This week’s text has become one of the most quoted, and to some the most controversial, scriptures in recent times, Ephesians 4:11-13:
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.
Here we see that the Lord gave His church a diversity of ministries for the equipping of the church. These are called to work as a team, which was demonstrated beautifully in the first century. After the first century this team concept eroded, and with it the spiritual power and authority of the church.
As we have mentioned before, it is also noteworthy that this is the only place in the New Testament that the pastor ministry is mentioned, yet, it has until recently almost completely dominate the ministry of the church. My point in bringing up this issue is not to detract from the pastor ministry. I believe it is intended to be much more than it typically is today. Even so, no pastor will ever become what they are supposed to be until they take their place as a part of the team of ministries that the Lord gave for the equipping of His church.
Many pastors are trying to be all of the equipping ministries together for their church. This not only dilutes their ability to do what they are called and anointed to do, but it also cuts off the development and functioning of those who are supposed to be in those other ministries. This greatly reduces the effectiveness of the entire church. We are not far from the time when no ministry will be able to make it which is not a part of a team.
In the last three decades there has been a growing chorus of church leaders who have begun to recognize the need for all of the equipping ministries listed above, and many are now recognizing them. Many have carried it a bit too far and started awarding titles quite cheaply, but even so, the advancing church is moving toward the recognition and implementation of all of the equipping ministries given to the church. We simply cannot become the church we are called to be without them.
Many do still claim that there are no longer apostles and prophets because we do not need them after the Scriptures were written. However, the Scripture itself refutes this, such as our text for today which clearly states that all of the ministries are given to the church “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God.... the measure of the stature that belongs to the fulness of Christ.” Has any church in all of history attained to this yet? I have not witnessed or even heard of one that we might even consider close to this, so we obviously still need all of these ministries.
This is now old news to most who are apart of advancing churches. But one crucial question that we should ask is this: are those churches that recognize and receive all of these equipping ministries getting closer to the goal? Recognizing and receiving these ministries is a start, but is the equipping actually taking place? It is my opinion that this is rarely happening even in those churches that recognize these ministries. In them there may be a few more people who are recognized in ministry, and a few more equipped, but overall we are falling far short of what we could call an effective equipping ministry in the church.
This is truly one of the important issues of our time, and must be addressed if we are going to fulfill our mandate as the church in our times. We will therefore continue on this issue for the next couple of weeks in order to give some practical answers. Because I don’t want to leave you with just a question this week, let me offer what I think is the most basic issue that we have to understand to address this fundamental problem in the church.
The first thing these ministries are given to do is to help us come to the knowledge of the Son of God. This was the true apostolic mandate, and is the foundation of all true equipping and ministry. To grow in our ministry we are not just growing up into a job, but into a person—Jesus Christ. All true New Testament ministry is found in Him, and they are imparted to us as we behold His glory.
Ministry is simply the fruit of growing in Christlikeness. We do this by beholding Him. Therefore, the central message of all true New Testament ministries will be Christ Himself, not just a doctrine, and not just issues such as church government and organization. Our effectiveness in true ministry will therefore be only to the degree that we are beholding Him, and are captured ourselves by the centrality of Christ Himself in everything.