The Church in the New Testament
In my previous post (“A Megachurch in Jerusalem?“), I concluded that Acts 2:46 cannot be used to justify a meeting of a large group of believers. In other words, Acts 2:46 does not indicate that 3000 believers in Jerusalem met together for a “worship service and sermon.”
But, I honestly don’t care how many people meet together as the church. Whether there are 2 brothers or sisters who meet together or 20,000 brothers or sisters who meet together, the number of people meeting is not the issue. There are many more important questions besides how many believers should meet together as the church.
For example, why should the church meet together? This question considers the purpose of the church assembling. Paul tells us that whenever the church gets together and whatever is done, everything should be done for the purpose of edification (1 Cor 14:26). Similarly, the author of Hebrews (Paul again?) says that believers get together in order to provoke one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24-25).
Importantly, the purpose is not for the individuals of the church to be separately edified. Instead, the purpose of the church assembling is for the church as a whole to be mutually built up. Unfortunately, mutuality is lacking in many church meetings, whether large or small.
When we look at the New Testament descriptions of church meetings, we see the church taking part in certain activities.
What activity does the church take part in most often? Meals. That’s right. In almost every instance when the church meets together in the New Testament, they are sharing meals together (Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1 Cor 11:20-21; Jude 12). In fact, the “theological” problem surrounding the Lord’s Supper which Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 11:18-34 concerns HOW they are eating together, not what they believe about the elements themselves. Eating together was extremely important to the early church. Unfortunately, meals have not been given the same importance in much of the church today, whether “large” churches or “small” churches.
Believe it or not, you also find discussion in the church meetings in the New Testament. Interestingly, in Acts 19:8-9, we see Paul using the same method to teach disciples in the School of Tyrannus that he used to teach the Jews in the synagogue. The verb used is one that conveys the idea of dialog or discussion. In fact, this same verb is used to describe what Paul did “until midnight” when conversing with the church in Troas (Acts 20:7-11).
Also, just as interestingly, you will not find anyone lecturing the church in the New Testament. Similarly, neither the verbs “preach” or “evangelize” are used to indicate what happened when the church met. Instead, we see several people taking part in speaking and serving when the church met (Acts 13:1; 15:32; 1 Cor 14:26-40). This observation corresponds with the biblical idea that the church grows and God is glorified when the whole church works together through both speaking and serving (Eph 4:16; 1 Pet 4:10-11).
The idea of discussion or dialog has also lost its place in the church meeting. Whether the meetings contains only a few believers or many believers, usually only one or two trained speakers are allowed to take part in teaching. This is not the kind of teaching that we find in the New Testament.
We also find the church giving to those who are in need, both individually (James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:16-18) and corporately (Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor 16:1-2). In fact, the only examples of corporate contributions in the New Testament are taken up for others who are in physical need. Unfortunately, for many individual Christians and church groups, the needy are placed near the bottom of the list when it comes to contributions.
Of course, there are many other things that could be said about church meetings in the New Testament. For example, on a positive side, the church did meet to pray. On a negative side, we don’t see any examples of modern day “worship times” with “worship ministers,” “choirs,” or “worship bands.”
Now, certainly, there is nothing wrong with choirs or worship bands. There is nothing wrong with someone choosing some songs to sing. Unless, of course, these practices take the place of what we do find in Scripture – the believers coming to the church meeting with a song for the group to sing (1 Cor 14:26).
There is nothing wrong with a lecture (“sermon”). In fact, some people can learn from a lecture. However, there is a problem when the lecture replaces any other types of speaking and/or teaching.
Thus, the purpose of my previous post (“A Megachurch in Jerusalem?“) and this post is not to say that all of these things are wrong, just as it is not wrong for 3000 Christians to meet together.
Instead, I encourage all churches to consider what they are doing and compare that to Scripture. If you are doing things that are not even described in Scripture… why? If you are not doing things that are described or prescribed in Scripture… why not?
Why focus on things that may be allowed by Scripture while ignoring things that are modeled for us in Scripture?
If Scripture is important to us for our beliefs, why not for our practices?
Attendees or Ministers?
