Healing?

Have you ever read anything in the Bible and thought, “I wish He would do that for me”?  I have.  

Look at Psalm 103:3 – 5 (here at Bible Gateway), He:

1. Pardons all my iniquities, 
2. Heals all my diseases; 
3. Redeems my life from the pit, 
4. Crowns me with lovingkindness and compassion; 
5. Satisfies my years with good things, So that my youth is renewed like the eagle. 

Last time I read that, I was recovering from Covid, was facing the last two maintenance rounds of chemo.  One of my pastors said you have four things that have a side effect of fatigue, cancer, chemo, covid, and Cunningham…  He thought that was really funny…

When I read this, my response is, “Lord can you do this for me?  Will you?”  It is without question that He can.  

However, I have reacted to the way “healers” demand healing that has made me think or has given me a mindset that makes me hesitant to ask Him or believe that He would heal me.

The cancer I have is incurable, but He can cure it.  Will He?  He can cure all of the ailments I have.  He can cure all of the ailments that my love ones have either faced or are dealing with now.  He can, but, will He?

The pull is to look for the right words or behavior that will get His attention.  But that overlooks Psalm 139 (here at Bible Gateway) and Ephesians 2:10 (here at Bible Gateway), does it not?

So, how does one approach this?  Is it not to trust Him with whatever He choses to do?  Knowing and trusting that what He chooses is best.  Isn’t that what Paul does in 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 (here at Bible Gateway)?

Gifts

We all like getting or giving gifts.  My wife and I have 9 grandchildren with the 10th on the way.  At Christmas, the area around our tree is covered with gifts for them.  It is fun to watch their excitement as they open them.

We read in scripture that God’s gifts are perfect, James 1:17 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In Matthew 7:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Luke 11:13 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are reminded that the Father gives good gifts to His children.

In Philippians 4:6 – 7 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are told to not be anxious but rather ask with thanksgiving for what we want.  In Hebrews 12:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway) we see the same parallel that we saw in Matthew and Luke above, what the earthly father does compared and contrasted with what our heavenly Father does.  Our heavenly Father works in our lives to cause us to share His holiness.

In Romans 5:1 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are challenged to exalt in our tribulations, knowing that navigating those positively impacts our character and dependence on Him.

There are more passages that come to mind chief among them Psalm 139:3 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Psalm 119: 67, 71, 75, 107 (here @ Bible Gateway).

When we put all this together, perhaps a slightly different view of His gifts emerges.  Nothing comes into our lives without His direction and purpose.  He is intentional in developing us for the work He has for us.  So illness, financial challenges, family challenges, all that we encounter, all of life’s experiences He uses to shape us.  

We pray for healing from illness, for easing of the financial or family challenges, do we make those requests with thanksgiving?  I was challenged praying for one who was close to us for healing from cancer.  I was confronted with the challenge of being thankful for the cancer.  Was that really what the Lord was asking?  As I processed that with the individual, they were struggling with the same issue.

Paul penned much of what we read in the New Testament.  He gives help from his own life on this issue in 2 Corinthians 10:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  He prayed for relief but came to the realization that the weakness made him dependent on Christ.  He then boasted about his weakness, embracing the power of Christ.

Our family has had lots of “gifts” in the past 4 years.  Personally, I have not consistently thanked the Lord for those struggles.  I have not always exalted in them.  I continue to struggle with what it means and how to live through the power of Christ.  However, I am slowly learning how to be well content with weakness, distress, and difficulties.

The Job of Every Believer

A while back something I was reading caused me to chase a theme through the New Testament.  

Here are the passages that came to mind:

• 1 Corinthians 12:7, 24 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Romans 12:4 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ephesians 4:1 – 3, 11 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 3:13 – 15 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 10:23 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway)

As you see the passages deal mostly with gifting of each member of the body of Christ.  It occurred to me, while working through this, that the purpose of each individual in the body is to build up the other members.  Based on Hebrews 10 (here @ Bible Gateway) that is an intentional and thoughtful enterprise. 

To the extent that we do not build one another up, not consider, not encourage, not strengthen, not challenge, not exhort, not call to walk worthy, to that extent we weaken not only the body, but we diminish ourselves.  By not building up a member in Christ, we are choosing to not activate that person’s gift thus depriving the body and us of their ministry.

