Ephesians 4:11–16

Bible Studies for Life
Samford University and Brookwood Baptist Church, Mountain Brook

Connected in Growth

Ephesians 4:11–16

Verses 11–16 constitute a single sentence in the original Greek. Packed within that extended sentence are vital descriptions that link leadership roles in the Christian community with the need for the church to grow to full maturity.

Church Leaders Equip Us to Do Ministry (11–12)

Verses 11–12 begin with a list of some of those leadership roles within the church. Unlike Romans 12:7–8 which focuses on roles within the church (serving, teaching, mercy, etc.), the list in Ephesians extends beyond the local parish. The first three offices listed — apostle, prophet and evangelist — move outside the church to the world that the church intends to reach. Being of more “external” function, these three roles were vital for the founding of churches in the earliest years. The final two offices listed — pastors and teachers — represent those who take on internal leadership in local communities.

Pastors and teachers were no less important than the first three offices listed. It is important to recall that the early Church predated bound books. The printing press would not be invented for another 1,400 years. In Paul’s day the gospel was transmitted primarily by word of mouth. Teachers had the immense responsibility of being repositories of the gospel and instructors of proper doctrine. Most pagans who became believers knew nothing about Christianity except that Christ had somehow touched their hearts. Teachers and pastors were the shepherds who strove to keep these young Christians from being infected by the pagan world. The new believers were regularly at risk of lapsing back into their old heathen ways. Pastors and teachers protected their flocks from the “wolves” lurking in the world at large.

The word for “prepare” or “equip” was used in medicine to describe surgery for setting a broken limb or for resetting a joint that is out of place. Paul uses it here to describe putting a person into the condition that he or she ought to be, both personally and vocationally. In addition to equipping people for service these church leaders also function to build up the body of Christ.

The Purpose of Our Ministry is to Strive Toward Spiritual Maturity (13)

Ephesians assumes that all Christians are a part of the building process. Maturity involves the church community as a whole, not merely particular members. A series of short phrases describes the goal of ministry: unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, maturity, measure of the full stature of Christ. Attainment of these goals reflect the “new man” in Christ noted by Paul in Ephesians 2:15.

Paul ends these goals with the one most cherished and most challenging. The aim of the church is that her members reach a stature that can be measured by the fullness of Christ. The goal of the church is to bring up men and women who reflect Christ Himself in word, action and motive. Critical here is realizing that church members do not call pastors and pay them to do all the work. The church calls the pastor, and they follow the pastor who, by ministering the Word of God, primes the congregants for their ministry in the world. This equipping work of the pastor is described by Paul in his letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:13–17).

Support Each Other in Growing Toward Spiritual Maturity (14–16)

Paul had already warned against specific forms of false teaching in his letter to the Colossians (see Col. 2:2–4, 8). Since the word “schemes” appears in Ephesians 6:11 for the devil, the phrase “deceitful scheming” probably connects false teaching with the influence of the demonic.

The concluding phrases in this long sentence shift back to the positive conditions for building up the body of Christ. The key to communal solidarity is that of “speaking the truth in love.”