This thought is dedicated to the Ekklesia... the called out
ones... the mystical assembly of all the redeemed... “The Church which is His
Body.” Ekklesia must be understood two ways in scripture, the Church “big C”,
just described, and the church “little c”, the individual assemblies of the
redeemed gathering together at any point in time. These churches make up “The
Church.” The Church is the leaven of the Kingdom of God, ceaselessly spreading
God’s Kingdom through the dough of humanity. Stripped to its spiritual
essentials the church functions as a purveyor of God’s Kingdom through “the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry”, which builds up the Body of
Christ. The “work of ministry” is the enterprise of each member of the church
who are “joined and knit together by what every joint (i.e., person) supplies”
to work effective when “every part (i.e., person) does its share”, growing
spiritual maturity as it builds itself up in love. Equipping the saints covers
a lot of ground including teaching/mentoring spiritual growth, empowering to
minister, encouraging ministry, providing a forum for ministry development, and
providing essential help including facilities, equipment and resources.
Individual ministry is identified, developed and released within the sanctuary
and nurturing environment of the
church, moving out into the marketplace as spiritual leaven when it has
matured.
Every member of every church has a personal
ministry... something to contribute to the Kingdom of God. When these personal ministries
are quenched and grieved rather than nurtured, ignored by a misplaced focus on
rigid liturgy and the “One man Show” syndrome, spiritual growth of the church
ceases as an attainable reality. The real measurement of church effectiveness
is not church size... quality trumps quantity every time in God’s Kingdom, but
rather the effectiveness of the equipping of its saints for the work of
ministry. Why do people become so prideful and elated simply from getting
humans into a building? Man driven
church growth becomes a stronghold that burns out pastors while filling the
pews with lukewarm Self-centered “Christians” that God has already said He will
spew out of His mouth. Focusing on church growth... size, rather than growing
spiritual maturity through the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, is simply a prideful form of Godliness that denies the power of
equipped saints to leaven the world. (Matt.
16:18; Eph. 4:11-16)
“FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS
FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY
FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST”
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