Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Ephesians 4:1-16 | Date: August 31, 2014 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

E Pluribus Unum

Ephesians 4, verses 1 through 16: “As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body, and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’ What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men and their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.”

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. For the passage that we have read already, Ephesians chapter four, we’ve read verses one through 16. I had a hard time coming up with a title for the sermon, and so it’s simply the Latin, E Pluribus Unum. You’re familiar with that, of course. You’re familiar with it because you see it on the money. But I won’t ask for a show of hands how many of you can translate it: From the many, one. From the many, one.

Ephesians chapter four, let’s read again verses one through 16. “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There’s one body and one spirit, just as you are called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ In saying ‘he ascended,’ what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we’re grateful that we can be here today to look into your word together. We pray for our brothers and sisters from our congregation who are away today, vacationing in various places. We pray that you’ll keep them safe and return them to us safely. We pray that you will be with them. We ask that you will be with us, that you will teach us your word and shape us by it individually and corporately as a congregation. May we see here the ideal to which you have called us. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

On the night before Jesus was crucified, he left us with a new commandment, and of course you’re familiar with it: “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another, that you love one another as I have loved you. You love one another as I have loved you.” This is the mark of Christian discipleship. Well, it was a very important thing for Jesus to emphasize that the night before he was crucified, the night before he was leaving his disciples. And because of its importance, it became a very important emphasis and shows up frequently in the preaching and the teaching and the writings of the apostles as well.

The apostle John did so, so much so that he is known to us today as the Apostle of Love. I’ll read you a few samples from the Apostle Paul as well. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 9, his earliest letter: “Now about brotherly love, we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” Romans 12 verse 10: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” Galatians 5:13: “Serve one another in love.” Then what we had here in this passage, Ephesians 4 and verse 2: “bearing with one another in love.” We find very frequently in the apostles’ teaching that love is the evidence of a genuine saving faith.

So it’s no surprise that in these 13 letters that come to us from the apostle Paul, we have this heavy emphasis on love. And it’s no surprise either that we have, along with that emphasis on love, a heavy emphasis on practical unity in the congregation, practical unity in the church.

So, Romans chapter 12, verse 16: “live in harmony with one another.” Romans 14, verse 19: “let us make every effort to do that which leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 15 in verse five: “may the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 1 verse 10: “I appeal to you brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 2 Corinthians 13:11: “be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and of peace will be with you.” One of my favorites, Philippians 1, verse 27: “stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 2:2: “be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” And what we have here in this passage, verse 3: “make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.”

And of course, he gives us a prescription for that in verse 2 that we saw last week: how to maintain that unity in a practical way through humility and gentleness, patience, and bearing one another in love. Well, you don’t have to read very carefully through the apostles’ writings before you’re impressed that high atop their list of concerns is this matter of practical unity in the congregation, and for good reason.

That reason is stated for us in verses four through six. There is one body, one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God over all. There is a unity among us that has already been accomplished in Christ and that has been professed by every one of us. There is one spirit who has brought us together forming, not two, not many, but one body of Christ. We’ve all professed that on the way in. We have professed and acknowledged one Lord. We’ve acknowledged that in the one baptism that we’ve all submitted to, acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ. One faith that we’ve all professed together. And that from one God who is above all and through all and in all.

There is, whether we always reflect it or not, there is a real unity, a fundamental unity among all of us in Jesus Christ. And what an ugly defacing of Christ it would be then for the church to show anything other than a unity in its goals in serving Christ together with one mind. Now this is especially significant, I think, in reference to verse one: “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” That is the first evidence of a life that is behaving in a way that’s worthy of the gospel. It’s seen in a congregation that is together and unified in its service for Christ, a practical unity of believers on the local church level. If the gospel is not displayed there in the local church, where will it be displayed?

So Paul emphasizes, as our Lord emphasized, this matter of love. He emphasizes this matter of unity in the church. We saw last time how to maintain that on a practical, personal level. Our next question is, what does that unity look like? On the local church level, what does a practical, unified congregation look like? How does that work out?

Unity in Diversity

Unity certainly does not mean exact identity. Of course, on the one hand, we’re all supposed to get along and we ought to display our unity on that level, that we get along with one another in a loving way and all of that. But unity is not just exact identity. What a boring church it would be if everybody did exactly the same thing all the time. That’s not what the church is called to be.

