In the church, the role
of the congregation is: everything. Nothing gets done that's not done by the
congregation.
In New Testament theology, the church is the congregation. The words even have the same meaning: one of the
Greek words translated ``church'' is ecclesia (from which we get the
adjective ``ecclesiastical''), which means ``the gathered ones'' - exactly what
congregation means, ``those who congregate''.
It was [Jesus] who
gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some
to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up 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. 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 men in their deceitful scheming.
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who
is the Head, that is, Christ. 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 4:11-16
Now we'll look at this
passage section by section.
It was [Jesus] who
gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some
to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service [...]
There is no distinction between the leaders of a church and its
members: the leaders are members. Leadership is a function rather than a
position. Leading is a role that some people have in the church, just as other
have a role of administration, of pastoring, of evangelism or any of the other
ministries that God calls people to. If the church is like a ship, then the
role of the leaders is not to provide the power - everybody is needed for that
- merely to steer.
It's notable that Paul doesn't say that an evangelist's job is
primarily to evangelise, or a pastor's job to pastor: their main jobs are to
prepare God's people to do those jobs, and more. The ``works of service'' that
Paul refers to include:
- Prayer. One of the congregation's roles is to pray: ``I urge,
then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving
be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may
live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.'' (1 Timothy
2:1-2)
- Evangelism. In a church as new and small as ours, the shared
responsibility for evangelism is so obvious we can hardly miss it: if we
don't reach people, then we won't grow. We all need to be involved in this, whether or not we're
particularly gifted as evangelists: ``But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all
the duties of your ministry.'' (2 Timothy 4:5)
- Social action. This phrase always makes me cringe, but I can't think
of a better one that encompasses everything from teaching on raising children, running Sunday School for kids' to reaching out for the neglected and downtrodden orphans, widows, etc. ``Religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress.'' (James 1:27)
All this is on top of - or rather, the foundation for - specific
roles and ministries such as preaching, leading worship or whatever. This stuff
is the substance, the ``bread and butter'', of Christian life.
[...] so that the body
of Christ may be built up 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.
As we grow in knowledge of Jesus, one inevitable result is that we
grow in unity with each other. We also respond to that knowledge with worship -
it's impossible not to, when we understand what Jesus is like. And worship in
the New Testament is emphatically something the congregation does together,
rather than responding passively to a worship leader:
``When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of
instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be
done for the strengthening of the church.'' (1 Corinthians 12:26)
And back in the Old
Testament, the Psalms emphasize the importance of the congregation in worship:
- ``I will declare your name to my brothers; in the
congregation I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you
descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of
Israel!'' (Psalm 22:22-23)
- ``Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.'' (Psalm 68:26)
(This is not to
denigrate the importance of personal, private worship; just to point out that
corporate worship is a different, and equally important, thing.)
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 men in their
deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love [...]
That's part of the
reason that Hebrews 10:25 warns us: ``Let us not give up meeting together, as
some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.''
[...] we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head,
that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every
supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love [...]
The body of Christ - the
church - is held together by ``every supporting ligament'' - that is, the
relationships between the members. That doesn't only mean social
relationships: time spent eating together, and so on (although that's a part of
it) but also more explicitly ``spiritual'' activities:
If [someone's] gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion
to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him
teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the
needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
- Romans 12:6-8
The whole tenor of this passage and others is that we use the
gifts that God has given us in order to build up the church. For example, in 1
Corinthians 14:4, Paul observes that ``He who prophesies edifies the church.''
(The word ``edify'' comes from the same root as ``edifice'', meaning an
impressive building: it literally means to build up.) Again, in 1 Corinthians
8:1, Paul notes that ``Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up'': it's in the
context of loving relationships that knowledge and understanding are able to
build us up in a constructive way.
### Include the list of
21 ``one another''s.
If you think God has called you to a particular ministry, here's a
good way to evaluate it. The word ``ministry'' means ``service'': if what you
do in the church serves someone, then it's ministry; if it doesn't then it's
not - it's just a hobby.
The corollary to this is that whatever you do to serve others is
ministry, whether or not it's something you feel ``called to''. For example,
everyone who grits their teeth and helps out with the kids on a Sunday morning
just because it's a job that needs doing, it doing ``ministry''. Thanks.
[...] as each part
does its work.
OK, hands up if you think you're indispensible?
Go on, I mean it. Let's see now: one over here, two at the back
... That's it? OK, pretty much no-one. Well, you are indispensible. Every
single member of the body. That's why Paul writes, ``... joined and held up
together by every supporting ligament [...] as each part does its work.'' He expands on this point elsewhere:
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [...] If
the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole
body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has
arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be. [...] The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the
head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" [...] There should
be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for
each other.
- 1 Corinthians 12:14,
17-18, 21, 25
Occasionally, you can hear church members complain that they are
not valued for themselves, but only as a number, contributing to head count. In
fact, this is never true. Even for Christians who are unfortunate
enough to be in churches whose leaders are numbers-obsessed, their leaders'
misunderstanding doesn't change the truth, which is that no member of the body is dispensible. The body needs every part present and healthy.
Each member needs to understand how valuable he or she is as an
individual, both in the eyes of Jesus who is the head of the church, and the
rest of the body.
