The body of Christ

'He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.' (Ephesians 4v11-16)

Jesus is the chief shepherd. His role is the protect the flock (his people). He does this by putting leaders in charge- apostles, elders, shepherds and teachers (we are ALL teachers btw). The role of leaders is 2 things: 

Feed the sheep- they do this by leading the flock into the word of God for them to feed on.

Protect the sheep- they do this by fighting off wolves who will come in with false teaching. 

There role is to feed us and to protect us while we eat.

'I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, BE ALERT, remembering that for 3 years I did not cease night and day to ADMONISH EVERYONE with tears.' 

Admonish- Literally means to put somebody else's mind in order. We do this by replacing lies with truth. We preach the gospel to them night and day, bringing about a change in their thinking. WE TELL THEM THE TRUTH!!

This isn't just truth about who God is- how God is good and they are bad. It is truth about their identity- 'to equip the SAINTS' If you are in Christ you are a saint not just a sinner!!! For soooo long I was told you're a sinner, you're a sinner, you're a sinner. But Paul says I'm a saint! I'm a sinner SAVED by grace. Because Jesus paid my debt, I have been adopted into the family of God. God doesn't look at me and think I'm not good enough, he knows I'm not good enough, so he sent Jesus to make me good enough. What I could never have earned has been freely given to me- an inheritance, because of Jesus. Know who your identity is in!!

So what's this passage saying? 

God put leaders in charge of his flock to protect and to feed it, ensuring it grows. They teach us the truth about God and about who we are in God. 

So what do we do? THE SAME!

'Equip the SAINTS for the work of ministry...' 

What is our ministry?

'...building up the body of Christ.'

A few months ago how I view God and myself changed completely because someone was obedient enough to tell me the truth about my identity. Our role is to do the same. 

Are you being invested in by someone? And are you in turn investing in someone else? If not you're not following the biblical model of how the body should work.

So why do we tell people the truth? To bring them to 'mature manhood'. Our aim is to present people MATURE in Christ. 

The bible defines immaturity as 'tossed to and fro by the waves' (unstable, insecure, not holding firm to christ during trouble) and 'carried by every wind of doctrine' (susceptible to believing lies because they aren't confident in fully knowing the truth).

How we disciple- We admonish, and we 'speak the truth IN LOVE!'

So the shepherd appoints leaders, the leaders teach me the truth, then I teach the truth to someone else, who in turn teaches the truth to another etc etc. This is the way that the body 'grows up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ'

BUT only when EACH part is working properly does the body 'grow so it builds itself up in love'.

If you are part of the body, then you have a role in building it up.

Dai spoke last wk on how we are DISCIPLE-MAKING DISCIPLES. I stole this phrase because it's so true. Jesus didn't just say go and tell people the gospel he said 'go and make disciples'. This requires A LOT of investment in people.

God has put this on my heart massively so I have to rant about it. Don't just lead someone into truth and neglect the wolves bit. PROTECT THE FLOCK THAT GOD HAS PUT YOU IN CHARGE OF. Don't allow people in who are damaging to the flock because you want numbers or you don't wana appear extreme or whatever. If someone is potentially dangerous for your flock, keep them away from it!! Let us be mindful daily, that one day we all have to stand before God and give an account of what we did with what he entrusted to us.

We ALL have a responsibility for how effectively the body is working. Lets make sure we do our part, building somebody up so that they can do the same.