FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS
FOR THE WORK OF SERVICE: pros ton katartismon ton hagion eis ergon
diakonias: (Luke
22:32;
John 21:15-17;
Acts 9:31;
11:23;
14:22,23;
20:28;
Romans 15:14,29;
1 Corinthians 12:7;
2 Corinthians 7:1;
Philippians 1:25,26;
3:12-18;
Colossians 1:28;
1 Thessalonians 5:11-14;
Hebrews 6:1;
13:17)
(Acts
1:17,25;
20:24;
Romans 12:7;
1 Corinthians 4:1,2;
2 Corinthians 3:8;
4:1;
5:18;
6:3;
Colossians 4:17;
1 Timothy 1:12;
2 Timothy 4:5,11)
Equipping of
the saints - KJV has "perfecting of the saints" which conveys
the wrong idea, for the purpose of Christs gifts ("gifted men") to the
Church is not to make saints sinlessly perfect but is to completely
outfit them for service or as Paul describes to make them...
a vessel for honor, sanctified (set
aside), useful (easy to make use of) to the Master, prepared (carries
idea of willingness and eagerness as well as of readiness) for every
good (God) work. (See note
2 Timothy 2:21)
John MacArthur
gives some sage advice in this vital area of pastor-teachers
equipping their sheep writing...
The surest road to a church’s
spiritual stagnation, to the pastor’s burnout, or to both is for the
pastor to become so engulfed in activities and programs that he has too
little time for prayer and the Word. And programs that “succeed” can
be even more destructive than those that fail if they are done in the
flesh and for human satisfaction rather than the Lord’s glory. It is
lack of knowledge of God’s Word and obedience to it (Hos. 4:6), not
lack of programs and methods, that destroy His people. When they fail it
is not because of weak programs but because of weak teaching. The first
concern of the leadership of the church should be for the filled seats,
not the empty ones. When a young preacher complained to Charles Spurgeon
that his own congregation was too small, Spurgeon replied, “Well, maybe
it is as large as you’d like to give account for in the day of
judgment.” Spiritual growth does not always involve learning something
new. Our most important growth often is in regard to truth we have
already heard but have not fully applied.
(MacArthur,
J: Ephesians. Chicago: Moody Press)
Dr S Lewis
Johnson explains this important passage writing that
what Paul is really saying is these
gifted men, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are
given for the equipping of the saints – that’s their one duty, to equip
the saints – that the saints might do the work of ministry that the body
of Christ might be edified. So that the work of the ministry is not the
work of the gifted man; he’s simply to equip them from the word of God.
He’s to teach the Scriptures so that they, built up in the faith,
strengthened, given doctrine of biblical knowledge and the application
of it, are then able to carry on ministry. Everyone is a minister in the
body of Christ. So you are a minister in the body of Christ...
Now in the case of each of these
gifts, assuming that this last is one gift, pastor hyphen teacher,
you’ll notice that each one has something to do with the word of God.
So, the concept that Paul is speaking about here is the concept of men
who have utterance gifts to teach the word of God, to equip us, to do
the work that will lead to the edifying of the body of Christ. And I
read the statement from Calvin, to the effect, in which Calvin
says,
“He could not exalt more highly the
ministry of the word than by attributing to it this effect. For what
higher work can there be than to build up the church that it may reach
its perfection. They, therefore, are insane, who neglecting this means
hope to be perfect in Christ, as is the case with the fanatics who
pretend secret revelations of the spirit (that is, they pretend they
have prophets), and the proud, who content themselves with the private
reading of Scripture and imagine that they do not need the ministry of
the church.”
So Calvin made, I think, a very valid
point that what leads to the edification of the church, the body of
Christ, is the ministry of gifted men who bring the word of God to us.
The word is the source of the edification of the body of Christ.
Now I’d like to just draw a little contrast here, based on that. You’ll
note that it all comes from the word. He does not say that God has given
to us educators, that they might instruct us. He does not say that he
has given us organizers, that the body may be built up. He does not say
that he gives us administrators, that the body of Christ may be built
up. He does not say that we have been given counselors, or
psychologists, or fundraisers, that the church may be built up.
