And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Eph 4:11–16)
The body of Christ is kind of like a bobblehead figure.[1] You know, one of the sport figurines with a head much larger than the body. I don’t mean that irreverently. Allow me to explain.
The problem with the body of Christ is not with the Head. Christ, the Head, is perfectly mature and complete. The problem with the body of Christ is with the body. The body needs to grow and fill out to maturity to reach the fullness of Christ, its Head.
It is cute to have a head disproportionately large to your body when you are two years old. It is not so cute for a full grown adult. The body needs to fill out to maturity so it can rightly function as the head desires.
Christ, the Head, is still working to bring His body to maturity and he wants to use you, Believer.
He Himself gave the unique gifts of APEPT’s. That is, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. Paul states that these gifts were given to the body for a purpose. What is that purpose?
To do the work of ministry? No! “For the quipping of the saints for the work of ministry…”
Ministry is not the job of the Pastor, or Bishop, or Bible Scholar, or Denominational President. At least, not in Paul’s thinking. Ministry is the job of the saints, that is all believers in Jesus are to do ministry to the body of Christ. The goal of such ministry or service is the edifying of the body of Christ.
Unique gifts such as pastors and prophets were given to equip the other members of the body for the work of ministry.
Spiritual maturity, growing into the fullness of Jesus the Messiah, is not an individual endeavor. It is the responsibility of the body.
Believer, Jesus wants you to minister to his body of Believers.
He gave His physical body on the cross to reconcile both Jews and Gentiles to God, making them one body (Eph 2:16).
This one body thing is a big deal to God:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Eph 4:4–6)
The unity of the body was purchased at immeasurable cost.
To dishonor Christ’s body of believers is to dishonor His body broken to purchase unity.
Jesus poured Himself out to build up His body. He calls us to seek the same goal—the maturity of the body.
[1] I borrow this illustration from Dr. John Niemelä, one of my professors on Ephesians