Bible Reading
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:7-16
Ephesians 4:7-16
Devotional
Recent surveys and studies have shown that in the U.S. alone, over the past 10 years, on average, 1800 pastors step out of ministry every month. 40% of current pastors will not be in ministry in ten years. 50% of pastors feel unable to meet the needs of their job. 33% felt burned out within the first five years of ministry. 80% believe ministry has negatively affected their families. 45% of pastors say they’ve experienced depression or burnout and have needed an extended leave of absence from ministry. These are shocking and disheartening statistics that have left many wondering why this is happening within the Christian Churches of America and how it can be addressed. Paul presents one solution in today's passage. Jesus lived his earthly ministry as the ultimate Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher. He was perfect and fully gifted in each of these five areas. He was not lacking anything and did not have any blind spots. Jesus never felt overwhelmed or in need of an extended sabbatical. And when Jesus ascended into heaven, he broke up his mantle and distributed these five areas of gifting, known as the five-fold spiritual gifting, to his church. These are the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors (Shepherds), and Teachers. In this way, no one single person could fully represent or reflect the fullness of Jesus. To fully reflect Christ on earth, it would require all five of these gifts to come together and work together in ministry. This is, in effect, what the local church is; the joining together of the reflective gifts of Christ into an entity, or body, which can only reflect him when they are working in common unity with each other. The point of these gifts was not self-serving or self-promoting, but to use these gifts to equip people for works of service and for the building up of that body to a place of complete spiritual maturity.
One of the major reasons for this more modern and dire outlook on the reality of Christian ministry stems from a lack of understanding when it comes to those very same ministry gifts Paul wrote about in today's passage. Many pastors and church leaders are expected and pressured to perform in areas and roles in which they are not gifted, which often leads to frustration, disillusionment, and ultimately burnout. Evangelists are expected to be teachers, and shepherds are expected to function in apostolic gifting. This was not what Jesus intended and whenever we function outside of God's intention, there will be consequences. As Paul stated, If each part does its work, not another's work, but their own work, the body will be grown and built up. But if every part does not do its own work, the body does not grow. If these 5 parts aren't working and functioning as they should, then the opposite results will happen; the body will not be built up, not held together, not unified, and not becoming mature. People instead will be tossed back and forth, easily led astray and deceived, visionless, passionless, selfish, divided, apathetic, not loyal, and ultimately without God's power. The goal of all Christian leaders in ministry is to equip people for ministry. The Greek word for equipping carries with it the idea of "putting things right". This ancient Greek word, 'Katartismos' was also used to describe setting broken bones or mending nets. So in essence, the work of the ministry is the work of fixing and putting things right, or how they should be, so that the work of the ministry can happen more effectively. Keep in mind that the work of the ministry is not the responsibility of church leaders, but their responsibility is to equip others so that they can do the work of the ministry. Another reason why those working in ministry have struggled in recent years is that instead of focusing on equipping Christians to do the work of the ministry, many get too bogged down in doing the work themselves and eventually become overwhelmed with the growing needs of those who come only to them for help. In the end, If we want to have a healthy, mature, unified, and passionate church doing what it is we've been called to do, we need all these gifts in action and we need those in leadership to focus on equipping others in the pursuit of their own gifts. We also need the body as a whole to understand and appreciate what the role of Pastors are, and what their roles are not. After all, this is how we, as the local church, fully represent Christ and function as his body on earth.
One of the major reasons for this more modern and dire outlook on the reality of Christian ministry stems from a lack of understanding when it comes to those very same ministry gifts Paul wrote about in today's passage. Many pastors and church leaders are expected and pressured to perform in areas and roles in which they are not gifted, which often leads to frustration, disillusionment, and ultimately burnout. Evangelists are expected to be teachers, and shepherds are expected to function in apostolic gifting. This was not what Jesus intended and whenever we function outside of God's intention, there will be consequences. As Paul stated, If each part does its work, not another's work, but their own work, the body will be grown and built up. But if every part does not do its own work, the body does not grow. If these 5 parts aren't working and functioning as they should, then the opposite results will happen; the body will not be built up, not held together, not unified, and not becoming mature. People instead will be tossed back and forth, easily led astray and deceived, visionless, passionless, selfish, divided, apathetic, not loyal, and ultimately without God's power. The goal of all Christian leaders in ministry is to equip people for ministry. The Greek word for equipping carries with it the idea of "putting things right". This ancient Greek word, 'Katartismos' was also used to describe setting broken bones or mending nets. So in essence, the work of the ministry is the work of fixing and putting things right, or how they should be, so that the work of the ministry can happen more effectively. Keep in mind that the work of the ministry is not the responsibility of church leaders, but their responsibility is to equip others so that they can do the work of the ministry. Another reason why those working in ministry have struggled in recent years is that instead of focusing on equipping Christians to do the work of the ministry, many get too bogged down in doing the work themselves and eventually become overwhelmed with the growing needs of those who come only to them for help. In the end, If we want to have a healthy, mature, unified, and passionate church doing what it is we've been called to do, we need all these gifts in action and we need those in leadership to focus on equipping others in the pursuit of their own gifts. We also need the body as a whole to understand and appreciate what the role of Pastors are, and what their roles are not. After all, this is how we, as the local church, fully represent Christ and function as his body on earth.