The fact is we come in all varieties. We come with various backgrounds. We come with various talents, various gifts, various interests. And in fact, Paul stresses here that this is exactly what Christ has intended for his church. And in fact, he says with all of our various personalities and varieties and gifts and talents and interests and all of that, his point here throughout this passage is that the unity of the congregation is in fact displayed in its variety of ways through the various gifts and the various interests among the people of the congregation.

So notice, for example, verses six and seven. “There’s one God and Father of all, who’s over all and through all and in all.” Here’s the unity aspect of it: one God for all of us. Verse seven: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Each of us—to each of us has been apportioned a grace, a gift, a measure of service. And so he is saying here that our unity is intended to be displayed in a diversity of functions in the congregation. As each member does his own part, the whole church becomes a well-functioning organism, working together in its unity in a diversity of ways, and it thereby fulfills the purpose of Christ for it. One church, one faith, one purpose, but many people making it up, functioning in different ways.

Now, you’re familiar, of course, with 1 Corinthians chapter 12, where the Apostle Paul describes this in a famously graphic way. He describes the church as the body of Christ and he gets very literal about it in his illustrations. The whole church is not just one eye, or one hand, or one ear. But the church, the body, has to have all of these parts in order for it to function well. Paul talks something like that here, not with that expanded analogy, but he’s dealing with the same kind of thing in verse 7 when he says, to each of us has been apportioned an ability to serve the body. Sovereignly appointed by God from the Lord Jesus himself, each of us given a function in the church. Like a football team, you can’t have all quarterbacks, can’t have all linebackers, can’t have all centers, guards. Not everybody can be a right end, but there are diversity of functions in the congregation.

Now in verses eight to 10, we have the Apostle Paul establishing this in a graphic way with a quote from Psalm 68 and verse 18. Now it’s rather involved, but we’ll just take a moment with it. “Therefore he says, ‘When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and gave gifts to men.'” That’s Psalm 68 verse 18. Now he comments: “In saying ‘he ascended,’ what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above the heavens that he might fill all things.”

Now here he has imagery that’s drawn in part from the practice of ancient kings and generals when they would come back from triumph in a war. In a battle they would come back, of course, with all kinds of booty. There’d be this long triumphal procession and they’d be tossing out gifts to the people along the way. Some of that imagery is evidently involved here. Still today, there’s something reflecting that, not with military triumph, but when a new monarch takes the throne. For example, I understand from people who were there at the time, children at the time when Queen Elizabeth took the throne in England, every schoolboy and every schoolgirl in Britain received a gift marking the occasion of a new monarch taking the throne. Something of that idea is probably lingering in all of this as well.

More than that, there’s some imagery here that’s being used of Mount Sinai, where Moses went up. He ascended Mount Sinai. In fact, the language is also of God ascending, God going up on the mountain with Moses. And Moses coming down from the mountain; Moses going up, receiving the law and coming down and giving the law to the people. All of that seems to be involved here in some ways. And clearly he’s speaking in terms of Christ’s descent into the lower parts of the earth. I don’t think this is to be understood as some have taken it as Christ descending into hell to proclaim victory or something like that. I think it’s the descending to the lower parts which is the earth. It’s speaking of his incarnation and his cross and his empty tomb. Exalted, ascended out of the tomb, ascended to heaven from which he pours out. He receives the spirit and pours out the spirit on his people, giving gifts to men.

So here we have Christ’s intended means by which he fills all things. He gives gifts to men. That’s verse 11—or verse 10: “he who descended is the one who also ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things.” Sovereignly dispensing gifts to each of his citizens. We’re accustomed to thinking of Christ giving his spirit, but here this is more specific: giving his spirit and giving his gifts to his people. And the interesting thing is at the end of verse 10, the purpose cause: “that he might fill all things.” What in the world does that mean? That he might fill all things. I think it probably harks back to Genesis with the command to be fruitful and fill the earth. That becomes, when we get to the New Testament—well, the image of God and man reflecting God’s rule in the earth has been ruined and God has set out to restore it. And throughout the New Testament, we have this command to fill the earth and for the word of God and the gospel to multiply and so on, and God spreading his rule through the earth. And here he does it by means of a gifted church. He has ascended, he has accomplished all of his redemptive work, he has ascended on high, and now in triumph has given these gifts to his people, not only as tokens of his triumph, but as the means by which he will fill the earth.

The Purpose of the Gifts

Well, there are several passages in the New Testament then that talk about spiritual gifts and that give us a list of those spiritual gifts. This is one, but it’s only a brief one. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14, we have some longer lists as well. But here the focus is not on gifts in general, although that is in view throughout. It’s somewhat in view throughout. The focus is on more of the foundational gifts of the church. And we have them listed for us here in verse 11: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.”

