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, for we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.” 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. Notice the key adjective modifying growth... spiritual, we are not
just talking about getting people into a building here. 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.
“FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS
FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY
FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST”
(Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:11-16; Eph. 2:10;
Rev. 3; 16)
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