In relationships such as the corporate world or the married life, it is important to be clear on our expectations. God made it very clear what He expects from us. Let us read Ephesians 4:11-13. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Last time I spoke on the LEADER’S RESPONSIBILITY, that is, to BRING OUT THE BEST in you. That it is the leadership’s job to prepare you, God’s people, for works of service. That is what God expects from us.
The Greek for "to prepare" or "to equip" has various shades of meaning. In surgery, for setting a broken limb or for putting a joint back into its place. In art, for putting together the pieces of a puzzle or a mosaic.In fishing, for mending nets. Based on these word pictures, what do we mean when we say “equipping?” “Equipping” carries the idea of RESTORATION, that is, to mend what has been broken or to repair. It also carries the idea of PREPARATION, to fit out, to put in order, arrange or adjust. Lastly it also carries the idea of COMPLETION (or perfection), to make one what he ought to be. So, when we prepare the believers for works of service, we restore them back to usefulness, deal with their sins that would hinder their service, then prepare them or train them so that they would be fruitful as God wanted them to be fruitful. That’s what it means when we prepare God’s people for service.
Now, we already saw that the offices of the apostles and the prophets have already ceased to a certain extent. Ephesians 3:20 tell us that the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” We lay the foundation at the beginning of the construction of a building. So, being foundational, the apostles and the prophets were needed at the early stage of the church in its history.
Let us look at the evangelist. We usually think of Billy Graham or his son Franklin Graham when we hear the word “evangelist.” We think of people like them doing the work of evangelism. But looking at Ephesians 4:11-12 again, we see that the work of an evangelist is also “to prepare God’s people for works of service”. That means an evangelist also trains others to evangelize or share the Gospel. Note a very important principle in spiritual gifts. Even if He did not give all of us the gift of giving, for example, all of us are responsible to give. So, even if God did not give us the gift of evangelism that is not an excuse for us not to share the Good News with others. We are all responsible to bring people to Christ.
We must not also limit evangelists to large-scale evangelistic festivals. Look at Philip in the Bible. Acts 21:8 calls him “Philip the evangelist”. In Acts 8, we see him not only preaching to the multitudes in Samaria but also sharing the Gospel one on one. We read in verses 26-40 that the Spirit led him to meet an important government official from Ethiopia on a desert road. “This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” It turned out he was reading from the book of Isaiah a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ. “The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” Philip then led that government official to make a commitment for Christ.
I believe God has strategically positioned where you are right now, whatever your sphere of influence may be, to share the Gospel there. You can start with befriending them, listening to them as they share their needs and assuring them of your prayers. You don’t have to preach to them. You can just talk about what the Lord has done in your life and the lessons you are learning from the Bible. You can also invite them to attend our worship service or any of our small groups or fellowships. Our team in the visitors’ room will take good care of your guests. You can give out “The Purpose Driven Life” or the “Our Daily Bread” this coming Christmas. We don’t have to be too formal or technical about evangelism. We just have to make it our lifestyle to talk about the Lord.
Now, let’s look at the pastor-teacher. In the Greek, the pastor and teacher are joined together in Ephesians 4:11. The combination of the words “pastor” or “shepherd” and “teacher” shows that the job of the pastor-teacher is to care for the church primarily through teaching the Word and training or preparing you for works of service. We do that by modeling and mentoring you through our words and works. Paul described the work of the pastor-teacher in Acts 20:27-31. “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Note the words “proclaim to you the whole will of God” and “warning each of you.” That would be proclaiming the Bible. Note also the words “keep watch over,” “overseers” and “be on your guard” because of people who would “distort the truth… and will not spare the flock”. That would be protecting the church against errors in faith and living. Then of course we add the job description in Ephesians 4:12, that is, to “prepare God’s people for works of service.” So, putting them together, the work of the pastor-teacher is to proclaim the word, to protect the church and to prepare the people to serve God.
Let me clarify that a pastor-teacher need not be a professional vocation or a “full-time work,” that is, most of your time you spend in the church activities and you derive your income from the church. There is a place of course for a full-time pastor. But a person can be a pastor but work as what we call “bi-vocational.” That means you can have a full-time job and still serve as a pastor. So, for example, you may remain a businessman and still serve as one of the pastors of the church. If we study the Bible, we see a team of pastors leading a church and just a lone ranger. Look at 1 Timothy 5:17. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” The word “elders” are plural and the word “church” is singular. So, we see here a team of elders, which is another word for pastors or overseers, who direct the affairs of the church and work in preaching and teaching. It is my prayer that God would raise up pastors from our ranks and that we will not be content with just hiring pastors from outside.
We already saw that the leader’s responsibility is to bring out the best in you. Our next point is that the LAITY’S RESPONSE is to BUILD UP THE BODY. When I use the word “laity,” I am just making a distinction between leaders and followers. That doesn’t mean in any way that leaders are superior and followers are inferior. Not at all! But it is very clear here that every member is a minister. Let’s look at Ephesians 4:11-12 again. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”. We are to prepare you, bring out the best in you, “for works of service”. One way of doing that is to help you discover and develop your spiritual gifts. We have already finished the support gifts today. We will look at the service gifts next week. When each one of us is doing his or her part, the church will be built up. Our church will grow in quality and quantity. Ephesians 4:16 tell us, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
What would be the LASTING RESULT? That the church will BE UNITED AND MATURE. The leaders should continue to bring out the best in the people and the laity should continue to build up the body with this end in mind: “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” First, that we know what and why we believe, united in our faith in the Lord Jesus and, second, that we mature to the point that we live like Christ. That’s our goal together!
We should always keep in mind that the church is a body and not a building, that it is composed of people and not limited to a place, that it is a fellowship and not a fraternity, that it is a family and not a faction, that it is an army and not an audience, that we should be known for our constant prayers and not for our countless programs, that we focus on relationships and not on rituals, that we seek to have a dynamic celebration and not a dead ceremony and that we do evangelism and not entertainment. That is the real, Biblical church at work!
Brothers and sisters, I pray that when people look at our church, they see Jesus at work in our lives. Let us pray…
