Ministry: Knowing and Being Known
The following excerpt is from "Gathered for Good: God's Good Design for the Local Church" by author Jonathan Griffiths published by B&H Publishing.
How easily we imagine church as a spiritual vending machine, as a place to go as a consumer to receive ministry. The design of many church buildings can compound this impression. Often, in many modern church buildings (at least in North America) if we squint our eyes a little and blur our vision, we can imagine that we are sitting in a movie theater with a platform at the front and comfortable seats in rows. We may feel more like spectators rather than participants.
In fact, I had a conversation recently with someone who asked me which church I worked for—she knew I was a pastor somewhere but did not know where. I told her it was The Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa.
She responded by saying, “Oh yes, that is the one that used to be down on Bank Street, in an old movie theatre.” She was almost right, but not quite…
I said, “Well, yes, the church was on Bank Street, but the building was never a movie theatre, it just looked a little like one.”
(The façade of the old building still does look like a movie theatre.)
I continued, “But the reason for that is that when the church was built at the end of The Great Depression the bank would only risk financing the construction if it was built in such a way that it could easily be converted into a movie theater if the venture failed.” It was wonderful that the church secured the financing to build, but the visual association was a little unfortunate!
How easily we can come to church as spectators. Sometimes all that is lacking is popcorn, we might think.
Of course, that was never God’s design or intention. The New Testament teaches us that the church is to be a community where all the members are active in ministering the Word of God to one another. In fact, Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians that the risen Lord Jesus gave specially called people as gifts to His church:
And 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’ (Eph 4:11–16).
The risen Jesus gave particular people to the church (v. 11). These people included shepherds (or “pastors”, it is the same word in the original Greek) and teachers. These two terms probably refer together to just one kind of person: “the pastor-teacher.” Now, we might assume, given the way in which many churches seem to function, that Paul would go on in verse 12 to say something like: The pastor-teacher is given to the church to do all the ministry so that the saints can be blessed when they come to church on Sunday morning. But he does not. What does he say? The risen Jesus gave these leaders in order “to equip the saints for the work of ministry”. That is, the saints are to be equipped for the heavy lifting together. The saints are to minister to one another. And that is why we must close the popcorn kiosk because Paul is telling us that we go to church not to take in a show but to engage in ministry. The pastor-teacher’s role of word ministry is important, yes, but its main goal is to equip the rest of the church for the ministry that they are going to do: ministry from one another and to one another.
In other words, Paul conveys that pastor-teachers are not the front-line players—which is good because I think I would survive about half of a second in a serious football game! No, pastor-teachers are more like coaches. Their job is to help the whole church family get on the field and do the hard work of ministry.
The saints do the work of ministry to build up the body (v. 12), so that everyone might grow in unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (v. 13). Growing saints are no longer children in doctrinal terms (v. 14) tossed around by every new idea that comes along. Rather, each member of the body speaks the truth of God’s Word in love so that all grow in Christ (v. 15). Each does his or her part to help the whole grow (v. 16). What a beautiful picture. What a wonderful design God has for the church!
For many churches, the ministry needs and opportunities that exist within its reach are huge. More often, their pastoral staffs (however large or small) will be unable to meet them all. But collectively, the church body will know far more of what is happening in the lives of its individuals and are often able to meet those needs.
The collective ministry happens on Sunday, in the first place, when we gather with others to sing and declare words of truth to encourage each other in worship. The ministry continues after the service as members discuss what they have heard from Scripture and share words of gospel-shaped encouragement to one another in conversation. Ministry then continues throughout the week as church members meet formally or informally in Bible study groups, prayer meetings, and each other’s homes.
Ministry is a team effort, and we are all involved. We need to minister to each other. That is what it means to be part of the body of Christ. But it will not happen if you are on the sidelines. Ministry will not happen if you are not known and if you do not know others.