Equipping the Saints, Moving to Maturity, # 3

Ephesians 4:11-14

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare (or equip in the NKJV) God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.

14 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.

The word “prepare” (NIV) or “equip” (NKJV) in Eph 4:12 means: “to make fully ready”. In its root meaning, it communicates the following: “to repair; to restore; to make something fit (as in a frame); to adjust; to put a thing in its appropriate condition; to mend that which is broken; to set right that which is in error”. The same word is translated as “formed” or “framed” in Heb 11:3.

Equipping is not just the on-going generic teaching but it involves the following issues:

1) Equipping firstly involves discerning a God-ordained state, quality and functionality of the church in a particular season. That is, you can not even begin to equip until you have been able to prophetically discern a correct church configuration for a time in which we find ourselves (refer to 1 Chron 12:32).

2) Secondly, equipping also involves the development of appropriate systems of impartation (leadership, doctrine, development systems, teachings and training) required to bring the church to that prophetically discerned God-ordained state, quality and functionality.

Equipping is a Function of Sight

According to the definition provided above, when we equip the saints we are making them fit in God’s frame…we are establishing them in their appropriate condition…”

This process of equipping therefore involves having Sight into the spiritual dimensions of the frame of God. In equipping we are moving the church towards its pre-determined state (the frame). This frame represents certain mindsets, perspectives, character positions and competences that God wants to see functional in the lives of the saints at a particular point in time. The frame is actually Christ Himself. So equipping begins with accessing the Mind of God.

Equipping is a Function of Sight: Ezekiel’s Vision

Ezekiel 40:1-4

1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city-on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me and he took me there. 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 The man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see." NIV

There are certain processes that need to take place inside leaders if they are to effectively equip the saints:

· Firstly, it is important to state that equipping is not based on one’s organisational ability. Pastors sometimes can function in a high level organisational ability which makes them able to mobilise masses of people to the point where they establish huge (physical) building structures as shelter for their big membership. Now, we obviously need organisational ability to build anything for God but this is not the first competence we need at least in terms of building priorities. Unfortunately this organisational ability has been mistaken for “anointing” and in most cases becomes the main validation of one’s leadership and calling. If building church demanded organisational ability as a first priority then we could fail the test when compared with some cultic leaders and or even business leaders who have managed to establish multi-national companies. Let me mention again that we do need organisational ability to construct anything for God but this is not the first competence we need. Really, if building was all about mobilising people for Sunday morning and mid-week home-cell, organising a group of talented musicians to lead worship during the week and doing sermons weekly then I think all we would need to be pastors is truly a high-level organisational competence. We do these things (weekly meetings, singing and worship etc.) but leading a church is much more than just putting together an appealing weekly programme.

· The thing that separates between mere organisational ability and the call of God is this thing called Sight. Paul says “…it pleased God to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him…” (Gal 1:15&16). The word “reveal” that Paul uses is the Greek word “apokalupto”, it’s related to the word “apokalupsis” which means “revelation” – the English word “apocalypse” is derived from this Greek word “apokalupsis”. So we have the Book of Revelation (apokalupsis). The very first verse of the Book of Revelation says, “The Revelation (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ…” (Rev 1:1). Doing a word analysis is always important for us (disciples or learners of Christ) because we have a Book (the Bible) full of words that have particular meanings that God Himself intended for us. As the Word commands, we have to study to show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15); we have to learn and understand things, principles and concepts that God gives us in His Book (Matt 13:19). So the word “apokalupto” means: “to take off the cover; to remove a veil or covering exposing to open view what was before hidden; to make manifest or reveal a thing previously secret or unknown; to disclose; to unveil”. The Book of Revelation can be said to be a Book of unveiling of Christ (it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ). It is neither a Book of Revelation of future events (although it does deal with events) nor a Book of Revelation of anti-Christ (although it does reflect the enemy’s activities). The main theme of the Book of Revelation is Christ. So Paul says in Galatians 1:16 that God unveiled something in his heart and mind concerning Christ. Paul is not simply referring to the message of salvation but he is referring to principles and concepts of life he saw in God through the revelation of Christ in his life. Paul is not referring to a situation where somebody gets saved and starts preaching about the love and salvation we have in Christ (although this important truth was part of Paul’s preaching). Paul preached an entire system of life to Jews and Gentiles (which included but wasn’t limited the message of salvation). Paul talked about his insight to the Ephesians (Eph 3:4). The word “insight” is the word “sunesis” and it denotes “the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them”. What was Paul’s insight or sunesis? Paul’s insight was that the Jews and Gentiles were co-heirs, members together of one body, fellow citizens in Christ and sharers together in the promise in Christ (see Eph 3:6, Eph 2:14-20, Gal 3:26-29). This was Paul’s revelation. You can note that this message from Paul was not just a religious sermon that was preached ceremonially but it had serious political, social and economic implications. Through his message, Paul literally created a new world order (back in his day) in which there would be co-existence of various ethnic, tribal and racial groups. Remember that in this deformed world system, there are laws and cultural positions that forbid people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds from entering into Community. If Paul lived in South Africa today, his message would have spoken directly into issues of racial integration of Black, White, Indian and Coloured communities. So therefore we can say that Paul saw a system of life in Christ. He actually saw how life works and how life could be lived in Christ.

· The thing that separates between mere organisational ability and the call of God is thing called Sight. In Ezekiel 40, the Prophet actually sees something. He sees structures in the Mind of God. He talks about “the hand of God being upon him”, which represents divine inspiration from the Holy Spirit. This is what we as leaders actually need. We need Christ to be revealed in us. We need to see structures and concepts of life in the mind of God. This is the basis upon which we begin to equip the saints in Christ. This is the basis upon which we can begin to “train believers in righteousness” or in correct living (2 Tim 3:16). Note that the Prophet sees “buildings that look like a city”. The prophet is therefore seeing structured human life; he is seeing an entire civilisation in the spirit that would need to be built in the earth. For this reason the Holy Spirit said, “pay attention to what you see and hear so that you may go and tell it to Israel” (or to the Church). Moses the Prophet also teaches us that the main duty of leaders is to see life in God. Moses saw laws that would govern human life (the Ten Commandments) and in fact these laws were Christ Himself (Matt 5:17). The main duty of leadership is to see. Leaders see and build. We cannot equip until we have seen life in the mind of God.

