Do Your Part: Ephesians 4:4-16
How many in here this morning knows that God has called you to the ministry? If God has called you to salvation he’s called you into ministry. He may not have called you to preach or teach or prophesy but He has called you to do your part as Christian. In the process of discovering purposeful life in the Body of Christ, we need to be aware of two things: The Purposes of the Church and Your Purpose in the Church. The Purposes of the Church is: expressing love to God; expressing God’s love to others by meeting spiritual needs; telling others that God wants to be in relationship with them; and living in community as followers of Christ. Now, too many people in the church believe all this should be done by the Pastor and the Deacons; but I have news for you, you have a purpose in the church. And your purpose is to be effectively building up the Church and furthering the Kingdom of God with every gift, every talent and everything else that the Lord has given you. In short, you have to do your part. So if you have your Bible with you, turn with me to Ephesians 4:4 – 16 (READ) Again verse 12 reads, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” And I would like to preach from this subject: Do Your Part. That is what Paul says to the church at Ephesus, DO YOUR PART. He says, “We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all. But then Paul opens the door to our individuality — “however, he has given each one of us a special gift according to the generosity of Christ. We are many, yet we are one.” My brothers and sisters when it comes to doing work for the Lord, we all have a particular job to do. Even though many in the church would rather do someone else’s job, we must realize that the Lord had already picked us out for a particular mission that has nothing to do with what we want to do. Jesus has given every single one of us spiritual gifts that God has designed for the express purpose of building a team that will help us all win in the game of life. You don’t have be an officer of the church to do your part. And if you are an officer of the church, do your part. Unfortunately, the church doesn’t always play like a team. You know that’s what the church looks like; twenty percent of the people doing 80% of the work. But that is not the Biblical image that Paul gives us of ministry, and it just might be the reason so many churches are falling on hard times. What a contrast to what Paul says to the Ephesians concerning the task of ministry in the body of Christ. Paul says Jesus has given the church gifts for a very
specific purpose. Listen to the text again, “He (meaning Jesus) is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.” Paul gives us a glimpse of church leadership roles and functions, and he says that these leadership roles serve a particular purpose. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, Paul is clear. The body of Christ is called to do God’s work on earth. We all have a part to do; we are all ministers, with a variety of gifts created by God to employ those gifts in His service. The old model of “Pastor Do-all” worked for a while. Up until the mid-seventies that type of church could do very well—maybe even grow. But that is no longer the case. In the last 30 years there has been an almost 40% decrease in church discipleship in the United States. Something like 3,000 churches close every year in America. Of the remaining churches in America, 80% have plateaued or are declining. There is an alarming rate of pastoral burnout and a sense of boredom among church members. The reason for most of this is that too many pastors, church members, and church leaders were not taught, or failed to learn, the Biblical principle of ministry and church leadership; do your part. Now I realize I just lost most of you and the rest of you have tuned me out but just in case you’re listening; what I’m talking about here is a total transformation in our theology and understanding of what it means to be the church. I am talking about clergy and laity working side-by-side to achieve Kingdom goals. I’m talking about blurring the lines between clergy and laity to make it almost indistinguishable who is the pastor and who are the members. The only way to know which person is the pastor is to show up on Sunday morning. I just loss some more of you. In all seriousness, if we do this we will see something amazing and powerful happen. Paul spells it out for us. Start again at verse 13: [13] until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. [14] Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. [15] Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. [16] Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. In other words, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are somebody special in the body of Christ. It does not matter if you are young or old; if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are somebody special in the body of Christ. It does not matter if you are a male or female; it does not matter if you are black or white, Asian or Hispanic; it does not matter if you are tall or short; it does not matter if you are rich or poor; it does not matter if you are educated or not; it does not matter if you are married, single or divorced; it does not matter if you live in California, or New York; it doesn’t matter if you go to First Baptist Church or Hallelujah Headquarters; it does not matter if you been saved for 1 day or for 40 years; if you are a believer in Christ, you are somebody special in the body of Christ. You see, the bible tells us in I Peter 2:9 that we as believers in Christ are a “chosen generation, royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people”, that is we as believers in Christ are called to be a “special kind of people unto the Lord.” Just knowing the fact that God loves you; just knowing the fact that God cares for you; and just knowing the fact that God has blessed you with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that should let you know you are a special person unto the Lord. And if you are a believer in Christ, you are somebody special in the body of Christ. So do your part. You may not be able to sing angles, but if you are a believer in Christ, you have a gift from the Lord, and you are still somebody special in the body of Christ. You may not be able to pray a prayer like King David, but if you are a believer in Christ, you have gift from the Lord, and you are still somebody special in the body of Christ. You may not be able to lead a large group of people like Moses, but