The Scriptures call the church to Every Member Ministry. If all believers will be faithful to minister to one another we can expect the result to be growth in Maturity, Unity, and Discernment in the local church.
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The Goals of Every Member Ministry
Ephesians 4:7-16
A young reporter once asked a College football coach how the game of football had contributed to the health and fitness of Americans. He replied, “It hasn’t contributed at all.” The reporter was mystified. He said, “What do you mean?” The coach replied, “Football is where you have 22 men on the field that desperately need rest, and 67,000 people in the stands that desperately need exercise!”
I hate to say it, but that might be a very good description of a lot of churches! Some people go to church the way you or I might go to a 49’ers game. We cheer from the stands, but we never put on a helmet or pick up a football. What the Bible is teaching is that when you gather with the church here on Sundays, you are putting on a uniform and jogging out onto the field. You are in the game. And the game is being played here every Sunday. Every single Christian is to be involved in the work of ministry. People sometimes refer to the Pastor as a “Minister.” Sometimes we hear someone asking a Pastor, “So when did you go into the ministry?” I submit to you that both of these conceptions are faulty. The moment you were born again, you went into the ministry. As soon as you were saved you became a Minister. Every Christian is in the ministry, not just full-time professional church leaders. Church is not a spectator sport. If your involvement in a church is such that you show up and passively watch what goes on, but never get involved in serving, you are involved in something that is completely foreign to our New Testament! The Church is not a bus in which the pastor does all driving and the members sleep in the seats. Every Christian is to be fully involved in the life of his/her local church.
One of the most crippling ideas to pervade the church over the centuries is that there is a special class of Christians called the “clergy” that do the ministry, while all the “laity” sit back and watch them do it. Folks, the words “clergy” and “laity” never occur in the Bible. This concept is completely unbiblical. Yes, it is true, God does call some members of the church to function in a different role than others, by granting them special gifts. However, that does not make them the “ministers” and the rest of the church “non-ministers.”
Now, why do I believe so strongly in the idea of “every member ministry”? I believe in it because I see it so clearly in Scripture. This concept emerges in three different places in our text this morning. First of all, look at verse 7, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Here Paul tells us that every Christian is gifted by Christ with various measures of grace. He’s not talking here about the grace that brings salvation. He’s talking about the grace that enables us for service. Notice the phrase, “each one of us”! God has given grace to every believer to enable them to serve in some capacity in His body.
Now, notice verses 11-12, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.” The word “service” means “ministry.” So, who is to be doing the work of ministry? Is it the apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastor-teachers? No. They are to equip all the saints to do the work of ministry. God has called me to be a Pastor-teacher. So, what is my job description? To equip all of you to do the work of ministry. What is your job description? To do the work of ministry. Does anyone get to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else? No!
Finally, notice verse 16, “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” The proper working of who? Each individual part. Folks, these descriptions leave no room for a passive Christian. Every Christian is to be a worker. Every Christian is to be involved. Every Christian is to be making some kind of contribution to the local church.
So, how has God prepared every member for ministry? He has given every Christian grace to serve, and then he has given particular Leaders to the Church, to teach, and train, and equip all the rest so they are prepared to serve, according to their own spiritual gifts. My plan is to do my very best to equip you every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night. Your responsibility then, is to take what you are learning, and use it to minister to others. In other words, when you come to church, you should be thinking of who you are going to pass these truths on to.
The apostle Paul mentions three goals of every member ministry: the maturing of the body, the unifying of the body, and the discerning of the body. Before we look at these three goals, notice the corporate nature of this passage. Verse 12, “the building up of the body of Christ.” Verse 13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith.” Verse 16, “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Paul is not talking here about individual believers being built up, and maturing. He’s talking about the whole local church. When you read Eph. 4:12-16, don’t think in individualistic terms. Think in corporate terms. Paul wants each local church to be built up, to be unified, and to be matured. He wants each local church to be discerning and stable in the midst of false doctrines. Each church has a personality, a character if you will. When a visitor comes into a church, they will immediately sense that church’s character. God wants each member of each local church to give themselves to the work of ministry, so that the whole body is mature, unified, and discerning .
