Eph 4:11-1611 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Grow Up!
We each have a kingdom assignment! When God created both you and I He had a kingdom assignment intended for each us. Whether we know what that assignment is or not, the truth still remains that we have a kingdom assignment. Notice, I said kingdom assignment and not just an assignment. In other words there are things that God has called each of us to do for Him. I believe we get confused sometimes, thinking that our jobs are our Kingdom Assignment. No, your occupation is for you, but your vocation or (calling) is for God.
In Ephesians 4:11-16 we find a description of the five- fold ministry that Christ has given the church, His body of believers. Verse 11 says that he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers. Just in case there is someone here who does not know what these offices are please allow me to briefly explain. This goes beyond denomination: Apostles are the ones who have seen Christ, have walked with Christ and have been commissioned by Christ to lay the foundation of the church. Prophets are the ones called to speak direct revelation from God to God’s people. Evangelists are those who are called to proclaim the good news of salvation anywhere they may go. Pastors/teachers are those who shepherd God’s flock through preaching, teaching and ministering to the various needs of the people.
So, I believe it’s safe to say that everyone has a Kingdom Assignment. Now I can just hear somebody saying “Sister Moore none of those things sounds like me,” and that’s cool but there is still something that God has called you to do. Ephesians 2:10 reads: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
The purpose of the fivefold ministry is found in verse 12. That purpose is for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry and edifying of the body of Christ. Notice, the purpose of the fivefold ministry is not self-centered but Christ centered.
The words equip or equipping means to make fit and complete. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the body to make the saints fit and complete for the work of the ministry.
But, who are the saints? The saints are those who believe in Christ. Therefore if you are a believer in Christ there is a ministry assigned to you.
To edify or edifying is the spiritual building up, nurturing, and development of the church. In other words, God’s main concern is not a physical building but a spiritual one. What good is a new edifice without anyone to fill it? What good is it for you to faithfully attend a physical building if you are not going to share the good news about Him with anyone?
It matters not how young or old you are everyone can participate in the edifying of the building up of the body of Christ. Every true believer or follower of Christ everyone should tell someone about Christ. If God has saved you, you ought to tell it, if he has changed you, you ought to tell it, delivered you, helped you, healed you, you ought to tell it.
Don’t tell me you don’t know your Kingdom Assignment, if you just start telling people about Jesus you are fulfilling your Kingdom Assignment. Notice I didn’t say to tell anyone about your “church,” no I said tell someone about Jesus!
We don’t have a problem inviting people to church but when it comes to telling them about Jesus we tend to not be as loud about it. Tell how Jesus forgave your sins, tell how He took you in, tell how he changed your life, tell how he loves you, tell how he teaches you, tell how he makes you smile, tell how serving Him is worthwhile tell somebody about Jesus.
I believe somehow the church has lost her focus, and we seem to think it’s all about “our church” and we fail to remember why we go to “our church” in the first place. We come to build up and not tear down, we come to unify not divide. We come to praise and worship not to gossip; we come to embrace one another, encourage one another, share with one another, care for one another, and love one another. How long do we do this for?
Verse 13 says till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; till. It’s a word that denotes time. Till. It’s an immeasurable span of time that ends whenever God sees fit. Till, till we all reach the unity of the faith. Till, till we agree across denominations, culture, background, race and class. Till, till we are all united in the knowledge of the son of God.
The word used for knowledge means to know by experience. Many people have heard of Jesus but have yet to experience Jesus. Many are fans of Jesus but not necessarily followers of Jesus. It’s not enough to know of Jesus, but we must know Him by experience. God wants us to experience Jesus. We must experience His life saving power, experience his power to change, experience his power to forgive, experience his power to grow us. God wants to perfect us or mature us in such a way that His qualities are seen in every area of our lives. I don’t know about you but I got a long way to go. My attitude isn’t always godly, my responses aren’t always godly, my behavior isn’t always godly, my tone of voice isn’t always godly, I know I’ve got a long way to go but thanks be unto God that I’ve come a long way and I know that I’m alone. We were all something else before you got serious about God. We’ve all come along way and yet we’ve still got a long way to go.
So why should we grow up? Why can’t we just stay the way we are?
1) First reason why we should grow up is because God is not through with us yet!
Verse 14 indicates that we should no longer be children: truth is some people are adults but They demand to have their own way, and throw temper tantrums when they can’t get their own way, they are swayed by their peers, follow the crowd, and accept things at face value. This is considered childlike behavior. Paul said 1Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things. Many of us have yet to put away childish things. Paul encourages the church to longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. There were false teachers among the Ephesian church teaching different things pertaining to Christ and if it sounded good it was accepted. Just like it was then so it is now, there are those who bring division and not unity, there are those who plan, plot, and scheme. Trying to sway this one this way and that one that way. Trying to control and manipulate people into following them and not necessarily Christ, airing their ungodly opinions and trying to form ungodly alliances and to those who accept this God says Grow up! Grow up and get some discernment (learn how to differentiate good/evil) Grow up and understand what is truly going on among you. Grow up and recognize when someone is trying to get you to do the wrong thing, recognize when someone is trying to get you to do their will and not God’s will.
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