Where would you say is “a good church"? Where is a good Church? Many would say, a good church is where the Word of God is preached. Some would have more criteria and say not only where the Word of God is preached but a good church is also a place where the family is given priority, where children are ministered to. Still others would respond, “a good church is a place where I'm not asked to do everything”, and still others would answer, "a good church is where I'm not asked to do anything."
When one woman in an American city was asked the question, "Where's a good church?" she responded by saying, "I've just come to this particular church because I find that the style of worship here connects with my tired spirit."
She had just switched churches. In her previous church she had been a loyal member for 12 years. Although she was not an accomplished organist, she was the only one they had. Over the years, her service to the church shifted from being something she enjoyed to a demanding duty.
"I finally reached a point," she recalls, "Where I realized that all I was getting from that church was ulcers." 1
Where would you say is a good church? This morning we have God's picture of a good church. It is a church that is united together by the members common desire to utilize their spiritual gifts for the glory of God. And we learned last week that this is the purpose of the spiritual gifts, didn't we? That each member would do his or her part so that the body of Christ would be built up and hence glorify our Lord.
We turn to Ephesians chapter 4 today as we continue our study of Spiritual gifts and we begin to look at the nature of these gifts. They are not meant to divide but to unite.
Now just to put this text in context - for the first three chapters Paul speaks of what God has done for us. And now in the last three chapters Paul will speak of what we must do as a result of that. He outlines all the blessings that are ours in Christ in the first three chapters and then in chapters 4, 5, and 6 he says as a result of all that this is how we must respond. So he begins chapter 4 with the word "Therefore."
Because of all the wonderful truth that he has outlined in chapters 1,2 and 3, he says "therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called."
And he will speak of two areas of life in particular. He will speak of unity and purity. Our study of Spiritual gifts falls under the discussion of unity. I find it so ironic that spiritual gifts have been a great source of division in the church. And how God's heart must be broken when He witnesses His body divided over gifts which He has given to each one of us. We discovered last week that the gifts are not meant to divide but to unite us as each does its part for the building up of the church which results in our Lord being glorified.
And so Paul says in verse 2 and 3 "with all humility, and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
It is a truth that the Church is one - in the Spiritual world there is one church - so Paul is saying make that spiritual reality a visible reality.
In verses 4, 5 and 6 he speaks of how that unity arises, it arises from the nature of God. He is one so we are called to be one.
But within this unified body there is diversity. And he gives us a picture of a good church. A good church is where each one brings their different gifts and talents and uses them for the building up of the body for the glory of God.
And Paul states: "But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift." The context here shows us that Paul is not talking about saving grace, but he is speaking of God's unmerited favour to equip us to do what He has called us to do. He has gifted each and everyone of us by His unmerited favour. You have received a gift a spiritual ability, it may be different from your talent, it may grow out of your talent, it is a gift given to you, unmerited and unearned because of God's grace.
Paul continues by quoting Psalm 68:18:
"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people." The picture here is of a conquering king coming home from his victory, taking captive all that held his people in captivity. So our Lord Jesus Christ has taken captive all that once held us in captivity, sin, death, Satan. All of that has been destroyed by Christ's work on the cross and his resurrection. And as the conquering king comes home He gives gifts to His people to celebrate. So our Lord has given us gifts. Not only has He be redeemed us and conquered our enemies, He gives us spiritual gifts.
In parentheses Paul adds, "when it says he ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?"
So our Lord descended to death - in humility and now has ascended to victory and in that victory gives gifts to His people - verse 10: “He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens so that he might fill all things.
Now what about these gifts? What are they? Well here we have a partial list of gifts that are often called support gifts or speaking gifts.
"The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles"
The word “apostle” means one who is sent out - and in a very real sense we are all apostles (John 20:21) "Jesus said, as the Father has sent me so I am sending you." But we also know that the apostles were that small group of 12, with Paul, James (the Lord's brother) and a few others. These were chosen by Jesus and were eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection. They were given to the church to build it at a very young stage and their apostleship was authenticated by the signs and wonders that they performed.
So in this sense of the word there are no apostles today. There are those who have apostle-like ministries in that they are pioneering missionary work, or planting churches. But on the whole I would have some serious doubts about someone who said they had this gift today.
"Some prophets". I would classify this gift with the gift of the apostle. In that it was given to the early church for its edification. We have to remember that the early church did not have the great resource of Scripture that we have today. So the word of prophecy was needed - their insights, revelations and visions would encourage, admonish and build the people up in their faith. But we have the Word of God, it has been fully disclosed to us and nothing more needs to be added.
