Strength in Serving

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.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Christianity was young.  In the time of Paul, Christianity was just beginning.  Being young in itself carries with it many problems and difficulties.  Christianity was not only young, but also being threatened from many angles.  The Jews wanted to destroy the Christians.  The Romans persecuted the Christians.  Christians within the church themselves were breaking apart.  Not to mention the devil who was prowling like a lion looking for a Christian to devour.  The church in Ephesus was not exempt from the dangerous threats surrounding and infiltrating her.  The fact of the matter was that as a young church, she was an easy target.  The external threats were already giving so much pressure.  The internal threat was not helping.  If not taken care of properly and swiftly, the church might crumble in a heartbeat.

God sent the apostle Paul to care for the Ephesian Christians.  From this passage it seems that the Ephesians were struggling with the Christian doctrines.  The Ephesians were:

tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Some smart people might have just shaken their foundational beliefs.  They were like a tiny boat in a vast ocean, being tossed back and forth by some smart arguments here and there.  Arguments that appeared true but if carefully analyzed would prove false.  Because they got caught in the confusing debates about doctrines they might just become dull in their service to the Lord.  In fact, they might have just starting to return to their former way of life.  Paul warned the Ephesians in 4:17-19:

¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Paul was very concerned about such matter that in the following verses he dedicated a lengthy admonition on how to behave as true Christians.

            If we read this letter over and over, particularly chapter 4, we will find that foundational to the active ministry in the church is the mind, the desire, the disposition of the heart, and the behavior of those who profess their faith in Christ.  The Ephesians might be very diligent in their active service in the church, but if their mind, desire, heart, and behavior did not express Christ in any way, then their service would mean nothing.  Worse, their service would come out as an exploitation and manipulation of the privilege and authority God had given them in His church.  And so, through His apostle, God must remind His church:

²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

From this angle, it was clear that the Ephesians were in danger of doing a disservice to the Lord while thinking that they were serving the Lord.  Paul continued on with his practical advice with the purpose to teach the Ephesians to change their manner of life:

²⁵ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

The list that Paul disclosed there showed how far the Ephesians had fallen.  They had lied to one another.  They sinned in their anger.  They gave opportunity to the devil.  There was even a thief in the church that Paul had to rebuke such person to stop stealing but to start working honestly and use the profit to help others and thus serve the Lord accordingly.  They also talk nasty toward one another.  They even grieved the Holy Spirit.  They kept bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and all malice in their hearts.  And so they were neither willing to be kind to one another nor willing to forgive their brothers and sisters in Christ.

            Don’t we today have the same problems like what the Ephesians had 2000 years ago?  We are busy doing activities in the church.  We call such activities ministry.  We think when we are active in the church we are serving the Lord.  But yet many of us lie to each other.  Many of us sin in their anger toward our brothers and sisters, like we accuse them of things they did not do or hate them because they are more popular than us or even mock them as we express our anger.  In many ways, secretly, we then give way to the devil to take advantage of us.  Some might have become a thief, stealing other people’s stuff or money or properties or rights by way of deception and call it street smartness.  Some even dare to steal from the Lord by using the Lord’s offering for things that follow their own desires rather than to do the Lord’s will.  Many of us also speak nastily toward others, spread gossips, throw mockery, even swear and yell and use dirty words to address our brothers and sisters.  Surely we then grieve the Holy Spirit, for instead of letting the Spirit lead our life to produce the fruits of the Spirit, we’d rather harbor bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and all malice in our hearts.

            If we so deny it, remember when you are tired from work and you are caught in a church meeting talking about budget and all, then your proposal or budget is not approved, you then got angry and in your anger you start opening the gate of your heart so evil creeps into the window of your soul.  Or when you are caught in a debate in the church regarding your doctrinal position, then when you are out of words you also got mad, you then become bitter because you feel you are humiliated in that debate that you lost, so you start gossiping about that person and talk bad things about him behind his back so that his reputation is gradually stained until many in the church shun him.  Or remember when you argue so hard to install a very expensive room decoration for the church meeting room in an elder’s meeting.  The decoration is so expensive but your argument prevails, so another budget must be cut in order for the church meeting room to look more pleasant in your eyes.  You might or might not realize that the budget that you cut could be the budget to increase the salary of the pastor, or the budget to fund a long term ministry for the missionary that risk his life for the sake of the gospel, or the budget to help those who are affected by natural disasters.  Oh, and do you remember when you are mad to another elder, you hit the table and point your finger at him before calling him names in contempt?  And we do all those evil things while we are actively serving the Lord in the church.  Is that truly a service to the Lord, I wonder?

            Human sinful nature still from time to time gets the best of us.  In the time of Paul, the Christians actively minister in the church while at the same time bickering with one another and doing all kinds of bad things.  So God sent His servants to help His people.  He gave “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers.”  He gave them with a very important purpose, that is “to equip the saints.”  Why would the saints need to be equipped?  To be equipped for what end?  Paul gave two answers, first was “for the work of ministry,” and second was “for building up the body of Christ.”  Okay, now we are getting somewhere.  But what ministry?  And what was the end goal of the building up of the body of Christ?  It was for this goal: “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.”  The ministry and the building up of the church was geared toward maturing the people of God to become like Christ.  The unity of faith and of the knowledge of Christ was the main aim here.  This was important so that Christians would not be divided within.  But instead they would have the same mind in Christ Jesus, be it in doctrines, theology, practical wisdom, and ethical behavior.  And surely as the Ephesian Christians matured in Christ, they would “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.”  They would not be led by their sinful nature, nor be confused by a different gospel, nor devour one another because of selfishness.  But “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.”  No, Christians were not meant to do evil.  Christians were meant to do good.  They could not do so if they refused to grow up in Christ.  If they reject the idea of becoming like Christ, they would perpetuate their sinful nature and thus destroy the church.  The officers of God’s church were sent in order to make sure such destruction would not progress nor prevail.

