Description
As we begin our series on the fivefold equipping gifts from Ephesians 4, we are going to notice that, unlike what has happened historically, these gifts are not primarily listed as positions. Paul is not established a new hierarchy in the Church. Some church traditions emphasized some of these gifts and over others, but what would it look like if each of these gifts were functioning in balance within the community of believers? That is our discussion this time.
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Video Script
Episode 1: The Challenge
As we begin our series on the fivefold equipping gifts from Ephesians 4, we are going to notice that, unlike what has happened historically, these gifts are not primarily listed as positions. Paul is not establishing a new hierarchy in the Church. Some church traditions emphasized some of these gifts and over others, but what would it look like if each of these gifts were functioning in balance within the community of believers? That is our discussion this time.
Have some Functions Ended?
Well if you are following along in the workbook, in this episode we will be in pages 4-7. From the Ephesians text, it is clear that all five of these gifts are for the Church and need to function together in the Church. But if they are to function all together, why in practice have they at times been separated from each other? In this episode and series, I am going to suggest that when they are not in balance, or if they are seen as a hierarchy, it will negatively impact the mission of the Church. Actually, the “fivefold approach” to ministry and to the mission of the church is the very opposite of a hierarchical, positional approach to the mission of the Church.
The division of these gifts or functions has taken several forms throughout church history. One view is that the function of the apostles and prophets has ended and was no longer needed once the canon of Scripture was established. This has become known as the Cessationist view. While it is true that the first Apostles – specifically the Twelve – did have a unique role in the founding of the Church, there are many indications from Scripture that all apostolic functions did not cease. Actually, we see the apostolic function was present later in the first century. For that matter, Paul was not one of the initial Twelve and yet he still functioned as an apostle.
Cessationism actually creates more problems than it attempts to solve, something we will look at in greater detail in coming episodes. What is clear is that after the first couple centuries, Church tradition moved away from an apostolic, missional church and towards more of a focus on bishops and a hierarchical structure. Looking back, it kind of makes sense as the early leaders were trying to protect the church from heresies and false teachers. But the result was an inward rather than outward focus. The main objective of the Church became to preserve truth and create structures that eliminated any dissenting views.
Hindsight being 20/20, it’s easy now to see how this resulted in unintended consequences. We would probably also agree that, regardless of our traditions, the Bible must have the ultimate authority in our lives and ministries. So while this inward focus developed in the Church, those who were missional in their approach had to increasingly do so outside of the confines of the organized Church. Over the last two thousand years this has resulted in many of the various reform movements. Our purpose here is to rediscover a missional approach.
What is your view of Cessationism? Have your views or theology been influenced by this tradition?
Are some more Important than Others?
Cessationism is not the only challenge. On the other end of the spectrum there are Church traditions that infuse the apostolic function with a meaning that is foreign to biblical teaching. They tend to view the equipping functions as “offices” and create a hierarchical structure with the apostles being at the top. Each of the functions are then often associated with authority, power and position. So when Ephesians 4 is read with this preconception, they arrive at a false application of these functions in the Body today. In this flawed model, those called apostles or prophets are given patriarchal or priestly authority, which inverts the servant-leadership model that both Jesus and Paul taught. It also only pays lip service to the theology of a priesthood of all believers.
Eugene Peterson points out that while there are “offices” in the church, which I would call functions, the primary emphasis is on the people. He says that all jobs and functions are “servant positions for assisting and encouraging men and women to be the people of God and not merely a crowd of religious consumers.” Even in the Old Testament (Ex. 19:6), the whole nation was to be a kingdom of priests. This was then expanded to all believers in the New Testament. Peter writes, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. . .” (1 Pet. 2:9). Luther also believed this, but did not really reform church structures to facilitate it.
Even a cursory reading of Paul’s writings makes it clear that apostleship was not a desirable position to strive for, but rather at times a cross to bear. It came with great responsibility and with a great price. It was characterized more by suffering than by any other characteristic. Perhaps most alarming is to read a hierarchical approach in the early church from this passage, or for that matter from the passages in 1 Cor. 12:28-29 and Eph. 2:20. To do so requires the reader to abandon Jesus’ basic teaching on servanthood.
So what developed throughout church history is a view that these fivefold functions referred to especially “holy men” who exercise their gift through a hierarchical structured office. I would suggest that this is contrary to New Testament teaching. For this typically leads to authoritarianism and contradicts a biblical view of servant leadership. However, the fundamental problem is not with the fivefold functions, but with this wrong understanding of leadership superimposed on our view of how these fivefold giftings are to be implemented. So after the break let’s look at that a bit more.
Why do you think this approach is so detrimental to the Body of Christ? In what ways have you been influenced by this view?
