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.
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. (Ephesians 4)
Let's look at the context before we address the main principle in verse 11-13. In the first part of chapter four Paul is stating that we need to be unified loving one another. For there is only one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. Then in Verse 14 he speaks of us not being infants who are blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning of people. So many churches are moving away from the true gospel, so many churches are getting closed down in secondary doctrines and personal preferences. Yet, the true Gospel should be what unites us. Repentance and a committed trust in Jesus Christ is what should be bringing us together to stand against the evils of this world and to reach out to the Lost. We are not willing to work together for the body of Christ, but instead so arrogant about our own beliefs we pierce the very heart of that body by causing disunity. And according to what the Bible has to say about this which is in 1 Timothy 6 and Titus 3 that these people are warped and we should warn them then if they do not stop in their ways we should have nothing to do with them. So I have to look at some of these churches who close their doors to people who are not of the same branch of the same denomination or those who want to argue over the what version of the Bible we use as people who are self-condemed. (among other possible doctrines and preferences) These are not followers of Jesus Christ.
But this all being said helps us to understand the context of the principle in Verses 11-13. The principle is this that there are those who are evangelists, pastors and teachers who's goal is to what? Is it to have a nice church building? Is it to have attractive programs? Is it to have a successful career? No, it is to train his people for works of service. For what purpose? To build up the body of Christ in Unity. So is the evangelist to go out and preach the gospel to the lost? Yes, that is his partial duty, but deeper than that he should be training followers to spread the gospel themselves. Should teachers and pastors be coming up with really good sermons or lessons? Yes, that is their partial duty, but deeper than that they should be training disciples to do the work of the ministry (KJV). So I guess the principle I am trying to get across here is that the 5 that it speaks of in verse 11 are not to be the ones doing the work, but training others to partake in the work. So the context helps us understand we should all be united doing the works of ministry in love.
It amazes me when I hear people complain about where this country is going on a spiritual and moral level, but what are they doing about it? I hear preachers preach against sin but what are they doing about it except allowing their own sin to grow and manifest? "Let's close our doors to work with our Christian brothers to reach the lost because they believe that you can raise your hands during worship." (Just a random example) Let me state exactly where this mindset comes from...PRIDE! This is not something that comes from humility Eph. 4:2.
So I urge you to train and be trained, and to do the works of ministry for Jesus Christ together in love for his glory.
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