The Church, You, Me & God’s Operational Design Ephesians 4:11-15

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

To begin, let’s take a close look at verse 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The word “Till” could be read as until with the thought, “So that.” It is part of a purpose statement. It is something that is progressively happening, but only moves forward when certain things are done and it is something that will always be a process until Jesus Comes for His church.

The words “unto a perfect man,” mean “unto a mature person,” thus, this is God’s goal for His church, a church full of mature believers.

Attitudes tell a lot about maturity. Maturity is characterized by selflessness, the giving up of self-centeredness. Childishness is characterized by selfishness.

And notice verse 15, But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

So God’s goal for each believer is spiritual maturity.

It is God’s intention that you and I, and every believer, have our proper places of service in His church. In other words, God wants each one to fulfill his/her God-given role in the body of Christ. From verses 13 and 15, we see it is God’s plan for the church to:

Become Mature, verse 13.

And maturity is Growing up in Christ, verse 15.

The purpose of spiritual maturity, as taught in this passage, should be happening in each of us so we can take our place in the ministry of the body of Christ and perform those ministries with excellence and effectiveness, which is living a life of spiritual significance.

The first thing we must work to do is to discover what each one’s role in the body is. God has gifted each one is specific ways.

God used apostles; & prophets to deliver His Word to us. Thus, evangelists and pastors are to serve in doing God’s Work, which is fulfilling His will laid out in His Word. There are two gifted positions of service whereby God uses in certain way as He matures His church. They are evangelist and/or pastor-teacher.

May I be open with you? What I understand in this passage frightens me. 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

It frightens me because there are some very real obstacles to becoming mature in Christ and doing the ministry He has planned for us.

This passage and the other passages that tell me what I am to do and what I am to teach to you that you are to do, I find there are some different things involved in that, than just rolling with the flow.

We see it is the pastor’s commission and responsibility to be one of the catalysts in spiritual growth in every member of the church he serves and that by being a faithful pastor-teacher of God’s Word.

But that is not what many in the church want the pastor to be. Many today want a “show.” They want to be entertained and that without confrontation of God and His Word.

Being a faithful pastor-teacher is not popular in many church circles.

It is God’s intention that you and I give full, thus, primary attention to our God-assigned roles in His church, because we are members of Christ’s body.

There is a very real misconception in many churches as to what the pastor is supposed to be and do. A lot churches think the pastor is there to do the ministries of the church.

And, they have come by this because so often we pastors have failed to fulfil our roles, thus, the church is often left without clear understanding of our roles, one of which is to teach these trues.

In many churches, the pastors have not done the best job to instill in the church members that God intends for the members to do the work of the ministry.