The argument will be made that it is the domain of the elite, the pastors, the leadership of a body to build up the members.  But, that flies in the face of the Lord’s command in Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway).

Not Void

Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a passage to which I return often.  I have written about it often here.  Many times I couple the verse with Hebrews 4:12 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway).  It has been, and it still is, my belief and conviction that God’s Word does not return void. 

In part I have been applying that by getting men into the Word and allowing the Word to work in their lives, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  My conviction and experience is if men get in the Word and I get out of the way, the Lord will lead them into truth.

Problem.

I read a lot.  Theological journals and some scholarly works are part of that reading.  I benefit from reading those – caveat: my primary time for input for my walk with God, is time with Him in the Word, I read the journals to understand what they are dealing with, but I do not accept anything I read without validating it Biblically.  The challenge I have encountered in reading these is that I find men who are “scholars” who are espousing some incredibly unbiblical positions.

How does that align with the Word of God not returning void?  How does that align with the Word being piercing?  Why are they not led into truth?

Thinking and praying through this over time I think an answer may be emerging for me.  You may already have figured it out.  But, I am a slow maze learner.  The last portion of Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) states that the Word won’t return, “Without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

If the Lord’s purpose in a person’s life is to draw them to Himself, the Word will do that.  If it is His purpose to push them away, the Word will do so.  It is His purpose that is important, not mine.

It is a further reminder to me, a rebuke, that I am not in control.  It is His Word, His ministry, His gospel, His choice that matters.  He determines what is void and what is not.  My role is to still get men into the Word and get out of the way and let Him do with them what He desires.

The Shocking Source of David’s Greatness

Have you noticed that no matter how many times you have read a passage it is fresh every time?  I cannot count the number of times I have read Psalm 18 (here @ Bible Gateway), but its riches continue to emerge.

There is so much here that it will be impossible to cover it in a few sentences, even though I have written on this Psalm twice before, here and here.

Notice how David describes the Lord, He is David’s:

• Strength
• Rock
• Fortress
• Deliverer
• God
• Rock (again)
• Refuge
• Shield
• Salvation
• Stronghold

The Lord gave David the shield of His salvation and upholds David with His right hand.

Note also that the Lord equipped David by training his hands so that David could bend a bow of bronze.

This describes a warrior king.  One who was intentionally chosen to lead the people of God.  For the most part, except for some serious lack of judgement, David did that very well.  But it wasn’t really David that gets the credit.  It was the transforming, life renewing, intentional, unmerited work of God in David’s life that made him the man he was.

David was a strong leader, an incredible warrior.  But the overwhelming thing in this Psalm, this time through, is not all of the attributes listed above.  No, the attribute that David claims as the one thing about God that made him a great leader and warrior is not the strength, it is the gentleness of God.

Think about that.  Why would David focus on that aspect of God’s nature and character?  Let me know what you think.

Worship of the Giver

Have you ever admired someone’s skill?  Looked at something that they have created and was amazed at their work?  There are a number of artists for which I have great regard.  Some of them work in the medium of drawing or painting.  Many in music.  Some in the written word both in fiction and non-fiction.  Some as actors.  Some as carpenters.  Some as designers of buildings, bridges, or other structures.

There are others though who many would not consider artists, plumbers, electricians, welders, etc.  Artists, however, they are.

Exodus 31:6 (here @ Bible Gateway), the last part especially, tells us that any skill that we have was put there by God.  So when you admire someone’s work, you are in reality giving thanks to the One who gifted their skill.

Perhaps a new source of worship.

Not a Solo Flight

Ten days from now I will get on a plane and fly to Togo, West Africa.  Four days later I will work with students in a Bible school equipping them to study their Bibles more effectively in a four-day seminar.  But that is not the only goal.  The time is designed to give them tools for their own study that are transferable to the people to whom they will minister.

They speak French.  I speak Texan.  Since Friday I have been reconstructing the handout into French from a translation of the material that was done by a faculty member at a seminary in Cameroon.  I ran into some challenges with the translation and asked questions of Ben, my host in Cameroon four weeks ago.  He communicated with the translator and got me an answer within an hour or so.  That interaction was through Facebook Messenger.  At the same time, I was contacting Pierre, my host in Togo, for information through Skype.

Earlier this morning I got three emails from men in three different states.  One was sharing what they would be specifically praying for me; one was checking to make sure that I had all of the finances I needed for the trip, one, a long time mentor, was writing to strengthen me for the challenge.

