The Body of Christ (Part 5 of 5)

Leadership

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. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

The Body of Christ has only one Head. Christ is the Head of the Body, who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. This means that the Head sets the agenda for the Church. The Church does not have the right to set its own agenda but must take all of its orders from the Head. One of the problems with the Church today is the unwillingness to accept Christ’s headship. Many churches and Christian organization seem to want to establish their own agenda and do their own thing. But the marching orders for the Church of Jesus Christ have already been given. When Christ ascended into heaven after His resurrection He gave these orders, which are for the Church in every place and in every Age:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

If the Church is not obeying the command of Christ then it has lost connection to the Head. There came a point in the history of the Church when it did begin to set its own agenda and the institutional Church, which is not the Body of Christ, came into existence. Every church should examine itself today to see if it is connected to the Head or if it is doing its own thing.

Jesus ascended into Heaven after His resurrection. So Christ is no longer here in the flesh to guide the Church. Jesus did send the Holy Spirit to be another helper and to dwell in believers individually and in the Body corporately. The Church must listen to the Holy Spirit just as it would listen to Christ Himself. And while we might conclude that the presence of the Holy Spirit is sufficient to guide the Church, Christ has also placed leaders in His Body. Some members of the Body are given as leaders to the Body. Paul mentions the positions of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, and Shepherd/Teacher. (The last position is actually one and not two separate functions.) Many wonder how there can be Apostles in the Church today after the original Apostles have passed away. The original Apostles of the Lord had a foundational ministry that cannot be duplicated. However, there may be those in the Body today who have a ministry and function similar to that of the original Apostles. When men take the Gospel into new territories where Christ has never been heard, what we usually call the work of a Missionary, this may be the function of an Apostle. Obviously there is no Apostle today who is writing inspired Scripture so this particular function is no longer needed today. The function of a Prophet is what we typically think of as preaching. A Prophet speaks the Word of God, applying it to the needs of the Body, so the Body is encouraged and built up in the faith. Again, we do not need a Prophet to add to the inspired words of Scripture. A true Prophet speaks only what is in agreement with the written Word of God, applying that word to the needs of the Body today. An Evangelist is a well-known gift of leadership today, but most Christians think an Evangelist only speaks to the unsaved. But a true Evangelist also speaks the Gospel to the Body of Christ, which needs to hear it expounded and applied. And then the Shepherd/Teacher is what we would call a Pastor today. This leader functions as a guide for the people of God, keeping them well fed and away from spiritual temptations and dangers, just as a shepherd would care for his flock. The Shepherd is also a teacher in that he feeds the flock from the Word of God. We should take note that all of these leadership positions involves some type of speaking ministry. It is not possible for Christian leaders to do their work without speaking the truth of God’s Word to the Body.

The work of leadership in the Body is to equip the saints for ministry. While there are different leadership functions and these positions are not all the same, there is really only one common goal for leadership, which is to make sure the members of the Body are ready for ministry. Unfortunately, this model of equipping the members of the Body for ministry is not commonly known in the Church today. Because of the rise of professional, educated clergymen in the Church, this model has been forsaken. These religious professionals are supposedly trained to do the work of the ministry while the people themselves support them financially. This means that in the Church today very few of the members are actually involved in ministry themselves. People work their jobs, take care of their families and homes, attend Church services, tithe, and that is all they are expected to do! That is not the New Testament model of the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ all of them members have a function. These functions are not all the same, and not everyone has a leadership role. But everyone does have a role and there are no parts of the Body that are unnecessary and idle. These members may not be fully prepared to accept their roles in the Body, and this is where leadership must step in and help.

The goal of leaders should be to make the people mature and stable. When a person is a new believer, they are like a baby and need some special care. Just as children must be taught and learn how to be responsible people, new believers must also be given what is necessary for their growth and maturity. We expect children to grow and learn certain things, and we even discipline them when they do not learn as they should. It would be completely unacceptable for a teenager to still be unable to feed himself, for example. The same is true in the Body of Christ. We expect the members of the Body to grow and mature and it is unacceptable when they remain infantile in their faith, unable to help themselves or others. Unfortunately, the Church today is often tolerant of baby Christians who should be mature and able to help others. Part of the problem may be that the leaders have not helped these believers mature. The result is that many Christians are weak, unstable, and unreliable, easily falling into sin or deceived by false teachers. The point of good teachers and Gospel preaching in the Body is so that believers will mature and grow in their understanding of God and of the Gospel of their salvation. When believers are confident that God is their Father and are able to make godly decisions about life, the Body of Christ will be strong.

When the Body is strong, it can build itself up. As believers mature and begin to do the work of the ministry, the Body will function as it should and be able to care for itself in love. This means that the members of the Body will be able to minister to each other. It is impossible for just a few leaders to ministry to the needs of every member of the Body! This would lead the leaders to a point of exhaustion in a hurry, which is exactly what happens to many professional ministries in the traditional Church today. But that is not the New Testament model of leadership and ministry. Every member has a ministry, not just the leaders. As the leaders provide spiritual food for the Body, the Body is healthy and is able to grow naturally. This principle is seen in nature. A healthy plant with a good root system, water supply, and sunlight will naturally grow. God has designed things this way. Children that are given plenty of healthy food, and who have loving parents to care for them, will naturally grow and mature because that is how God designed things to work. These illustrations in the natural world are there for application to the spiritual realm. When the Body of Christ is being equipped by its God-given leaders, it will be mature and stable and will then be able to grow and care for itself as each member loves and serves the rest of the Body.