Apostles, Christ’s spokesmen, legates, speaking for Christ, personal representatives of Christ, ambassadors of Christ, speaking with his authority. Paul very often saying, “I say to you in the name of Christ, I command you in the name of Christ, I urge you in the name of Christ,” speaking with the authority of Christ. That was the role of the apostle. Prophets, those in that day who were given direct revelation from God on which the church is grounded. We saw that in chapter two in verse 20: “apostles and prophets being the foundation of the church.” Evangelists, those who preach the gospel. Or, I wonder sometime if we understand this word simply with contemporary notions of what a traveling evangelist is, holding campaigns or something like that. I think the word simply indicates those who do gospel work. Virgin evangelism in a new place, evangelism in a settled place, applying the gospel in a local church, doing gospel work is the idea, personally, publicly.

So we have apostles, prophets, evangelists, and then we have another one, pastors and teachers. And there’s been a lot of discussion: is this intended by Paul to be two separate offices—pastors, teachers—or a single office? Pastors and teachers. The definite article, “the,” is used to govern both of them: “the pastors and teachers.” Some have suggested we should translate it, “pastors, even teachers.” Pastors who are teachers, that kind of idea. I’ve gone back and forth on it, but at least five days of the week, my understanding of this is that he is probably not equating the two offices, but what he’s speaking of is some overlap in the offices. All pastors teach, but not all who teach are pastors. And they’re combined, I think, in that kind of a sense. But in either case, the point is of that role in the church that brings the Word of God for the people and so is foundational in that it builds the church up, grounds it in its understanding of the teaching of Scripture.

Now Paul teaches in verse 7 that each of us has a spiritual gift. Each of us has been apportioned a gift, a measure of grace from Christ. He speaks of that in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Some are an ear, some are an eye, some are a hand, whatever. Each one is important in its own way. And in verses 12 and following, in fact, Paul will pick up on that idea again. But the focus of it all and governing it all are these particular gifts in verse 11 that serve in a foundational kind of role for the church, equipping the church for ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, those who minister the word of God. And there’s a priority of some sort given to them. Paul speaks of that in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. First of all, there’s given—first of all, and not necessarily in chronological order, but first in terms of importance—apostles, prophets, teachers, and so on, because they serve this foundational capacity in building the church up in its understanding of scripture.

So Paul says, these are Christ’s gift to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These are Christ’s gift to the church. If I may be so bold, your pastors are gifts from Christ to you. Now, in fact, each one of us is a gift of Christ to the church, right? And of course he says that in verse seven. But here he’s focusing on those who teach in the congregation and what makes them so essential in verse 11. What makes them so essential is what he explains in verses 12 to 16. And here we have a long, complex sentence to explain the purpose of these gifts in the congregation.

Let’s read through it one more time. These are given “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” There’s the purpose: to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. And then he elaborates: “until we all attain unto the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Paul is known for some long sentences, especially in Ephesians, and this is one. So the purpose of these gifts, what makes them so essential is that it is to equip the saints, verse 12, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Now again, there’s been a lot of discussion. How do we understand verse 12 completely? “To equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” Are these three separate purposes that these gifts were given: one, to equip the saints; two, for the work of ministry; three, for the building up of the body of Christ? Or should we understand it as: these gifts were given to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ? And I think that’s the right reading here. He has a change of prepositions, and I think that’s the sense of it. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for what purpose? To equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. Their purpose is to build up the saints so that in turn the entire body becomes this self-replicating body building itself up in the faith. And behind it all are these apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers equipping the church for exactly that.

So the first description, the first job description for a pastor that he says here is a theological one, a teaching one. It’s not to entertain, it’s not to rubber-stamp each next idea that comes along. The first job description is that of a teacher building up the church in its understanding both of its faith and of its responsibilities. The purpose of the pastor-teacher then, he says, is to equip the church in what ways? Well, verse 12, he tells us generally: “for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.” And then verse 13: “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood.”

To the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. So the unity—this is interesting here, I think—that the unity of the church that Paul is pressing on us here in this passage is first of all a theological unity, a unity of the faith, which must mean a unity and understanding of the faith. He tells us in verses 4–6 that this unity exists already, and now he’s telling us we’re to pursue this unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. So he must be speaking in terms of an accurate and increasingly thorough understanding of Christian teaching—the person and work of Christ, its implications for life, how it is to be reflected in our daily lives, and so on.

