Equipping Communicators

Eph 4:11,12 "And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,"

Here we go...Jesus keeps giving. Not only has He extended His grace to us and given us salvation, but He went one step further "and He gave...". He continues to give, not just for salvation, not just for eternal life, not just to have a relationship with Him although that would be enough. We really don't need anything else, but the nature of Jesus could not stop there, and He had to continue to give. Now you can look at this two ways: You can look at this verse and realize that Jesus cared so much for His body, the church, that He gave us people. People who would allow us to be equipped. People who would bring us to the point of ministry which would eventually edify us.

He gave apostles. Now this can be Apostles with a large "A" or apostles with a small "a". With the large "A" it is those guys who saw Jesus. These are the guys who lived and died for His message that they delivered to others who became the church. The small "a" guys are simply messengers. A delegate. An ambassador for God who gives us orders from God. Why? To equip for ministry to build us up.

He gave some prophets. Again, this can be taken two ways. These are the prophets who heard directly from God and told us what was to come. These guys wrote what we read in the NT. Then we have current prophets who are declarers of God's truth. Some pastors are prophetic. Some worship leaders are prophetic. Some teachers are prophetic. They just have this ability to take God's word and communicate it clearly so that it instructs, encourages, rebukes, stimulates other to action. Why? To equip for ministry to build us up.

He gave some evangelists. These are the people who are able to clearly communicate the Gospel to others. These are the people who take the good news that Jesus came and lived and died and rose again for each one of us. We all should do this but some people have the ability to clearly lay this out so that it clicks for the hearers. Why? To equip for ministry to build us up.

And He gave some to be pastors and teachers. Pastors are shepherds. These are people who care and manage and tend the flock.

And teachers are those people who take the truth of God's word and clearly explain it to us. Why? So we can be equipped for ministry and built up.

Jesus did not leave us helpless. Jesus did not leave us alone. He gave us the Holy Spirit and people so we can be equipped, totally furnished to do the work of service so we all can be edified and built up.

It just hit me, but much of what Jesus gave was in the area of communication. Apostles work through words. Prophets work through words. Evangelists work through words. Pastors work through words. Teachers work through words. Not their word...God's word...and it totally equips us to do those things that we need to do to minister and serve others and we all grow.