Ephesians 4:10-11: Ministry Incubators

Stop fighting! While we often think of the grand themes of the New Testament, many of the concerns expressed were those of concerned pastors. A random sampling of chapters in the letters written to churches finds that the 1st century church struggled with unity as much as the 21st century church. From the factions of the church in Corinth to the two women who won't get along in Philippi, Paul was always urging his flock to get along. Not just to tolerate each other, but to create that community of brothers and sisters that God sent his son to create.

In Ephesians, Paul returns to this theme of unity, as he has so many times elsewhere with one of his strongest statements:

"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." - Ephesians 4:4-6

Get along. You are in this together. Whatever your differences, you share these things: your salvation, your hope, your participation in the church (Christ's body), your baptism, the Spirit and, of course, God the Father.

But then Paul's direction changes for a moment, as he addresses the question of what to do with all of the variety in the church. What to do with the fact we are all sort of strange ducks, piled together from every generation, job description, social standing and ethnic background, into the church together. He's not going to answer the question fully here, but Paul does gives a striking idea: God makes us more diverse. But he does it with a purpose.

As different as we all are in coming into the church, God stretches it further by the gifts that he gives.

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." - Ephesians 4:7-8

Drawing from the Old Testament imagery of YHWH returning triumphantly to Zion from Psalm 68, Paul shows the Messiah as the victor. But whereas the victor received gifts in the passage in Psalms 68:18, here Paul shows the Messiah giving gifts.

The Messiah Jesus gives gifts, and some of the gifts that Paul singles out are those that we would typically consider leadership positions: apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor/teachers.

"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.." - Ephesians
4:11-12

What do we do with the diversity? Well, here's the outline of Paul's thought: Folks with different sorts of talents should encourage service. This service leads to the building up of people. That building up has a goal: unity and maturity.

Here are the two ideas that really struck me when I read these again recently:

1. Gifted people are placed there to be ministry enablers. The church is a ministry incubator. It is a ministry launcher where people are set up to serve from a supportive home base.
2. Serving is the path to togetherness and maturity. It is not just the sideshow, it is the main attraction when it comes to moving people forward in their Christian walk.

Pastors are not called to light a bigger camp fire. They are called to light a bigger rocket. The church is the home of the nurturing, encouraging, challenging voices that urge us all on to greater acts of service. That service moves us together closer to what God's people are supposed to look like.

More on this next time, as we look more closely as what this emphasis on service really looks like.