Ephesians 4:11-13
Devotions for Sunday 8th June
This text contains the famous list of leadership and ministry gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is often used alongside Rom. 12:6f. and 1 Cor. 12:8f. to provide a comprehensive list of the ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit’ which God’s people may both see in each other and also expect to receive when they are spiritual re-born through faith (John 3:5f.). As such, this is an important text, and each of the gifts mentioned, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, is a special gift., and a general understanding of them will help us appreciate how God intends His people to be led.
The first thing to take note of is the flow of Paul’s letter, which indicates that he is talking about the church of God with an emphasis on its unity; he has just said ‘There is one Body, and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith ...’ (4:4,5). So the gifts that Paul writes about in Ephesians are those which sustain the ministry of the ‘Body’; or as Paul says in our passage today, ‘To equip the saints.’ (4:12). For this reason, this list is called the ‘ministry’ gifts, or the ‘leadership’ gifts (alongside the gifts of service in Romans 12, and the personal charismatic gifts in 1 Cor. 12). Their role is to enable God’s church to grow through being properly led in a manner which reflects the presence of Christ and the power of the Gospel of salvation which has been entrusted to it.
The first gift mentioned is that of the apostle, and this echoes the brief list mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians ‘God has appointed in the church first apostles, then prophets, then teachers ...’ (1 Cor 12:28). From the way Paul talks about what it means to be an apostle elsewhere (e.g. see Galatians 1&2), we should assume that Paul believed this gift was for the remaining disciples and himself; people who had received Christ’s special commission to spread the Gospel immediately after the resurrection and the first Pentecost. For this reason, we often talk about these disciples and Paul as the ‘Twelve Apostles’; their commission was unique and unrepeatable and was twice described by Paul as having priority over other gifts. In the ordering of the church, Paul meant that the authority of the Apostles was paramount, and in Galatians, he explained that this was because they were the witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (including himself – see Gal 1:11,12f.). Some people feel this is too narrow an understanding of ‘apostleship’, because the word ‘apostle’ means ‘one who is sent’ and is virtually the same as what we mean by ‘a missionary’. True, apostleship in this more general sense is important because we are all called to spread the Gospel, and some are set aside for it. However, it does not seem logical for this gift to have priority in the church, given the other gifts mentioned; so without wishing to diminish the role of missionaries, I am not sure that this is what Paul was talking about here. Perhaps he was saying that the testimony of the Apostles which is now what we call the ‘New Testament’ has a priority in the leadership and direction of God’s people.
The next gift mentioned is that of the prophet. Why should prophets be listed higher than other gifts? The reason may be found in the Old Testament, where the kings of Israel and Judah were subservient to God’s prophets because they communicated God’s Word to those who had the practical work of leading the people (Nathan was the prophet who called David to account, for example – 2 Sam 11). Those who have the gift of prophecy now have the same role, though I am not sure the church recognises this properly. True prophets are not merely people who stand up to speak out in church services; they are those whose godliness is completely respected by church leaders and who can be trusted to tell them what God thinks about what they are doing and what the Body of Christ should be doing. They are the people who bring God’s Word into all situations of church leadership.
‘Evangelists’, ‘pastors’ and ‘teachers’ are all gifts which are relevant to the leadership of God’s people. Organisers, administrators and the like are all important, and they may be gifted by God for such tasks, but leadership needs to consist of people who have these three gifts at least, for good reason. Christ’s call for His people to proclaim the Gospel (Matt 28:19) requires that church leaders have a heart for evangelism. It also requires that leaders have a heart for loving those who come into the kingdom and consequently form the Body of Christ. In addition, our leaders need to be people who know the truths of God’s Word and teach it to the people. Without this, we cannot grow as God’s people. This is all very basic, but it is written for a reason. This is not a random list.
All of these gifts are essential for the Body of Christ to grow and develop; as Paul concludes, ‘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.’ (4:13).
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.
© All text and pictures on this page copyright Paul H Ashby 2008 - all rights reserved
To read the questions and discipleship challenges for this text: go to the discipleship page
Make me a person of vision and peace, Lord Jesus. Make me worthy of being called Yours, and willing to work for You in whatever way you wish; but keep my eyes fixed upon the eternal purposes of the Father for good, for peace, for love and for salvation. May my service help to bring about Your Kingdom. This I pray through Jesus Christ, my Lord; AMEN.
Bring love into the heart of our homes, Lord God.
You who can cure the love-lost-ness
that drives so many marriages apart despite solemn promises;
You who can teach a man and woman
to find with joy that love means more and more as years go by;
You who can enable growing children
to find their own path, their life and future, and still love ‘home’;
You who can give enduring strength
to those who care for their aged, and sacrifice all for what’s right;
You who can bind two hearts as one
in life’s immeasurable mysteries, with love, grace and passion;
Bring love into the heart of our homes.
Weekly Theme: The Family
God has given us ‘family’ life, and yet each country and culture has its own traditions and standards for family life. Interpret my suggestions this week as is best for your own setting.
On-going prayers
- Pray for those suffering because of international food shortages
- Pray for your government
- Give thanks to God for the hard work of those who police our streets