In other words, the edification of the body of Christ comes from the
ministry of every believer who is equipped for his task by the apostles,
the prophets, the evangelists, the pastor-teacher, or, in their teaching
of the word of God. It is the word of God that equips the saints for
ministry. So the Apostle, I think, lays great stress upon that. (Pdf)
Equipping (2677)
(katartismos from
katartizo = mend, repair, make
whole or perfect, of setting bones, mending nets in turn from katá
= with + artízo = adjust, fit, finish related to ) means to make
something or someone (in this case the "sheep" in the flock) completely
adequate or sufficient for something. The basic idea is that of
putting a thing into the condition in which it ought to be. In
politics it is used for bringing together opposing factions so that
government can go on.
The English word
equip means to furnish for service or action by appropriate
provisioning. Equip describes the supplying with the items needed for a
particular purpose, both of these definitions providing excellent
pictures of the effect the gifted men should have on the body
of Christ.
Fitting or
preparing them fully, so that thus equipped or fitted out they might
serve the purpose for which they were made.
Paul used the verb
form (katartizo)
in the context of a call for unity writing...
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no
divisions (schisms, parties, in present context referring to no division
over personalities) among you, but you be made complete in the
same mind and in the same judgment. (Comment: Paul appeals for
adjustments to be made in these personality divisions so that there
might be unity in the church. Other issues that divided the
Corinthian church included libertinism (1Cor 6:13), the relation of men
and women in the church (1Cor 11:2-16), food laws (1Cor 8:10; 10:25),
speaking in tongues (1Cor 14), and resurrection of the dead (1Cor 15).
Paul used the verb
form (katartizo)
again in second epistle to the Corinthians in his closing admonition to
the believers:
“Finally, brethren, rejoice,
be made complete
(present
imperative)”
(2Cor. 13:11) (Comment:
Katartizo
conveys the sense here not of adding something that is lacking, but of
putting things in order, of adjusting things that are out of adjustment
as for example in describing fisherman mending their nets. Paul was
commanding the Corinthian saints to mend their ways, to
straighten themselves out, and restore harmony among
themselves. Spiritual wholeness comes when the church, both collectively
and individually, is in complete conformity to God’s Word. To equip the
saints to do so is the responsibility of the church’s leaders.)
It is worth noting
that in classical Greek this word group is derived from the root "ar-"
which indicates appropriateness, suitability, usefulness, aptitude.
Artios
(katartismos)
for example means suitable, appropriate, fitting a situation or
requirements; hence also respectively, normal, perfect, sound in
physical, intellectual, moral and religious respects. In mathematics it
is used to describe what is straight and to denote even numbers.
Artios
properly signifies an integer
or whole number in arithmetic, to which nothing needs to be added to
make it complete. This word describes those persons who are complete,
capable and proficient in everything they are called to be or do. When
you're packing to go on a trip you have everything you need for the
journey and you're ready to go! You are ready for the WORK of God
once you have been trained by WORD of God!
Regarding
artios
NIDNTT adds that...
Of particular importance are those
passages in which artios and its derivatives are used in
connexion with the preparation and equipment of the believer and the
church, for the service of God and their fellow-men. The adj. artios
occurs only at
2 Timothy 3:17
(see below), together with the perfect pass. participle
exertismenos. In the OT scriptures the church of the New Testament has
an indispensable, God-given guide to living, through which the man of
God may achieve an appropriate state, viz. be equipped for every work of
love: “so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped
for good work of every kind” (NEB). Artios here does not imply
perfection, as was originally thought, doubtless because of the variant
reading teleios, perfect, in Codex D. Rather it refers to the state of
being equipped for a delegated task... The terms artios and
katartismos thus have not so much a qualitative meaning as a
functional one. (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
As noted in the NIDNTT preceding definition,
there are two cognates (relatives of katartismos) used in 2 Timothy
which are very instructive regarding the primary tool God provides for
the equipping of the saints...