The Biblical Text
A common error is to take Paul’s writing almost in isolation from Jesus’ teaching, which can lead to some fanciful conclusions. So to begin with we have to reaffirm that Paul’s writings and theology never contradict what Jesus explicitly taught his first disciples. Scripture must interpret Scripture. In his teaching regarding Kingdom values, Jesus was clear that leadership had to do with serving, not gaining position and power (Lk. 22:24-26; Phil. 2:1-11). We’ll take a deeper look into this in a future episode, but at this point I just want to point out that this passage on gifts in Ephesians 4 is not so much teaching on leadership, but is rather explaining how ministry should function within the community of believers.
In other words, the focus of these gifts is not just on an individual leader, but rather all five are given as a package to the Body of Christ so that it may fulfill the mission it was given. A balanced fivefold approach to the mission of the Church needs to be Christ-centered. The historic problem is that the ministry of the Church has often been reduced to only the clergy class, and this usually expressed through pastors and teachers, as Eugene Peterson has highlighted. Though most in our Evangelical tradition would agree wholeheartedly to the theology of the “priesthood of all believers,” I would suggest that a narrow pastor-focus has left us with a narrow view of overall mission of the Church, which has skewed our understanding of ministry, yes even in solid evangelical churches.
Do you think that the historic problem in the church has been reducing ministry to just a function of the professional clergy? Why or why not?
Passage in Context
Let’s now take a look into the Ephesians 4 passage itself. What is the most basic straightforward meaning? As with any biblical study, it is so important to not lift the text from the overall context of the passage or from other truths taught elsewhere. So what is the context of Ephesians 4:11-12? Let’s begin by looking at the verses before and after these two verses. What we notice is that the first six verses in this chapter focus on the unity in the Body of Christ. Paul gives examples of what these indicators of unity are, with the culmination of there is “one body…one Spirit…one hope… one Lord….one faith…one baptism…one God….one Father.” Does anything seem obvious? The point is that this unity is fundamental to his later comments regarding how the equipping fivefold gifts are to function in the Body of Christ, his Church.
In verses 7-10, there is an interesting and inspirational sidebar into the ascension of Christ, but it seems Paul has kind of gone off on a tangent as he sometimes likes to do. But are his comments somewhat unrelated? We will study this in greater depth later, but it’s important here to point out that the ascension of Christ has implications that are central to Jesus’ impartation of these gifts. This places the giving of these five gifts within a very Christ-centered or Christological context. These verses bring us to verse 11, “So Christ himself gave. . .” In light of his ascension and place as the head of the Body, he has given these gifts in order for his Body (the Church) to fulfill its mission. The important truth not to be missed is that these gifts, given by Christ, are actually to be reflective of his ministry. And they only function through the indwelling of his Spirit.
The Greek word given here for “gave” is in the aorist tense. Okay, you don’t have to remember the fancy word, I for one was never great with grammar, but it is important to know that this refers to an event that took place in the past and yet is valid for all time. This means that these gifts were given to the Church for all time; they did not end in the first century. I think it is also interesting to note that all five functions come as a package together. Neither the grammar, nor the theology, allows the reader to separate one from the other. In context, they are to be seen as an extension of Jesus’ ministry, fulfilling the mission he left us in Matt. 28:19-20 (“. . . make disciples of all peoples. . .”)
Then from verse 12 onward, Paul identifies what is to be the fruit of the appropriate use of these gifts. These gifts were given so that members of this new community would be equipped for works of service. They were to grow into maturity and attain the fullness of Christ (vs. 13). It is only then that the Church can live out the unity Paul outlines in verses 1-6. Rather than top down control and hierarchical structures and policy, it is this maturity and resultant unity that will create stability; it is this that will protect against heresy and the tendency of following enticing theologies by self-promoters, as Paul mentions in verse 14. Equipping all members of the community will safeguard the Body from abusive leaders who have ulterior motives and attempt to create a movement for themselves.
Finally, in verses 15 and 16 Paul returns to his favorite metaphor of the Church. He compares it to our physical body that is joined together in unity of purpose, while each member is engaged in its unique function. Central to this unity of purpose and function is the concept of Jesus as the “head” of the Body, his Church, which results in growth and maturity. In light of this illustration of the body joined to the head, it is important to have a correct understanding of the meaning of this term, “head,” and the relationship between members in the Body. Our understanding of this has important implication as to how we understand biblical leadership and how this delegated authority is to be manifested in the Body through the fivefold ministry functions.
Now reflect on any new insights you may have gleaned from looking at the fivefold gifts from within the complete context of this passage?
It is on this point that we are going to pick up in our next episode. Granted this is not an in-depth study of this chapter, but don’t worry we will build upon these themes in coming episodes. Though these are rather simple concepts, we will see that the ramifications for how we engage in ministry is quite profound. So having scratched the surface, I hope you’ll join me next time as we dig a bit deeper.