This is the purpose of the office: to teach and to build up the saints until we all attain this unity of knowledge and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Again, I think it’s interesting that this is listed as the first purpose of the pastors and teachers. The ideal today, of course, is to play down teaching, to play down doctrine, because doctrine divides. “Can’t we just forget all that doctrine and just get along and serve Christ together?” What Paul is saying here is, here’s what shapes our serving of Christ together. There must be this teaching to undergird and drive and shape all of it.

Now, in a sense, Paul here is telling us what he prayed back in chapter 3 verses 14 and following, when he prayed that we would all come to this greater understanding of the love of Christ so that that in turn would shape us to be what God has called us to be. That’s the idea here as well. A growing knowledge of Christian truth has the effect of growing the church to be what God has called it to be. Now it’s not automatic, of course. There are plenty of unregenerate people who know their Bibles. You can’t just say you’ll read your Bible and you’ll be a holy person. It doesn’t work that automatically. It has to be mixed with faith. There must be a diligence in cultivating godliness and so on. But still, this is the stuff that God uses to build his people up in the faith. And this, he says, is the calling of the pastors and teachers in the congregation.

In verse 14, he describes this growing maturity in terms of stability: “so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness and deceitful schemes.” He’s speaking there, of course, in terms of ignorance of biblical teaching, Christian truth, which leads to instability and each new idea that comes along—”Oh, I wonder if we should do that? Oh, we should do that.” No, Paul says we want them built up in the faith so that they’re understanding and in fact discerning, so that the people of the congregation and the congregation corporately have a stability about it. They’re not tossed back and forth with each new idea that comes down the pike.

Now there are a lot of churches like that. Each new idea that society blows by, they’re blown with it and they take it. And there’s no sense of discernment and discretion because of the lack of teaching. And Paul says, this is what the office is for. And this is the kind of maturity on a corporate level that the Apostle Paul is after in the congregation. Now, of course, there will always be people of every level. Hopefully people coming to Christ are new in the congregation all the time, but what we’re aiming for is to have the church corporately considered mature, stable, so it’s not blown back and forth by every next idea. Part of walking worthy of our calling, part of walking worthy of the gospel on a corporate level, is the stability of the congregation in its understanding of biblical teaching, both in terms of the faith we profess and the life we are to live.

I remember back—was it 2007, 2008, whenever it was—when you all were considering bringing me on as a pastor here at the church. You had a congregational meeting. I wasn’t in attendance at it. It was so that all of you could speak freely and of course and all of that. I remember hearing about it afterwards that some of the men in particular wanted to raise some questions about what did I believe about this and what I believe about that. I remember hearing about it afterwards, the level of questions that were being asked examining my theology and so on. What a wonderful church to have men in—not just the pastors, but have other men in the congregation who are able to ask that kind of question. I’m glad, of course, that you found me okay. But what a great thing that the congregation has men like that to give that kind of stability to the congregation as a whole. That is a gift from God. It’s an evidence of a wonderful ministry here over the years. It’s an indication of God’s blessing. I might say along with that, a little word of exhortation to you younger men: these older guys aren’t going to be with us forever. In fact, Pastor Boyd and Pastor Greg and Pastor Fred won’t be here forever. And there must be this—and this is what Paul is after here—on the part of the congregation as a whole, a growing stability, a growing understanding of Christian teaching and how it applies in every area so that the church is made stable.

He gives that contrast then in verse 15: “Rather”—that is, rather than being tossed about by waves and winds—verse 15, “rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” Now this is important. Keep in mind he’s just speaking in summary words here, but notice how he summarizes it: “Speaking the truth in love.” Rather than being this congregation that lacks understanding and is blown here and there by every next idea that comes along, rather than being like that, we are a congregation who is characterized by speaking the truth in love.

Now you’ve got to have both. You’ve got to have both. This is extremely important in what Paul is pushing for in the ideal for a church. Not just some jellyfish idea of love that just naively accepts anything that comes along, but neither is a kind of “we have the truth” mentality that’s harsh and offensive, but rather speaking the truth, committed to it, speaking the truth in love. That is to say, neither minimizing truth for some mistaken idea of love, but neither is it exalting truth at the expense of love. It is speaking the truth in love. Both are essential: truth and love. And this is the goal to which he calls our congregation.