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post called “Attendees or Ministers?” There is problem in the contemporary church (although the problem is not a recent church). In general, we consider some to be ministers while others are not considered ministers. Minister simply means servant. The two words are completely interchangeable. It is interesting reading through the NT and seeing where the translators decided to use “minister” and where they decided to use “servant.” This decision says more about our contemporary mis-understanding of “ministry” than it says about the underlying text.
Are you a child of God? If you are, then you are a minister.
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Recently, a friend of Jeremy’s (my son) used a word that I had not heard before: Chreaster. Apparently, a Chreaster is someone who attends church meetings on special holidays like Christmas and Easter, thus “Chreaster”. In a recent article about Chreasters, a reporter comments:
The usual response of church leaders is, “Oh, well, at least they get it right twice a year.”
I understand his comment, and I agree that this is probably the usual response of many church leaders. Many are excited to have extra attendees on special holidays, and most would admit that its better for people to attend twice a year than never attend at all.
However, I think this response reveals a mistaken understanding of the church meeting – assigning a sacramental value to merely attending a church meeting. In fact, I would suggest that there is very little value in merely attending any and every church meeting, even if someone attending every church meeting held during the year.
Yes, I realize that this is a broad and general statement. But, if our goal is for people to merely gather together, to listen and sing along to some songs and to listen to a sermon, then Chreasters and even regular attendees meet our goal.
But, if our purpose in meeting together is edification, then attendance at a meeting does not accomplish that goal. Instead of attenders, we should desire to see our meetings filled with servants (ministers) who use their spiritual gifts in order to build up one another and help one another grow in maturity toward Jesus Christ – whether there are two servants present or more. Attendance is not our purpose. Edification must be our purpose. (See my post “But I have perfect attendance…“.)
As I was thinking about the difference between attendance and mutual ministry, I remembered this passage from Peter O’Brien’s commentary The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series. In this passage, O’Brien is discussing Ephesians 4:7-16, specifically vs 12-13, and the difference between the “special ministers” of 4:11 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers) and other “ministers”:
[T]he letter as a whole has emphasized Christ’s riches being received by all the saints (1:3; 3:20), while the immediate context of vv. 7-16 is framed by an insistence at the beginning of the paragraph that each believer was given ‘grace’ (v. 7), and at its conclusion that the whole body is growing from the head as each part (v. 16) does its work. If it is only the leaders of v. 11 who perfect the saints, do the work of ministry, and edify the body of Christ, then this is a departure from Paul’s usual insistence that every member is equipped for ministry. It is better, therefore, to regard those enumerated in v. 11 as helping and directing other members of the church so that all may carry out their several ministries for the good of the whole. (pg. 301, emphasis in original)
Thus, we can have as many attenders as we like, but they do nothing to edify the body. What we need, instead, are those who are willing to spend the time, energy, and preparation necessary to know others, to serve others, to help others, to teach others, to guide others, to speak to others, etc.
There are certainly times when I gather with the church in which I have nothing to say and nothing to do to serve others. This happens occasionally. There are times when God brings me together with other believers because I need to be served. However, if this happens week after week, month after month, year after year… there is something wrong. God brings me together with other believers to benefit them, not only for my own benefit and certainly not to simply attend a meeting.
Helping Chreasters become regular attenders may be good, but it is not the goal. Instead, we should help all believers use their gifts and give all believers opportunity to use their gifts to build up others during the meeting of the church. God does not call together attendees; he calls together ministers.
Church Life #2
This series is about our life with the church as we attempt to live together as brothers and sisters. (For a more detailed description of this series, see my post “Church Life – A New Series.”)
Monday: Monday was Labor Day. Sunday evening, our friends the Carpenters came to town to spend a couple of days with us. Eric was one of our original elders before his family moved to India. We went out for pizza for lunch, then to a local coffee house. While we were at the coffee house, we ran into Jonathan. We invited him to our house that evening for hamburgers and hot dogs. Jonathan said he would invite a neighbor who had met with us for the first time Sunday morning.
Monday evening, our friends the Henrys and Jonathan and his neighbor John joined us and the Carpenters at our house for dinner. We played games and talked until late.