That’s six men in three different countries, three different states unified in helping me engage in that for which the Lord designed me and provided opportunities to steward His design.  That does not count the literally hundreds of others who have invested in this financially, in prayer, and in equipping me to fully utilize the gifts and design of the Father.

We live in a culture that values independence.  We celebrate the maverick, the solo artist.  Proverbs 18:1 (here @ Bible Gateway) does not celebrate independence.  There the Holy Spirit labeled flying solo, foolishness, the opposite of sound wisdom.

We desperately need each other.  In multiple passages, the Bible makes it clear that we are dependent on the gifts of others.  Ephesians 4:14 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) is one of those passages.  There Paul clearly states that each member of the Body contributes to the growth of the Body.

I may be the one leading the seminar 15 days from now.  But there are hundreds of the members of Christ’s Body who have placed me there.  The fruit of this project is theirs.

Problem Solving 101

Problems are a fact of life.  Either in our personal life, our business, or our communities of faith.  In 1 Chronicles 19:8, 10, 13, the writer outlines how David dealt with a significant problem.  David’s approach seems to set for us a good example of how to deal with difficult problems.

There seem to be three steps to David’s plan.

1. David sent his best people to deal with the issue – he sent his best general, Joab, and his mighty men.


2. David did not micro manage the problem – he let his best people deal with the issue based on their experience and gifts.  They dealt with the problem by:
1. Subdividing the issue into manageable or rational parcels.
2. Assigning the best people to deal with that subset.


3. All, David, Joab, and the mighty men were strong and courageous in dealing with the challenge.
1. They were not focused on getting glory for themselves.
2. They were focused on:
1. Getting glory for the Lord
2. Protecting the People

This seems like an approach that will work for many of the problems we face in our personal, business, and communities of faith.

Given the Words

There are three passages that connected for me a few weeks ago.  I don’t know how it works for you but when I am working through the Word if there is a passage that is really speaking to me it tends to remind me of other passages I have studied or read.

Sometimes I remember where they are.  Other times I have to search for them.  I use my Bible program to find them.  Often I do not remember the exact wording.  So I have to search for a phrase or combination of words.

In just about every case the effort reinforces the message that the Lord has pointed out in the original passage.

Here are the three, in order:

• Exodus 4:11 – 13
• Luke 12:11
• Luke 21:12 – 15

You’ll note the last two are connected.  That is because Luke 12:11 was the passage I remembered, the other was a cross reference after I located the passage – it is always a good idea to look at the context…

I was overseas a while back.  I was in a country that is hostile to Christianity.  We had been called to the police station.  Walking over there I was thinking of this passage and wondering what hymns Paul and Silas were singing in Acts 16:25.  It turned out that we did not need hymns.  The police were “concerned for the American’s safety”.  They wanted money from the people who had rented the house to us.

Regardless, these passages remind me that I am completely dependent on the Lord for the words I say.  Not just when under duress.  I need to be trusting Him even when, perhaps more so, I am engaged in discussions with believers.  Whether it is about our walk with God or our service for Him together, I need to trust Him for His words, His leading, not my words or ideas.

That requires, more than anything that I know, to do what Paul exhorts us to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Too often I engage my tongue before my prayer is in gear.

Remember this Day

Look at Exodus 13:3 – 16.

The Lord is commanding, exhorting, emphasizing to the nation of Israel that they are to remember that He, with a powerful hand, brought them out of slavery in Egypt.

Four times in those verses He reminds them of what He did, what they are supposed to remember.

They didn’t.

In a matter of days they were grumbling that He brought them out to die.

I tend to forget what God has done for me.  Latent Israeli tendencies I suppose.

He has done so much more for me.  He died for me.  He rose breaking the power of death for me.  He lavished His Spirit on me.  He has brought people into my life who have instructed and mentored me.  He has guided me and formed me for His purposes that He set for me before the foundation of the world.

Yet I forget.  Yet I grumble.  I need to remember.

Entrusted Stewardship

I have mentioned 1 Corinthians 9:17 once before.  It will withstand another look.

In Chapter 9, one of the things Paul is sharing is his commitment to evangelism, sharing the gospel.  He views his responsibility for the gospel as a sacred trust.  In fact in 2 Timothy 2:2 he uses a financial term that describes trusts in describing what Timothy is to give to those whom he is equipping.