· “…in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city-on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me and he took me there. 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city.” It is interesting that Ezekiel saw something in a day when the earthly city had collapsed. What does this earthly city represent for us? It represents a deficient system of life built contrary to the laws of Christ. We are witnessing a systemic collapse right across the nations of the earth in this 21^st century, in the form of: humans (mentalities and values), marriages, families, economic systems, political systems, business systems etc. These are collapsing because they were constructed out of erroneous positions and principles. The main principle in Ezekiel is that in the day that the city (a man-made system of life) is collapsing is a day when church leadership needs to arise under divine inspiration to begin to point out and define a correct system of life. This is therefore not a day to simply build religious systems, programmes and organisations. This is not a day for church to be positioned simply as a place of Worship (even though we have to meet and worship our God). This is not a day to preach sermons that provide momentary motivation to a people who have been hard-pressed by issues of life. The idea of church as a place that people go to for worship and motivation is Biblically very limited. So I think a true and valid call of God is one built on this understanding that in the beginning God made human life (Gen 1:26, Acts 17:26). To be called is therefore to participate in the divine process of reconstruction of life back to its original order. We must be an “Elijah” who comes to restore all things (Matt 17:11). The word “restore” used in Matt 17:11 is the word “apokathistemi”, it means: “to put back into a former state; to reform; to restore; to reconstitute in health, home or organisation”. Peter said that Christ will remain in heaven (i.e. He will not come back) until the times of restitution (apokastasis: restoration, reformation) promised through the holy prophets (Acts 3:21). So therefore a spiritual season that has the power to usher Christ back is that of Restoration and Reformation.

In summary, equipping is not primarily based on:

• Our ability to organise people and programmes.
• Our ability to preach and articulate humanly “clever” sayings.
• Our education.
• Our spiritual gifts and charismatic personalities.
• Our finance and or material resources.

Equipping primarily requires Sight into God’s system of life. Church communities that mobilise people around programmes, events, false carnal identities (materialism) and false-superficial spirituality are dying out. God is provoking His people with truth. Eyes are opening to new spiritual realities. We can no longer keep people “bound” to false spiritual positions through ignorance and a false sense of obligation. We need a new generation of church communities in which people are organised around the pursuit of Christ and His system of life. It is in this dimension of building that we will see an emergence of a integrated Church in South Africa and not simply Black, White, Indian or Coloured churches – not “village”, “township” or “urban” churches. The new generation of churches will not be built around race or class but around Christ’s system of life. This system speaks into common issues of life that all humans (Rich and Poor, Black and White) have to face.

Here is God’s goal:

Ephesians 2:14-19

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, NIV

It’s a great day in God!

Equipping the Saints, Moving to Maturity, 2

Ephesians 4:11-16

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare (or equip in the NKJV) God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.

14 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. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 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. NIV

We said that word “prepare” (NIV) or “equip” (NKJV) in Eph 4:12 means: “to make fully ready”. In its root meaning, it communicates the following: “to repair; to restore; to make something fit (as in a frame); to adjust; to put a thing in its appropriate condition; to mend that which is broken; to set right that which is in error”. The same word is translated as “formed” or “framed” in Heb 11:3.

Hebrews 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed (or framed in NKJV) at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. NIV

We also said that equipping is not just the on-going generic teaching but it involves the following issues:

1) Equipping firstly involves discerning a God-ordained state, quality and functionality of the church in a particular season. That is, you can not even begin to equip until you have been able to prophetically discern a correct church configuration for a time in which we find ourselves (refer to 1 Chron 12:32).

2) Secondly, equipping also involves the development of appropriate systems of impartation (leadership, doctrine, development systems, teachings and training) required to bring the church to that prophetically discerned God-ordained state, quality and functionality.

Equipping moves the Church towards a Pre-determined State

The word “equip” means, among other things: “to make something fit (as in a frame)…to put a thing in its appropriate condition…to set right that which is in error…”

The idea communicated in this definition is that equipping does not begin in the activity of ministry (teaching, preaching etc.) but it begins in the Sight of God and His design for church and therefore for human life.

Understanding the Sequence of things: The building of church begins with an understanding that God makes human life in its various levels (Gen 1:26-27, Acts 17:26). The fall of Man in the garden was nothing but the deformation of life God had created in the beginning. The word that’s translated as “sin” (hamartia in the Greek) means “to deviate from the prescribed law”. The word (sin) therefore emphasises a progressive movement away from the set definitions and laws that govern human life. What really happened in Gen 3 is that man moved away from God’s positions, definitions and laws and fell into “self-will”. The current world system has been produced by the agency of self-will and not divine-will. The fall did not mean that man was no longer interacting with the spirit realm and or worshipping. As a matter of fact, the concept of sacrifice existed long after the fall. Man still understood that he had to offer something to God. It is in this context that Cain is introduced to us and it is in this context that Cain becomes a metaphor for wrong life – the word clearly says, “do not be like Cain” (1 John 3:12). But Cain was a “Worshipper”, a spiritual pioneer (he was the first to stand before God with a sacrifice); one who sacrificed, one who heard God speak to him etc. Therefore, in terms of spiritual activity, Cain resembled Christian characteristics that most of us still long for today, e.g. the ability to hear God etc. (and these characteristics are obviously very important). The problem though is that God distances Himself away from Cain.

1 John 3:12

12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. NIV

“Cain” defines a life that is Christian in actions but deficient in its state, nature and design. Essentially what Cain teaches us is that God is looking for something that goes beyond our Christian-spiritual activities – He is looking for a correct human life in the earth.

Isaiah 1:15-17

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow. NIV

Isaiah 58:1-7

1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,

'and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?'

"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed

and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to the LORD?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter —

when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? NIV

In Isa 58, God is confronting spiritual activity that is not connected to correct human life. It therefore seems that in God, correctness of life carries more weight than just preaching, praying and fasting (this does not in anyway mean that these things are not important) - we have to pray as commanded by Jesus Himself.

Consider this scripture:

Matthew 23:23

23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. NIV

In Mat 23:233, we are being called to spiritual balance. Jesus clearly identifies issues of justice, mercy and faithfulness as the more important matters of the law or as things that carry more spiritual weight before the Lord.

In Isa 58, the Prophet identifies the following issues:

• 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? It seems here that spiritual discipline and input are not bearing the desired results.

• Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife: spiritual activity and discipline emerge from an environment that is devoid of true community life. As church and as the saints we are walking in broken relationships but we still expect God to come through when we pray.

• Is this the kind of fast I have chosen? God here is confronting our definition of spirituality as though to suggest that there is another correct way of doing these things. The implication is that we have to search that correct way.

• Only a day for a man to humble himself? This does not mean that God is against one day fasting. The point being made here is that we only seem to be stepping into correctness only when we are involved in some deep spiritual activity, e.g. fasting, worship. God is against people who seem to only humble themselves when they have to fast, pray or teach. We do not want to only honour God or our brothers when we have to fast, worship, pray etc. but lack these very same qualities in the normal outflow of life. So therefore we have to stop a false outward humility and walk in dimensions of correct internal humility as we engage in our lifestyles.

• "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice: the point is that issues of justice carry more spiritual weight than just prayer and fasting alone. We have to pray, worship, fast, preach but all these things need to proceed from the correctness of life characterised by a deep concern for our brothers (issues of justice).

• Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter: this disqualifies the self-indulgent Christianity that has infiltrated the ranks of the church in the past decades. In the name of “faith” and “God’s blessing” we have not taken care of the oppressed in our midst. It therefore does not help to fast and pray and yet be accumulating material resources as if we were the only humans walking the soil of the earth. There is much we can learn from the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21. God is not against wealth nor is He for poverty; God is after a people who understand communal life – he who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have (Luke 3:10-11). The basic duty of the kingdom of God is to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27); to do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)…this sums up the law or therefore the Word of God (Matt 7:12, Matt 22:37-40, Rom 13:9). The gospel of Prosperity that has been preached over the years is nothing but Capitalism spiritualised. So basically this is an issue of the second beast (church-religious system) honouring the image of the first beast (world economic system), Rev 13:14-16.

What is the point of all this?

• God made life (Gen 1:26, Acts 17:26) and we fell from that life through deception and self (2 Cor 11:3, Rom 5:12). We did not fall from the church service. So therefore even if we may master “the church service”, if we have not mastered life itself then we have not been restored fully.

• The principle of Cain tells us that we did not fall from the church service (sacrifices etc.) but from correct life.

• God is now building life through the church (Matt 16:18). That is, the responsibility of the church is to demonstrate correct life to the nations:

Isaiah 2:1-3

1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days

the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established

as chief among the mountains;

it will be raised above the hills,

and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,

so that we may walk in his paths."

The law will go out from Zion,

the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 60:1-3

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the LORD rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn. NIV

Revelation 21:23-24

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. NIV

If God’s Objective is to demonstrate Life to the Nations, then what is Equipping all about?

“The word “equip” means, among other things: “to make something fit (as in a frame)…to put a thing in its appropriate condition…to set right that which is in error…”

The idea communicated in this definition is that equipping does not begin in the activity of ministry (teaching, preaching etc.) but it begins in the Sight of God and His design for church and therefore for human life.”

If church’s mandate is to demonstrate life before the nations, then we are equipping the saints to be competent in life and lifestyle.

What then qualifies me to equip the saints is not my ability to preach and move people but it’s my sight into correct life. The new season of God we are entering into will see a different kind of leaders emerge, operating by a different kind of anointing. These leaders will be known not by their ability to move crowds neither will these leaders be known by their ability to build huge church organisations. The new leaders will be known by their insight into correctness of human life. What Paul says about leaders in the Book of Timothy therefore gets amplified in this season:

1 Timothy 3:4-5

4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) NIV

These new leaders are Managers of Life; they are skilled in the affairs of life and will therefore be able to lead the church into new frontiers of life. The acceptance and functioning of these new leaders will in turn usher us into a dispensation where church will not be known as simply a Centre of Worship but as a Place of Human Development. It is in this context that nations will come to us (Zion).

We have to equip the saints so that they may become mature…attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The fullness of Christ is the fullness of life we have in Christ:

John 1:4

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. NIV

John 10:10

10…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

NIV

Are individual saints having the fullness of life in the church? Are men having the fullness of life in Christ? Are women having the fullness of life in Christ? Are families and married people having the fullness of life within the church? Are our teenagers having the fullness of life in Christ?

We have to equip the church until it becomes mature in the life of Christ.

Equipping the Saints, Moving to Maturity

Ephesians 4:11-16

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.

14 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. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 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. NIV

There remains in the work of the Kingdom of God this issue of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry in order to build the church to a place of functional maturity. This provides an operational framework for any church committed to serving Christ. The ultimate is not a well-preached people but a functional people who can serve and advanced the business of the kingdom of God here on earth.

Here is how the word “prepare” (NIV) or “equip” (NKJV) in Eph 4:12 is defined: “to make fully ready”. In its root meaning, it communicates the following: “to repair; to restore; to make something fit (as in a frame); to adjust; to put a thing in its appropriate condition; to mend that which is broken; to set right that which is in error”.

This word is also used in Heb 11:3

Hebrews 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed (or framed in NKJV) at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. NIV

The word “formed” is the same word translated as “equip” in Eph 4:12. And the word translated as “universe” in Heb 11:3 NIV is the word “age” in the Greek Bible. A more correct translation will read as follows “the age was formed at God’s command”. Really what Heb 11:3 is dealing with is the Sovereignty of God in shaping times, ages and dispensations in accordance with His will. Literally, this means that the 21^st century (for example) is hand-crafted by God. The circumstances and conditions that we see, good and bad, are both crafted by God in order to advance His kingdom and will. God creates light and darkness; He brings prosperity and disaster (Isa 45:7). It is upon the people of God to discern the times and find portals (or divine opportunities) through which to advance the kingdom of God (see 1 Chron 12:32, Dan 2:21).

The issue of equipping is not just the on-going generic teaching but it involves the following issues:

1) Equipping firstly involves discerning a God-ordained state, quality and functionality of the church in a particular season. That is, you can not even begin to equip until you have been able to prophetically discern a correct church configuration for a time in which we find ourselves (refer to 1 Chron 12:32).

2) Secondly, equipping also involves the development of appropriate systems of impartation (leadership, doctrine, development systems, teachings and training) required to bring the church to that prophetically discerned God-ordained state, quality and functionality of church in a particular season.

Any church engaged in this equipping process will therefore think carefully about God’s will for a particular season and then go on to develop systems and processes that will produce just that required outcome. We as church are often guilty of declaring “a vision” or a communication from God and not move on to develop practical systems and processes that are in line with that vision. Equipping demands an Outcomes-Based Developmental approach inside the church. It demands that a teaching conducted in a particular Sunday be connected to the broader prophetic impression that the leadership carries for a particular church or season. This then even influences the kind of “guest speakers” we invite to the church.

Equipping is Objective Driven: The example of Cornelius

There is a powerful principle in the story of Cornelius in Acts 10. Here we see God divinely connect Cornelius and Peter for the advance of the Kingdom. When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ house to baptise the people and proclaim the kingdom he asked this question:

Acts 10:29

29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?" NIV

Act 10:29 "Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?" NKJV

The word “reason” used in Acts 10:29 is the word “logos”, the same word used in John 1:1 to describe God. The word is defined as “intent or reasoning”. What this reveals is that inviting a leader or ministry into a church involves deep processes of thinking about intended outcomes and objectives. The one inviting must hear from God about (a) the spiritual need in the church and (b) the relevant person to fulfil the need. The invited minister does not come to impose himself but he needs to fit within a particular framework of God’s speaking and working inside the church. It was therefore appropriate for Peter to ask the reason or the spiritual framework within which he had to function. He had not come to impose himself but to add value to an on-going process. To come to a church and preach a “powerful revelation” does not help anyone unless that revelation adds to the on-going development of the church.

