There is a great deal of conversation and commotion in the Body of Christ today about the reality of having Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors and Teachers as described inEphesians 4:11-13.
Some say these gifts do not all function today while others believe they are still functioning in the church today but under different names. You’re Wineskin (church government and structure) along with the point in history and context of the birth of your fellowship, or church group will greatly determine how you understand the meaning and function of these gifts.
It is not my objective to argue this point today. Instead, I would like to look at the purpose or responsibility of these 'gifts to the church' and all who are called into the leadership of God's people. These verses when examined in a variety of translations and the Greek in which it was originally written help us to understand that 'the gifts' God has given have the responsibility to 'Equip believers to do the work of the ministry(taking the good news to others outside of the church) and to build up the believers and bring them into a place of full maturity.'
When we examine the words and their meaning in context we see that a part of this equipping is the mending or making whole of individual believer.
We also see that another part of being equipped, is to be properly fit (taking ones proper and unique place) into the body of Christ according to the individual’s, gifts, skills, maturity and experience.
The death and resurrection of Jesus was designed to make us whole and make maturity in Him possible
Artwork, The Road to the Cross by Graham Braddock
http://www.christian-artprints.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment