The Edified Church:
Christ’s Goal, Our Hope
From the Teaching Notes of Denny Bates
It was the great C. H. Spurgeon who said,
“Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you.
So carve your name on hearts and not on marble.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 (NASB95)
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;
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.
Ten Marks Of A Healthy Church
1. The Mark of a Gifted Leadership (vs. 11)
2. The Mark of Equipping Christians to Serve (vs. 12)
3. The Mark of Gifted Leaders Who Build Up the Body of Christ (vs. 12)
4. The Mark of the Unity of the Faith (vs. 13)
5. The Mark of the Knowledge of the Son of God (vs. 13)
6. The Mark of Maturity (vs. 13)
7. The Mark of Stability (vs. 14)
8. The Mark of Strong Relationships Founded Upon the Truth (vs. 15)
9. The Mark of Growing Up (vs. 15)
10. The Mark of an Edified Body that Edifies and Builds Each Other Up (vs. 16)
Dr. Robert Coleman says,
“One must ask, why are so many professed Christians today stunted in their growth and ineffectual in their witness? . . . Indeed, it would appear that the teachings of Christ regarding self-denial and dedication have been replaced by a sort of respectable ‘do-as-you-please’ philosophy of expediency.” Pg. 59. Coleman, Robert E. 1963, 1964, 1993. The master plan of evangelism. Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell.
An Important Indicator…
“An important indicator for the health of the denomination [Southern Baptists] is new baptisms, which fell in 2008 for the fourth straight year to 342,198, a 1 percent drop and the lowest level since 1987, according to Lifeway Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention. Total membership of about 16.2 million was flat over the same period, falling by 38,482 or 0.2 percent.” Source: www.thestate.com; Saturday, June 20, 2009
Points to consider:
1. A lot of emphasis is placed upon presenting an evangelistic message during services at many evangelical churches across America. My question is really two-fold: One, with this much of an emphasis, how many souls are coming to Christ during the service (in a month, over the past year, over the past five years)? And two, how empowered (or edified) are the members of the Body of Christ at the local church level when it comes to sharing their faith and bringing others to Christ?
2. My seminary professor, Dr. Harold Burchett, always said that an edified church will become a soul-winning church. It is my observation that we (the leaders of the church) can to do a better job of edifying our flock. And how is a believer edified? He or she is edified when he or she experiences spiritual growth. This is best accomplished when it is modeled by a mentor or disciplemaker.
3. When spiritual growth is occurring and becomes a reality in the lives of believers there is (a) a far greater depth of walking in grace, (b) a greater depth of awe and wonder of the Lord by participating in meaningful worship, (c) a fresh commitment for deeper Bible study, reflection and personal application, (d) an intentional decision to be devoted in prayer by seeking to know Christ in an intimate way, (e) a desire to bond with others in a community of faith, (f) a willingness to serve God and our fellow man by using our spiritual gifts and (g) a strategic plan to share our faith with the lost.
4. Conversely, when there is little to no spiritual growth occurring in a body of believers, there are several noticeable outcomes: (a) a lack of enthusiasm—for God, for personal spiritual growth, for the body, for the lost; (b) a fracturing of community where the desire for close fellowship with each other wanes; (c) a dulling of the willingness to serve; (d) a lack of desire for personal and corporate prayer; (e) a mistaken religious exercise of what is presented as “worship” becomes nothing more than a watched performance and feel-good entertainment; (f) and while there may very well be new people who join the body, they must be considered as “transfer” growth (those who are shopping around)—not “regenerated” growth (those who have come to saving faith in Christ).
The Bible gives us clear plans on what is expected from us…
The saints of the Lord are to be equipped and built up or edified—by leaders as well as the entire body, contributing to the spiritual growth of each member.
By Leaders…And The Body
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; Ephesians 4:12 (NASB95)
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. Ephesians 4:15-16 (NASB95)
By Leaders…And The Body
We are all charged to go and make disciples and teach them what it means to live for Jesus.
19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB95)
By Leaders…And The Body
We are to make an eternal investment in people.
28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. Colossians 1:28-29 (NASB95)
Ten Marks Of A Healthy Church
1. The Mark of a Gifted Leadership (vs. 11)
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
• The Body Of Christ Needs Mentors
• “Mentoring is not about coming to know something; that would be education. Mentoring isn’t about learning to do something; that would be training. Mentoring is about showing someone how to be something. It’s about becoming a learner and follower of Jesus Christ because that’s what makes our Father most pleased . . . you only know that you’re a follower of Jesus when you’ve helped someone else become a follower of Jesus.” (Campbell 2009, 18)
• “The term mentor actually comes from the world of Greek mythology. Ulysses placed his son Telmachus under the tutelage and care of a wise sage named Mentor. Ulysses was away fighting in the Trojan War, so Mentor was responsible for teaching young Telemachus ‘not only book learning but also in the wiles of the world.’ Mentor’s task was to provide an education of soul and spirit as well as mind, and education in wisdom and not merely in information.” Pg. 35 (Anderson & Reese, 1999)
• The gifts to the church are gifted people. The subject He is emphatic in the Greek to denote that Christ Himself gives the gifted people. Five kinds of gifted people are listed in the predicate accusative, so the NIV correctly translates, gave some to be.
— Bible Knowledge Commentary
2. The Mark of Equipping Christians to Serve (vs. 12)
12 for the equipping [or preparation] of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
• An Interesting Word Study…
• The purpose of the gifted men is to prepare God’s people for works of service. More literally, this purpose is “for the perfecting or equipping (katartismon; cf. the verb katartizō in Matt. 4:21, ‘mending’ or ‘preparing’ nets; in Gal. 6:1, ‘restore’ for proper use; cf. 2 Cor. 13:11; Heb. 13:21) of the saints unto the work of the ministry” (diakonias). Gifted people (Eph. 4:11) are to minister the Word to others so that they in turn are readied to get involved in ministering to others (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2). The goal of all this is the building up or edifying of the body of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:16).
— Bible Knowledge Commentary
A Leader’s Task…
• “This passage shows that the leadership of the local church should prepare people to be effective ministers for Jesus Christ. That includes helping them grow into spiritual maturity, and the end result is full employment of God’s gifts through His people. When every member is doing his or her own part, the church will build itself up on love. To get this job done, training and development must be multileveled. The word translated ‘prepare’ in Ephesians 4:12 means ‘to train an athlete, to mend a broken bone, to restore something in disrepair.’ –Bill Hull”
3. The Mark of Gifted Leaders Who Build Up the Body of Christ (vs. 12)
12 for the equipping [or preparation] of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
“upbuilding, strengthening, encouragement; building, structure” — Barclay Newman: NT Greek-English Dictionary
Building Up The Body…
• “Richard Foster, in his best selling book Celebration of Discipline, begins by noting, ‘the desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people (page 1).”
4. The Mark of the Unity of the Faith (vs. 13)
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.
Unity of the Spirit…
2 Corinthians 13:11 (NASB95)
11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
This is the blessing of a healthy church—unity.
5. The Mark of the Knowledge of the Son of God (vs. 13)
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.
Knowing Him…
Philippians 3:7-11 (NASB95)
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ . . . 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is the blessing of a healthy church—knowing Jesus.
6. The Mark of Maturity (vs. 13)
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.
Spiritual Maturity Is The Goal…
• In order to grow spiritually, it takes effort; effort that is supernaturally undergirded by the grace of God. It takes obedience and a clear decision to follow the Lord. Pastor and writer Rick Warren underscores this when he writes,
• “Spiritual growth is not automatic. It takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make an effort to grow, and persist in growing. Discipleship—the process of becoming like Christ—always begins with a decision. Jesus calls us, and we respond: ‘Come, be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.’” (Warren 2002, 179)
The Blessing of Spiritual Maturity
Hebrews 13:20-21 (NASB95)
20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
This is the blessing of a healthy church—spiritual maturity.
7. The Mark of Stability (vs. 14)
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;
Stability For The Believer…
Colossians 2:6-7 (NASB95)
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
This is the blessing of a healthy church—spiritual, mental, and emotional stability.
8. The Mark of Strong Relationships Founded Upon the Truth (vs. 15)
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
An Environment of Truth and Grace
• “In emotionally healthy churches, people take a deep, hard look inside their hearts, asking, ‘What is going on that Jesus Christ is trying to change?’” Pg. 69
• Scazzero, Peter L. (2003). The emotionally healthy church: a strategy for discipleship that actually changes lives. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Speaking the Truth….In Love…
• Paul stated positively that by speaking the truth in love (lit., “truthing in love,” which has the idea of maintaining truth in love in both speech and life) believers may grow up into Him with reference to all things. — Bible Knowledge Commentary
This is the blessing of a healthy church—where a culture of truth and grace allow for trust to exist.
9. The Mark of Growing Up (vs. 15)
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
Growing Up In Him…
• Psychologists Cloud and Townsend add their perspective of how vitally important it is to know our spiritual bearings:
• “If we are going to deeply help people on the path to spiritual growth, we have to know where we came from, where we went from there, and where we are heading.” (Cloud and Townsend 2001, 26)
Growing Up In Him…
Hebrews 6:1 (NASB95)
1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
This is the blessing of a healthy church—where disciples of Jesus, across the spiritual spectrum, are growing up.
10. The Mark of an Edified Body that Edifies and Builds Each Other Up (vs. 16)
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.
Everyone Is Involved…
• “Every disciple should make disciples . . . Disciple making included introducing people to Christ, building them up in faith, and sending them into the harvest field . . . Some disciples will have leadership gifts, and God will call them to spearhead the disciple-making activity. Only a few are called to leadership in the corporate body, but every disciple should take part in the disciple-making process at some level.” (Hull 1990, 20-21)
Everyone Is Involved…
• “The discipling church is at least three things: a hospital for the spiritually sick, a greenhouse for the growth of new believers, and a training center for the eager and well.” Pg. 41 (Hull, 1990)
Everyone Is Involved…
• There is great opportunity for those who are willing to following the Scriptural mandate of making disciples. Robert Coleman states,
• “Anyone who is willing to follow Christ can become a mighty influence on the world providing, of course, this person has the proper training.” (Coleman 1994, 38)
Everyone Is Involved…
• “To plan on making disciples, we need to know what one is and how people become disciples. We need to know these things by personal experience. . .” (Willard 1998, 300)
• “We work hard to disciple others, but only God can transform them.” (Waggoner 2008, 14).
Everyone Is Involved…
• Much of the success of a discipleship relationship comes from targeted, Spirit-led prayer. It is a supernatural experience and must be treated as so:
• “I always want the person to whom I am offering this invitation (of discipleship) to know that he or she is not an individual who I have blindly chosen out of the church directory but someone the Lord has laid on my heart with a settled conviction over time.” Pg. 124 (Ogden 2003, 124).
Everyone Is Involved…
Colossians 1:17-18 (NASB95)
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
This is the blessing of a healthy church—where the Body of Christ is connected to the Head and to each other, loving them, encouraging them, building them up.
Some Final Words…
• “The purpose of Christian formation is not developing a better self-image, achieving self-fulfillment or finding self-affirmation; nor is it the development of individualistic qualities that make singularly outstanding saints. Rather, it is developing certain qualities that enable us to live responsibly with the community that we have been baptized into.” Pg. 102-103 (Chan 1998, 102-103)
• Some Final Words…
• “. . . the goal of the Christian life is not to turn out fine specimens of sainthood. It is the union with God—glorifying God and enjoying God forever, fulfilling the ultimate purpose for which we were created.” (Chan 1998, 126)
• “What is your mission in life? Is it to serve God in some unique way? Is it to minister to your spouse or your family or your neighbors? Is it to rescue the victims or to heal the wounded? Is it to make the world a better place to live? You will not do any of those things very effectively without making choices for the nourishment of your own life. Hungry people cannot work as effectively as those whose needs for nourishments have been satisfied.” (Buhler 1991, 24)
• How does a believer satisfy the spiritual hunger that is a constant reminder of one’s need? We need to turn to God, allow Him to feed us as we live the discipled life.
• Discipleship is for hungry people, people who need the Lord. Once we find the nourishment we need, we will be able to lead others to the Bread of Life; and then,
• “. . . your experiences in nourishing yourself will help you know how to nourish others. It is folly to try to talk other people into living nourished lives when we don’t even know what that it is!” (Buhler 1991, 26)
• “The words of an old Hasidic rabbi on his deathbed are true: When I was young, I set out to change the world. When I grew older, I perceived that this was too ambitious so I set out to change my state. This, too, I realized as I grew older was too ambitious, so I set out to change my town. When I realized I could not even do this, I tried to change my family. Now as an old man, I know that I should have started by changing myself. If I had started with myself, maybe then I would have succeeded in changing my family, the town, or even the state—and who knows, maybe even the world!” Pg. 100 / Scazzero, Peter L. (2003).
In Summary, Ten Marks Of A Healthy Church
1. The Mark of a Gifted Leadership (vs. 11)
2. The Mark of Equipping Christians to Serve (vs. 12)
3. The Mark of Gifted Leaders Who Build Up the Body of Christ (vs. 12)
4. The Mark of the Unity of the Faith (vs. 13)
5. The Mark of the Knowledge of the Son of God (vs. 13)
6. The Mark of Maturity (vs. 13)
7. The Mark of Stability (vs. 14)
8. The Mark of Strong Relationships Founded Upon the Truth (vs. 15)
9. The Mark of Growing Up (vs. 15)
10. The Mark of an Edified Body that Edifies and Builds Each Other Up (vs. 16)
Want To Learn More About Living the Discipled Life?
I would invite you to join me on my blog, http://thequalitydisciple.blogspot.com, or via Facebook, and let’s learn together what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. A complete copy of this teaching, “The Edified Church,” is posted on the blog. You can also email me via email at dbates2416@aol.com.
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