April 11

Equipped for Ministry

        The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 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. 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.  But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.

Ephesians 4:11-16

           

            Apostles.  Prophets.  Evangelists.  Pastors.  Teachers.  According to Scripture, God calls individuals into these positions of leadership and influence for a specific purpose: equipping the Body of Christ…helping believers grow into maturity.  They ae not called into leadership in order to build themselves up, but to build up others.  They are not called into leadership in order to stand on the top rung of the ladder of achievement, but to help lift others above themselves.  The entire purpose of biblical leadership is to give others the tools to be ministers to this world.  Biblical leadership is not about power and status and authority and leading the forces of light into a battle with the darkness of the world.  It is helping the lay membership grow in wisdom and understanding of God, bringing them to Jesus so that He can free them from the burdens that they carry throughout life.  The apostle/prophet/evangelist/ pastor/teacher does not look to hold on to power and positional authority…their goal is to help those that they serve mature beyond them in order to have a healthy body of Christ.

            We understand this as parents.  We lead our children in exercises and therapies and we push them to grow and develop and mature.  We do these things not so we can have devoted minions who worship and adore us; we do these things so that our beloved will grow into maturity, fully able to survive and thrive in this world.  Parenting is not a vocation for people looking to feed their ego…ministry should not be either.  It is about working towards the growth and development of others with the goal being that they will not need you at some point in the future.  To quote Yoda from the most recent Star Wars movie, “We are what they grow beyond.  That is the true burden of all masters.”

            For us to succeed, we need wisdom in where to push and where to pause.  We need vision for where our children could go and what they could become.  We need strength of character to teach them right from wrong and healthy from deadly.  We need hope that God will continue to take care of them.  We need foresight to put resources into their lives that will allow them to succeed after we are gone.  We need an identity that is more than just “I am a special needs parent,” or else we will feverishly cling to them and never allow them to grow.  We need…we need so much. 

            God has called us into this place for this mission of building up our children and what God calls people into, He equips them for.  You have access to what you need…all of it.  Step into that calling with boldness and humility.

           

A moment to reflect:

How can you build up your child this week?  This month?  This year?