I remember some time ago I met a leader in a church conference. We exchanged numbers with this guy and he later phoned me asking to be invited to come and preach in the church. I was just amazed at how “random” church operations can be. The truth is that I did not adequately know the leader to understand the grace he carried in Christ and that there was no specific need in the church for his ministry at that point in time. Random operations will us no where. In other words, this issue of “equipping” makes us think a little deeper about ministry. The issue is that the objective dictates on church operations. Or put differently, God’s intents define the operational framework for any church.

Equipping is focused on Empowering and not on Demonstrating anointing

The issue of being caught up with demonstrating anointing is an immature position. From time to time, my 4 year old son gets into this show-off mode when he has his friends visit him. He would take different toys in the house and go on about how these belong to him and what he can do with them. The point here is to showcase to others what he has. I obviously do not approve of this behaviour but also understand that he is just a kid and so I would try to creatively make him understand that sharing is more powerful than just owning something alone. And so while I can keep up with his immaturity now I certainly do not expect him to be doing the same thing when he is 20 years. The point I am making here is that we often lose sight of the reason for which God gives us gifts and begin to engage in a process of exhibiting them. Gifts are important in the proclamation of truth and in fact become more valuable when discharged in an equipping context. When we equip, we are focused on the progressive development of the saints and not in the successful holding of the church meeting. When we are given to equipping we will begin to evaluate and measure growth. God made things and evaluated them:

Genesis 1:3

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good…

The phrase “God saw that the light was good” means that He came back to evaluate that which He had made. So therefore when we are driven by this issue of equipping we will evaluate a month or a year not only by how many people were added onto our fellowship but also by how much of spiritual-character growth did we realise in believers. “Growth” here gets defined by a prophetically discerned, God ordained state, quality and functionality of the church for a particular season. In other words “growth” is relative and changes as God’s ordained state of the church changes. What used to be called growth in the 1950s has become elementary in 2010. This is a key principle of Solomon: “the king (Solomon) made silver common in Jerusalem” (2 Chron 9:27), i.e. effective building shifts things to new positions of maturity (Heb 6:1) making common that which used to be rare in the former days. If we do not prophetically discern a God-ordained state then we run the risk of accepting anything as growth. Growth must be relevant to the season. An experienced Levite had no relevance in the early church. He had to put away his old competences and start the process afresh. So evaluation of the spiritual progress of the church is not a carnal exercise, God evaluated and continues to. So therefore it is a proper thing for church leaders to meet and discuss God’s season with a view of going back into their churches to build relevantly.

If we are equipping the saints in this season, we have to ask an important question, which is: what is God’s ordained state, quality and functionality of the church at this point in time.

There is now no time to simply run a church programme for the year without scrutinising its relevance in God’s revealed purposes.

We have to equip the saints for the work of the ministry!

The Word of God: Tracking our Spiritual Advance

What we have established so far is that God, who is Spirit – is defined by His Word. And that true spirituality or Christ-likeness is measured by an understanding and application of the principles of God’s word.

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV

To become spiritual is therefore to come to a place of conformity to the authority of God’s word – not just to perform it on the outside but to conform to it internally first, through inner attitudes, motives and mentality.

Hebrews 4:12

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. NIV

The word clearly confronts the nature of our inner life in order to produce Christ-likeness from within. The danger is to “externally perform” the commands of God when the inner life has not been aligned correctly to the nature of Christ. Jesus likened this to the “washing of the outside of the cup” when the inside is left unclean (Matt 23:25&26).

Spirituality is not something that is confined to Sunday morning worship, it is a real, pragmatic issue that is primarily established internally and demonstrated on the outside (through behaviour, character and lifestyle). The word must become flesh in our lives. We must be a letter written by the ink of the Spirit. Spirituality or Christ-likeness can therefore be measured through someone’s motives, attitudes, mentality, behaviour, character and lifestyle. There is a real need to take our Christ-likeness outside of the four-walls of the church and or outside the Sunday morning service to the daily conduct of our lives and the structure of our lifestyles. We have to be real and pragmatic in the way we follow Christ.

There are therefore two issues that I want to re-emphasise in tracking our spiritual advance as believers:

(1) Spiritual life is measured through our Progressive Understanding of Christ and His Kingdom

Matthew 13:19

19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. NIV

Heb 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

Heb 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

Heb 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Heb 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation…

The phrase, “we have much to say” represents the Lord’s desire to unveil or reveal more of Himself and His purpose to the church. And yet in the same scripture we realise that the Lord will not reveal more if people are still struggling with understanding things that have been taught in the past. There must therefore be an emphasis on teaching and testing understanding of believers. There is a “pastoral temptation” to always confine the issue of growth to “numbers”. Any leader of church will be familiar with the issue of being asked the following questions: “is your church growing?” How many members do you now have in the church?” The assumption always is that the more members one has is the more there is God’s favour, blessing, prosperity and anointing. While I appreciate the desire to know numbers I however always get concerned that few people ever ask about the spiritual state of the church and people’s growth in terms of understanding issues of the kingdom of God. Jesus used to have all kinds of followers. Some followed Him because of their personal needs, some because of the miracles and very few followed because they wanted to learn something. One day after teaching, Jesus began rebuking His own people:

Matthew 13:11-15

11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

"'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

15 For this people's heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.' NIV

We therefore have to keep a good balance between a burden for numbers and a burden for true and real spiritual advance or growth in people’s lives.

God does not only want people getting saved but He also wants them to come to the knowledge of truth.

1 Timothy 2:3

3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, NIV

1 Timothy 2:4

4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. NIV

God is pleased when people are not only getting saved but are also progressively being brought to truth. So therefore a true and balanced pastoral conversation is one that captures both the issue of evangelistic advance and the building of the lives of the people.

Heb 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

The church’s advance to perfection can only be tracked through church’s advance in the area of understanding of knowledge and truth. We can build huge churches (numerically), have numerous activities and programmes and yet if the people are not advancing into new positions of understanding, all of the activities and programmes constitute nothing but “walking around the mountain” like the generation of Moses that died in the desert.

(2) Spiritual life must be Pragmatic

John 4:24

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

NIV

Psalms 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

NIV

Romans 1:20

20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

NIV

Genesis 1:26

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

NIV

John 1:14

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

NIV

The nature of God can be seen in the cosmos – it can be seen and even be understood through that which is visible and tangible. Spirituality for us is therefore not some mystical reality that can not be defined and manifested. Spirituality is a pack of principles that can be manifested in real time and space, “the word became flesh”. Unless we capture this performance imperative in our Christ-likeness, we cannot walk in the power of the kingdom of God.

John 3:8

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

NIV

Based on John 3:8, there are two very important characteristics of a Spirit-birthed or Spirit-led life:

• (a) It is governed from within: you can hear the Sound of the Spirit governing your character. A true spiritual believer does not get seduced by the drama of life but responds to life from the premise of the inner government of the Spirit. So therefore when one is engaged in a situation, e.g. conflict, one is not merely responding to the words and actions of the other party but to the inner impulses or government of the Spirit. This is a key principle of Christ and of the Cross: “when they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate” (1 Pet 2:23).