1. The Maturing of the Body (4:12-13)
Verse 12 speaks of the “building up of the body of Christ.” This speaks of the church collectively growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how is the whole body going to be built up together? I believe this will happen as the church gathers together regularly, and consistently, and learns God’s word together. That’s why it is so vital that every member is actively involved in the life of the church. It is also why it is so important for us to give ample time when we gather to learning the Word of God. We do that here at The Bridge, not only through the Main Teaching on Sunday, but also as the saints speak the Word to each other.
Verse 13 goes on to say, “to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Verse 15 says, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” Verse 16 speaks of causing “the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
So, the picture here is of a child growing up to be a man. Just as a child goes through the infancy, child, teenager, and manhood phases of development, so each local church should be growing spiritually together into maturity. The man envisioned here is Christ, the perfect man. Verse 13 tells us that we are to attain to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Paul is telling us that every local church should be pursuing a Christlike character. In other words, The Bridge House Church should be like Christ. We should be known for our righteous and holy lives. We should be humble and meek, bold and courageous, forgiving and loving. The members that make up this church should be known as those who pursue holiness. We are not content to go on living in the same sins. We want to be like our Master. So, when we fall into sin, we repent, confess and forsake our sins, and turn again to Christ our Savior. We trust in Christ through His gospel, that He not only delivers us from the penalty of sin, but also its power. We remind ourselves that we are united with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. Therefore our old self was crucified, and we are brand new people living a resurrection life. Then we act on this truth, by not presenting the members of our body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Rather we present ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God.
When God freed the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, He told them that He was going to kill all the first-born males in Egypt, of man and beast, from the Pharaoh to the slave girl. However, He made provision for the Israelites. If they would kill a lamb or goat in their place, and apply the blood to the doorposts of the house, God would not execute judgment against them. Later, when God had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He told them, “Sanctify to Me every first-born, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.” What is God saying? He’s saying that since I saved the first-born from My judgment, it belongs to Me. Sanctify it, set it apart, give it to Me. We have a New Testament parallel to this truth in 1 Cor. 6:19-20 where Paul says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” My friends, we are not our own. Christ has redeemed us by the shedding of His blood. We belong to God now. God commands us to sanctify ourselves to Him. We exist for His will and pleasure. We may never again do whatever we want. Every thought, word, and action needs to come under the will of God. That is holiness, and that is attaining to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
2. The Unifying of the Body (4:13)
Paul points out another goal of the saints doing the work of ministry in verse 13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” Paul speaks here about attaining the unity of the faith and of knowledge. However, in verse 3 he speaks of preserving the unity of the Spirit. We don’t have to attain to the unity of the Spirit. We just have to preserve it. Every born again child of God already possesses the unity of the Spirit with other born again believers. That unity was established the moment they were converted. The Spirit baptized every believer into the body of Christ. Every true Christian possesses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, this unity is present between all true believers. We just need to preserve it. However, the unity of the faith and of knowledge are not present between true believers. This unity must be attained.
The unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God speak of a unity that we can only attain through diligent study of the Scriptures. “The faith” is that body of doctrinal truth deposited in Scripture. This is talking about doctrinal unity. Now, I know that people today will object to this idea, because we have been infected with the cultural virus of postmodernism. So, what exactly is postmodernism? It is the idea that there is no absolute truth in the spiritual realm. Or, if there is any absolute truth, we can’t know it. All truth becomes subjective. What is “truth” for one person, may not be “truth” for another person. The supreme virtue in our day has become acceptance and tolerance. The only thing we will not tolerate is the person who claims to have the exclusive truth.
