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Practical Christianity: Missional Community, Part 2
- Dr Alfonse Javed
- Mar 23
- 10 min read
Christ has equipped the church with supernatural unique spiritual gifts to raise up spiritually mature Christians to build the church.
Ephesians 4:7-16 - 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
What is the goal of the church? Over the years, I have heard many answers. Some say it is the Great Commission in Mathew 28 to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them everything that Christ taught. Some say it is the Great Commandment in Matthew 22 to love God and love your neighbors as Christ has loved us. Others say it is to stand for justice, feed the hungry, and care for the widows, orphans, the marginalized, the wounded, and the hurt. Yet others say it is simply to glorify Jesus. All of them are great answers, but as we return to Ephesians 4:7-16, we discover that the goal of the church includes all those beautiful things when we raise up spiritually mature Christians who contribute to a missional community to build up the church and advance God’s kingdom.
The problem is that measuring an individual's spiritual maturity is extremely difficult. People need to actively participate in the process of discipleship, in which a mentor or spiritual advisor can gauge their spiritual maturity in the context of their daily lives, not just church life.
In Ephesians 4:7-16, Paul instructed the church that Christ has equipped the church with supernatural unique spiritual gifts to raise up spiritually mature Christians to build the church. If Christ has equipped us with those gifts, how are you contributing to reaching the goal of the church and building the church?
The big idea is that our goal as a church is to raise up spiritually mature Christians into spiritual adults in a missional community who are eager to contribute to a missional community to build up the church and advance God’s kingdom. We do that by understanding our individual roles and collective responsibility to three truths in Ephesians 4:7-16: the grace we have received individually, the gifts we’ve been given collectively, and the goals we are to pursue communally. Last time, we looked at Ephesians 4:7-11 focusing on the first two truths; today, we continue through verses 12-16 as we look at the goals we are to pursue communally.
The Goals We Are to Pursue Communally (Ephesians 4:12-16)
In Ephesians 4:12-16, Paul guides us through a list of goals we are to pursue communally to accomplish the goal of the church, which is to raise up spiritually mature Christians into spiritual adults who are eager to contribute to building a missional community. For this, Paul argues that Christ has equipped the church with the unique spiritual gifts he listed in Ephesians 4:11. To understand the correlation between the gifts in verse 11 and the goals in verses 2-16, we need to look at the power, purpose, and problem with the gifts.
The Purpose of the Gifts
Ephesians 4:12-16 describes the purpose for which the gifts in verse 11 have been given to us all collectively. We cannot read verse 11 separately from verses 12-16 and vice versa. In the ESV, Ephesians 4:11-12 reads, “11 And he [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. Why? V.12 says, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
This is not the first list of spiritual gifts in Paul’s letters. There are other diverse spiritual gifts that Paul listed in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Romans 12:6-8. The purpose of those gifts is to enable us to serve, but the purpose of these gifts is to equip us to serve. In Ephesians 4:7-11, we noticed that the gift Christ gives to each individual in the church is service, so we are saved to serve and not be served.
In Ephesians 4:11, notice that the gift Christ equips the church with is gifted people who function as “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” and verse 12 tells us the purpose, “for building up the body of Christ.”
The Power of the Gifts
Ephesians 4:13 reads, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” The word “knowledge” in Greek, epignosis, is the relational, intimate knowledge of Christ. It is a type of knowledge you gain through firsthand relationships. It is not merely head knowledge but rather experiential knowledge.
That kind of knowledge helps the church accomplish its goal. That kind of knowledge helps us to understand the power of the gifts that are given to the church collectively in a community so that we all, children, youth, young adults, adults, male and female, attain the unity of faith based on the knowledge of Christ so we reach maturity according to the standard of Christ, as seen in the rest of verse 13, “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
That means we do not compare our spiritual maturity with each other but with that of Christ. This is why our sanctification does not end until we reach glorification, when we will see Jesus face to face. Don’t compare your spiritual maturity with mine or anyone else’s, nor do I compare mine with yours. Rather, we all compare it with the standard of Christ and use the power of our spiritual gifts to attain collective maturity communally. You have heard the saying, “A team is only as strong as its weakest link.”
This means that the end goal in a church is not merely personal growth and fulfillment, but rather a collective journey towards unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God, culminating in maturity. Verse 14 says, “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” While the individualistic culture of our Western society focuses on me, mine, and I, the collectivistic culture of the Bible highlights communal interests over individuals. It is never going to be enough if most of us reach maturity unless we all reach maturity according to the standard of Christ.
