January 15
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OFFICES IN GOD’S MINISTRY
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. -Ephesians 4:9-13
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In this letter, Paul addresses the importance of the offices and leadership positions in the church, the body of Christ. He stresses the desire of God to equip these leaders so that they can bring the whole body of Christ into building up each other so that they can have the unity of faith. God wants all of his people to deepen their knowledge of Christ, which will bring them all to maturity. This means that Jesus established these offices. They are the work and appointment of Jesus, not men. Though pretenders may lay claim to them, the offices themselves are a Divine institution and not a human invention.
Sadly, many offices in the church today do not work for the unity and edification of the body so Christ may be glorified. It looks more like any other worldly organizations where the ones in leadership like apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are not living holy lives. Most spiritual leaders are living compromised lives where their agendas are given more emphasis than bringing God’s people into maturity and holiness. Gone are those days that churches are focused on bible-believing and living Christians. The church become platforms for performance-based worship, entertaining and teaching false gospels. Many leaders have forgotten the purpose of their calling to the ministry of God. They have mixed worldly systems with the church. Most of them use religion to serve their own selfish agendas and goals, mostly to edify themselves rather than God .
David Guzik comments that “There is a constant tendency for Christians to display to the world that we really aren’t so different after all. This is usually a misguided effort to gain the world’s “respect” or approval. This must be resisted at all costs, because the goal in itself is both undesirable and unachievable.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think that the offices in God’s ministry are compromised these days?
• What are our responsibilities as believers that our leaders don’t fall away?