However, Paul is teaching us that every local body of believers must strive to attain unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. The church across the world is fractured into hundreds of denominations, all with their own doctrinal distinctive. Some churches believe that it is man is saved by the exercise of his free will. Others believe man is saved by God’s exercise of His sovereign will. Some believe in baptizing by immersion upon profession of faith in Christ, while others believe in baptizing infants by sprinkling. Some believers believe the supernatural gifts of the Spirit have ceased, while others believe they are still available until Christ returns. Some believe we are in the millennium now, while others believe Christ will usher in the millennium at His second coming. Some believe in congregational church government, while others believe in Elder-ruled church government.
So, how can we possibly attain the unity of the faith, with all these differences? Perhaps the entire church around the world will never attain this, but I believe each local church can grow in doctrinal unity through a diligent and careful and ongoing study of Scripture. As you go through the Word, inevitably differences in belief will surface. At that point, what do you do? Probably, the place to begin is to decide what are the proper rules for interpreting Scripture – our Hermeneutics. If we can simply agree to a few basic principles, like interpreting a verse in its larger context, seeking to gain the intent of the author to his original audience, and carefully following the author’s train of thought through a paragraph, chapter and book, we can come to a greater unity of doctrine.
Once we have agreed on sound interpretation principles, we discuss our differences. We compare Scripture with Scripture. We challenge beliefs that people hold. We seek to figure out what those beliefs are grounded on and if they are rooted in truth or not. We debate and argue and discuss, but all in a spirit of love and respect and humility. This is what the men of the church have begun doing on Tuesday mornings. We spend an hour and a half every Tuesday morning just reading through Scripture and discussing it. And, guess what? The more we do this, the more unity of the faith we will attain. Right now, there are probably a lot of differences in doctrine that we hold to. However, as we continue to diligently pour over the Word week after week, God will begin to help us attain unity of the faith. Now, there may be some things we are never able to agree on, and that’s OK. We realize that. However, we should be able to attain unity concerning the essentials of the Christian faith, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul gives insight into what he means by the “unity of the faith” when he continues and writes, “and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” This unity of the faith, is specifically centered on the Person of Jesus Christ. So, what should we know about Christ? We should know who He is. We should know His attributes and character. We should know about His incarnation and virgin birth. We should know about His perfect life, His substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection and what they accomplished. We should understand His ascension, and His intercession at God’s right hand. We should know about His second coming, and His future judgment of the world. We should be growing together in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as a church.
3. The Discerning of the Body (4:14)
Paul says in 4:14, “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”
The emphasis in this verse is that we must learn to detect and refute false doctrine. Paul speaks of “every wind of doctrine”, the “trickery of men”, and “craftiness in deceitful scheming.” There are many people in this world who would like to trick you and deceive you, and they have come up with all kinds of crafty schemes in order to do that.
When Paul spoke of being “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” he is speaking of the Satanic worldly philosophies that deceive millions. Just like a ship without rudder or sails is driven along by the fierce winds and waves, so too we can be driven wherever Satan wants to take us, if we do not have the discernment of God’s Word.
The word for “trickery” is kubeia. We get our word “cube” from it. It refers to cheating at dice playing. The word “craftiness” reminds us of Satan deceiving Eve by his craftiness (2Cor.11:3). The phrase “deceitful scheming” shows us that Satan has a deliberate plan, a scheme to trap unsuspecting souls.
Paul says we are no longer to be children. Children are known for their gullibility. You can pretend to pull off their nose, or tell them that a fat man from the North Pole is the one who brings them presents at Christmas and they will believe you. This is why every conscientious parent warns their children of the danger of strangers or even family members who might touch them inappropriately, or lure them into a dangerous place. The New Testament is filled with warnings about the danger of false doctrines. Jesus warned His disciples of the false prophets who would come to them in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Mt.7:15). Paul wrote of false apostles who were disguised as angels of light and servants of righteousness (2Cor.11:13-15). He told the Galatians that those who pervert the gospel of Christ were to be accursed (Gal.1:8-9). He warned the Colossians of those who were trying to take them captive through philosophy and empty deception (Col.2:8). He told the Ephesian Elders, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in, among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them (Acts 20:29-30).