All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of
God may be adequate (artios),
equipped for every good work. (See notes
2 Timothy 3:16;
3:17)
(Comment: The primary tool God provides for the equipping of
saints is His Word. Pastors are you preaching the pure word in season
and out of season, reproving, rebuking and exhorting with great patience
and instruction? You must feed yourself first, then feed your sheep and
them teach them how to feed themselves on the word - see
Inductive Bible study.)
Basically katartismos
refers to that which has been restored to its original condition, is
being made fit or being
made complete. The root word was used as a
medical term used for setting bones! Secular Greek also used it to
refer to the furnishing a house.
Paul's use in the
context of the body, the church, pictures the complete furnishing of the
believer so that he/her might be made ready to fulfill his/her purpose
in the body of Christ where he/she had been placed by God's Spirit.
It follows quite
logically that if the "sheep" are not equipped by the shepherds, the
body will not function to its full potential or capacity, just as
human body that is deficient in vital nutrients fails to fulfill its
function optimally. If this is an important truth for the temporal,
physical body, how much more important is it for the eternal, spiritual
body! Shepherds, feed your sheep. Have you ever just read an entire
letter of Paul's together with your flock? This letter was meant to be
read publicly but it seems we have drifted from such practices, for a
variety of reasons.
Ray Stedman
offers an excellent illustration (mending nets) of the practical meaning
of katartismos . First observe the passage Stedman is referring
to...
Mt 4:21 And going on from there He
saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending (katartizo)
their nets; and He called them.
Stedman
comments...
In the original Greek, the word is
katartismos, from which we get our English word "artisan"--an artist
or craftsman, someone who works with his hands to make or build things.
It is a special point of interest that this word first appears in the
New Testament in connection with the calling of the disciples. As Jesus
walked along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two pairs of brothers, Peter and
Andrew, and James and John, sitting in a boat busily working. What were
they doing? They were mending their nets. The word "mending" is the (Ed
note: actually the related verb
katartizo) word translated in Ephesians
4 as "equipping." They were equipping their nets by mending them. They
were fixing their nets, making them strong, preparing them for service,
getting them ready for action!
Mending the Saints - The use
of this particular word suggests that the role of the four support gifts
(Ed note: the gifted men in
Ephesians 4:11)
within the church is essentially that of mending the saints, preparing
them for service, getting them ready for action. This Greek word is also
translated as "fitting them out" or "preparing." The Greek authority, J.
H. Thayer, says it means "to make one what he ought to be." Perhaps the
nearest modern equivalent is "to shape up." The ultimate aim of
apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor--teachers is the shaping up
of the saints to do the work of the ministry. A moment's thought will
make clear that the instrument to be used by the four support gifts in
equipping the saints is the word of God. Obviously, all four
support ministries relate somehow to that word...The task of the
pastor-teacher is to use the Word of God to cleanse and feed the flock.
The early church clearly understood that the word of God was the
instrument of growth in the lives of Christians. Paul once spoke to the
very elders to whom this Ephesian letter is addressed and said to them,
"And now I commend you to God and to
the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the
inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32).
And again, at the close of his
career, he wrote to his son in the faith, young Timothy, and urged him
to teach the inspired Scripture which were given, that the man of God
may be complete, equipped for every good work. If pastors and teachers
ignore the Word, God's divinely-provided instrument of equipping, then
they should not be surprised if the saints in their charge are
ill-equipped for--and ineffective in--the work of the ministry. That is
why so many churches today are little more than spectator arenas where
unequipped, unmotivated, uninvolved people sit around, waiting only to
be kept amused and occupied.
The teaching of the truth of the Word
of God is what Peter calls "feeding the flock of God which is among you"
(see note
1 Peter 5:2).
The Word can both feed (see notes
Hebrews 5:12;
5:13
and
1 Peter 2:2),
and cleanse (John 15:3 and
Ephesians 5:26),
and the true pastor will constantly be using it to do both. He will seek
to teach the whole truth of God. There is no better means to do this
than through the expository preaching of the whole Bible. The expository
method of teaching or preaching is to go through a book, or a section of
a book of the Bible, leaving out nothing, commenting on everything,
touching it all. That prevents a pastor from only skewing his preaching
only to a few favorite "pet passages," and forces that pastor to keep
truth in balance...
