Leadership: God's Gift to the Church

Teacher = Given our cultural context, we cannot assume what “teacher” means. In our context, many have reduced a teacher to a “facilitator.” The ultimate reason why: there is no factual knowledge to depart, esp in the subjects of religion and morality. It is said to be all opinion and based upon blind faith. And, therefore, in many schools and universities, a “teacher” merely facilitates a discussion of people’s personal feelings and opinions and no view can be presented as applicable to all.

Because of this false idea of what a teacher is in our society, we have to the mundane (or obvious) thing: define what a teacher is.

A teacher is “one who imparts knowledge.” In the church, it is one who imparts the knowledge of God and his will. In short, they are to impart truth. And, recall, there is only one truth.

Jude 3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

From the words pastor-teachers, we get an indication of what Christ has called them to do.

What pastor-teachers do:

Pastor = shepherd, take care of sheep. The sheep are the church members. We cannot get into the specifics here; we will do that in a later message in a few weeks.

But we should note that, in regard to shepherding, it means they look over and care for Christians in the local church. They call church members to see how they are doing; they visit them in hospitals and when they are ill. They counsel those who need biblical help, guidance, and/or wisdom.

As a teacher, pastors preach and teach God’s Word, theology, philosophy, and all sorts of other subjects—anything that will help guide and instruct a Christian to be a disciple and learn how to make disciples themselves.

But who are the pastor-teachers of the the church? There can be some confusion here.

Pastors/Ministers/Preachers

We use terms like pastor, preacher, minister to refer to the position I hold. And I believe these are all correct. Technically and practically, the position I hold is one of a paid elder. But I am not the only pastor; the position is not limited to me.

When we look closely in the NT, pastor-teachers are the same as elders in the NT. The word “elder,” “bishop,” “overseer,” and “shepherd” are all used interchangeably to refer to what we call today elders. As such, the elders that we have here at LCC are pastors. They are just not full-time pastors who are paid to preach, teach, and counsel. Some people refer to them as “lay elders.”

That the elders are pastors can be seen from Paul’s directives to the elders of the Ephesian church found in Acts 20:17, 28:

“From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. . . . ‘Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.’”

As we see here, Paul uses all three terms—elder, overseer (bishop; Late Latin episcopus; Old English bisceop, dropping the e- and -us), and shepherd—to refer to the same position in the church.

2. Why Christ Gave Church Leadership (v.12-13)

Ephesians 4:12–13 (NASB95)

. . . for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

First reason for church leadership:

To Equip

“for the equipping of the saints for the work of service”

“Equip” - to train, prepare church members to do the work of service.

The word for service = ministry (Gk. διᾱκονία; διάκονος) - lit. “to serve/wait tables”

In other words, the leadership of the church (pastors, elders) are given to train church members to serve and wait on each other, i.e., to minister.

In response to this training, church members are to get to work and serve. It takes every single member of the church exercising his/her spiritual gift to serve. it is not just the pastor’s job or the elders’ job. We are all ministers, expected to make disciples and minister to each other.

illustration: “In a human body, what would it mean if the arms were to grow while the legs did not? The body would be crippled. The point is that those members who fail to grow and use their gifts are hampering the church.”

[Grant R. Osborne, Ephesians: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017), 130.]

Application:

Second reason for church leadership:

To Build

“to the building up of the body of Christ”

“Build” - it comes from the noun “building/house/structure”; the term has the idea of edifying, constructing

Building here is actually an effect of church members ministering to each other. As we serve, as we make disciples, as we minister, the result is that the body of Christ (metaphor for the church) is built up—it is made strong.

As a building or house is constructed brick by brick, it becomes stronger and stronger. It becomes more impervious to storms, it protects better from all weather and environmental events.

In the same way, as the church serves one another and ministers, each church member becomes stronger in the faith, less susceptible to false teaching, and more protected from sin and the schemes of the devil. And very importantly, the stronger we become in loving God and others.

This is why one of LCC’s values (at the top of the bulletin every week) is edification. To edify is to build.

Third reason for church leadership:

To Unite

“until we all attain to the unity of the faith”

This is one of the goals of the pastors and elders equipping Christians. When church members serve and minister to each other, the goal is to become united. Not united for the sake of mere unity; united in the faith.

We are to be united in our doctrine, thoughts, words, and deeds.

1 Corinthians 1:10 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Philippians 2:2 “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

Illustration: Ecclesiastes 4:12 “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

Slide: Picture of rope

One of the intents behind “United”

“A house divided cannot stand.” ~Jesus (Mark 3:25)

Fourth reason for church leadership:

To Educate

“and of the knowledge of the Son of God”

As the leadership teaches and pastors, and church members are equipped to do and are doing ministry, unity in the faith occurs, but also unity in the knowledge of the Son of God.

Knowledge of the Son of God.

By extension, not just knowledge of the Son of God. Much more: knowledge of THE faith.

Reason why another one of LCC’s values is education. Education here means learning, gaining knowledge, of the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Learning the Bible; learning theological concepts; learning why we believe what we believe; learning how to tell others about Jesus and how to make disciples.