Paul doesn’t want the local church to remain gullible and naïve. He wants us to grow in discernment. He knows that men will invent false teachings and bring them into the Church, and he is calling on all believers to be discerning of what they believe. There have been many winds of doctrine that have blown through the Church in the last century. We’ve seen religious hucksters selling the doctrine that Jesus is Michael the archangel, of positive confession and health and wealth, of laughing and barking in the Spirit, of setting dates for the end of the world, of teaching that Christ died twice, of annihalationism, of teaching that Christ returned in the 1st century and won’t return again, and we could go on and on. Satan has also injected our modern culture with the idea of postmodernism, so that no one believes in absolute spiritual truth. Isn’t that a great way to destroy the church – just make them believe that either there is no absolute truth, or if there is, no one can know it. Some believers are so gullible that they will embrace every new wind of doctrine and fad that blows through the church. They lack discernment. The only place to find objective truth, and thus discern truth from error, is to know God’s Word. It is our anchor to keep us blowing all over the place. All of us need to learn to test the doctrines we are hearing by running them through the filter of Scripture.
Your goal should be to know God’s Word well enough, that when you hear something, you can immediately recall Scripture that applies to that teaching to test it. We need to have everything filtered through the grid of Scripture. If we don’t, we are an easy prey for the cults and false teachers. Learn what you believe and why you believe it. It’s not enough to simply accept whatever your pastor, or TV evangelist happens to say. It’s not enough to read a page from Our Daily Bread or some other devotion. Every Christian needs to study the Word. Make it your goal to know God’s Word thoroughly!
Conclusion
So, the big question is, how do we engage in every member ministry? What do we do? I believe Paul gives us the answer in verse 15, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” I used to think that speaking the truth in love meant I would tell another brother something that was going to be hard to hear, but that I would do it gently and compassionately – “You know brother, you’re never going to go anywhere in life as long as you continue to sleep in to 10 a.m. and start work at noon. But you know I love you!” Now, that is not what Paul meant by speaking the truth in love. How do I know? Just look carefully at the context. What kind of truth is Paul wanting them to speak in love? Verse 11 speaks of Pastor-teachers who teach doctrinal truth to their churches to equip them for the work of ministry. Verse 13 speaks of attaining the unity of the faith. Again, doctrinal truth is in view. Verse 14 speaks of the need to be discerning so that you are not carried about by every wind of doctrine. In this entire section, doctrinal truth is what Paul has in view. He doesn’t switch gears in verse 15. When Paul says, “but speaking the truth in love” he’s telling the saints in Ephesus that the way they engage in the work of the ministry, is by speaking Biblical and doctrinal truth to one another. Paul isn’t telling Pastors to speak the truth in love. He’s telling the entire church to do this.
So, how would a church speak the truth to one another in love? Here at The Bridge House Church, you can do that every Sunday during our Open Session, by bringing a mini-teaching or a word of Scripture for the congregation. You can also do it at the Lord’s Supper as you sit and speak to others. The men can speak the truth in love on Tuesday mornings, the women on Monday nights, all of us again on Wednesday evenings. We can be doing this all the time!
But remember, this speaking of the truth must be done in love. We need to remember that everyone is in a different place in their understanding of the Word. I have changed my beliefs in many areas over the last 35 years of my Christian life? Haven’t you? That means that I once believed something was true, that I have since decided was untrue. We all need humility in order to live in peace and love together. We also need to remember the old slogan, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Let’s commit to one another that we won’t divide over non-essentials, and that whatever various views we hold to, we will extend Christian love to one another.
Brothers and sisters, let’s all commit to the work of the ministry. Let’s all be looking for ways to speak the truth in love to one another. Let’s get beyond the superficial conversation, and speak to one another of Christ, and His Word, and His Gospel. Let’s pray.
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