Now, isn’t that a wonderful ideal, just summarized so well? Here’s a congregation, committed, understanding of the truth, committed to it, speaking the truth in love. That’s a wonderful picture of the church: a body of people, corporately considered, from various backgrounds, all with various imperfections, all with varieties of sins behind them, but all redeemed by Christ in the process of being transformed by Christ, growing in our understanding of the Christian teaching and showing it in the way we live and the way we relate to one another. That, in a nutshell, he says, is what God has called us to. And this, he says, is why he has gifted the church as he has. He’s given us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, to the building up of the body of Christ, so that all—how do you say it—from top to bottom, from inside out, all ministering to the whole, to make the church what God has called it to be.

So again, in a sense, Paul is calling us to what he’s already said in his prayer in chapter three, verses 14 and following, that through this Christian teaching, we are being shaped. And this, he says now, is why the Lord Jesus has given us these gifts that he’s given to us.

Two Quick Takeaways

All right, we’ve worked our way through the passage. Let’s have just two quick takeaways from the passage before we go. What can we take away from this passage? Two things quickly. I’ll state them quickly and then I’ll just elaborate a little.

Number one: we learn here what you ought to look for and expect from your church. Number two: what the church ought to expect from you.

First of all, what you ought to look for and expect from the church. There is something right about that idea of expecting or of asking, “What does the church have to offer me?” That’s been criticized a lot, especially in recent decades. “You shouldn’t have such a selfish attitude toward church. What does the church have for me?” There’s something right about asking that. If—if in asking that you are thinking of in terms of verse 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Is this a church where we have gifted people teaching the word of God, shaping it so that the congregation itself ministers to itself in love, building up the body? You ought to be able to expect that from the congregation. That’s what it’s supposed to be.

I think I read this illustration, I think in one of the Nine Marks books. I’ve given it to my students in school as well, teaching courses on ministry and so on. And I think it just hits the nail on the head to focus on what the church is supposed to be. He says, “All right, what do you have in your church? Let’s look at it all. You’ve got your children’s programs, you’ve got your youth programs, you’ve got your senior citizens programs, and you’ve got your drums, and you’ve got your guitars, and you’ve got your piano, and your organ, and you’ve got the keyboards, and you’ve got the nice comfortable chairs, and you’ve got the carpet, and you’ve got the building, and a whole lot of other things.” And he gives a kind of a challenge. He says, “Let’s take it all away. Take away the children’s ministries, focused ministries like that, youth ministries, seniors ministry, take them away. Take away the chairs, take away the carpet, let’s take away the whole building. Let’s take away everything. All you got is a bunch of people standing in a field with a Bible. Do you have enough to have church?”

Yeah, you do. You’ve got a book, you’ve got a message. Okay, now we can go back and we can plug back in anything we want. Plug back in children’s ministry, youth ministry, whatever you want, so long as—and only so long as—it serves that purpose. That’s what the church is about. It’s got a message to proclaim, to work into our minds and our hearts so that it shapes our lives. And insofar as any of those things augment that purpose, bring them back. But bring them back with that clear understanding. So again, I think there’s something very right about asking, “What does the church have to offer me?” if we are thinking in terms of verses 11 and following.

But—and here’s our second point—if I could borrow maybe a line from John F. Kennedy: ask not what your church can do for you; ask what you can do for your church. That’s implicit all through this passage. The congregation building itself up in love—look how he says it again in verse 16: “from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” How can I contribute to the growth of this body? In what way can I contribute? Influence. This ministry might be teaching, might be serving in other capacities, prayer, but in some ways building the body up in love. It might be mutual edification. It might be older parents helping younger parents: “This is how you bring up a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” It might be in evangelism. It might be in mentoring another younger Christian. But the church building itself up in love.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is known as one of Paul’s church epistles, and you can see why. It’s a wonderful ideal that he has for the church, isn’t it? Just a beautiful picture. Here you’ve got this well-equipped church, everyone gifted in his own way, and you’ve got those teaching ministries in a foundational way leading the church in its understanding, so the whole church is working in ministry to one another, so in the end you have a congregation that is marked by understanding of Christian teaching, stability in it, discerning, committed to it, speaking the truth, but speaking the truth in love and ministering to one another so that that is perpetuating throughout the congregation.

Well, this is what the church is called to be. That’s the shaping ideal to which we are to strive in this congregation. We pray the Lord will have it so. Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, what you have given us here in your word as what we are to be before you as a congregation is an attractive thing. Pray that you will help us to shape our thinking by this. Give us a greater concern and a more diligent pursuit of truth and of love so that we will reflect Christ more faithfully here until he comes. We pray in his name.