[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. [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."
Recently I have been reading a book by Alan Hirsch where he talks about the importance and necessity of the five-fold ministry as described by Paul here in Ephesians. I have always believed that it was important for the Church to learn to encourage these ministries and gifts in the body. When reading through Paul's writing again, it is clear that these ministries were meant to work together to bring about spiritual maturity in the Body of Christ. I think it is fair to say that alternatively, if these ministries are not present in the church that the church will not mature to the level it needs to, in Christ.
Immaturity is a very difficult thing to overcome, because the spiritually immature may not know they are experiencing less than the Lord desires for them. Physically, immaturity is easy to see for the Lord has designed into us key indicators like physical size, certain attributes that are only experienced when maturity is reached, but spiritually maturity is much more difficult to identify. An analogy that might be helpful is that if a person was only ever exposed to baby food, and never saw a regular meal they would think that all food came in a jar and was soft and pureed, and this was true of all food. They would have no knowledge of real food preparation, or the texture of different types of food, or even the need for forks and knifes.
In the same way, churches who are only exposed to pastoring or teaching, would have no real experience or understanding of true apostolic ministry, discerning strategic and tactical approaches to grow the church and protecting the truths of the Gospel. They would have minimal understanding of the revelatory gifts of the prophetic ministry, and either fear them or misunderstand the purpose of these gifts. They would be very limited in their evangelical outreachs and understanding of how to approach diverse people groups.
As Paul writes, all five of these gifts, at least, are required for the body of Christ to grow and mature, for each part must do its work. In a church that is lead by an individual with a teaching gift, they will learn much, but have no idea how to move forward as a body, and what pitfalls they need to steer away from. Likewise, churches that are only experiencing teaching do not experience the pastoral care required to deal with the hurts and pains caused by our broken humanity, nor would they likely have any real strategies for reaching the lost.
Finally churches that do not regularly experience all the giftings and ministries, would have no idea how to grow people in each of these disparate areas. Maturity in ministry is best accomplished through mentoring and the guidance of other more seasoned individuals who have experience operating in these gifts.
If we want to grow to maturity, and not be tossed back and forth by every wind of teaching and cunning craftiness and deceitful scheming, we need to encourage these ministries, align ourselves relationally with others that operate in these gifts and ministries, have regular experience of these ministries, and have these gifts called out and recognized in the local body. If these ministries are called out through the Holy Spirit in Paul's writings, we can be sure that they are part of God's plan for the church, and as such that He has made provision for these gifts within the local church, and through relationships with other parts of the Body. These are not gifts and ministries that were limited to the time of apostles, but are meant for every church throughout all the ages.
So, let us pray for the Church. Let us pray that all of the gifts and ministries planned by the Lord and encouraged by the Lord find their home in our churches. Let us pray that Church might mature and reach a place of unity and connectedness.
Amen and Amen!
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