This is difficult in a world filled with distractions.

Application:

Average daily TV viewing time: The U.S. civilian noninstitutional population ages 15 and older spent an average of 2 hours 46 minutes per day watching TV in the 2013-2017 period (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Monthly TV viewing time: The average person watches about 141 hours of TV per month or 1,692 hours per year (Source: “Television Statistics: 23 Mind-Numbing Facts to Watch”). Assuming an average U.S. life expectancy of 78 years, that’s about 15 years of watching TV (Source: “Television Statistics: 23 Mind-Numbing Facts to Watch”).

If we are serious about our faith and being equipped for ministry, we probably need to turn off our TVs.

Fifth reason for church leadership:

To Mature

“to a mature man”

This is a metaphor, and what Paul means here is spiritual maturity.

What exactly does this mean? => explained in vv.14-16

3. The Result for the Church (v.14-16)

Ephesians 4:14–16 (NASB95)

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

What does spiritual maturity look like? Two words: Orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Orthodoxy

“Correct teaching” or “sound doctrine”

“ . . . we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”

Children are unstable like an abandoned boat that is carried away by the wind and waves (i.e., don’t know what they believe and why).

Children are also easily deceived. A primary reason is because they do not know what is true.

Theology, biblical teaching, truth, knowledge, the mind have fallen on hard times.

“For many, religion is identified with subjective feelings, sincere motives, personal piety, and blind faith. As the song puts it, ‘You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.’ In other words, we test the truth of our religion not by a careful application of our God-given given faculties of thought, or even by biblical mandates (see, for example, 2 Corinthians 10:5), but rather by our private experiences.”

[J. P. Moreland;Dallas Willard. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (pp. 26-27). Kindle Edition. ]

This is not to say that experience of God is unimportant or insignifcant. The point is that divorcing our faith from theology, biblical teaching, knowledge, the mind is really no faith at all—it is just a boat that is carried along by every wind and wave.

Many attempt to live like a Christian without knowing what a Christian truly is.

Illustration: “Holiness without the knowledge and belief of the truth, is impossible; perfect holiness implies . . . perfect knowledge. Error, therefore, is evil. Religious error springs from moral evil and produces it.” ~Charles Hodge

You cannot act like a Christian unless you know what a Christian is. Christian teaching/correct doctrine and living a Christian life are intimately intertwined. You cannot have one with the other. Orthodoxy (correct theology and doctrine) is absolutely essential to being a Christian.

Application

The Wed night adult Bible study was just discussing this point this past week.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

A lot of the time, we focus upon the first part of this verse concerning the nature of Scripture. But the point of Scripture being inspired is “so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” I.e., Scripture provides us with orthodoxy (correct sound doctrine, teaching) SO THAT we can go good works.

Again, how we live is directly tied to what we believe. If we do not have the knowledge of The Faith, and if we do not have the knowledge of why we believe The Faith, living like a Christian is nearly, if not entirely, impossible.

“If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community that values the life of the mind.”

[J. P. Moreland;Dallas Willard. Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul (p. 39). Kindle Edition.]

If we are unwilling to do this, it is time to get off the train. We cannot continue to play church. We are either all in or we are all out.

But spiritual maturity is not just about orthodoxy, correct doctrine. It’s also about growth in love.

Growth in Love (i.e., Orthopraxy)

“Correct practice,” or “sound living”

Ephesians 4:15–16 “. . . but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects”

Emphasis upon love. In fact, these verses are encapsulated by the concept of love.

Note it is to speak the truth (not criticisms, complaints, bones-to-pick) in love.

We speak the truth in love. If we have the truth, correct doctrine and theology, but have not love, we are nothing. As Paul said to the Corinthians: “If I do not have love, I am nothing but a clanging symbol.” Obnoxious and odious.

Note what else constitutes correct practice, orthopraxy:

“ . . . every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part.”

Although Eph 4:11-16 is primarily concerned with church leadership, note that Paul says that church members have a responsibility as well. This an idea we have already seen, and it’s repeated again.

Every person has a spiritual gift to be used to minister in the church.

“Without active participation by all, certain parts of the body will wither and die. Those members who refuse to exercise their gifts are paralyzing the body in very specific ways, for ministering is left incomplete and believers who need help are neglected.” ~Grant Osborne

Note, too, that when members use their gifts to serve one anther, the church grows.

“ . . . being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

Sometimes we hear things like, “Why isn’t the church growing?” What would Paul say? What did he practically say in Ephesians? If the church is not growing, it’s because every member is not actively engaged in ministry and committed to it—whether it’s the church members or elders and pastors.

More to the point, however, is what Paul says here about growth in love.

“causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

This is the ultimate objective/goal that the local church is to have: to grow in love—love for God and love for others.

Conclusion

1. The Gift of Leadership (4:11)

Pastors and Teachers

Pastors/Ministers/Preachers

2. Why Christ Gave Church Leadership (v.12-13)

To Equip, Build, Unite, Educate, Mature

3. The Result for the Church (v.14-16)

Orthodoxy

Growth in Love

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