"Some Evangelists" Let me stress that even though we all do not possess this gift we all do possess the responsibility of being God's witnesses in His world. Whoever says, "I can't witness because I do not have the spiritual gift of evangelism,” needs to take a fresh look at the New Testament where each one of us are called to be Christ's ambassadors in the world.
Every one of us is called to demonstrate Christ in our lives and to be able to verbalize our faith in such a way that we can give a reason for the hope that is within us. "Each one, reach one" as the saying goes.
But to some He has given the special ability to communicate the gospel in such a way that people are drawn to Christ and His body is built up.
Some pastors and teachers. Some scholars say this is two gifts in one person. The two are inseparable. In order to feed the people of God you must be able to teach the people of God. However I don't think that it follows that to be gifted in teaching you must be gifted in pastoring.
So where is a good Church? A good church is where each one brings their different gifts and talents and uses them for the building up of the body for the glory of God.
This is Paul’s point in verse 12:
"to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ"
Notice that it is the pastor, teacher and the rest, it is their responsibility to equip the saints, so that the saints are able to do the work of ministry - so that the body of Christ may be built up.
Chuck Swindoll suggests that if we were to picture the church it would look something like this.
I like this diagram because it illustrates our scripture well. And it helps us be aware of two dangers.
One danger is to allow the pastor to do all the work of the ministry. That's not what this text says or what the diagram illustrates. The pastors are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
Perhaps one of the biggest plagues of the church in our age is clergy burnout. "The divorce rate among clergy is increasing faster than any other profession. Statistics show that one in ten have had an affair with a member of their congregation, and 25 percent have had some illicit sexual contact. One doctor who specializes in helping pastors suffering from burn out says that he cannot keep up to the demand."2
We expect the pastor to be Charles Stanley in the pulpit, Warren Buffet in office, Dr. Phil in the counseling situation, and flawless in every area of life. And if the pastor has bought into those expectations then they are destined for frustration and burnout.
It all comes from an unbiblical model of leadership - particularly the subway model. I took the subway this past week - do you know that everyone on the subway sleeps? Why? Because the conductor is driving. So in the subway model, the pastor does all the driving while the congregation are the passengers sleeping peacefully behind him.
You will also notice that pastors, teachers and evangelists are not at the top of this pinnacle. We need to beware of this because the modern church tends to put our pastors and teachers and evangelists on pedestals.
Indeed Scripture instructs us to be supportive of our leaders in prayer, encouragement, and affirmation and scripture tells us we need to be generous toward our leaders but we need to beware of endowing our church leaders with celebrity status. When you put your leaders on a pedestal you do them as much a disservice as when you do not support them and encourage them. For when they get placed on the pedestal they get to thinking that they belong there. And that is the gravest of sins.
Yes, they contribute to the building up of the church in a visible way but their contribution is not any greater than those who contribute through the gift of hospitality, or encouragement, or service. In the body each member has an important part to play.
So a much better model for us - quite different from the bus model or the pyramid model is the biblical model of the body where the pastor, teacher equips the saints for the works of service - so that the body of Christ is built up.
I thank God that you have the emphasis right, that you don't expect the staff here to do all the ministry here at Markham Baptist and a number of you watch me very closely to make sure that I don't do all the ministry. You've got the emphasis right - it is that the pastor, teacher, evangelist equip the body, feed the body, intercede for the body so that each one of us can do the work of ministry.
And what will be result of the body exercising their gifts this way?
"Until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." That is that we become mature in our understanding and in our demonstrating of Christ in our lives.
“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.”
What a wonderful dynamic picture of the church - it is a growing body, not necessarily numerically. The North American church has sometimes fallen into the trap of thinking that it is numerical growth that must be achieved. And that's not scriptural. It is spiritual growth, maturity of the body of Christ that must be aimed for and when the body matures. When there is unity as each member is doing their part then there is sometimes numerical growth.
This is a dynamic picture of the church just as your body grows and matures as each part does its work and exercises its gift. So the church as each member does its part grows into the full stature of Jesus Christ.
F.F. Bruce pictures the church as a newborn infant whose head is too big for its body. And the body must grow up to keep its head up, it must grow up into the head. I don't know if Paul had this picture in mind, but it makes it clear for me. The body of Christ must grow up in maturity into the image of Christ.
And that is done as each member of the body is working properly, promoting the body's growth, and building itself up in love.
Where is a good church? It is the united body of Christ where each one brings their different gifts and talents and uses them for the building up of the body for the glory of God.
Where's a good church? May you respond, "This is a good church."
Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - October 2002
Footnotes:
| 1. | Don Posterski, Irwin Barker, Where's a Good Church?, Wood Lake Books, Winnipeg, 1993, page 49. |
| 2. | Chuck Colson, The Body, Word Books, Dallas, Texas, 1992, page 298. |