By Robert L. Olsen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
Walking Forward
Ephesians 4:11–16
Equippers Given (11)
In order to help believers preserve unity God gives gifts to His followers. While God gives all Christians gifts four types of leadership gifts are to be used to help build up the Church.
The first of these is the gift to be an apostle. Technically speaking an apostle is one who had seen the risen Savior and is sent out to testify to that truth. Some people in evangelical circles believe this gift was limited to the first generation of believers and is no longer available to Christians because its purpose of testifying to Christ with signs and wonders has been fulfilled. Typically Baptists don’t use the term to refer to Christians other than the specific ones in the Bible. However, it is possible to understand the term as relating to all believers since all of us are to testify to the risen Christ.
A prophet is one who can predict future events or, in the New Testament, proclaim God’s word. The reason this office was important in the New Testament is the Bible was not widespread. The New Testament was in the process of being written during the first century so there was a need for God’s will to be known. However, we have a complete Bible that is easy to access. In the first century there was no completed New Testament because the final books of the Bible (the books John wrote) were not completed until the end of that century. Because we have the Bible most Baptists believe this office is no longer in effect. God’s will is readily known to us by reading the Bible. Further believers have the Holy Spirit which helps us to understand the Bible and convicts us; therefore, many believe the role of prophet in its original understanding no longer applies.
The third gift mentioned by Paul is that of evangelist. All Christians are called to evangelize (see 1 Pet. 3:15). However, some are actually given this as a gift. An easy example of this is Billy Graham, who preached the gospel to thousands upon thousands.
The last gift mentioned in this passage is that of pastor and teacher which is one office with two ministries. The word pastor means “shepherd” which demonstrates how a pastor is supposed to interact with his “flock” of parishioners. The pastor does this by leading and teaching. One of the pastor’s main roles in the church is to present and expound on the word of God so the church can be nourished and grow.
To Move Believers Forward (12–14)
The purpose for these gifts is to build up the body of Christ. Many Baptist churches think the pastor’s job is to motivate and convict, but the idea of knowledge is often neglected. I have heard it said many times by Baptists that theology is not important. This probably explains why Baptists are one of the groups most likely to be converted to Mormonism. When we focus only on emotions and feelings we open ourselves up for deception because feelings and emotions change. We need to be grounded in the Scriptures and understand what we believe so we will not be swayed by unbiblical teachings that come our way.
As a Body (15–16)
Paul mentions how the truth must be spoken in love. One of the problems our current society faces is the question of truth. Pilate wasn’t the only one to ask “What is truth” — our society often asks the same thing. As Christians we know God is a God of truth and we know truth by knowing God’s word. This means we need to rely on the Bible, not what society says, to be our guide for truth. Many people today associate love with allowing others to do whatever they want to do. However, this is not love. Love for others demands we intercede and show them right from wrong using the Bible as our authority so we can help them be involved in the life of the church, helping it to grow and flourish.
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