Every Believer

EPHESIANS 4:11-16 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 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 fulness of Christ. As a result we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried by every wind of doctrine, to 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 whome the whole body being fitted and held together by that which 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.

Every member, every believer in Jesus, is to be in active ministry.

An old farmer frequently described his Christian experience by saying, “Well, I’m not making progress, but I’m well established.” One spring, hauling some logs, his wagon wheels sank down to the axles in the mud. He could not get out at all. Soon a neighbor, who got tired of the farmer’s worn out testimony, came along and greeted him by saying, “Well, I see you’re not making much progress, but you’re very well established!”

We get comfortable and don’t want to move out of our routine. Many churches hire a pastor to do the work and think that their job is to set back and make sure the pastor does it right! They are an audience, not a participant.

We think that ministry is something t5hat happens to us and blesses us instead of a service we perform that becomes a blessing to others. Some attend a church and if they “don’t get fed” they go try another church. They don’t understand that they are supposed to be part of the “feeding program” instead of just the receiving program.

Why do some churches grow and become vibrant and alive, and others dwindle and fossilize? This passage from Ephesians gives us some insight.

1. There is a mandate for ministry. We must prepare the saints for the work of service. We are all ministers and we minister in different ways according to our personalities and the gifts God has given us. Some are good teachers; some are good leaders; some are good at providing service in various forms; some are great at sharing the gospel, and on and on. We use the abilities we have for the benefit of others
2. There is a model for ministry. In Acts 6 many were waiting on tables and preparing food and in the midst of that God called them to serve in other areas. Some pastors are “farmers.” They want to do it all themselves and are afraid of sharing the ministry of the church with others. The best pastors are “ranchers.” They have those who are responsible for specific areas and they delegate authority to them.
3. Maturity comes through ministry. We used to do a lot of jail and prison ministry. People from the church came with us and shared their testimony and their friendship with those incarcerated. A good number of them went on to be lay preachers and some to full-time ministry. We share what we can and God can multiply and use it. We are matured and grown in faith through the process.

God gave me a gift–not for me, but to use for you. God gave you a gift–not for yourself, but to use for me. If you don’t share your gift, you are depriving me and I am depriving you if I don’t use mine.

Every believer can do something to build up the body of Christ. What are you doing with the gifts you were given????