10. The Gifts of Christ

5 years ago this October, went from being church plant to what we call “particular church” w/ own elders elected by our members. Training new elders and our first deacons for the past year.

Off to great start. Process of growing a church organically takes long time, just as takes long time for children to grow into adulthood.

And while I’m super positive and encouraged by the journey of the last 10 years, my sense is that as a church, it’s time for us to press in to maturity. It’s time for us to consider again together what the Bible calls us to as the church. What it means to BE the Body of Christ. Last week we looked at the unity we have as Christians, that we are One Body… today we examine what Christ has given us to be His Body.

This passage is all about growing into maturity.

Verses 7-11 tell us that he gave us gifts… gifts to each of us as individuals and gifts to all of us corporately so that we might grow in spiritual maturity and works of service. That’s what this whole passage is about. And we’re at a stage of life in this church where it’s easy to become complacent. It’s easy for us to be content with where we’re at in our own spiritual lives & growth, and that leads to complacency corporately as well.

This morning I want to challenge you, if you’re a member or regular of this church, to press in to maturity. To start taking full advantage of the gifts Christ has given you… to embrace what Christ is calling us to become. Today we’ll look at three things from this passage: 1) The Gifts Christ Gave; 2) What the Gifts are for; and 3) How the Gifts Function.

Paul

1. The Gifts Christ Gave

Last week we looked at Christian unity which Paul called us to “maintain” and now he tells us HOW we go about maintaining it. Unity in the church is maintained when we individually and corporately recognize that Christ has given us certain gifts that enable and empower us to do works of ministry within the Body of Christ. And when we are utilizing these gifts, the body grows up in love.

Ephesians 4:7 ESV

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

What are these gifts?

The first thing we see here is that these gifts are given to EACH ONE OF US - as individuals. If you are a Christian then you have been gifted. And they are given to you according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The image here is not of Christ haphazardly throwing grace around like pixie dust, or like candy at a parade, seeing where it will land, hoping it will land where he wants it. These gifts are measured. The image is of a baker who is meticulously measuring out ingredients and adding to the mixture at just the right time and in just the right quantities so that it contributes to the overall flavor of the dough.

And he uses the word “grace” to describe these individual gifts. And the word grace, charis, has more than one meaning in the Bible - it can mean saving grace like we saw in : “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Or it can have the meaning of spiritual gifts like we see in . Paul is using this second meaning here.

Then he quotes [READ v. 8] to prove his point. is a victory Psalm. Where God has just won a great victory over his enemies. In ANE culture, it was common for the victor to parade the spoils of war, including the captives, through the streets of his cities as a demonstration of his victory, and then dividing out those spoils to his own people.

[READ vss. 9-10] - they complete Paul’s thought - that Jesus Christ is the victor. He is the one who ascended into heaven and now sits at God’s right hand. But before he could ascend, he first had to descend to the earth to win his great victory - over sin, and death, and the devil. Paul’s point is simply that the same person who ascended is also the one who descended and so there is nothing in the whole Cosmos left untouched by Jesus Christ. As the ascended victor over the entire Universe, he now takes the spoils of that victory and gives gifts to his church so that they can be paraded in front of his enemies. The body of Christ - you and me - the church - we are Jesus’ victory parade.

Now what are these gifts? Paul doesn’t spell out what they are individually here. He does that more fully in , but the emphasis here is on the gifts he gives each one of us corporately - namely Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers. Now without going into too much detail about each of these roles, let me simply point out that each of these roles has to do with proclaiming the Word of God to the Church in specific life stages of the church. Apostles & Prophets were the original recipients of the Gospel message - they provide the foundation for the Church. And there’s a lot of debate about whether they still exist since today, since with the Bible we have no need for ongoing revelation.

Evangelists are gifted in sharing the gospel primarily with non-Christians. Shepherds or Pastors come alongside people in counseling and discipleship. Teachers help people understand the Word of God. Those are the gifts Jesus has given his church corporately.

