The Heart of Ministry

Exeter Temple Message notes

Sunday 31^st August 2014

Ephesians 4:1-16 give some of the principles of ministry within the church of Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                  

 1. Equality Inclusion and Diversity                                                                          

Equality is about making sure everyone is treated fairly and given opportunities.

Inclusion is about ensuring that people are able to feel a sense of belonging and given levels of supportive energy and commitment from others so than a person can do their best.
Diversity is about recognising, respecting and valuing individual differences.
These are words which are in popular use in our society and which government legislation insist are taken seriously but they are not just a modern idea.

Ephesians 4:4-7 “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.”

The same passage in the Message translation says, “You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each one of us is given his own gift.”

v 11 and 12 focuses on diversity.

He says that Jesus 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 service.”

It was never God’s intention for one individual person to meet all of a congregations needs. Jesus has given every one of us spiritual gifts that God has designed for the express purpose of building a team that will help the church to fulfil its purpose in the world. 
J. H. Newman says, “God has created me, to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing; I shall do good and I shall do his work. Therefore, I will trust him; whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away.”

2. Equipping                                                                                                                                                       Paul paints a glorious picture of a people living in equality and diversity where everyone can feel included.                                                                                                                                                                  v 16 “From him (that is Christ) the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

It is a description that evokes an image of a body in great condition such as that of an athlete.  But Paul is also a realist. This picture of the church is something that needs effort to attain.

v 3 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit

v 12 recognises that there is a process that has to take place for the body of Christ to even get to the possibility of health and growth.

The phrase “prepare God’s people for works of service” in some translations says “equip God’s people for works of service

Equipping was originally a term that was used for the setting of bones which had become dislocated. When bones are dislocated, the particular limb to which they belong is not perfect. So the idea in the word used by the Apostle is that these different parts and portions of the body [you and me] should be put into the right alignment, should be properly adjusted, and that each one should be fully developed”

In the Church we are sometimes out of alignment with one another for a number of reasons.

a) Individualism

The gifts of the Spirit are personal, but they are not intended to be private.                                           
“God gave me a gift, not for me but for you, and God gave you a gift, not for you but for me. If you don’t use your gift, you’re depriving me; if I don’t use my gift, I’m robbing you.” 

Rick Warren                                                                                                                                                                    Individualism focusses only on what affects me and not on the fact that we belong to something bigger than our needs and our little corner of the world but this is very short sighted.

b) Ignorance

“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant,
1 Corinthians 12:1                                                                                                                  

A person may never have grasped the teaching of the New Testament that they have a ministry and they may feel they just don’t know how to go about discovering their spiritual gifts, how to identify their passion and use their natural talents and life experience in God’s service.  At the same time the church may never have offered teaching on the subject, may have assumed that lack of involvement was disinterest and never bothered to help them find their place.

c) Intimidation                                                                                                                             

Intimidation by those who see wider participation of others in the church as threatening may happen but more often people hold back from ministry because they believe the lie that to put ourselves forward or to admit that we actually might be good at something is to be arrogant, pushy or pretentious.  Romans 12:3 tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to but is immediately followed by the affirmation that we all have different gifts and we should use them.

3. End result              

v13a  We achieve unity.
Paul talks about reaching unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. When a church operates “every member ministry” for one purpose, for our one God there is a huge sense of “we are all in this together” that unites us and binds us together.

v13b  We achieve healthy growth

“And become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Nothing helps you grow as a Christian like service.  Nothing makes your trust God more than when you know that what you do matters to the kingdom and to the life of another. The sense of responsibility teaches you to lean on God and when we lean on God our faith grows. 

It is also true that churches where everyone can develop in ministry are more likely to grow numerically. 

Thom Rainer was intrigued by a problem he kept coming across in American churches.  These churches seemed to be able to attract new people but found that they lost as many people out of the back door as it were as they got in at the front. He did a particular study of a hundred churches and wrote a book called High Expectations. The main discovery he made was that one of the marks of a healthy church was that they successfully not only attracted new members but did a good job of keeping them. In every case they did this because they had high expectations of them. They expected and encouraged their active involvement in the life of the church. They discovered the truth that if a church is not providing opportunities for our members to serve it stifles that member’s spiritual growth and they become frustrated and leave feeling that they are not really wanted or needed.

4. We achieve stability

What is the one thing you need in a hurricane or storm?  It is an anchor. Paul says that unity and maturity lead to stability.
Verse 14 “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 cunning and craftiness of men  in their deceitful scheming.”
There are dangers in encouraging everyone to find a ministry they can get involved in. Too often jealousy has arises because people have been given opportunities that others thought they should have had. Sometimes people have seen some areas of ministry as more important than others. but despite the difficulties, if the purpose of the gifts is to build up the church and equip it to become mature and complete, then each of us have a responsibility to find out in what ways we have been gifted so that we will become a productive part of the body of Christ. We help to build up others and at the same time they help to build us up.
What is reassuring is that the Lord has not left the Church to generate its own resources. From the moment of his ascension into heaven he did not expect his followers to go it alone.
The Holy Spirit is able to fill each believer and every Christian community with power so that they can become channels to fulfil God’s will. 

God bless
Alan