Chapter 4

Funny things happen to us whenever we try to organize ourselves. It must be in our genes. But even cows organize themselves. When they start back in from the field at milking time they follow a regular path, and I am reliably informed that they line up in a kind of “pecking order.”  And since the term “pecking order” comes from chickens, they must also have a kind of hierarchy.

And so it is with churches. All social institutions have their pecking orders, but sometimes the whole thing gets out of hand. Churches conclude that things must be done in order, so they have been known to put together hierarchies with pecking orders from Archbishop to bishop to priest to minister to deacon. There is even an effort to find these hierarchies in the Bible–or rather to name them after biblical terms. The fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is a case in point, where Paul lists what appear to be offices in the church, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (verse 11).

Actually, I don’t know anyone who strictly follows this as a hierarchy, but never mind. They think they do. The odd thing about it is that this passage is of no value at all in establishing ranks in the clergy. That is not what it is about. If you want a hierarchy, you need to look somewhere else.

So what is the passage about?  It is about a project and how the project is to get done and about the tools to be used in getting it done. Not to put to fine a point on it, but this is not about being driven around in stretch limousines. It is not about uniforms and rank. It is, as verse 3 says, about work.

 (Ephesians 4 KJV) "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, {2} With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; {3} Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In Ephesus, there were two blocs of members, Jewish and Gentile. And they were acting as though salvation required a different process for each bloc, as though there were different requirements, perhaps even a different baptism. There were, in fact, two different forms of baptism practiced during these years. One was the baptism of John which required works before baptism in the style of the Essenes, and the other was baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of Sins which only required repentance (See Acts 19:1-6).

{4} There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; {5} One Lord, one faith, one baptism, {6} One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. {7} But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. {8} Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

This is all about gifts of the Spirit for the sake of a task. These gifts, which are given to men, are like tools. You probably have a tool box someplace in the garage. Some of your tools may even be in that toolbox. But in spite of everything, you often find yourself with a job to do and without the right tool to do it. The thing will require a Philips screwdriver and all you have is a blade screwdriver. Most of us, at one time or another have tried to stick a small blade into a Phillips slot because we couldn’t find our Philips screwdriver. You might have even tried to use the point of a pair of scissors. Chances are you have found yourself trying to tighten a bolt with a pair of pliers in an awkward place. You may have gotten irritated, skinned your knuckles, rounded off the nut, and made a mess of it. And then you have watched a skilled mechanic with the right tools zip through the same job.

Well, this is what Paul is driving at in Ephesians. God has His own toolbox for the job at hand and Paul is making the point that not every tool is suitable for every job. You need a full set, with each tool applied to its special task.

All these are merely tools to accomplish a task and the task is clearly defined in the verses that follow. Unfortunately and too often, we give all our attention to the tools and forget about the job. I learned a lot about God’s toolbox many years ago while I was teaching at a Bible college I England. There, I saw a group of talented teachers who worked very well together in spite of the fact that they were all very different. I think it is a truism that the stronger a man is in one area of his character, talents, abilities, the weaker he tends to be in others. It makes sense, because we are human and limited. In order to be great in one area, we have to focus ourselves, and that often takes away from other areas. The truly balanced man is apt to be a bit mediocre.

So I concluded that God has a toolbox. And when there is a job to do, He reaches down into His box and selects the tool He needs for the job. Saul of Tarsus was a particular kind of man when Jesus knocked him down on the road to Damascus. He was aggressive, intelligent, well equipped in his knowledge of the scriptures and well skilled in persuasion.

When God wanted a prophet to speak to Ahab, the worst king in Israel’s history, He did not choose an eloquent man like Isaiah. He chose a man of few words, He chose Elijah. Elijah was an abrupt man, blunt, and he had a corrosive wit about him. When we are introduced to him, he has this curt prophecy: “As God the Lord of Israel liveth, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except according to my word.” Then he disappeared and no one heard from him for three and a half years. But it didn’t rain for three and a half years either. THAT was pretty eloquent wasn’t it?

{9} (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? {10} He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) {11} And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; {12} For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

To edify is to build. Consider the image Paul is presenting. Here, the church is called the body of Christ, elsewhere, His building. In the center is a building under construction. Around this building are all the workers with their tools—that is, with their gifts of the spirit. Now contrast that with a view where the apostles and prophets and evangelists are the center of attention and the church circles around them, serving them. Which of these images is the closer to what Paul is here talking about?

From verse 11 to verse 16 we have the mission statement of the local church. All these things are the work of the whole church, not just its leadership. Verse 16 makes it plain that “every joint” must supply something and that “every part” is involved in the work. Not only that but if the work is done effectively, it must lead to the “increase of the body,” which means the church must grow.

{13} Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Achieving unity by excluding what doesn’t seem to fit, coercive unity, doesn’t achieve the mission of the church. Inclusive unity brought about by the working of the whole church can achieve that unity.

Not just any unity, not the unity we get by coercion, but the unity of the faith. It is a unity that comes from growing together and overcoming together. The unity of the faith involves the creation of perfect, mature men and women. This is not merely a matter of building a perfect church, but the building of a perfect man or woman, of turning losers into winners. It is the individual who is the object of God’s work, who is the object of salvation. We don’t get baptized as a whole church at a time. We are not saved as a group. We are saved each and every one personally.

And so we have the church at the center of the work of the ministry, and the individual at the center of the work of the church. And in the end, it is the church that builds itself. It “maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” 

{14} That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; {15} But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: {16} From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. {17} This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

All this work has to go on with the world around us, and sometimes in the face of opposition. While we work, the church is sometimes vandalized (verse 14), the church has to deal with attitudes and ideas that are counter productive. It is tempting to try to isolate the church from this, but remember that the object is to overcome, to win out against opposition and to overcome obstacles. In the end we grow stronger. And so Paul tells the Ephesians that they must not walk in vanity and self-interest.

{18} Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: {19} Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. {20} But ye have not so learned Christ; {21} If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: {22} That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; {23} And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

This is something the individual must do. No one can do it for him. It isn’t worth anything if someone has to force you to do it. But there are some things in your life you have to put off like an old coat. You have to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and this is something you have to do yourself. God will help you, but if you don’t make the moves, nothing will happen.

{24} And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. {25} Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Notice that of all the things Paul might have instructed us to do, the first thing he says is “Stop lying.” There is no turning your life around without truth. It is only when we finally speak the truth to ourselves that we can begin to turn around. 

{26} Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: {27} Neither give place to the devil. {28} Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

I had a good friend who frequently reminded me, “If the Devil can’t get at you any other way, he will waste your time.” It was a stunning revelation to me at the time, and I immediately saw the truth of it. And it is a very telling illustration of one of the ways we give place to the Devil. I will grant that we don’t have to fill every waking moment with something productive. No one is that good. But don’t consciously allow the Devil to waste your time.

This section comes alive when you recall that, even though this church was mainly Gentile, there were still two blocs of people struggling for dominance--Jews and Gentiles. This was the primary source of division in the church in the earliest years. And with this kind of struggle going on, it is not surprising that these attitudes would have been prevalent. You could, of course, solve the problem by putting away the disagreeable people. Or you could put away the attitudes by acts of kindness and forgiveness. It is some kind of challenge.

{29} Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. {30} And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. {31} Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: {32} And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."




 

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