I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift….11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (NRSV)
I am in the middle of a series inspired by five congregations that I know are in the middle of varying degrees of division and painful split. So far we have discussed that the most prevalent language about churches is the language of the Body of Christ that reminds us that the church belongs to Jesus (It’s HIS body) and to all of us (It’s OUR body). While the most important thing for a body is to stay connected to the head, it must also stay connected to each other and “build itself up”.
Using Ephesians 4, (which is in my opinion, along with 1 Thessalonians 2 and 2 Corinthians 3-4 the very best passages for understanding ministry in the New Testament and should be required reading for all pastors and pastor search committees), we find that pastors and other church leaders are “gifts” of God, given to the church for a very specific task: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”
Notice that pastors are not the “doers’ of ministry but the “equippers”. Pastors are primarily for the purpose of building up the body of Christ; equipping and encouraging unity and maturity.
Period.
In Ephesians 4:15-16, we read a word-picture of a healthy body of Christ: But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Notice that Paul refers to these church leaders, these “gifts”, as ligaments that hold the body together, that join and knit the body together. Ligaments are connective tissue. They connect two or more bones, cartilages or muscles together. Their primary purpose is to provide stability and flexibility. They hold the body together and help it to move together without either hyper-extending or being too rigid.
This is, to me, a helpful description of the work of church leaders, especially pastors.
So, how do pastors act as ligaments?
How do we encourage and insure stability and flexibility in the body?
How do we keep the body together AND moving together, growing together, being built up and strengthening together?
“Speaking the truth in love.”
This is the primary call of the pastor. We are to teach the body how to “speak the truth in love” so we can “grow up in every way” into Christ who is the head of the body.
But, what does “speaking the truth in love” mean? Well, let me tell you what it doesn’t mean and then see if any of you want to give your input before we break this phrase apart and examine it tomorrow.
Speaking the truth in love,
doesn’t mean “speaking the mean truth nicely.”
doesn’t mean telling someone she is fat with a smile on your face.
doesn’t mean speaking your opinion of truth about someone behind his back so that you won’t hurt his feelings either.
doesn’t mean publicly calling someone a heretic after first saying, “You know I love this guy, but…”
doesn’t mean using the guise of prayer requests to gossip.
doesn’t mean emphasizing love by neglecting truth or truth by neglecting love.
So what does it mean and how is “speaking the truth in love” the key ligament lesson that pastors have to learn?
You chime in and I’ll give you my take tomorrow.