And I’ll just say, for the first time here publicly, that we are beginning a pastoral search process to bring in a second pastor to help us do this next part of the passage. I’ll give you more details about that in the coming months, but in the meantime, Pray - headed to Presbytery this week with a request for funding to help us do this.

2. What the Gifts are for

Why do we need these gifts? What are they for? Why do we need these leaders in the Church?

Christ gave us these gifts for one reason: verse 12 - “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” This is super important. My job, the elders jobs, is not to do all the ministry. Many of us may have grown up in smaller churches where the pastor basically did everything. The pastor visited every sick person, preached every sermon, took care of the administrative details for the church, led Bible Studies, etc. We tend to think that ministry is something the pastor and elders do. We think ministry is primarily something that we receive.

Paul says that my job, and the job of leaders is to equip. It’s your job to do ministry. Just like the coach of a football team doesn’t actually throw or catch the ball, doesn’t block or make any tackles. The coach helps the players get in the right positions, he makes sure they have been trained to do their job. He makes sure there are only 11 players on the field at a time. He teaches the players the fundamentals of the game. He gives encouragement when someone is struggling at their position. He tries to fire them up so they play with intensity.

We have to stop thinking that the church is primarily something I’m a part of so I can receive ministry. So that I can consume community. If I’m a follower of Jesus, I need the church primarily so I can do ministry! Why? Because doing the works of ministry - that’s the word service or deaconing, by the way - is the reason we have been gifted. And using our gifts is the way each of us individually grows… and how the whole body grows corporately. A church that is a one man show will never truly grow.

I’m not talking primarily about numbers here. I’m not talking about growing numerically in worship, although I do believe that when we are functioning as an equipped body, we will grow numerically. Paul is talking about growing relationally into Christ - that’s what it means to “attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (v. 13). He’s talking about growing up spiritually - maturing into spiritual adulthood. It’s the process of leaving adolescence.

There's a phenomena that occurs regularly in American culture these days - it's a phenomena psychologists refer to as "delayed adolescence." It's the now-familiar reality of grown children - primarily men - texting mom and dad daily, accepting a monthly allowance and in some cases, the ultimate horror - still living at home. When our kids can provide for themselves financially and start to break away from us emotionally is when we recognize them as adults. We live in a culture where this process is getting further and further delayed.

We live in a culture where it's becoming harder and harder to grow up. And yet Paul's vision for our spiritual growth is that we reach maturity, because it's only in maturity that we can begin to contribute. It's only as we reach spiritual maturity that we reach our full spiritual stature in Christ. The image here is someone who stands tall on their own two feet. Paul recognizes an inherent danger in delayed spiritual adolescence. A spiritual adolescent [v. 14] is easily "tossed to and fro by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes."

Imagine a sailboat out on the water as a storm quickly moves in. As the waves start to roll in the sailboat starts to get pounded and can't be steered anymore. It goes wherever the wind carries it. The sailor can't control a small boat in the middle of the storm. Paul's point is simply this - that there will be storms. The storm is inevitable and the only thing that will keep us on a straight course in the midst of it is if we are well equipped and mature in Christ.

Some of you feel tossed about by life. You don't know what to do with your life. You feel overwhelmed - you feel lost - just like that little sailboat out to sea in the storm. I can tell you that the reason is because you aren't connected to anything. You have no anchor. You have no bearings. Your life is only about you so any time it isn't going the way you want, you're going to feel completely tossed about. The reason is because you don't have anything solid to cling to. Maybe it's time for you to come to Christ. To ask him to reveal himself to you. To connect into his body - the church. This is an invitation this morning to put your faith in Christ to be the rudder of your life, to give you purpose, to give you direction, to steer you through life's storms.

Are you seeking to be equipped? Are you pursuing discipleship? Over the years, I’ve heard people complain about others in our church. It bugs me that people aren’t showing up when they are scheduled to volunteer. It bugs me when people don’t show up very often to worship. It bugs me that it always seems to be the same people helping out with setup or teardown. Why don’t others get more involved? Others have been frustrated that people seem eager and willing to get together to hang out socially, but not to study or read the Bible together. These are issues of spiritual maturity.

