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.