• (b) It manifests itself on the outside: even though you do not see the wind but you still see the manifestations that are produced by it. For example, you see the trees move. So therefore a spiritual life is not invisible, it has a manifestation power. The word truly can become flesh.

Matthew 7:23-25

24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. NIV

The word of the Lord uses a lot the metaphor of “building” to capture the reality of spiritual life. Building is a pragmatic process. So therefore true spirituality does not begin and end with an “amen” during the church service but focuses on real construction of the principles in the daily conduct of life.

Proverbs 9:1

Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn out its seven pillars.

NIV

This pragmatic spiritual orientation is captured throughout the scriptures. Ever since the church entered into this Apostolic Age, there has been an emphasis on building and construction of human life. Apostles and Apostolic people are builders:

1 Corinthians 3:10

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder (a wise master builder), and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. NIV

Apostles are wise men, builders and master-craftsmen. The Apostolic Anointing is very different to what the church has been exposed to in the past. It is building oriented. This grace (apostolic) is not merely a pulpit grace; it is hands-on, pragmatic and strong in the area of construction of life.

So therefore it is clear that God is altering our spiritual orientation in this Apostolic Age. We are becoming more pragmatic in our conformity to Christ.

The Word of God, Christ-likeness and Personal Spirituality

There is a tendency in the church to think that we can become Christ-like and spiritual outside of a real vigorous pursuit of the Word of God. The tendency is to be passionate in worship, prayer and fellowship sessions without firstly pursuing the Word in our personal context.

The Word of God defines true Spirituality

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV

God is defined by His Word. We of course know that in John 1 the Word is Christ Himself (John 1:14). So God who is Spirit (John 4:24) is defined through His Word. So we can say that:

• God is Spirit.
• The Word defines God.

If we bring these two realities together we can say that we access true spiritual, Christ-like life through the revelation of the Word of God in our lives.

Remember the definition of the word “logos” (the Word) in part 1 of this series:

Logos: “something said; words as the expression of intelligence; reasoning; thought; motive; computation” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary).The word “logos” comes from the verb “lego” which means: “to utter definite words, connected and significant speech equal to discourse; to speak intelligently”. The idea or meaning carried in the word “lego” is that of putting forth a systematic argument with intended meaning as one engaged in a discourse. So therefore it is reasonable to say that there is intelligence and wisdom behind the Word of God.

If Spirituality is defined within the confines of God’s word then spirituality cannot be mistaken for emotionalism. While passion and zeal are good and important, Paul still warns of zeal without knowledge (Rom 10:2) – meaning that at the centre of true spiritual advance is the issue of a possession of knowledge (the Word) from God.

The Pursuit of God’s Word is the basis for Dynamic Worship

Relooking into this issue is critically important in a time where we are obsessed with producing a spectacular church service that appeals to big audiences. The idea in such environments is that the “Word” is boring; rather we should focus on just worshipping and may be prayer to a certain extent. Prayer and Worshipping are absolutely Biblical and important in maintaining vibrancy and momentum in our spiritual lives but worship outside of God’s word can be a deadly poison in the churches. It was in this context that Jesus rebuked the Samaritan woman and the Samaritans for “worshipping that which they don’t know” (John 4:22). This was the same issue that Paul dealt with in Athens:

Acts 17:23

23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. NIV

The altar with an inscription: “to an unknown God” very clearly speaks of Christianity that is full of worship and yet without a deeper revelation of God. Such environments tend to carry a very elementary-generic understanding and are never able to “go on to maturity” as the word demands (Heb 6:1).

The Word of God defines true Spirituality (cont…)

God is Spirit and God is the Word. The Word of God is reasoning, knowledge, mentality and principles. What then is spirituality?

• Primarily, spirituality is the extent to which we possess understanding of the Word of God.
• Spirituality is the application of the principles of the Word of God in our lives.

Spirituality cannot be defined outside of (a) an understanding and (b) application of the principles of the Word of God.

John 1:14

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. NIV

Christ teaches us that true spirituality is the convergence of the principles of God’s word into human life. We therefore express our spirituality not just during the worship service but in the very conduct and structure of our lifestyles.

Confronting the Corinthian Element

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? NIV

The Corinthian church experienced the manifestation of the Spirit to a greater measure. It was in this church that Paul taught about the gifts of the Spirit and yet it was in the same church that Paul dealt with issues of sexual immorality. The Corinthian church therefore had an immoral element even though there were prophets who often prophesied during the meetings. The dilemma of spiritual giftedness and morality (gifts and fruits) has always been an issue that the church has had to confront, especially back in the Charismatic dispensation. As God enforces His kingdom in a greater measure in the church, there is a realisation that spiritual giftedness that is not founded on Christ-likeness is really death, even though it may produce results on Sunday morning. We therefore cannot keep gifted but immoral people anymore. We have to correct, adjust and rebuke such people (beginning with scrutinising closely our own lives) and if they don’t want to change, we have to expel them just as Paul did in the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 5:9

9 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- NIV

1 Corinthians 5:10-12

10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? NIV

1 Corinthians 5:13

13 God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." NIV

What do we see in 1 Corinthian 3?

• Spiritual giftedness does not mean that one is spiritual.
• The manifestation of the Spirit (through His gifts) does not mean that the environment in which He manifests Himself is spiritual. This is true also of the children of Israel, they saw the glory of God and yet God was angry with them (Heb 3:7-15).
• To be spiritual has to do with living life according to the principles of Christ and not of the world. In the case of the Corinthians, there was jealousy and quarrelling.
• Spirituality and Christ-likeness can therefore be measured through one’s conduct of life.

Spirituality can be measured through lifestyle and not in the manifestation of a gift on Sunday morning. The tendency again in the church is to think that those manifesting a gift of word of knowledge or prophecy on Sunday morning are the spiritual ones. We see in the case of the Corinthian church that this is not so.

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God

In the Charismatic dispensation, the Holy Spirit was subjected to a limited sphere of the gifts on Sunday morning. The Word does teach about the gifts of the Spirit:

1 Corinthians 12:1

1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. NIV

1 Corinthians 12:7

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. NIV

This (the gifts) is a true and a valid dimension of the Holy Spirit but the work of the Spirit of God in the church is broader than just the gifts.

The Holy Spirit was given primarily for the development of the life of the believer on a daily basis and not simply for the manifestation of the gifts on Sunday morning. And so the doctrine on the Holy Spirit does not begin in 1 Cor 12 it actually begins with the teachings of Jesus in the gospels.