The great commission tells us that we are all, like Paul, entrusted with what Jesus taught the disciples.  That is validated by Christ’s prayer in John 17:20.  We share that trust that was given to Paul.

Paul was gifted.  He was at least gifted in teaching, exhorting, and probably as an evangelist,  My gifts include exhortation and leadership, but not evangelism.  But that does not absolve me of the responsibility, the trust, the requirement to share the gospel.

Regardless if I do it voluntarily or as a stewardship, it is still my assignment.

Build it Up

Earlier this month I shared some thoughts about the purpose of leadership, I stated that authority, leadership is given for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ.

In that post I shared a list of all of the places the word that is translated “build up,” οικοδομη (oikodomē), is used in the New Testament.  One of those references, 1 Corinthians 14:3, came up in my reading a few days ago.

In 1 Corinthians 14:3 Paul is speaking about the effect of the gift of prophecy on the Body of Christ.  There are three effects of this gift on the Body, edification which is our word οικοδομη (oikodomē), exhortation, and consolation.  Earlier in 1 Corinthians 12:7 that the gifts are given for the common good.  That is reinforced in Ephesians 4:16 where Paul tells us that each of us, each part of the Body, as it works properly causes the building up, again οικοδομη (oikodomē), of the Body.

Bottom line?  All leadership and every gift of the Spirit given to the Body, of which each believer is a recipient, has the purpose of building up the Body of Christ.

Each of us.  Not just leaders.  Each of us is gifted for a purpose.  Each of us is to steward the gift the Spirit has given us and use it in building up our communities of faith.

As the commercial says, “Just Do It.”

Gentleness

One of my spiritual gifts is exhortation.  My personality is driver/driver, high D, high hostile, choleric melancholy or how whatever instrument you are familiar with describes someone who runs over people to get things done.  That has moderated with time but is still purring under the hood.

My wife’s primary spiritual gift is mercy.  She has some of the same personality types that I do but hers are much more influenced by her primary gift.  She has the ability to confront people with difficult issues and they leave the conversation thinking she paid them a complement.

So one of the struggles I have had for years is communicating with people in a way that they can hear what I am saying through my directness and my passion.  It is a prime example of a strength being a weakness.

Some of my reading is in Hebrews now and I was reminded of several passages that need to work on my soul.

• Hebrews 5:12
• 2 Timothy 2:24 – 25
• Romans 1:14
• 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10

The first two remind me that I am to deal gently with people who are ignorant and misguided.  The second reminds me that one that is ignorant and misguided will not change unless the Lord grants that change.  Because of that, I am not to quarrel – I like quarrels at some level…  But that is not the way God will change or help one who needs help.

The third passage, well the first half of it gives me no problems.  I have challenges with the last half.  I am OK working with the wise, I am not one to suffer fools gladly.  But Paul reminds me that I am under obligation to do so, under the umbrella of gentleness that is required by the first two passages.

So I am weak.  In dire need of some growth.

The good news for me is in the last passage, if I embrace that weakness, Christ will be strong through it.

That is the assignment.  I continue to embrace it.

More on Body Observations

It happened again this morning.  Although a couple of the men could not make it, the three of us dove into Acts 20.  Something that looks like a banal travel log at first glance with the application of observation and discussion yielded some life changing application.

Again the men around the table had prepared.  We are not coming to the table cold; that is not having engaged in the text at some significant level.  But for the past two weeks the discussion has yielded more insight for me than my personal study.

One of the men saw a repetition that I missed.  In Acts 20:21 – 26, the phrase solemnly testify occurs three times, if you add testify, which has the same Greek root, it is four times in those six verses.  But the key to that observation was in Acts 20:22, there Paul states that he was bound by the Spirit.

The observation was that this is nearly identical to what Jesus said.  Jesus only did what His Father told Him to do.  Here Paul is bound by the Spirit to do what the Spirit leads him to do.  Further earlier in the chapter, Acts 20:4, we read the list of men who are traveling with Paul.  That mirrors Jesus’ ministry as well.  Look at Mark 3:14.  Like Jesus, Paul recruited men to follow him, to see his ministry.

Finally, in Acts 20:25 – 35, Paul commits the ministry in Ephesus to the elders there, warning them about false teachers that will come both from in their midst, as well as from outside.  Peter shares the same warning in 2 Peter 2:1 – 3; 3:14 – 17.

