Ephesians 4: 1-16
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord,
implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been
called, 2 with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.
Tolerance is
really popular these days. In the era of political correctness, our culture is
pushing us to accept non-Biblical positions like: Homosexuality is fine,
Islamic views should be respected, Women should be able to choose wither or not
to end a pregnancy, etc. How is the
tolerance Paul is talking about different than the tolerance we hear preached
from the evening news anchors?
-----Maybe--- How
should we deal with non-believers when we are confronted with Biblical values
vs. non-Biblical values?
4 There is one
body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope
of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, 6 one God and Father of
all who is over all and through all and in all.
If
there is only one body and one faith, why are there so many different churches?
Do you think God is pleased with this variety of churches who are teaching 95%
the same stuff?
7 But to each one of us
grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led
captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 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, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some
as pastors and teachers, 12 for
the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up
of the body of Christ;
According to V12 why
did God give gifts to men? Equipping of the saints and for the work of
service, to the building up of the body of Christ. Can anyone define the “Work of Service”? What are some examples of the
“work of service”?
In some of my business classes I take students through
theories and practices to measure various business processes. For example, you
can use something called constraint management theory to measure how making a small
change in one part of a manufacturing process can impact the overall cost and
quality of the product. There are several ways to measure a business, but I
think it is a little more challenging to measure a church. Two popular methods
are by attendance and by the budget.
What are some other
ways that we can tell if the body of Christ is being built up? If a church is
doing well in building up attendance and increasing their budget, does that
mean they are building up 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.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be
children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up
in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held
together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each
individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of
itself in love.
In addition to building up the Church, one of the ideals
Paul highlights is the concept of a mature man. How does he describe a mature man? Can a person really get to that
goal? How?
Challenge to consider:
What is your part of building up the body of Christ? Are you striving to be a
Mature Man?