John 14:15-17

15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. NIV

John 14:26

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. NIV

John 16:7-8

7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: NIV

John 16:13-15

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. NIV

Key issues to note:

• Jesus talks about “another Counselor”: The word “another” in the Greek means “another of the same kind”. So the Holy Spirit is no freaky spooky spirit. He does not lead people to do crazy things. He is the same in quality and character as Jesus. The Jesus we read about through the gospels demonstrates the character of the Spirit.

• “Counselor”: is the word “parakletos” and the word means: a consoler, a comforter, an intercessor, an advocate. Parakletos comes from the word “parakaleo” which means “to comfort, to encourage, to exhort”. The word means “one who provides an aid or help”. The word defined “an advocate or one who comes forward in behalf of and as a representative of another”. In what context is the Holy Spirit providing help? The context is one of living a life of Christ. So therefore the Holy Spirit is ministering to our conscience in the daily conduct of our lives not just on Sunday morning. His grace or anointing is with us so that we can live correctly in the midst of the darkness of this world. This has somehow not been emphasised in the teachings about the Holy Spirit and as a result the saints are not equipped to “hear the Spirit” directing their lives. This in turn continues to produce a weak church that is strongly only on Sunday morning.

• He will “teach” you: The word “teach” is the Greek word “didasko” and it means: to instruct, to tutor, to advise, to put in mind, to shape the will of the one being taught through the communication of knowledge; to influence or shape the understanding of another”. To what extent are believers aware that the Holy Spirit is teaching them things in the daily conduct of lives. If the Holy Spirit is teaching then we can say that at the centre of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in our lives is the impartation and revelation of the Word of God. We therefore cannot disconnect the Holy Spirit from the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is here to guide us into all truth and so when we have the Holy Spirit we will continue to be on a journey of discovery of God’s nature. We need to be careful of any spirit that manifests gifts on Sunday morning but leaves us shallow and sometimes leading immoral lifestyles.

The Holy Spirit is here to reveal God through the Word (to teach) so that our lives can be developed in Christ. But also the Holy Spirit is here to demonstrate the divine power of God.

The “Man” who did not understand

Matthew 13:19

19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. NIV

In Matt 13, the parable of the Sower in its primary context has to do with the proclamation of the Word of God and not financial giving (there are scriptures that more appropriately speak into issues of finances and giving). And so the “good soil” is not a minister or preacher but represents the required quality of the heart of a believer if the kingdom of God is to be established in one’s life.

Jesus talks then about the seed sown along the path as a man who hears but does not understand. How many people sitting in the churches and who are passionately worshipping God every Sunday and yet cannot sit down and explain the concepts and principles of the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 3:15

15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, NIV

How many believers can give valid satisfactory answers if asked about God, the Kingdom of God, Christ, the purpose of God and the pursuits of the faith? If as leaders we do not have confidence in people’s understanding of these issues then we know we have not gone far in establishing them in the most holy faith. The issue about Matt 13:19 is that understanding is the foundation of spirituality and spiritual advance. The word that Jesus uses in verse 19 has a very interesting meaning.

The word “understand” is the Greek word “suniemi” and it means the following: to put together mentally; to perceive; to understand. The comprehending activity of the mind denoted by suníemi entails the assembling of individual facts into an organized whole, as collecting the pieces of a puzzle and putting them together. The mind grasps concepts and sees the proper relationship between them.

This man who did not understand (suniemi) the message of the Kingdom could not establish himself spiritually. The enemy snatched away that which was sown in his heart. So understanding is the pathway so sustainable spirituality and Christ-likeness.

Discipleship as a Mechanism for Christ-likeness & Spirituality

Matthew 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV

The phrase “make a disciple” has following meanings: “a process of making one a pupil, to enrol as a scholar; to be a disciple or a follower of another’s doctrine; to instruct someone with a purpose of making them a disciple; to become attached to one’s teacher and to become his follower in doctrine and in conduct of life”.

A “disciple” (mathetes): a pupil; a learner; an adherent who accepts the instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct.

The word “disciple” (mathetes) comes from the word “manthano” which means: “to learn, to understand”.

We can therefore observe that the issue of discipleship is not defined primarily by being a church member but by (a) understanding of things being taught and (b) adhering or obeying such things.

So therefore if we use discipleship as the things that truly characterises a spiritual person we realise that a discipleship-based spirituality is one rooted on processes of learning, understanding and obedience.

Heb 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

Heb 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

Heb 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Heb 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation…

These verses in Hebrews 5&6 so clearly indicate to us that true spirituality, spiritual advance and Christ-likeness are all based on the extent of our understanding of the principles of the kingdom of God. If we compromise the issue of “learning” inside the church we will also compromise spiritual advance.

All these things teach us this one thing that spirituality and Christ-likeness in the kingdom of God are not purely based on zeal, activity, giftedness emotionalism but on knowledge, learning, understanding and application of the principles of Christ in our lives. True spirituality is therefore measured in the context of insight-based lifestyle and not in the context of Sunday morning. We go to the church meeting in order to be taught on how to become spiritual and we exercise spirituality in the daily conduct of life.

Interacting with the Word of God, Part3

The Word of God and the Development of Inner Life

Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people. NIV

What we see in Heb 8:10 is that God’s focus in developing human life is not primarily the external but inner life (the heart and the mind). Jesus speaks in Mathew 23 about blind builders who focus on the external.

Matthew 23:25-26

25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. NIV

Sadly, the focus of preaching tends to be on the external-temporary issues. Preaching tends to service the external physical life when God is really focusing on the inner life of believers. The phrase “first clean the inside” indicates the priority of inner life in an authentic kingdom building. So therefore when we spend more time talking about external-physical issues like financial prosperity, we are talking about the right things but in an unbalanced way; and so essentially, we are preaching heresy or something that misrepresents God’s building process. The inside of the cup are issues of the heart and mind, the inner motivations, desires and attitudes that really shape the outward behaviour, character and lifestyle. In other words, it is no surprise that as church we have generally failed to produce the kind of human that must be seen by the nations, this is basically as a result of misdirected building efforts. Jesus calls this “blind-building” (Matt 23:26): meaning that although it is building but it is not inspired by sight of God’s system and process of building. In the Kingdom, internal-invisible life is much more important than external-visible life.

It is very clear that the focus of the New Covenant (NC) is internal building, see Heb 8:10. At the core of our building process (preaching, teaching, shepherding etc.) is the need to produce hearts and minds that are correct. Key issues coming out of Heb 8:10:

• I will put my laws: “Law” speaks of a system of regulation. The New Covenant does not exempt us from law. There is no scripture that supports such an idea. The New Covenant takes us out of one system of law to another. It takes aside the law of Moses and puts in the law of Christ. So Christ is the end of the law (Rom 10:4) but He is also a fulfilment of the law (Matt 5:17). The law was proclaimed until a certain dispensation (Matt 11:13). Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death…so that the righteous requirements of the law are met in us through Christ (Rom 8:1-4). The law of Moses was an external system of regulation that focused only on behavioural righteousness whereas the law of Christ is an internal system of regulation that focuses firstly on the quality of inner life and then also on the correctness of behaviour and character (first wash the inside and then the outside will also be clean). As an internal system of regulation, the law of Christ works through the mechanism of heart conviction (through the Holy Spirit) so that correct outer life proceeds from an internal alignment. Any thing outside of this is hypocrisy.