What I am learning is that when men dig in on their own, then come together to share what they have found, richness emerges.  If you are not in a group like this, do whatever you have to, to find one.

Body Observations

I have said before that we need each other as we study the Word.  This morning three of us were in John 5.  Now I have been through that chapter earlier this year with the Tuesday group.  That group consists of mostly people who have been in full time Christian work, leading Bible studies for upwards of 40 years.

While I need the Tuesday group, the guys this morning saw things that the Tuesday guys missed.

You know the passage, Jesus heals the man by the pool that has been there for 38 years.  As he is walking out of the place carrying his pallet, the Jews jump all over him for working.  One of the men observed that they did not jump all over the person that brought him to the pool, which would also have been considered work.  Great observation.  Their ire was focused on what Jesus did.

The other man in the conversation remarked at the end of our time that he really wanted to know God better through the Word.  We are not there yet but he was essentially quoting John 5:39 – 46.  He is already applying the Word before we get there.

Both men are fully engaged.  Both are making great observations.  So are for that matter the Tuesday guys.  The point is we need each other’s insight into the Word.  The other point is that no matter how many times we go through the text, there will be more to see.

The Shocking Truth about Group Bible Study

I did not really want to go to Bible study this morning.  I have been fighting allergies all week.  I did not feel prepared, I had not really gotten that far with the time I had invested in Acts 19.  I thought about texting the guys for the 0600 study and sending an email to the pastor I meet with online to bail out of both studies.

Late last night I finally got a title for each of the paragraphs and just quit.

I drug myself out of bed at 0520 and went to the restaurant where we meet.

An hour and a half later I left blown away.  It was just about the best discussion we have had.  All of the men made great observations.  A passage that I thought would not have a lot of discussion, we barely finished.  I was encouraged by the depth and clarity of the men’s thoughts.

Thirty minutes later I was online with the pastor in a country six time zones away.  Same song second verse.  We barely got out of the first paragraph.  He is dealing with issues that that paragraph addresses directly.  It was a stimulating and challenging conversation.

I walked into the restaurant fatigued with low expectations.  I ended the video call 3 and a half hours later excited and overwhelmed with what had transpired in both meetings.  What happened?  Two things.

First, the Word of God is live giving and life changing.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that it pierces us.  Second, each man brought his gifts and thus his unique insight into the Scripture.  We built each other up.

Some context.  The men in both groups have been equipped to study on their own.  They come prepared.  They come having wrestled at a significant level with the text.  In my experience, experience I sometimes forget when I am wrestling with fatigue and allergies, when you have that combination, men equipped to study, prepared, assembling to share and hash out what they have seen; first the Lord promises He will be there, Matthew 18:20, and the Holy Spirit is going to lead us into truth, John 16:13

If you have not experienced this, do whatever you have to do to get in that type of group.  If you need help, let me know, I will figure out a way to help.

Crippling Help

This is probably a corollary to yesterday’s post.  Have you ever read or heard the story about the man who was watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon?  He watches the insect attempt to get out of a tiny hole.  With compassion he attempts to help by cutting the cocoon open.  The result?  Without the struggle the butterfly’s wings are not fully developed.  The butterfly is crippled by the man’s help and is never able to fly.

Yesterday I suggested that we may be in a situation similar to that which existed around the time of the start of the Reformation.  Similar, in that the Bible, while now available to most all of us, is not studied deeply except by pastors and seminary professors.  As I shared there are those leaders who suggest that as believers we should come to church and listen to the expert and then apply what the expert tells us.

If it was not clear from yesterday’s post, I consider that to be an abhorrent misreading of the Biblical text and mandate given by our Lord in Matthew 28:18 – 20.  All of us as believers are responsible to study our Bibles and apply what we learn there to our lives.

For those of us who are privileged to lead others in this journey, our task is to equip those the Lord has given us too lead to study and apply the Bible.  In that process it is not important what one knows.  What is important is helping those in one’s charge learn to dig out and apply the truth for themselves.

I am often asked for answers to help a brother or sister understand a passage of Scripture.  I rarely will answer such a question.  Frankly, it doesn’t matter that I know the answer.  What matters is helping that person at that time progress in their ability to discover the answer for themselves.  So my response to a question like that is usually something like, “What are some of the answers to that question that you have considered?” and then, “Which of those do you think answers the question most completely?”  and finally, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Helping a person struggle through the text properly is helping them grow their wings in their study of the Bible.  To give them the answer, even a well-crafted and Biblically supported answer, is cutting open their cocoon and crippling their ability to stand alone in the text.