Wednesday: In this series, I primarily list my interactions with other believers. But, there are many daily interactions among the church which neither I nor my family are involved with. For example, on Wednesday evening, a group of our friends get together for fellowship and Bible study. For the last month or two, this group has been spending their Wednesday evenings helping our friends the Disseaus work on their house. Since the Disseaus moved earlier in the week, this group resumed their normal Wednesday night get together. This week they started by talking about elders, since we are in the process of recognizing additional elders among the church. Then they spent the remainder of the evening playing games and enjoying ones another’s company.
Thursday: I had lunch with my friend Geth on Thursday. Last Spring, Geth and I had lunch together almost every week. We got out of the habit over the summer because he decided to travel to Scotland without me. (I’m pouting, but only slightly.) We always have a great time together, talking about life and marriage and Scripture and faith and anything else that comes up. I also like to talk to Geth about his work teaching in prisons.
Thursday night, our family and the Henry family went to the Disseau’s house to clean. They left for Texas earlier in the week. We told them that we would clean their house so they wouldn’t have to do it and they could leave earlier. While we were there, two of our friends dropped by: Katie and Laurel. They had each worked hard over the last couple of months helping the Disseaus get their house ready.
Friday: Friday evening, we had one of the most fun times we’ve ever had in downtown Wake Forest, thanks to the Wake Forest Coffee Company and our friends Danny, Adam, and Jonathan (and Danny’s guitar student Sam). Danny, Adam, and Jonathan played together outside the coffee shop while many, many people milled around and talked while listening to the music. I’ve heard about several awesome conversations that went on during sets which included Joe Satriani and Stevie Ray Vaughn songs among others.
Saturday: Saturday morning, Margaret and Miranda volunteered to help at a rabies clinic put on by the Franklin County Humane Society. They were able to have lunch with other volunteers afterward, and Margaret even found out that her waitress had a medical need. We hope to go back to the restaurant to talk to her again.
While they were at the rabies clinic, Jeremy and I spent some time in “The Neighborhood.” It was a beautiful day, and we were able to talk to one of the neighbors outside. Unfortunately, one of the ladies who has been having health problems was taking her bath, so we were not able to talk to her. Also, when we went by the nursing home, Ms. Jennie was out with someone for the day. We’ve missed her two weeks in a row now.
Saturday afternoon, Jeremy, Miranda, and I went to the apartment of our friends Jason and Ryan. They were hosting a brother from South Africa. Several other brothers and sisters were there as well. After spending a couple of hours eating together and getting to know this brother, he told us about how he and his family serve some children in a neighboring village. He doesn’t run a huge ministry. They’re just a family serving God and others where they are.
Sunday: We met for our scheduled weekly meeting Sunday morning. This week, the songs that the church chose were more recent songs, but still very relevant to who we are as the children of God. “Ancient of Days” and “How Great is Our God” stands out. After we sang the latter song, several people praised God for his blessings during the previous week.
I was scheduled to teach that morning, so I taught from Matthew 22:15-22. (We are studying Matthew together.) We started by focusing on “giving back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”, but we ended by discussing how we can “give back to God the things that are God’s.” Again, there was a great discussion about this passage. I’m always encouraged when I’m scheduled the teach, but the church teaches me as well.
As normal, we ate lunch together. Jeremy wanted pizza, so we picked up some pizza, while other brothers and sisters picked up subs, and others had brought their food with them. At one point, I was greatly challenged by a brother who was talking about struggles and trials. I tend to get angry during trials, but James encourages us to “Rejoice!” I’m not there yet, and I thank God for brothers and sisters who can exhort me (and others) toward a life of joy in spite of our circumstances. (Oh… the pizza was good too.)
Church Life #1
This series is about our life with the church as we attempt to live together as brothers and sisters. (For a more detailed description of this series, see my post “Church Life – A New Series.”)
Tuesday: (It could have been Wednesday.) My friend Danny sent me an email Tuesday morning asking about Luther’s “The German Mass and Order of Divine Service.” We had talked about it some the Sunday before, and Danny wanted to read a copy. I had just finished writing another post about Luther’s essay (see “Luther on Making Decisions for the Church“) so I sent Danny a link and printed a copy for him. I also met him for lunch. We went through Luther’s essay and noticed how Luther wanted to meet together with those who were truly Christians (his words, not mine). It was great comparing Luther’s thoughts to our own thoughts about the church.
