Too often, the church is made up a percentage of people who are actively involved in service and mission, while another percentage of people are, essentially, acting as spectators.
But that’s not God’s plan for His people.
God wants everyone to get into the game.
One passage of scripture that talks about this comes from Ephesians 4, which describes how God wants to use certain people in the church to equip everyone else in the church to greater ministry ability and capacity:
Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT)
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
Early in my Christian life (and for far longer than I’d like to admit), I had it in my mind that a church hires pastors to do all the work of ministry.
And by work of ministry I mean things like:
-Caring for people -Visiting the sick -Meeting needs -Teaching the Word -Discipling people -Praying
My thinking was the church hired pastors to do such work so I didn’t have to!
But Ephesians 4 takes that that kind of thinking and completely blows it apart!!!
The church leaders (leaders who serve) help train, equip and encourage the people of the church to serve, and then the leaders of the church join in at serving as well!
I think back to when I was going to church as a teenager and all the people who were serving in the youth ministry:
• We had teachers and small group leaders.
• We had worship leaders.
• People volunteered to be counselors at camp.
• Moms and dads volunteered to open their homes as well as drives to events.
Imagine if all these “non-pastors” didn’t believe they had a calling from God to make a difference in the life of teenagers!
I’m so glad they listened to God and obeyed Him!
Now the cool thing in all of this is the idea that God provides for every person who follows Jesus particular God-given abilities to help other Christians grow.
If we go up just a few verses to the beginning of Ephesians 4, we find Paul making a huge plea for the church members in Ephesus to be united in heart, mind and spirit.
And in verses 4-6, Paul seeks to remind them (and us) of all we share in common:
Ephesians 4:4-6 (NLT)
4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
These are all the things we share in common and make us able to bond together in faith. hope, peace and love.
But, then in verse 7 Paul writes somethings really interesting:
Ephesians 4:7 (NLT)
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
The more accurate way to translate that word “gift” is with the word grace, which comes from the Greek word, “charis.”
Meaning God graces all believers in unique, special ways. And the idea behind these graces (or as some like to call them, grace gifts is each Christian having a certain ability that helps Christians grow and the church become more and more mature.
And if you spend some time poking around in passages like Romans or 1 Corinthians 12 1 Peter 4, you can find out what some of those gifts are.
Gifts like:
• Teaching
• Encouraging
• Showing mercy
• Wisdom/discernment
• Generosity.
Overall, Paul’s point here in Ephesians 4 is this: God prepares and enables Christians to serve and minister to others through two different means: internal gifting/external equipping. Meaning, here’s really no excuse why every Christian shouldn’t be involved in sort of ministry and service.
What’s sad to is how in many of our churches there is a sort of gap between what we clergy and the laity.
Bible commentator William MacDonald put it this way:
Limitation of Christian service to a select class of people hinders the development of God’s people, stifles the cause of evangelism, and stunts the growth of the church. The distinction between clergy and laity is unscriptural and perhaps the greatest single hindrance to the spread of the Gospel.
So, a few questions:
• Are you in a position where you are being trained and equipped so you can serve others?
• Are you taking what you learning and using it to make a difference in the lives of others?
KURT STAEUBLE 