference, the focus was on how true maturity is the life that is “worthy of the calling” – that we cannot continue acting like spiritual children with our “spiritual bottoms” in the air embarrassing ourselves and our God (long story about that phrase…tell you later). But instead, we must GROW UP in our faith and live lives of spiritual maturity.

We also discussed that one major part of being spiritually mature is taking seriously our responsibility to equip others for serving God and serving others. Ephesians 4:11-13 is NOT about giving people titles or position of power/authority, but instead God is giving people gifts which must be used for the benefit of the Body of Christ – namely to “equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (4:12). This is an essential element of being spiritually mature leaders…equipping, empowering, and enabling other leaders to join you and serving together. This echoes what King Solomon taught in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, that “Two are better than one” and that “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” As we GROW UP, we must also think of things in this same way, and live accordingly. The purpose of God giving these gifts is so that we, the body of Christ, can “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (4:13).

As we continue looking at growing up, we have to dig into Ephesians 4:14-15, where Paul tells us that, as we GROW UP, we will no longer be swayed by false teachings and chasing after counterfeit beliefs or distractions. This is something that, according to Revelation 2, maybe the church in Ephesus continued to struggle with. But Paul’s message is clear…if we become mature then we will not be misled in any way! The emphasis is clinging to the truth of God’s Word as spiritually mature followers of Jesus. We have to focus on “speaking truth in love” so that we can “become in every respect the mature body” of Christ, our Lord (4:15). But to be able to do that, we have to become mature in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus, our understanding of the Word of God, and our engagement of the Spirit of God. Notice the continued emphasis on being mature in Christ – to GROW UP.

And that is where the passage (and the conference) points next: living according to the Spirit of God. We see in Ephesians 4:22-24 that, as mature followers of Jesus, we must “put off our old selves” and instead “put on the new self.” Paul teaches similarly in Galatians 5:13-26 that we must “walk by the Spirit, and…not gratify the desires of the flesh” in order to be free in Christ. In Ephesians 4, he focuses on speaking truth instead of lies; making peace instead of anger; working to provide instead of stealing; building one another up instead of tearing each other down; living kind and compassionate lives instead of rage and bitterness. These are HUGE shifts that we are called to as growing disciples of Jesus, whether in Uganda or any other place. These are REAL and practical daily choices to help us GROW UP in Jesus and walk in the Spirit instead of living according to the world and culture around us.

In all, the focus of Ephesians 4 shows us to be serious about growing up in maturity in the Lord. That we SHOULD NOT remain spiritual children forever! As the writer of Hebrews says, “let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…” (6:1). We need to move beyond the same elementary-age teachings and arguments we knew, so that we can be engaged in teaching, sharing, discipling, and growing the Kingdom of God in mature ways. This is what Ephesians 4 is calling church leaders in Uganda to…this is what the Lord is calling all of us to!