Wednesday: Wednesday night, Margaret made dinner for our friends the Disseaus. They were in the last few days of prepping their house so that they can move to Dallas. After dinner, we did some electrical work for them in order to help with their house. We were not the only people helping them. Several friends from the church came over to the Disseaus house that night to help.
Friday: I had lunch with a great couple (J. and C.) who wanted to talk to me about the church. We talked about the church as family, and how living as brothers and sisters should affect everything that we do – yes, Sunday morning, but not just on Sunday morning.
Friday night, we had dinner with our friends Jim and Kirstie. We talked for so long that the waitress had to tell us that the restaurant was closed.
Saturday: Margaret and I took our children to a birthday party, then the two of us went to visit our friends in “The Neighborhood.” We were able to give our friend T. a Bible that she could read. She had been having trouble reading (small print) and understanding (KJV) her Bible. (She called me the next day to say that she had read her new Bible and could understand it! She was so excited!)
Saturday afternoon, we all went back to the Disseaus house to help out a little more. I was able to finish some of the electrical work that needed to be done, and we started (continued?) saying goodbye to them.
On our way home from the Disseaus, we stopped by one of our favorite places: Wake Forest Coffee Company. Our friend Danny was playing guitar and singing. We were able to talk with him and J. and C. (from my lunch Friday) before his set.
Sunday: Sunday morning, the church started gathering together at our meeting place around 10:30 a.m. We talked with one another for about 15 minutes as more people arrived before we started our meeting. We sang the song “I (We) Exalt Thee” as everyone found a place to sit. (Our chairs are arranged in two circles, generally.)
I began by reading from Ephesians 4 and praying. Jason played guitar and led us in singing “You are Holy (Prince of Peace).” Later he also chose the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” He also asked the church to select songs that they wanted to sing. I remember that we sang “A Mighty Fortress” and “The Old Rugged Cross” among others.
Danny taught from Matthew 22:1-14 – the parable of the wedding banquet. Since the previous two weeks we studied two other parables that dealt with Jesus taking the kingdom from the Jews, Danny focused on the last few verses (11-14) which deal with the man without wedding clothes who the king kicked out. He compared this to the parable of the wheat and tares. We talked about how we will never knew who is actually part of the kingdom and who is not, but the king always knows, and he will separate us out in the end times. This led to a great discussion about how we treat two different types of people: 1) those who profess to be believers but live immoral lives, and 2) those who do not profess to be believers. Other passages we brought up, such as 1 Corinthians 5.
After our discussion about Matthew 22:1-14, several brothers and sisters shared prayer requests, and we prayed for them. We made a few announcements and dismissed. During this time, we talked with one another, and some left for home or other obligations. Others stayed and ate lunch together. Some brought their lunch while others went to local fast food restaurants to pick up something to eat.
That evening, our family returned to the Disseaus to help them one last time before they left for Texas. Some good friends of ours (the Carpenters) were coming into town to spend a couple of nights with us. So, when they arrived, we went to our house to talk for a little while before bed time. (I’ll tell more about our time with the Carpenters next week.)
Church Life – A New Series
Often, I meet with people who have questions about the church. We talk about Scripture, and living as community in Christ, and leadership as service without someone “in charge,” and giving to those in need instead of “tithing to the church,” and church meetings where several speak or discuss or share.
Eventually, when talking with people about these things, someone usually says, “But, what does this look like?” or “How would this work?”
In other words, even if our understanding of the church begins to change, it is still difficult to know how it “works” without seeing it in action. We’ve seen the traditional church structures and organizations for so long that we can’t imagine something different.
But, I always have difficulty describing “how it works” in our case – that is, in the case of the church that we meet with. You see, when people asks, “How does that work?” they are usually wondering about the Sunday church meeting (what most Christians call the “worship service.”) Most Christians have a difficult time understanding how they can meet with other believers as the church without a music service, a pastor’s sermon, and a tithe to hold it all together. How can we have a “worship service” without someone “in charge”?
However, if I tried to describe our Sunday meeting, and only described our Sunday meeting, then I would be doing a disservice to Messiah Baptist Church and to my readers. Why? Because our Sunday church meeting is only a small part of who we are as the church. Sunday is only one day out of the week. The Sunday meeting is only one meeting between believers of several meetings during the week – either planned or spontaneous.
