Theology and Economics: Equipping

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NRSV)

1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it is said,

"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people."

9(When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

This is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. In these sixteen verses, Paul has given us the essence of what it means to be the Church.

Notice verses 15 and 16. At the beginning of verse 15, the word “speaking” is not present in Greek. It is inserted by translators because there is no grammatically correct way to translate the Greek into English. The nearest we could come would be to change “But speaking the truth in love…” to “But truthing in love…” It is not just about cognitive communication. Every aspect of our being is to be exuding God’s truth in all we do. We are to be “truthing in love.”

I wrote in earlier posts that the head was the life-giving source that the rest of the body sinks its roots into for sustenance. It is a little like a plant sending its roots into the soil, except here, the “soil” (head) is geographically at the top, and the roots are sent upward into the “soil.” “…we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, …” This passage has tremendous richness, but to think about structure, I want to focus on verses 11 and 12 in particular.

This passage is one of the prime “go-to” verses for thinking about Church, structure, and leadership. Here is the emphasis we usually place on this passage:

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, …

From here, we list out these four or five gifts. (Four if you interpret this as pastor-teacher and five if you interpret this as pastors and teacher. I treat them as four.) Then we carefully try to discern a job description for each. We administer spiritual gifts inventories to see who might have the gifts to fulfill these roles. Then we give people education and the necessary tools to fulfill these roles. In so doing, I believe we have utterly missed the point.

I believe the emphasis is as follows:

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, …

Or in other words, Paul could just have easily written:

11 The gifts he gave [were a variety of leaders], 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,…

We have become fixated on titles and job descriptions to the near exclusion of:

A. equip the saints for the work of ministry
B. for building up the body of Christ

I do not believe the New Testament intended to establish job titles and job descriptions. I believe it focused on the need for more mature believers to equip less mature believers and for mature Christians to provide fertile ground for the Church to grow and thrive. Of course, the big question is, what does it mean to equip?

The Greek word translated “equip” is katartismos, and Greg Ogden presents a wonderful analysis of the nuanced meanings of this word in Chapter 6 of his book Unfinished Business. He identifies three connotations to the word. Here are my descriptions:

Fixing what is broken – Fisherman would use this word when they talked “mending” their nets. Each and every one of us is deeply broken. We are not fit for service until we are willing to honestly face our brokenness and bring it before God. We need a place where can weep over what others have done to us and what we have done to others. We need to be set free from trying to find fulfillment in our lives apart from God all time recognizing that complete fulfillment comes only with Christ’s return.

Bring back into proper alignment – Galatians 6:1 give us another example of equipping: “My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” (NRSV) We often become disoriented. Priorities get out of alignment. Part of equipping is bringing each other into alignment.

Supply what is lacking - 1 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” (NIV) We need instruction, modeling, encouragement and discipline as we participate in the lifetime journey of transformation. We may need direct intervention of God to supply us with strength, courage, knowledge or whatever, in order to move ahead in our maturation process.

Ogden points out that he has yet to meet a pastor who effectively does all three of these well. Some do two well, and most do one. Part of the reason we need a community is because God equips the community to equip us, not just a specialized professional.

So what should the leadership of a community of broken eikons undergoing transformation look like?

[Previous] [Next] [Index]

Comments

[Ted Gossard]

Michael,
Thanks. This gives me the thought that in the church we do need leaders. Leaders following Christ, so that others in following their example, will likewise be learning to follow Christ.

I do think the giftings are important, and you don't deny that in this post. But the purpose must not be lost sight of. And I like what you share from Ogden on katartismos.

[Ted Gossard]

And the stress here is on those leaders equipping, so others will do the work. I have thought of "equipping" here in terms of helping others do what they themselves are doing. Whether in terms of living, but especially in terms of ministry/service.