Unfortunately, in many churches (and
particularly American churches), there has come a strange reversal of
roles between the pastor and the evangelist. This has effectively
deprived churches of the biblical ministry of a pastor and has resulted
in a sadly impoverished, untaught, unequipped people. The work of
evangelism has been exalted over that of pastoral teaching in many
American churches. (Body
Life
- see chapter "Shaping Up the
Saints") (Bolding added)
In the time of
Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Temple, the Jews who returned from
captivity were in great need of "shaping up", and so the following
solution should not surprise us...
While they stood (you mean they
didn't even have wooden pews or padded chairs?) in their place,
they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of
the day; (note the effect the Word of God has on a tender, teachable
heart!) and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD
their God. (Nehemiah 9:3) (Comment: How many congregations would
sit still for a fourth of a day to hear the book of the law read?)
Saints
(40)
(hagios)
(Click
word study on
hagios) is literally holy one and
refers to one set apart (sanctified) for a special purpose. Hagios
describes all who have been saved by grace through faith and whom God
has set apart from that which
is secular, profane, and evil and on the other hand dedicated to worship
and service of God. Saints are those who have been taken out of Adam and
placed into Christ. Saints are holy ones in character and
are to manifest a conduct reflective of their high position and
privilege. They have been set apart by God to be exclusively His, dedicated to Him and
manifesting holiness of heart and conduct.
Hagios was
used throughout the NT to speak of anyone or anything that represents
God’s holiness: Christ as the Holy One of God, the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Father, holy Scriptures, holy
angels, holy brethren, and so on.
The Gentiles
understood this term because among the pagans, hagios signified
separated and dedicated to the idolatrous gods and carried no idea of
moral or spiritual purity. The manmade gods were as sinful and
degraded as the men who made them and there simply was no need for a
word that represented righteousness! The worshipper of the pagan god
acquired the character of that pagan god and the religious ceremonies
connected with its worship. The Greek temple at Corinth housed a large
number of harlots who were connected with the "worship" of the Greek
god. Thus, the set-apartness or holiness of the Greek worshipper was in
character licentious, totally depraved, and sinful.
Work
(2041)
(ergon from érgo = to work) describes toil as an effort or
occupation. In English an erg is a unit of work or energy, equal
to the work done by a force of one dyne when its point of application
moves one centimeter in the direction of action of the force.
For the work of
service - Literally unto spiritual service. Service for the Lord
will require some expenditure of ergs! Note that the
pastor-teachers are not doing their work for the saints, but are
preparing the saints for their (the saint's) work. The leaders are God's
gift to the church for the purpose of perfecting or equipping believers
to carry on this work. We have forgotten that the church is not to be a
spiritual rest home, but a barracks for training soldiers of the cross.
So many today think that it is the job of the pastoral staff to do the
work of ministry! This is not the divine design! All (each and every
single one) of the saints and not just a few (church staff) leaders are
to carry on the work of the ministry. Tragically, most local churches
today do not follow this NT template for success. It is common
practice to let the pastor do the ministering when his job is actually
to be the training up of the saints to be the workers, which will make
the overall ministry more effective.
It is vitally
important to understand that the bulk of the work (ministry) in the
church is to be accomplished not by the paid staff but by the men and
women in the pews. They are not there to just sit and soak but to hear
and grow! Equipping of the saints is the primary responsibility of the
leadership, especially the pastor-teacher. First Peter 2:5 makes it
quite clear that every believer is a “priest.” How tragic it is that in
most churches the work of God is greatly hindered because the leadership
tries to perform the services and doesn’t make adequate use of the
manpower they lead.
D. L. Moody
hit the proverbial nail on the head when he said...
“It is better to put ten men to work
than to do the work of ten men.”