So, this series will help explain how we live life as the church… how we share our lives with one another. Certainly, I will not be able to talk about everything. But, hopefully, this will give my readers an idea of how we are trying to live together as brothers and sisters – not just in name, but in identity and reality.
No, I do not think we are perfect. Yes, we have problems. But, I’m hoping this series will be an encouragement to other followers of Jesus Christ to live in community with others.
I also encourage you to share stories (in the comments, or email them to me) about how you are living together as brothers and sisters with the church.
But they’re just kids
Last Friday evening, my family took part in “game night”. What is “game night”? Well, about once a month, some friends of ours invite people to their house for fun, food, and games. They started by inviting their daughter’s friends. They invited their daughter’s friends who meet with them together as the church, and they invited their daughter’s friends from Tae Kwon Do, and they invited their daughter’s friends from homeschool co-op. Then, their daughter’s friends invited other friends. And those friends invited other friends. Each month when the boys and girls (ages from around 8-9 through 17-18) get together, there are always new faces.
So, last Friday, it was time for another game night. Since adults are always invited and welcomed to stay and take part, we decided to hang out with the young people this time. We played outside games until it started raining – egg toss (the egg broke when I tried to catch it, but I think this particular egg must have had a thin shell), basketball, some kind of game where I think the purpose was to get wet – or to get other people wet.
When we went inside, we played other games. We played mafia (a new game for me, but I ended up being in the mafia… oh yeah), and signs, and a few other games. At one point, my friend called all the boys and girls and adults together to talk to them for a few minutes and to ask for prayer requests.
As I saw all the young people sitting around their living room, I realized something. Some of these boys and girls are followers of Jesus Christ… they are Christians. This means that these boys and girls are my brothers and sisters in Christ. They are part of the church. They are not half-brothers and half-sisters… they are not sub-members of the church. They are as much a part of the church as I am. (Yes, organizationally, these boys and girls and adults are part of many different church organizations. But, relationally, we are all part of the same church.)
This is very important for me, for other adults, and for the boys and girls to realize. As children of God, the boys and girls have been indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and they have been gifted by God to serve others and to build up the church. In fact, if we agree with Paul and if it is necessary for the whole church to work together in order for the church to grow (Eph 4:16), then it is necessary for these boys and girls to function as God has gifted them in order for the church to grow.
Every believer is indispensable for the growth of the church. Every believer. This includes young believers.
There are some very mature believers that God has brought into my life. I need these people. I need them to be part of my life. But, in the same way and not a less important way, I need the young brothers and sisters to be part of my life as well. The church needs them. Why? Because they are children of God given to the church by God. It is only in the eyes and minds of humans that these young people seem less important or less significant.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the church (in general) recognizes the importance of these young people. Similarly, because of the way they’ve been taught and the way they tend to be separated and set aside, I don’t think these young people recognize their importance to the growth and health of the church.
I’ve decided to make sure that I let these young people – and others that God brings into my life – know that I need them as much as I need other brothers and sisters of Christ. Then, of course, I plan to listen to them and learn from them to see how God may use them to help me and the church.
Community Hermeneutics in Action
Community hermeneutics in action! What does that mean? It means that Danny taught from Matthew 21:33-46… and so did I, and so did Jared, and David, and Gary, and Dave, and Jeremiah, and Geth, etc. I think we ended up with a more complete understanding of Scripture, not just one person’s interpretation, and we were all able to exhort one another to faithfulness, obedience, and fruitfulness. (See my posts “Authority, Hermeneutics, and Criticism,” “Mutual Hermeneutics,” and “Toward Mutual Hermeneutics.”)
A Love / Hate Relationship
A few weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, one of our brothers made a statement similar to this:
I love meeting together with this church, because I know that you all love me and care about me and when you ask me how I’m doing, you won’t let me just give you simple answers, but will really ask about my life and how things are going especially between me and God.
But, I also hate meeting together with this church, because I know that you all love me and care about me and when you ask me how I’m doing, you won’t let me just give you simple answers, but will really ask about my life and how things are going especially between me and God.
