Paul, as a prisoner for the Lord, urged the believers to live a life worthy of the calling they had received. Paul often referred to himself as the slave of the Lord and a ‘prisoner’ of Christ bound by chains of love for the master. He also was literally a prisoner for the Lord and His people, imprisoned by the Romans because of his loyalty to God in his mission.
In this section he was particularly focusing on the unity and maturity of the body of Christ. Notice that our unity is anchored on the nature of our calling: there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and lastly one God and Father of all. When God made us alive through His Spirit, we were placed in union with Christ, in His one body characterized by one faith, one baptism, one hope and under one God and Father of all. Our oneness originates in the nature of our calling and the fact that we are in Christ as one body, regenerated through one faith given by God, given one hope and adopted into one family under one heavenly Father and nurtured by one Holy Spirit.
The source from the Father, the transaction through the Lord Jesus and the application by the Spirit all imply that unity has to be the characteristic of the people of God; it cannot be otherwise. Disunity in the church would mean something is amiss; perhaps some really do not belong to that one body or some appear to be brethren but in fact are ‘tares’ rather than ‘wheat’. Those who truly belong to that one body and family would feel and display a kinship that points to the reality that they are ‘family’. They may be young, they may be in a stage of growth but the characteristics of family members are there, seen or vaguely perceived. God expects members of His family to bear His resemblance and to be united with one another under His lordship. To live a life worthy of His calling would mean living together under Him in love and unity. Take note of the practical aspects in the outworking of unity and love: Paul urges believers to be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love and make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. It has to focus on others, their needs, their level of maturity, and the willingness to give time and space for them to grow spiritually. The hint is given to the indispensable work of God’s Spirit and the nurturing of God’s love in the heart in order for this to be effected.
Jesus Christ came as the second man and the last Adam, first to restore a community of sinners to fellowship with God, and then to bring a glorious humanity and universe into being, one that surpasses the first creation in its original form. In this, God planned to bring two families into one; the family in heaven consisting of archangels and angels and the family on earth consisting of human beings. Christ thus comes to save sinners, to restore the universe to its stability, and to fill it with glory. Hence Christ brings two families together as one glorious fellowship under the headship of the Son Himself. He would then present this body to the Heavenly Father, and God would be all in all.
John Owen’s comments reflect the sentiment of verses 7-10, “The Son of God, in infinite grace, laid aside infinite dignity, in an act of infinite condescension, revealing infinite love and all with a view to producing infinite glory”. We see this similarly penned by Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11, a passage that is so familiar with believers. Jesus ‘descended’ to take our human nature into His person, uniting human and divine natures in the one person. He took the form of a servant, and was made man, but He did not thereby cease to be God. After the finished work at the cross, He was resurrected, and He ascended and was exalted in glory at the right hand of the Father. There, in the fullness of all divine perfection, above the glory of angels and men, still as the God-man, in glorious light, love and power, He continues to intercede for His people and continues His meditational ministry. And Paul added, He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip His people for the work of service so that the body of Christ may be built up unto maturity, unity and the fullness of Christ.
“To equip His people” is used here not to describe the work of pastors but rather the work of so-called laity, that is, of all God’s people without exception. Ministry is not the prerogative of a clerical elite but is the privileged calling of all the people of God. Although there is a distinctive pastoral ministry for the clergy, the New Testament concept of the pastor is not of a person who jealously guards all ministry in his own hands, and successfully squashes all lay initiatives, but of one who encourages all God’s people to discover, develop and exercise their gifts. His teaching and training are directed to this end, to enable the people of God to be a servant people, ministering actively but humbly according to their gifts in a world of alienation and pain. Thus, instead of monopolizing all ministry himself, he actually multiplies ministries”
(John Stott, The Message of Ephesians).
This concept implies not a single pastor with a passive flock but both a plural oversight and an every-member ministry. The pastor is not “like a little pope in his own church, while the laity are arrayed beneath him in serried ranks of inferiority. It is a totally unbiblical image…there is simply no room in it for a hierarchy or for that kind of bossy clericalism which concentrates all ministry in the hands of one man and denies the people of God their own rightful ministries” (John Stott, ibid.).
For the whole body to grow, all its members are to use their God-given gifts. These gifts are beneficial both to those who exercise them faithfully and those who receive their ministry. The end result is that the church becomes steadily healthier and more mature. Remember that it is the exalted Christ who gives gifts to the church, and these gifts are diverse in different individuals. To equip the people of God, the teaching gifts are primary and these are not only the domain of the pastor.
