According to Paul, the primary function of the church is "to equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Eph 4:12). Now, that's not what most people think of when they think of church. They think of worship or, quite often, evangelism. Lots of churches include a gospel message and an "altar call." "Invite your neighbors." That kind of thing. And these things are good. But this text says it's about equipping saints. That's a bit different than your normal church.
It's interesting, because Paul lists "the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers" (Eph 4:11) as gifts God gave to the Church. Clearly "evangelist" does say that evangelism is part of the church. But some churches leave off the rest. And the equipping in view is "for building up the body of Christ." The primary idea is building up the body. That would require new converts, so evangelism is a factor, but it also involves teaching and shepherding and ... the rest. The target is the unity of the faith and "mature manhood" to the standard of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). This is an ongoing and essential job. And so many prefer "church lite" with little Bible and more warm feelings.
What's the issue? Why are we doing this? "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" (Eph 4:14). If that doesn't describe the church today, I don't know what does. The problem is "human cunning." We have winds of doctrine and "craftiness in deceitful schemes." And it doesn't take long to find them. "Name it and claim it" is still popular in some crowds. The universality of sin is questioned. The inspiration of Scripture is commonly disregarded. Human cunning and the craftiness of deceitful schemes. None of this would be a problem if the church was equipping saints toward maturity. I would hope more churches would examine this and repent.
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