It does not seem that our assignment from the Lord is to make cripples. 

Troubling Times

Ever get nervous?  Ever feel like things are out of control?  Ever just want some relief from what is happening in your life at the moment?  As an apprentice of Christ how do we respond to those times in our lives that are troubling?

It is the case that we are to follow Christ, is it not?  His actions and reactions in John 12:27 – 28 may give us a clue as to how to respond to troubling times.  Jesus knows that in the next few days things are going to be really hard.  He describes His soul as troubled, which, in itself is astounding.  He knew exactly what was coming – troubled?  I would be in a free fall panic.  But our Lord is troubled.  His response?  Rather than ask to be saved from the hour, He asks God to glorify His Name.  This is instructive.

We saw in John 11 that our prayer should be anchored in asking for God and His Son to be glorified.  Here Jesus employs the same remedy to the troubling times through which He is about to pass.

We tend to want relief.  Christ wanted His Father glorified.

We may not get relief.  God will be glorified.

This answers for me what to pray in response to Luke 18:1.  This also informs my use of Philippians 4:6 – 7.

It seems like the Lord has me in school and the subject is prayer…

The Trouble with Knowledge

Last month I changed my Bible reading plan.  For the past several years I have been using the daily readings from the Book of Common Prayer.  I switched to the M’Chenye reading plan.  Two weeks ago that took me to 1 Corinthians 8.

The last part of verse 1 you have probably heard, “…knowledge makes arrogant (many versions render this “puffs up”) but love edifies.”  You have probably also experienced this.  All of us have been around someone who has a little bit of knowledge and builds his self-esteem on that bit.

The second verse is in contrast to the one who is “puffed up” about their “knowledge,” “…If anyone supposes that he knows anything he has not yet know as he ought to know…”  That one is pretty clear.

This is in the part of the book where Paul is dealing with meat sacrificed to idols.  While that is part of his instruction for that issue, this seems to have also a broader application.

We learn in 1 Corinthians 12:7 that the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good.  We are not given gifts or knowledge for our own benefit.  No, gifts and knowledge are for the benefit and edification of the Body.  Paul addresses this earlier in the book, 1 Corinthians 4:7, all we have, gifts and knowledge is the gift of God.  It is His grace.  As Paul states in Ephesians 2:8 – 10 that excludes boasting.

So rather than being impressed with ourselves, it seems a better course of action to be good stewards of what God has given us and use our gifts and knowledge to build up those around us in their walk with Christ…

…oh, they are supposed to be doing that for us as well.

Dysfunction

Conversations
There were two conversations I had today about two hours apart that landed in the same arena.  Both conversations dealt with issues in the Church.  But the conversations centered on manifestations of the Church here and then halfway around the world.  The issue was the same.  Dysfunction in the Body of Christ.

Key Word/Concept
The key word in that first paragraph is “Body”.  In Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4 we read not only about the gifts with which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit give to the Church but why and how they are supposed to be used.  In each case the gifts are given not to edify the individual with the gift but to build up others in the Body of Christ.  The Ephesians passage tells us the reason, the purpose of the gifts, and the intended result…

…to the building up of the body of Christ; 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.  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; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 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 4:12 – 16

Central Dysfunction
The problem both conversations dealt with was the reality that this is not happening in the churches very much.  Equipping is more than lecture.  It is more than a 20 minute message once a week.  Think about how you were equipped for your work.  If you were like most people you got much more instruction than a 20 minute message once a week.  You were also tested on what you learned.  You were observed.  You got feedback on how you were doing.  I do not know of one church that trains leaders or engages the gifts of their people in this manner.  That doesn’t mean they do not exist.  But it does mean that I have never heard of or encountered one.

The Result of Dysfunction
The result is that the leaders are doing and are expected to do the ministry.  After all that is what they are hired to do, isn’t it?  The problem is that is not what the Word says they are supposed to do.  So we end up with pastors and staff that are stretched really thin.  We end up with churches that Prof likened to a football game, with 80,000 people in the stands who are desperately in need of exercise, watching 22 people on the field who are in desperate need of rest.

These things ought not to be.