A growing church is one growing in unity, spiritual maturity, doctrinal stability, attractive reality and mutual vitality. It is wrong to put a person into a ministry position without preparing him to serve effectively. To equip the believers, the pastors must recognise that their priority is to be good shepherds. Good pastors actively care for their flock. They see that they are well fed and well led. A good shepherd gets to know each of his sheep intimately. This involves time and commitment and personal interaction with the believers. In a Church with many members, the pastors can shepherd through under-shepherds. It means that the pastors must concentrate on some more mature members and train and equip them to be effective under-shepherds. This can go on to develop into several layers of shepherding leaders who are encouraged to do the same with others in the congregation. It is pertinent to recognise that this involves personal time, commitment, interaction at a deeper level, transmitting of vision and spiritual convictions. It is not to be mistaken to be just some training programmes, some ad-hoc meetings and gatherings. It involves discipling, counseling, prayers, deep study of the Bible and most importantly the transmission of God’s values in going through with individuals in their spiritual journey, in their family contexts and work contexts. Without such commitment, which may often involve heartache, sacrifice, love and much time on the part of those who are called to be spiritual shepherds, just putting some people (not equipped) in charge of some committees and ministries would not lead to effective church growth. It may end up with structures without the life of God built in. It may provide a picture of spiritual activity but no actual spiritual ministry. We must heed the warning in the book of Revelation to the church in Sardis: “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” The pastors and leaders may be caught up in a hive of activity, but in reality, there is no true spiritual growth unto maturity.
Today’s culture focuses on efficiency, productivity and results. We are told to aim for measurable results which can be accounted for in terms of numbers. Adopting such a culture into a Christian context would result in the focus on increase in numbers in attendance at meetings, in concentrating on events, programmes, buildings and visible goals and tangible results.
Such a focus would leave very little room for concentrated attention on individuals and investing time and effort to equip them for ministry. If top leaders in the church do not give time for such personal work, it is unlikely that there will emerge a culture to invest in individuals as a key aspect of ministry for pastors, teachers and those in various leadership. Pastors and teachers should keep a close tab on their priorities in equipping the believers for the ministry; this would mean not taking on too many speaking engagements, not being involved in so many activities and committees and not being committed to too many people whose needs can be met by others in the church. Personal work in equipping the believers may take time and progress may be rather slow, but it would give rise to long term positive results for spiritual growth of the church. We must remember that our Lord Jesus ministered to the many and the few. Although He ministered to the crowd, He took time to concentrate on the disciples. From the concentrated ministry of the twelve, the early Church grew to “turn the world upside down”.
Paul went on to stress that if the outworking is right, the people of God will no longer be “infants tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every word of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming”. Such a situation in fact describes the general condition of many churches today; the people receive the words of the pastors or leaders as the ‘gospel-truth’ without checking the Word of God, even in contexts where what is taught is clearly unscriptural. . On the other hand, pastors may be so busy in administrative duties and preparation of sermons that they hardly have time to interact with their ‘flock’ except for the superficial ‘hi’ and ‘how are you?’ In such a context, we cannot expect the people to be equipped to do the ministry; neither can we expect true unity when the people are confused by the teaching dispensed to them. Likewise when distance is maintained between the sheep and those who are supposed to guide them spiritually. Surely we cannot hope to see the church being built up unto the fullness of our Lord when pastors and leaders are just involved in organising activities and running from one activity to another. Pastors themselves should focus on their priorities: preaching the gospel and equipping the church to do this ministry, not only in organised evangelistic meetings, but in their daily contexts, at home, in their schools, in their work places and in the community.
“What do we do when people refuse to respond to the gospel?…We are tempted to resort to emotional and psychological techniques to manipulate people into believing, or to manipulate the gospel to make it easier to believe” (John Stott in Challenges of Christian Leadership). Stott’s insight for Christian pastors and evangelists is very timely. It mirrors what Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:2: “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways, we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience.” We must reject manipulation but instead make the plain proclamation of the gospel clearly. Seeking to bring people ‘to Christ’ and increase the number of members in the congregation for the wrong reason and with the wrong approach, subtly manipulating the message of the gospel, only bring mostly ‘tares’ into the congregation.The believers must be taught and helped to know what it means to share the gospel; it is not to increase the number in the congregation per se; it is to fulfil God’s commission to His Church and to do it in God’s way, in honor of Him and to glorify Him in the process. It is not just the words but also the lives that need to be communicated and transmitted.
John Stott again spells clearly the priority of Christian ministers in The Message of 1 and 2 Thessalonians: “The very first thing which needs to be said about Christian ministers of all kinds is that they are ‘under’ people (as their servants) rather than ‘over’ them (as their leaders, let alone their lords). Jesus made this absolutely plain. The chief characteristic of Christian leaders, He insisted, is humility not authority, and gentleness not power”.
As we consider the role of Christian ministers and leaders to equip the church to do the ministry, the thoughts expressed by the late John Stott and the words of Scriptures should put us on the right footing in building and equipping the body of Christ unto maturity.