if you are a believer in Christ, you have a gift from the Lord, and you are still somebody special in the body of Christ. And because all of us who are believers in Christ are given gifts to be used to help build up the body of Christ, all of us is special in the body of Christ. And because all of us are special in the body of Christ, we all need each other. No one person can do the ministry of the church by himself. It takes a collective, cooperative group of believers in Christ to do the work and ministry of the church. Do your part. You see, in the body of Christ, there should be no Big “I” and little “you” because all of us as believers in Christ is special unto the Lord and has a special ministry to be done in the body of Christ. So what shall we say to these things? Paul says three things happen when we do our part within the church. First, we achieve unity. Unity is not a general spirit of friendliness or camaraderie. Nor is unity some common aim or series of aims. It is the product of the cross and God's work in Christ. There is diversity in unity, not uniformity. The parts do not look alike, they do not function alike, yet, they are all important, needed, interdependent, and all work toward the same end, the purposes for which each member was designed in the function of the body as directed by the head and in accord with the creative purpose of God. Some of the parts are covered, others are within the body and are unseen, but nevertheless, very important. Some gifts are more in the forefront, they are more obvious and others less so, but all are essential to the effective work of the body. Ask any person who has served on a mission team. Serving together brings a sense of purpose and builds unity. We are defined by the purpose for which we serve, and that single purpose brings unity. All believers are the called of God. Our calling is our responsibility to respond to what we have become in Christ. Every believer has been called to be Jesus' disciple and to serve in the body of Christ. That is what Martin Luther King, Jr. was talking about when he said, “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” When you do your part we achieve unity. Secondly, we achieve growth. In order to grow we need to eat—The Bible.
In order to grow we need to breathe—Prayer. In order to grow we need good spiritual hygiene—Confession of sin. In order to grow we need a caring family—Fellowship. In order to grow we need regular exercise—Worship. In order to grow we need protection—Grace and Mercy. In order to grow we need to give—Stewardship. In other words if you are growing in the body of Christ then you are active in the body of Christ. Nothing helps you grow as a Christian like service. If you want to grow, visit a nursing home, teach a class of young children, go on a mission trip, or volunteer to a humbling job like cleaning up after service. Invite folks to worship. If our church is not providing opportunities for our members to serve, we are stifling our members’ spiritual growth. Through service, Paul reminds us, we become more and more Christ-like. Remember, it was Christ who said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Do your part. Give of your time, talent, and treasure for the building up of the body of Christ. Finally, Paul says, when we do our part we achieve health. We look around at others, and we look inward at ourselves, and we see broken-ness of one kind of another. This passage holds out the promise that the power of God is made real in our teamwork, as His Spirit fills us and uses us to accomplish magnificent and
wonderful aims for creation. When we work as a team, we fulfill the God-given vision for His church. Your pastor is not the coach. The Deacons and Trustees are not the coaches. We’re team members. We have a role to play. If we don’t do our part, the team loses. If you don’t do your part, the team loses. Jesus is the coach. He’s given us the play book, and he’s calling the plays. He’s left it to us to run the plays, and when we do, everyone wins. We can’t do it on our own because there is too much division. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood” but there are some principalities trying to divide our faces. There’s some evil lurking around dark corners trying to divide our body. So we must give into the head of the body, Jesus Christ. Do your part. If you want to be a part of the church, do your part. If you want the church to grow, do your part. If you want your soul revived, do your part. We must be doers of the word if we expect this church to serve and please God. Do your part. You are not just here to keep the pews warm. Do your part. You are not just here to tithe. Do your part. You are not just here to visit and have fellowship. Do your part. David’s gift of music opened the door to Saul’s palace. Do your part. Philip’s gift of evangelism and miracles opened the door to Samaria. Do your part. Paul’s gift of Apostleship and teaching brought him to the western world with the gospel. Do your part. Elijah’s gift of faith closed the heavens for 3 years, and brought him before King Ahab and the people of Israel. Do your part. Bezalel’s gift of craftsmanship built the tabernacle of God in the wilderness. Do your part. Nathan’s gift of prophecy brought him before David the King. Do your part. Solomon’s gift of wisdom brought great men and women of the world to his court. Do your part. Peter’s gift of exhortation caused 3,000 Jews to repent in a day. Do your part. God has a purpose for you personally in this church. Do your part. My brothers and sisters when it comes to doing work for the Lord, we all have a particular job to do. Even though many in the church would rather do someone else’s job, we must realize that the Lord had already picked us out for a particular mission that has nothing to do with what we want to do. Do your part. And just in case you don’t think you have a part to play just remember: Noah was a drunk. Abraham was too old. Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused. Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid. Samson had long hair and was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute. Jeremiah and Timothy were too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Isaiah preached naked. Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow. Job went bankrupt. John the Baptist ate bugs. Peter denied Christ. The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once. Zacchaeus was too small. Paul was too religious. Timothy had an ulcer. AND Lazarus was dead. No more excuses. Do your part.