• I will put my laws in their minds: The word that is used for “minds” here is the Greek word “dianoia”. It comes from two words: The first word is “dia”: a preposition denoting separation. “Dia” is the English preposition “through”. The second word is “noeo”: to think over, to observe, to perceive with thought coming to consciousness, to understand, to discern. If combined, the two words (“dia” and “noeo”) mean “to think through”. The word “dianoia is defined as: the intellect, intelligence, insight, mode of thinking and feeling, the activity of the mind. The emphasis of this word is in the mechanism by which one thinks. In any human, there is the issue of “thinking” and there is the issue of “mode of thinking”. Every human thinks, whether educated or uneducated and every human has a mode of thinking. A mode or mechanism of thinking can be one’s culture, experience, prevailing popular perspective etc. If church is called to build and perfect a human as the scriptures suggest (Eph 4:11-13, Col 1:28) then church must build the mindset of the human also and not only “the spiritual dimensions”. God Himself says, “I will put my laws in their minds”. In the light of the definitions given above, this phrase literally means that God wants the Bible not just to be a bunch of scripture verses that are quoted on Sunday morning but as life principles that provide a framework and mechanism for how we think on Tuesday. In fact being spiritual also means developing a Christ-like mindset. In this sense, the Word of God is a system of thought. So great responsibility lies with the teachers of the Word, to present the Word as a system of thought to believers. If the mind is one major component of the human then we will be fooling ourselves if we think we’re building anything without actually focusing on developing kingdom mindsets within the church. Solomon says, “as a man thinks so is he” (Prov 23:7, NKJV). We can not therefore afford to channel the word of God to that which is external without firstly allowing it to re-engineer the inner life of a human.

• I will put my laws in their hearts: the word “heart” is the Greek word “kardia” and is related to the English word “cardiac”. This word “heart” is generally used in the scriptures not to mean the physical heart but the spiritual state of a person. The word is defined in the Greek dictionary as: the seat and centre of human life, the seat of the desires, feelings, affections, passions, impulses etc. Basically, the heart defines one’s desires, motives, feelings and attitudes. God identifies the need to allow the Word to purify or rearrange these. Solomon says the issues of life spring from the heart (Prov 4:23). The heart is the foundation of all human action, behaviour and lifestyle. If the desires, feelings and attitudes are evil then the inside of the cup is declared unclean even though the outer actions may look clean and pure.

Confronting “the Eliab factor”

1 Samuel 16:6-7

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." NIV

Samuel, a prophet who walked in a higher ranking in his day (1 Sam 3:19-1Sam 4:1), who was training others as prophets (1 Sam 19:20-21), was rebuked by the Lord for wrong assessment and evaluation. Samuel basically walked in wrong areas of judgment and almost ordained a wrong guy. How many times does this happen in churches? How many times do we go for the one with an innocent look, one who looks the most passionate or still one who is educated and rich? Wrong assessment of people does lead to wrong appointments and ordinations. It is for this reason that we are given clear appointment characteristics in the word of God (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, Exodus 18). And it is also for this reason that we are advised to take our time before we appoint, to test and assess. The word used as “test” in 1 Tim 3:10 is the Greek word “dokimazo” and it means: to try, to prove, to discern, to distinguish. The word has the notion of proving a thing whether it is worthy or not. The implication we get in 1 Tim 3:10 is that this should be done over a period of time, it is not a momentary instantaneous testing but it is checking someone’s attitude, genuineness and character through different various life situations. By implication, this examination demands relational proximity. There is a tendency to use people in the church when we don’t really know them There is a tendency to use people in the church when the state of their life and marriage are not really known. Often, the only thing that becomes a focus is the person’s Sunday giftedness, may be as a keyboard player or gift of healing etc. It is always sad to see situations where one’s gift and charisma are so important in a church that the person gets elevated “above the law” and never get disciplined even if their lives are clearly a misrepresentation of Christ. How many husbands are known as powerful preachers, gifted in the spirit or good keyboard players but whose wives live in a state of dissatisfaction, pain and hurt at home? That is, our focus on charisma, the need to produce a spectacular church service and numerical growth in membership make us vulnerable as leaders, so that we appoint the wrong people. Wrong focus and objective will always lead to wrong appointment. But if our focus is to build life, marriages, families etc. then we will appoint people who have the ability to exemplify these things.

Confronting “the Eliab factor” (cont…)

Eliab had a correct external profile but was disapproved by the Lord. He obviously had spent his time building his external life and by implication, he was walking in a Pharisee spirit that cleans the outside, leaving the inside dirty. What causes this situation?

Matthew 6:1

1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. NIV

Matthew 6:2

2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues... NIV

We can only start to focus on the quality of our inner life when we are set free from the need to be appreciated by those around us. We cannot live to please men because this corrupts our walk with the Lord. When we live in a position of pleasing men then the Holy Spirit’s conviction loses power in our hearts as we will tend to do what we think men like as opposed to what God wants.

This Eliab factor is really a characteristic of a Pharisee spirit.

John 12:42-43

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. NIV

The Pharisee spirit leads to a compromised Inner Life

There are two major characteristics of a Pharisee spirit that we have identified so far:

• Pharisees wash only the outside of the cup (Matt 23:25).
• Pharisees seek to please men than God (Matt 6:1).

God, on the other side, focuses on the development of our inner life:

Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people. NIV

Matthew 23:26

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. NIV

So therefore since a Pharisee spirit is too preoccupied with external life and pleasing men, it cannot engage in an authentic kingdom building process. We therefore have to come to a place where we are focusing on Christ and are allowing Him to build us from within.

The Word of God is reconstructing our Hearts and Minds

Hebrews 4:12

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. NIV

Heb 4:12 implies that interacting with God’s word must go beyond the mere gathering of revelation-knowledge and must look into the divine internal confrontation the Word is bringing in our hearts. It is in this dimension of living as believers that we can grow and become correct in God.

Interacting with the Word of God, Part 2

Last week we dealt with the whole issue of God’s word as a system of reasoning.

John 1:1-2

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. NIV

The word “Word” here is the Greek word “logos” which means “reasoning”. John here celebrates divine reasoning as a preeminent component of God’s nature (in the beginning was…). If we build church in the earth, that church must resemble this aspect of God’s nature. Remember God said, “let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” We have to resemble the “image” of God in its fullness. Paul proclaimed to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:13

13 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. NIV

That which we build in the earth has got to fully resemble the diverse components of God’s nature.

