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!