            The apostle Paul used the authority given him in order to straighten up the Christians in Ephesus.  He brought them back to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  No other knowledge should govern the people of God.  No other faith should take hold of the life of Christians.  This is very important.  Without this we do not have any strength to serve the true God.  We would merely be busy in the church doing a lot of activities that we label as Christian ministry, but in reality it is just busyness to fulfill our self-actualization.  In that way we do not serve the Lord, but we serve ourselves.  The Christians in Ephesus did exactly just that.  So Paul had to step in to correct them.  Today this Scripture arrives in our hearing, and so we too must heed the Lord’s servants that God gives.

            I am not an apostle.  I am not a prophet.  Such era has past.  We have the function of prophet and apostle, but we no longer have those official positions in the church.  But I am an evangelist.  I am also a pastor or a shepherd and a teacher of the word of God.  So for the sake of equipping His saints, He sent me to His church, and particularly today, to speak to you about this message so you will have guidance as to how you would do ministry and build up the body of Christ until you all attain the complete unity of faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ, to become mature like Him.  I must remind you all so you would not do what the Ephesian Christians did 2000 years ago.  You should not harbor bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and all kinds of malice in your hearts.  You should not steal.  You should not lie to one another.  You should not allow your mouth to speak dirty words toward each other.  And you should not allow sin to take over you in your anger, for it would give a safe passage for the devil to take charge of your mind and behavior.  I am here to remind all of you that you can’t find strength to serve the Lord by finding it in the way of the world.  As Paul reminded the Ephesian Christians, that they should not live as Gentiles do, I too shall remind you that you should not live as the non-Christians do.  Your way of life must be in proportion with the WAY, who is Christ Himself.  Surely do not bring the way of the world into the church.  Without following the true way in Christ, we won’t have any strength in serving Him.

            The key is humility.  When an evangelist, a shepherd and a teacher, comes into your midst, sent by God Himself, being faithful to the word of Christ, then treat that person with honor.  Do not boss him/her around.  He/she is not your servant.  He/she is God’s servant.  Then open your heart to be led, directed, guided, and taught by God’s servant.  He/she is God’s instrument to equip you, for you are His saints.  Then as you are equipped with the truth, you are to minister and build up the body of Christ together with the servant of God.  Your goal together is to attain the complete unity of faith and knowledge of Christ Jesus.  The next level is for all God’s people to become like Christ.  To think like Christ, to feel like Christ, to behave like Christ, and to live like Christ.

            Let me tell you the same mistake that we do from time to time.  When we register the word building up in our mind, immediately we have a vision of a building.  A fancy, splendor, beautiful, and majestic church building.  So we put a lot of efforts to design the church building to be aesthetically pleasing and architecturally magnificent.  In our mind we want anybody who comes to the church building to admire the building, and hopefully to incite within them the sense of awe of the grandeur of the glory of God.  So we spend millions of dollars to build a nice church building.  As we focus so much on the brick and mortar, we forget about the heart of flesh.  Because the architecture becomes the vision, thus the building up of the people of God becomes sidelined.  Educating God’s people in the right way has become secondary if not tertiary or even the lowest priority in the pyramid.  As history has recorded, we are now inheriting beautiful church buildings built by people long time ago, so majestic and beautiful, yet empty.  We are inheriting weak Christians who act just like those Ephesian Christians who lie to one another, slander each other, even steal, and speak nasty words toward their brothers and sisters in Christ.  We today have neglected the Christian education of the people of God.  We are busy decorating our church buildings.  We have ignored the most important task, the work of ministry to educate God’s people to become mature like Christ.

            Perhaps such depiction above is not what your church is doing.  Perhaps what you are focusing on is the true ministry.  If that is so, then I surely applaud you for being faithful.  God Himself will reward you for your work and faithfulness.  But if you know it in your heart of hearts that you haven’t measured up to what the apostle Paul wrote in the epistle to the Ephesians, then as an evangelist, a shepherd and teacher, who functions as the one sent by God – that is apostle, and one who speaks the word of God to you today – that is a prophetic function, I am calling you to return to His way.  Abandon the way of the world.  Change the way you do things.  No longer are you to live by the rules of the world.  You are to live by the rhythm of the word of Christ.  Speak the truth in love to one another.  Be like Christ in every way possible.  Even when you are tired from work and now having a long elder meeting, your words ought to be faithful to Christ Jesus.  If you are to be angry, that is to be reserved for the sake of Christ Jesus.  Not because things do not go your way.  No more lies.  Only the truth.  No gossip or slander.  You are called to become true witnesses.  Only when you are living the life of Christ in the church, then you shall find the true strength of serving Him, our Lord God Almighty and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen!