He describes how God has distributed gifts to the body of Christ in the form of teachers, pastors, apostles, prophets and evangelists so that every need of the church would be fulfilled. Here I think a great case is presented for the necessity of church in the life of a believer. The next verse explains why pretty explicitly:
"His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints His consecrated people, that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body the church, That it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." (v. 12-13, Amplified)You simply can't get all God wants you to get on your own. No matter how much individual study you do or what televangelists you subscribe to, you need to be an active participant on a local body of believers. He designed the church, the instrument He chooses to use to fulfill His purposes on earth, so that we might receive instruction & guidance through it and thereby be perfected and fully equipped. And as we're built up in the knowledge of God in our own study as well as the teaching and direction of God's anointed teachers, it protects us from being deceived. Verse 14:
"So then, we may no longer be children, tossed like ships to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, the prey of the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, gamblers engaged in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead."Just last night I watched a minister on TV tell me about 7 prophesies that were going to change my life forever and bring me into financial prosperity. The eligibility for such blessing, from what I gather, were that I "sow a seed" or become a "faith partner" in his ministry, not that I change my life to model Christ & please God (2 Chronicles 7:14-18). So if we're not careful and fully equipped as the Lord would have us to be, we can fall to such a doctrine as this.
Unfortunately, Ryan, it seems that the "Body of Christ" is more apt to "take-up-an-offering" than to take-up-the-cross. What a sad indictment on the Americanized church, a Prophet of profit. The prosperity message has become a cheap imitation of the gospel, a Christ-less multi-level marketing gospel. Real prosperity is winning souls and our “eligibility” is partnering with Him.
ReplyDelete“ Forgive us, oh God, for watering down and diluting the milk of Your Word in an attempt to make it palatable to a lactose intolerant world. Forgive us for trying to “dress up” the gospel to make it more appealing and “user-friendly”. This “one-size-fits-all” gospel we’ve created has only made us look like the world rather than call men and women to true repentance, change and salvation. God help us, turn us back to Your unfailing Word. Turn us around. Cleanse us, purge our lips with coals from the altar of God. Anoint us to speak Your word with boldness, give us significance in the workplace, in the marketplace, in our neighborhoods and in our homes. An anointing that says, “Here am I, send me.” Give us a heart that beats as Your heart beats for the harvest once again. We repent for our complacency and indifference. Help us to see the lost with fresh eyes, with Your eyes. Give us a passion and a brokenness that causes us to stay up late crying out on behalf of those that do not know You. Give us a burden and a hunger that drives us to push away a plate in order that someone would come to know You as Lord and Saviour. Anoint us to be “salt and light” once again to a spoiled, dark and dying world. Hear us oh God for we need You more than ever."