03-06-2008, 02:56 AM
"Til We All Come"
by Chip Brogden
http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all.html
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
According to God's thought, those who are called to serve the Body in these functions are supposed to be part of the SOME who have already entered into the unity of the faith, the full-knowledge of the Son of God, the fullness of Christ. Who is qualified to function as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher? It should be those who have walked with the Lord Jesus for some length of time and know Him to such a degree that they are more conformed to the image of Christ than their less experienced brothers and sisters. Having established a mature relationship with Christ, they can now turn their attention to serving and helping others to come to that same maturity.
I have qualified my words by saying "should be" and "supposed to be". I am expressing the ideal. We know that everyone who uses these functions as a title or office for lording over others are not who they claim to be. They can be quite gifted but remain spiritually immature and completely ignorant of what it means to bring people into the depths of Christ if they have yet to experience those depths for themselves. If a so-called ministry does nothing to bring people deeper into Christ then it really is not a ministry at all, and it is worthless insofar as the Kingdom of God is concerned. We might as well lay the axe to the root, chop that tree down and throw it into the fire. It is wood, hay, and stubble. Go ahead and kill it right now because it is dead already.
Order Infinite Supply in print:
http://www.TheSchoolOfChrist.Org/books/infinite.html
by Chip Brogden
http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/articles/all.html
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).
According to God's thought, those who are called to serve the Body in these functions are supposed to be part of the SOME who have already entered into the unity of the faith, the full-knowledge of the Son of God, the fullness of Christ. Who is qualified to function as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher? It should be those who have walked with the Lord Jesus for some length of time and know Him to such a degree that they are more conformed to the image of Christ than their less experienced brothers and sisters. Having established a mature relationship with Christ, they can now turn their attention to serving and helping others to come to that same maturity.
I have qualified my words by saying "should be" and "supposed to be". I am expressing the ideal. We know that everyone who uses these functions as a title or office for lording over others are not who they claim to be. They can be quite gifted but remain spiritually immature and completely ignorant of what it means to bring people into the depths of Christ if they have yet to experience those depths for themselves. If a so-called ministry does nothing to bring people deeper into Christ then it really is not a ministry at all, and it is worthless insofar as the Kingdom of God is concerned. We might as well lay the axe to the root, chop that tree down and throw it into the fire. It is wood, hay, and stubble. Go ahead and kill it right now because it is dead already.
Order Infinite Supply in print:
http://www.TheSchoolOfChrist.Org/books/infinite.html
