OPEN: Several years ago, when Russell Blowers was the preaching minister at the East 91st St. Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, he gave an intriguing description of what he did for a living. At this particular meeting, it was customary for each member to give their name and tell what their occupation was. Blowers reportedly rose in his turn and said these words:
"Hi, I’m Russ Blowers. I’m with a global enterprise. We have branches in every country in the world. We have our representatives in nearly every parliament and board room on earth. We’re into motivation and behavior alteration.
We run hospitals, feeding stations, crisis pregnancy centers, universities, publishing houses and nursing homes. We care for our clients from birth to death.
We are into life insurance and fire insurance. AND We perform spiritual heart transplants.
Our original Organizer owns all the real estate on earth plus an assortment of galaxies and constellations. He knows everything and lives everywhere. Our product is free for the asking. (although you will never have enough money to buy it.)
APPLY: The church as a global enterprise? Well, yeah. I guess that makes sense. Jesus once described the church He had come to establish as being "...like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches." Luke 13:19
In other words, the church was going to start small. Then it was going to grow... and when it out grew it would have a wide influence. It was going to change nations, alter cultures, and renew lives of men and women across the face of the globe.
I. Now, this wasn’t going to happen by accident. Anything of this magnitude would require extensive planning and investment. This "global enterprise" was going to happen because Jesus intended to invest heavily in the church’s beginning - not only by purchasing its property with His blood - BUT, by something else that He did. Jesus didn’t just set the church in motion and then walk away. He did invested even more in its beginning...
Ephesians 4:8, 11 & 12 tell us: "... ’When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’ ...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."
When Jesus "ascended on high... He gave gifts to men."
What were those gifts?
* Apostles
* Prophets
* Evangelists
* Pastors & teachers
Illus: About 3 years ago now, the Elders here had to make a decision. Should they start putting money towards the new sanctuary that the congregation had dreamed of for so long (they are presently meeting in a fellowship hall), or should they hire new staff member to help the church grow - a youth minister. They hired the youth minister.
Now I think they made the right decision. Brad & Beth have made a noticeable impact on this congregation and we’ve benefited greatly from their service here.
But when the Elders made their decision in favor of a new staff member they did so partly because that’s the example Jesus set for them.
When Jesus began His church, He invested - not in buildings (the early church reportedly did not have a building for its 1st 300 years of existence) - but in staff.
Now, who were these new staff members that Jesus "gave to the church?"
II. Apostles & Prophets are the 1st two mentioned here. And I have to admit to making a change in how I’ve viewed them recently. I used to think that the Apostles mentioned here were missionaries. (Apostle in the Greek literally means "one sent").
In the days of the New Testament, there were two kinds of Apostles. There were Christ sent Apostles, like Matthew, Peter, James, John etc. And, there were Church sent Apostles: missionaries like Barnabas, Silas and Luke.
AND I used to think that the Prophets mentioned here in Ephesians 4 were pulpit preachers, like me (Evangelists I saw as being equivalent to our modern day "Revival Speakers").
As I said, I used to think that... but I don’t think that anymore. Part of the reason for the change in my "theology" was a comment Paul made earlier in Ephesians where he wrote that Jesus "built (His church) on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" Ephesians 2:20.
Now what did Paul mean by that (that the Apostles and Prophets were the foundation Jesus built His church upon)? No scholar would dream of saying that preachers and missionaries are the foundation of the church. But many believe that the Apostles & Prophets mentioned in Ephesians 2 were another way of talking about the Bible. Apostles representing the New Testament and the Prophets representing the Old.
What would that mean? It would mean that part of the foundation Jesus set up for His church was the book you’re holding in your hands. The Prophets were spokesmen for God in the Old Testament AND the Apostles were His spokesmen in the New. And if you think about it - that makes sense. Everything you and I know about Jesus, and about His church comes directly from the Bible. Our faith, our salvation, our entire view of God is found ONLY in this book.
Jesus gave this Book as a gift to us. In other words, you can depend upon everything that’s written within it’s pages because Jesus gave it you. AND it has power to change you and perfect you for God’s service.
As II Tim. 3:16-17 tells us "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Or as the writer of Hebrews tells us "... the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
III. Well, if the Bible is the part of the gift meant by the "Apostles and Prophets" then who or what are the Evangelists and Pastors and Teachers?
Those would be job descriptions. An evangelist would be someone like Timothy. In one of his letters to Timothy, Paul wrote advising: "...keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" 2 Timothy 4:5.
What were those duties that an evangelist would perform? I Tim. 4:12-13 tells us Timothy’s job was to "... set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching."
In other words, an evangelist was someone like me. A preacher who was to set an example for the congregation by his behavior and teachings.
IV. But now wait a minute - If I’m an evangelist - who are the Pastors and teachers? I mean, in most congregations, the preacher is usually called the Pastor, but Ephesians here says I’m an evangelist - so who are the Pastors?
By the way. This is one group of people - Pastors and Teachers are the same individuals. It may not look that way in the English. BUT the language Paul used to write letter (Greek) gives that implication. Not that it makes all that big a difference. It’s just that it shortens up the sermon a bit for me not to have to explain another group here.
BUT NOW, if I’m not the Pastor of the church - who is? Well, it helps to ask the question: What does the word Pastor mean? It means "a Shepherd" as in the Pastor of the flock. With that in mind, let’s turn to I Peter 5:1-5
"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be SHEPHERDS (emphasis mine) of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers¡X not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."
The Elders are the Pastors in the church. Their job is to set the goals, the tempo, and the tone for the church - and communicate those objectives to the rest of the church so that everybody knows where we’re going. They are to ones who are to guide the Flock or Church.
IV. Now you may be thinking - Jeff, that’s all very interesting, but what difference does that make? WHY WOULD THAT BE IMPORTANT?
What makes this so important is found in Ephesians 4:11-16
"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.
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 men in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 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."
Now I know there are churches whose church governments are not based on what we find in Ephesians 4, and I’m not sure what advantage this concept (of Evangelists and Pastors being the Preacher and the Elders of a local church) might be other than it seems to be the pattern Jesus set up for His church. The Churches of Christ have long held that we should call "Bible things by Bible names" to avoid confusing manmade doctrines and patterns for the ones we find in the Bible. That’s why we strive to maintain the church government that we find in Scripture.
As I’ve said, I’m not sure what advantage this kind of church setup would have over any other, but, this much I know:
When a church is solidly based on the Bible (the Apostles & Prophets) and when its Evangelists & Pastors (Preachers & Elders) do what they ought to be doing - THEN the church will be
o Strong
o Mature
o Filled With Christ
o Prepared to Work for God
o Unswayed by the false doctrines of deceitful men
o And filled with Love and excitement
V. Now, the Elders here with Brad and I, have decided that there is AT LEAST one thing we could be doing better than we’re doing now. And that is in the area of SHEPHERDING. We are and have always been a strong Biblical and close congregation, but as we’ve grown, we’ve noticed that doing things the "old way" has not been as effective as it was in the past. So what the Elders decided was that they needed to take the congregation and divide it into 3 parts (one part for each Elder) and make a more deliberate effort to shepherd those in their group. However, the job will be too large for them to handle by themselves, so they are asking for your help. They would like to have volunteers who will help them in their task.
In your bulletins you will find a MASTER’S ENCOURAGER’S SHEET (this will be the last week we’ll have these). If you feel it that this is a ministry you’d like to take part in, then fill the slip out and hand it in to one of the Elders, Brad or myself.
CLOSE: According to Ephesians 4, a congregation should be devoted to the Bible, and to the proper use of Evangelists and Pastors. BUT it shouldn’t do that JUST for the sake of getting "everything right."
There are churches who have their "doctrine" correct. Who call their Elders, pastors and their preachers, evangelists. But having gotten all of that correct, they end up being cold and uncaring and self-righteous. They have the form of things "right" but they forgot WHY they needed good doctrine and proper leadership.
If we get this right (if we continue to center ourselves on the Bible, and focus on what our Evangelists and Pastors need to do) we’ll increase the warmth and fellowship in our church. We’ll pull ourselves closer to each other and to Christ
ILLUS: I remember hearing a story about a man who had missed church for a number of weeks. The preacher had often called him and asked where he was, but the man kept putting the preacher off.
Finally, one day, the preacher stopped by for a visit on a cold winter day.
The man was sitting in front of his fireplace and welcomed the preacher and tried to engage him in conversation. However, the minister didn’t say much. He just walked over to the fireplace, pulled one of the logs away from the flame - and then went and sat down. They sat there in silence for the longest time, watching the fire. And as they watched, the log that sat off by itself, the fire on it began to smolder and then it went out.
The preacher and the man sat for a long time looking into the fireplace - and then the man said "OK, I’ll be at church next Sunday."
Our job as Christians (not just the Elders and Brad and I = but all of us) is to pull all the logs on the fire and build a church that gives off so much heat that the community of Logansport can’t help but know who we are and who we belong to.
