So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.
Last week, we learned about repentance and the stages therein so that for us repentance means:
settling the past and
enduring consequences for our action
So that hope can return
by directing our present activities so that we attain the preferred future.
This week we jump ahead to that preferred future as described by Paul and how our unity allows the body, the connected people of God, to directly receive the impulses of the mind of Christ. To explain this fully, I’d like for us to open our bibles to the Ephesians 4:1.
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
A little context, Paul is writing to a group of people he converted and walked beside. He loved them. He knew their stories, personal problems and personality differences. As their leader, he knew the power of unity and the divisive nature of uniformity.
I can remember when I was a younger man arrogantly believing anyone thinking or doing anything differently than I would was an idiot or a lunatic. It wasn’t until a man I gave no value to stepped out of the shadows and showed me how wrong I was and how much I had to learn. A man who I had nothing in common with.
He was handy. I am not.
He was a man of a few words. I am not.
He was High School educated. I was studying for a masters.
He was retired. I was in the throws of revitalizing a church.
We couldn’t have been further apart and yet, he taught me what a humble man of commitment says and does to further the Kingdom with others in mind. As Paul continues,
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”Psalm 68:18
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
Did you catch it? You may have missed it if you just read it. “He gave gifts to His people.” Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18 as a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, leaving behind “gifts” to his people. The gifts are both supernatural and natural to be used in concert with one another. We are born with a certain penchants and our environment hones those most needed.
All five gifts are needed to engender, call forth, and sustain a full ministry in the Jesus movement. In fact, all are in dynamic relation to one another and absolutely essential to vigorous discipleship, healthy churches and growing movements.
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.
Ephesians 4:7,11-12 assigns the gift of APEST (apostolic, prophetic, evangelist, shepherd and teacher) areas to the entire church. All followers of Jesus are to be found somewhere in APEST, living out their nature characterized by a servant-inspired dynamic.
I had glossed over these two verses for years before really seeing the implications. The body of believers we call the “church” has been given a set of gifts from God. The purpose of which is not to act independently but to act in harmony with one another. The purpose of which is to keep Christ as the leader (brains of the outfit) of the supernatural movement we call Christianity.
There are several places in scriptures that retort who can know the mind of God or Christ. (1 Cor 2:16; Job 38:18, Eccl 8:17). No one person can fully comprehend the mind of God. I am not sure all of us could ever come close. I believe in a big God. However, in this passage Paul is reminding us that when you put the five giftings together with love and unity at the core, the will of God becomes clearer.
Not since Jesus has any one human embodied God. It's why I get worked up when I read of a solo or lead pastor telling the world they are leaving to go on a silent retreat to hear from God for the direction of the church or ministry they lead.
First, it is hard to believe God would direct through a singular human source. Even Moses was rebuked by Jethro to get a team.
Second, it is arrogant to think God only speaks to a certain leader in a world of 8 billion. While a prophetic voice is always needed. It is never the only voice.
Third, the idea doesn’t line up scripturally. Yes. Jesus went away to pray. However, he did so to prepare, commune and recharge with God. Jesus' leadership model was servant leadership. He did not go to the father to download the next actions to dictate to others. The authoritarian way of leadership was not the way of Jesus. He went to God to bask in the love of God to do the work of the Lord.
Paul talks about the importance of love in 1 Cor 13 because it is the core of all aspects of the Christian life including leadership. As Paul expounds on this idea, he provides the way for the five giftings to work in concert with one another and find/follow the directions of Christ.
Let me explain each gift quickly because I want to make sure we are on the same page.
The Apostolic is most concerned with a viable future and expansion of the Christian movement
The Prophetic has a God orientation: Keeping the movement aligned with God
The Evangelist is focused on people coming to know Jesus and join the movement
The Shepherd longs for a community living healthily in the love of the triune God
The Teacher is strives for awareness and integration of truth, especially revealed truth
Let me give a practical example. The Center has five gifted leaders for each area. All are mature Christians striving to be more like Christ by loving one another. A recent issue came up and the conversation on the vision level and it was getting intense. Everyone wanted to do the right thing. At one point, each member was asked to assess the situation from their gifting. When all five voices were heard, the answer and next step became clear.
Love is the glue of unity in APEST and Christ communicates best when we are willing to listen, learn and come to consensus. This is not a new concept. In fact John Wesley called this Holy Conferencing. A process “filled with faith and with the Holy Ghost” by those who “possess… the genuine fruits of the Spirit of God.” The “holy conversation” is the result of being led by the Holy Spirit. It is something God does for us and in us.
As the answer or direction becomes clearer, we are sent to help Christians to do what seems right so others would experience a little piece of heaven on earth and then long for more. As we attempt this task, we mature into who God created us to be. With every attempt, we grow and learn.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 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.
Paul’s metaphor of the body is great. Christ is the head. The body represents the Christian people connected together. The APEST understanding is the impulse given from the head that alerts the body into action depending on the need or environment. APEST is not only action oriented but also the response mechanism to the world’s stimuli. Where do we press in and where might we need to recoil?
To apply this to our lives, we are best served when we gather together in love and authentically share our troubles. A burden shared is a burden solved.
Creative:https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/ephesians/ please play and stop at 5:54 MINUTES
References: Quest Bible Overviews, Warren Wiersbe Commentary, www.theforgottenways.org, https://kevinmwatson.com/2013/07/18/holy-conferencing-what-did-wesley-mean-part-2/