Let me ask you a question: Don’t raise your hands, but how many of us would consider ourselves to be spiritually immature? My guess is that when I ask that question, very few of us think of ourselves that way. But if you aren’t using your gifts to serve others in the body of Christ - this body of Christ - All Souls - which Jesus has called you to right now… or if you aren’t using your gifts to equip and lead others, then Paul says you haven’t yet reached maturity. And it’s time to start growing up.

How

3. How the Gifts Function

So how do we do it? How are the gifts supposed to function?

Look at what happens when the body of Christ is equipped [READ vss. 15-16]. What joins us together as the body, what solidifies us and unites us and causes us to work together is when we are equipped and working properly. Is that what you want? Is that kind of church you want All Souls to be? How do we do it?

Vs. 15 - we have to speak the truth in love. How often have you heard that verse quoted? What does it actually mean? It doesn't mean that you only speak truth if you can do it with words that feel loving to the person hearing them. When was the last time that you heard challenging words from someone and felt like you were being loved? It doesn't happen very often does it? No - anything that is challenging doesn't feel very loving at the time. Speaking the truth in love means that we speak truth out of a context of love. That means that we have to have relationship. It means we have to put ourselves in position to be loved. We have to press in to the church. We have to press into the relationships that God has provided you. We need to be willing to hear and say the hard things.

Some of you have intentionally stayed around the fringes of the church because you don't actually want anyone to challenge you. You don't actually want to be loved. You don't want to love anyone else. But this is our calling. Look at what happens to the church when it does this well - it makes the body grow [vs. 16]. Jesus is calling us into something amazing here. Here's a couple of practical ways to press into All Souls and to put yourself into position to be equipped:

If you can only participate in one thing - participate in worship. Every Sunday. Commit to being here. Or commit to some other church and worship there. Paul says doctrine is one of the main ways we avoid being tossed around. Doctrine is the teaching of God's word. Sunday worship is the place at ASM where I'll be putting in the most time preparing to teach you God's word. Over time, we will be a more equipped church if we commit to being here on Sundays. And get involved with Sunday ministry - it takes a lot to make Sunday happen. If you aren't a member, tell me or Janelle that you'd like to help out. Commit to figuring out where you are gifted.

If you can do two things - participate in a small group. We currently have 3 meeting and they have lots of room to grow. We’re talking about starting a fourth very soon. If we need more, we'll start more. Get into a small group, that's where you'll start to build relationships where love can be expressed and it will give you more opportunities to minister to others.

If you can't do a small group, talk to me. Talk to Rachel. We are organizing smaller groups of 3-4 men/women into what we call DNA Groups. Discipleship-Nurture-Accountability. Or find someone in the church and ask to get together regularly.

Find a way to do something ministry related. Get involved with Imagine Missoula. And then get together with someone to process how that went - what was hard and where you need help.

Simon Sinek - motivational speaker who is passionate about helping develop leaders. He has a book called “Start With Why” and his basic premise is that you need to figure out your why. You need to figure out why you get out of bed in the morning. Why you exist. Why… is the motivational center for your life. It’s the purpose or cause or belief that inspires everything you do. It’s what you want your whole life to be about. And then every decision and every choice - how you spend your time, how you spend your money, everything you do is based on your why.

For us Christians, it’s the mission of Christ. To help the body grow up in love. To pour ourselves out for the body. Christ’s goal for us is that we grow up into the fullness of Him. Is that your why? Do you even want the fullness of Christ? It’s right here in a church where every member is equipped and growing into maturity. That’s the kind of church we want to be. Is that the kind of person you want to be?

It’s here at the Lord’s Supper that God’s ultimate truth is spoken in love. The cross says that we are so sinful, so tossed about, so aimless and rudderless, and spiritually immature, that someone had to die to rescue us. But it is also simultaneously the ultimate word of love. Do you see how much this God loves you? He doesn’t just tell you to grow up. To stop being a baby. He enters in. He takes on flesh. He gets tossed to and fro, beaten, broken, and killed. For you.

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