The Problem with the Gifts
Ephesians 4:15-16 lists additional goals that we are to pursue communally to experience spiritual adulthood collectively when the power of the gifts in verse 11 is fully realized by everyone in the church. Ephesians 4:15-16 reads “15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
The problem with the gifts is that there is so much confusion about them in the church. In some churches, the goal of the church is to attain spiritual gifts. Perhaps you have been to such churches where not having certain spiritual gifts is equated with not being saved. In such churches, there is a much bigger focus on spiritual gifts than a spiritual walk with the one who grants the spiritual gifts to equip the saints to serve the church to reach maturity and adulthood which shows the lack of experiential intimate relational knowledge of the Son of God. The problem with the gifts comes from an unhealthy understanding of these gifts.
First, an unhealthy understanding of the gifts. Some believe these gifts should govern a church. In such churches, Apostles are at the top, followed by Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers. Some say since the goal of the church, as mentioned in Ephesians 4:12-14 is not accomplished, these offices remain in effect. That is a false understanding.
Second, a healthy understanding of the gifts. Ephesians 2:19-20 reads, “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” The context tells us that the apostles and prophets were responsible for building the foundation. Besides, the apostles were a few chosen ones who saw the resurrected Jesus in the flesh (Acts 1:22). Christ appointed them personally and gave a special revelation that had never been revealed before, the revelation of Christ, which includes Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8-9; Galatians1:1; 2:6-9).
Ephesians 3:4-5, “4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” Once the foundation was set and the revelation was completed, the office of the Apostles disappeared, making the office of the Prophets unnecessary because everything that the prophets were to proclaim is already in the written Word of God.
Now, what do you do with the revelation? You proclaim and explain. That is exactly what evangelists, shepherds, and teachers do.
While I do not believe that there are modern-day apostles and prophets, I do believe Christ continues to give the church-gifted people who function as APEST (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher); some call it Five-Fold Ministry.
Apostle The apostle, in Greek, means the one who is sent. They are visionary, pioneer-type people who start new things and plant churches to expand the Kingdom of Christ.
Prophet The prophet is someone who knows because he listens to the voice of God. They tell the truth and call people to faith and obedience to God. They are reformers and activists.
Evangelist The evangelist is someone who recruits and gathers people to share the Good News. Their focus is the unsaved people who need Jesus. They are proclaimers of the gospel who call sinners to repentance and faith in Christ.
Shepherd The shepherd is someone who cares; the Greek word for that is poimen which also means pastor. They are good at tending the flock for their focus is on Christian care.
Teacher The teacher is someone who communicates or explains the Scriptures by teaching, mentoring, and coaching. From the Greek word, didasklos, we get the English word “didactic.” I believe Shepherd and Teacher go together because the best way to tend and feed the flock is by teaching God’s Word.
An illustration of Christ, our Chief Shepherd, Mark 6:34 reads, “When he [Christ] went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” So, Christ, as the shepherd, taught to feed the sheep.
The problem with the gifts is that no one gift is the silver bullet. Alone, each gift has the potential to hinder an individual’s maturity and the collective growth of the church. All of these gifts have pitfalls and need the help of those with another gift.
Application
Christ has equipped each of us individually with unique spiritual gifts to accomplish the collective goal of the church to raise up believers into spiritually mature Christians and then into spiritual adults. However, we have been gifted to contribute to building up the church collectively. It is not for our benefit but for the benefit of others.
Imagine if, in our worship team, each instrumentalist played a different tune. That would not be beneficial to any of us, right? But because they follow the same sheet music, they create harmony. Similarly, when we all use our unique gifts, we create a missional community that is unified in its beliefs and goals.
Appeal
Actively participate in the process of discipleship. Have a mentor or spiritual advisor in your life who can gauge your spiritual maturity in the context of your daily lives, not just church life.
Action Steps
Take the spiritual self-assessment that our discipleship team created to help you gauge your spiritual maturity. See Deeper Study Question 1 below to download the self-assessment with the QR code.
Contribute by serving. Invite friends, family, and neighbors to Easter services.
Study Questions
1. What is the goal of the church as seen in Ephesians 4:12-14?.
2. What is your understanding of the function of gifted people in Ephesians 4:11?
3. In what way can not knowing one’s spiritual gift hurt oneself or the church?
4. What goals does Paul list in Ephesians 4:12-16?
Deeper Study Questions
1. If you haven’t done so, complete the spiritual assessment that the discipleship team prepared and discuss the results in your small group.
Head
Heart
Hands
Assurance
Christ-Centered
God’s Will
Evangelism
Prayer
The Word
Spiritual Warfare
Holiness/Purity
Fellowship
Service
Stewardship
Making Disciples
Holy Spirit
2. Based on the assessment, where do you see yourself in APEST (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher)?
3. If you feel comfortable sharing, what will you do as a result of your spiritual assessment?
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