I’ve been thinking about his statement alot lately. Isn’t it true? We want community… we really do. But, many times, we don’t really want to expose ourselves to other people in the manner necessary in order to maintain a healthy community.
This love / hate relationship really shows a love / hate relationship with ourselves. I think it is natural and healthy, as long as we’re allowing the Spirit of God to continue to work in us to open ourselves up to other people in spite of our “hate” of such things. (By the way, the brother who spoke those words does just that, talking about things that are sensitive and often painful for his own spiritual growth and the growth of the church.)
Special Equippers?
Last year, around this time, I wrote a post called “Special Equippers?” Hopefully, in that post, I successfully argued that the list of gifted individuals in Ephesians 4:11 are not “special equippers” but are instead given to equip the church just as all followers of Jesus are given to the church in order to equip the church. Many times, when people exegete certain passages especially related to leaders (elders, apostles, etc.), they fail to take into account similar passages that deal with all believers. Here is that post:
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A couple of days ago, in my post called “And he gave… (Ephesians 4:11)“, I suggested that the list of gifted individuals in Ephesians 4:11 (i.e. apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers) was simply a sample of all gifted followers of Jesus Christ. These four (or five) types of giftings are not gifts that are necessary for the church above and beyond the other spiritual gifts.
However, the argument is often made that Scripture indicates that these gifted individuals are responsible for the special function of “equipping” which is not the responsibility of other believers – that is, those believers without the giftings listed in Ephesians 4:11. (And, now, David Rogers from “Love Each Stone” has asked a similar question in the comments of my post on Ephesians 4:11.) Since this post will deal mostly with Ephesians 4:11-12, I’ll include that passage of Scripture here:
And he [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV)
I’ve written about previously in a post called “Ephesian 4:12 and Equipping Ministries“. The subject of this very long sentence (the sentence doesn’t end until the end of verse 16) is the pronoun “he” – referring to Jesus – which is emphasized both by its inclusion in the sentence (the pronoun “he” is not implicitly required) and by its prominent position in the sentence. Thus, Paul is emphasizing the fact that Jesus – and only Jesus – gives gifted individuals to the church for the equipment of the church. He gives these gifted individuals according to his grace (Eph 4:7), not according to our own abilities or talents.
The phrase translated “to equip” in the passage above is actually a prepositional phrase that is literally “for the equipping” or “toward the equipping”, with “equipping” being a rough translation of the noun καταÏτισμός (katartismos). The prepositional phrase works adverbially to describe the purpose of Jesus giving the gifted individuals.
The argument is often made that since καταÏτισμός (katartismos – “equipping”) is used only of these four (or five) gifted individuals, then only these individuals carry the responsibility of “equipping” the body. Thus, these are often called “equipping ministries”. I do not think it is valid to assign the responsibility of “equipping” only to these four (or five) gifted individuals based on the us of the noun καταÏτισμός (katartismos) for a couple of reasons.
First, while it is true that καταÏτισμός (katartismos) is only used in reference to these gifted individuals, it is also true that this noun is only used once in the entire New Testament. Thus, the noun καταÏτισμός (katartismos) is only found in Ephesians 4:12. It is not even used in the Septuagint (LXX – the Greek translation of the Old Testament). Can we argue from one use of a noun that only these gifted individuals are responsible for this result?
Paul uses a similar noun (κατάÏτισις – katartisis), which is also used only once in the NT in 2 Corinthians 13:9, when he says that he and his fellow workers pray for the “restoration” (“perfection”, “equipping”) of the Corinthian believers. I have never seen anyone suggest that only Paul and his companions are responsible for praying for κατάÏτισις, since the noun is only used in association with Paul and his fellow workers.
However, to me, there is an even more convincing reason to see καταÏτισμός (katartismos – “equipping”) as the responsibility of all believers. The verb form of the noun καταÏτισμός (katartismos) is καταÏτίζω (katartizÅ), which is translated (in the infinitive) “to put in order, restore, complete, fully train, prepare”… in other words, “to equip”. We have the advantage of having multiple instances of this verb in the New Testament and in the Septuagint.
For example, this is the verb used when Scripture tells us that James and John were “mending” their nets (Matt. 4:21). Luke uses this verb when Jesus says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained (καταÏτίζω – katartizÅ) will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). At the end of the letter to the Hebrews, the author prays that God would “equip” the readers with everything good to do his will (Heb 13:20-21).
But, there are also instances where the verb καταÏτίζω (katartizÅ) is used of believers acting toward other believers.
For example, in 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote:
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united (“perfected”, “restored”, “equipped”) in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV)
Since Paul does not mention the work of “equipping ministers” in Corinthians, it would be difficult to argue that Paul was telling the believers in Corinth to allow the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers to “equip” or “restore” them to the proper way of thinking.
Similarly, consider this passage from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth:
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration (“equipping”), comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV)
The command to “equip” is given in the context of the believers in Corinth working together. There is not a sense in this verse that some specially gifted believers are supposed to do the work of “restoring” while everyone is responsible for rejoicing, comforting, agreeing, and living in peace.
Finally, in Galatians, Paul says:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1 ESV)
Again, in this verse, the work of καταÏτίζω (katartizÅ – “restoring”, “completing”, “equipping”) is the work of all who are “spiritual” not just certain specially gifted people.
In these three passages, we see that the work of καταÏτίζω (katartizÅ – “equpping”, “restoring”) is the work of all believers, and Paul in particular does not have any problem using this term in relation to all believers. This is not a term that Paul associates only with a special group of gifted individuals.
So, who is responsible for “equipping” the body of Christ? Jesus (Eph 4:11). He is the only one who can equip the body of Christ for the work of service. How does he do this? Well, one of the ways that Jesus equips his body is through the gifts that he gives to the church. He gives these gifts to the church according to his grace for the benefit of all members. As Paul explains in Ephesians 4:16, the church does not grow in love when the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers use their gifts to equip the body. Instead, the church grows in love when all parts of the body use their gifts to build up the body. And, as we’ve seen from other passages, all members of the body are also responsible for “equipping” the body.
Gifts, Services, and Workings
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the beginning of Paul’s teaching about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7 ESV)
In this passage, Paul says that there are different kinds of gifts, different kinds of services (the word is plural), and different kinds of workings (activities). My gifting may be different from yours. Even if we have the same gifting, the way God desires for us to serve may be different. Even if we have the same gifting and even if we should serve in the same way, God may work differently through each of us.
If we keep reading, we find that each of us is important – even necessary – for the church. No one is more important and no one is less important. (Except, of course, for those who seem less important. God actually considers them more important, probably because humans tend to ignore or de-emphasize them.)
Thus, it is important and necessary for the church (according to Ephesians, for the growth and maturity of the church) for each of us to work according to the way that God has gifted us, according to the opportunities and abilities he has given us to serve, and according to the way that he works through us. Our differences are important and necessary.
As an elder (and this is true for other leaders and mature believers in the church as well), I must be very careful not to expect others to have the same giftings, services, or workings as me. When someone seeks my advice about how they should serve others, it is easy for me to point them in the direction that God is pointing me. Why? Because that is natural for me (or super-natural, depending on how you look at it). But, natural (super-natural) for me is not necessarily (and probably isn’t) natural (super-natural) for them.
I think that as I help people serve others within the opportunities that God has given them, they will find that they are serving in their gifting, service, and working. If, instead, I try to find a “job” for them, they may (and will probably) end up doing something for which they are not gifted, in a way in which they are not supposed to serve, and in a manner that God is not working through them.
As we recognize the differences in giftings, services, and workings, we can also recognize the commonality involved. While we are different, our differences come from a common source – God. And while we are different, our differences are given for a common purpose – the benefit of one another. (While our giftings can benefit us individually – see 1 Cor 14:4,28 – the main purpose of our giftings is building up others – see 1 Cor 14:26.) In a way, carrying out the purpose reveals the source. Our serving one another (and the world) demonstrates our connection to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (In fact, Peter says that our serving one another brings glory to God – see 1 Peter 4:10-11.)
Putting this all together, as we serve in different ways through our different gifts in the different ways that God works through us but for the common good, we demonstrate our connection to God through his Son empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we bring glory to him.
Differences in giftings, services, and workings should be welcome, expected, and encouraged in the church.