The Word of God expresses Divine-Creative Power

In Genesis 1 we see the word of God in action. We see God speaking things into existence. The consistent phrase is “let there be”. This shows us that the word of God is not simply a “letter” but it is truly spirit (John 6:63).

Genesis 1:3-5

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. NIV

Whenever we see the phrase, “God said” then we know that the word of God is being released. We know from Genesis 1 that the proclamation of God’s word brings divine arrangement and order in creation and or in human life. Before God’s divine intervention, the earth was formless, without shape and order (Gen 1:2). The proclamation of God’s word brought order and arrangement. So therefore the word of God is not proclaimed haphazardly, it carries divine design in it. When we think of God’s power carried by His word we must also think of the arrangement, design and order that God’s word always seeks to produce. After God’s proclamation in Genesis 1, we see the end result being an orderly eco-system (Rom 1:20). This is the same pattern church has to follow. Every element of power that God discharges through us must help bring arrangement and order in human life. The tendency is to display God’s power but move away from order. By “order”, I am not simply referring to the protocols of church service or meetings but I mean order in the arrangement of human life. Since the earth’s showed evidence of experiencing God’s power by becoming orderly, so too must the people who experience the power of God’s word every Sunday show evidence by becoming more orderly and mature in their lives.

This is critically important when we consider the scripture below:

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. NIV

While we embrace authentic power-manifestations coming from the Lord, we also want to be careful of the counterfeit that comes from the enemy. Note this that the enemy’s power can also heal, i.e. it can produce spiritual works but cannot bring people to a place of divine order and correctness. This is the reality in the last days. The power of the enemy produces (a) chaos (or deception) in people’s lives (2 Thes 2:11) and also (b) lacks godly fruit or character (Matt 7:15-20). And so any church environment that emphasises “power-manifestations” without putting emphasis on Christ’s values and standards needs to be questioned seriously. The point here is that God’s power does not only produce works but divine order. For example, God’s healing power must bring people to a place of submission, holiness and commitment to God’s kingdom. It must not leave them having experienced the power but lacking divine order in their lives. The actualisation of such a divine order in people’s lives relies heavily on the one administering the word and power of God (i.e. the leader).

The big example we have in God’s word is the deliverance of Jewish people from Egypt. God later made it clear that He did not display the power to Pharaoh simply because He was proving some point but that He delivered them in order to bring them to divine order of life. He wanted to use them as a template of correct life before the nations (Deut 4:5-8). When God did not get this, He actually judged the people:

1 Corinthians 10:1-6

1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. NIV

Jude 5

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. NIV

God does not function out of giftedness; He functions out of purpose. Whenever He displays His power, He is thinking about bringing life to a place of correction and order.

So the release of God’s power always connects to the bigger reality of bringing things back to their correct arrangement and order.

The Word of God as a System of Human Development

2 Timothy 3:16

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, NIV

The word of God is also a tool by which we can construct human life in all of its areas and levels. This actually makes church a system of human development. The word of God can be used to build people in the following areas:

• Correct Inner Life (life motives).
• Godly Mindsets.
• Godly Behaviour & Character
• Correct Lifestyle
• Relational Competence
• Human Productivity
• Correct Worldview and Life Orientation

Consider the following scriptures:

(a) 2 Timothy 3:15

15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. NIV

The scriptures are able to make you wise. “Make you wise” means a process of becoming something that you were not before. The word “wise” here defines someone who has become a skilful expert in God and in life. So the word of God, if taught correctly, can produce a people who have Kingdom Life Skills, who therefore know how to approach life and how to deal with issues of life correctly.

(b) 2 Thes 3:10

10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." NIV

The word of God can develop people in the areas of work ethic and productivity. The first man God made was introduced to work and labour, Gen 2:15. So therefore working is not for the sophisticated few. Anybody in the kingdom of God should appreciate and celebrate working.

Psalm 104 celebrates some of the wonders of God. Inside this system of God that is being celebrated is the whole issue of man waking up in the morning to engage in work.

Psalms 104:23

23 Then man goes out to his work,

to his labor until evening. NIV

The word that is used as “work” in 2 Thes 3:10 means: “to toil, to labour, to be engaged in”. The issue here is not one of being employed in an organisation. One can work without being employed. The scripture does not say, “if a man is not employed he shall not eat”. “Work” can be things one does at home – the basic issue from God is that of kingdom productivity. For example, those committed to staying at home in order to raise kids are doing serious business for God. We have to be careful not to be deceived by this Babylonian Economic System that defines “work” within a limited and shallow context of “employment” and “salary”.

This issue of work is the basic component of the gospel of the kingdom. It is expressed in the basic principles of creation (Gen 2:15). So therefore the word of God can develop people in the area of human productivity.

(c) Rom 12:2

Romans 12:2

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

The word of God can be used to develop mindsets and worldviews that in turn allow people to interact with the system of the world much more effectively and skilfully. For people to come to such levels of personal competence, they need to be trained in righteousness.

Discipleship as a Mechanism of Human Development

Matthew 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV

The idea of discipleship meant that people needed to be trained, schooled and developed into certain qualities, understanding and abilities. There were disciples of the Pharisees, John and Jesus. All these people were trained and schooled to see God a certain way and to interact with life in a certain way.

Acts 4:13

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. NIV

What becomes clear in Acts 4:13 is that Jesus took the apostles through a process of real, practical training for a period of 3 years. In the end, He produced a people who had a developed understanding, articulation and skill in life. This is what we mostly lack in the church. We have many church members who have not necessarily been schooled and developed in certain qualities, mentalities and competences. “Schooling” here goes beyond taking somebody through a Bible class. In fact, the word “disciple” is defined in the Greek as “one who is a student of another both in doctrine and in conduct”. So to disciple is not only about taking people into a classroom to teach them the Bible. It is also exposing people to your mentality, values and worldview through dynamic on-going interaction (just as Jesus used to do). This is why people would talk about “his ways” to guys like Timothy (2 Tim 1:13; 3:10-11). So when Paul says, “follow me as I follow Christ” he is really talking about discipleship. But for true discipleship to take place, there must be real trust between the “student” (the disciple) and the “leader”.

The current structure of the church service mostly encourages the kind of building that is spontaneous and impulsive without any real relationship between those who are teaching and those who are learning – this compromises issues of discipleship and human development, essentially compromising the effectiveness of God’s word in people’s lives. We forget that divine inspiration produces order and arrangement. This God who has anointed us produced an earthly system with hours, days and months. Every day, the sun rises in the morning and sets in the afternoon. That is, divine power and wisdom can flow through set arrangements, and can also produce arrangement and order. We therefore have to find balance between spontaneous and systematic building – understanding that both are spiritual and divine if properly administered.

If we are serious about positioning church as a system of human development (discipleship), then we need to appreciate more and more the issue of systematic building in our approaches and structures.