Service
(1248)
(diakonia)
(Click
word study on
diakonia)
means the rendering or assistance or help by performing certain duties,
often of a humble or menial nature, including such mundane activities
as waiting on tables or caring for household needs—activities that in
men's eyes (but not God's!) are without apparent dignity.
Paul is describing the spiritual service expected (and required) of
every believer, not just of church leaders. As he wrote to the
Corinthians...
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
steadfast (from hedra =seat, chair, thus picturing a metaphor to
describe one settled or steady in mind and purpose), immovable, always
abounding (superabounding continually) in the work of the Lord, knowing
that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. (1Cor 15:58) (Comment:
As believers we can be sure that nothing we do for Him will ever be
wasted or lost. 1Cor 15:58 is the believer's answer to Ecclesiastes,
where Solomon uses the sad word vanity some 38 times! This verse is the
believes song of victory which counters the vain pursuits of so many,
including believers!)
Since service
associated with the word diakonia necessarily involved
dependence, submission, and constraints of time and freedom, the Greeks
regarded diakonia as degrading and dishonorable. Service for the
public good was honored, but
“voluntary giving of oneself in
service of one’s fellow man is alien to Greek thought. The highest goal
before a man was the development of his own personality.”
That last sentence
is strikingly contemporary, and is mindful of the fact that a culture
that is focused on self-actualization and self-fulfillment will find
little value in servant hood.
In the view of the erudite, elite Greeks, diakonia service was
not dignified. They saw ruling, not serving as that which was proper for
a man. The formula of the sophist ("wise ones") expressed their basic
attitude
“How can a man
be happy when he has to serve
someone?”
For the Greek who
"worshiped" wisdom and intellectual freedom there was be no thought of
their existence being that to serve others.
Judaism had no philosophy of ministry
involving diakonia. Judaism, however, adopted a philosophy of
service not unlike that of the Greeks. If service was rendered at all,
it was done as an act of social obligation or as an act to those more
worthy. A superior would not stoop to become a servant! Such an
attitude, which conforms so closely to man’s natural prejudices, causes
the Lord’s example and teaching to stand out in brilliant contrast. By
our Lord's own testimony (uses the verb form diakoneo)...
"the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mt
20:28)
Though Judaism in the time of Jesus
knew and practiced its social responsibilities, e.g., to the poor, this
was done mainly by alms, not by service (cf.
Lu 10:30-35). Lowly service such as
waiting at table, was beneath the dignity of a free man (cf.
Lu 7:44ff). Sometimes, the "greater"
would wait at table, but this was unusual. Jesus' example and the NT
introduced a radically new attitude toward diakonia.
Diakonia is not the activity
of a lesser to a greater, but is the lifestyle of a follower of the Lord
Jesus. “Serving” in the form of diakonia pervades the NT,
not merely in the frequency of the word’s usage but in the constant
recurrence of attitudes and examples of service.
Luke records that in the early
period of the newly born church...
"while the disciples were increasing
in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against
the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the
daily serving (diakonia) of food." (Acts 6:1)
Diakonia is modeled on the
pattern and command of the Savior and represents the practical
outworking of God’s love, especially toward fellow believers.
“Ministry” (including
"mission" as shown in the reference below) is not the activity of an
elite class, but the mutual caring of a band of brothers. Luke records
that
"Barnabas and Saul returned from
Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission (diakonia),
taking along with them John, who was also called Mark." (Acts
12:25)
Such service is personal and
practical, rather than institutional. A diakonos is one who by
choice and position has come to be under the authority of his Master and
who therefore serves others in love and gratitude. Paul had been called
and set apart to be a servant, Luke quoting Paul who testified...
"I do not consider my life of any
account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the
ministry (diakonia)
which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the
gospel of the grace of God." (Acts
20:24)
Martha is an example of service of a
menial nature but without the proper attitude, Luke recording that
"Martha was distracted with all her
preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care
that my sister has left me to do all the serving (diakonia) alone? Then
tell her to help me." (Lu 10:40)
Diakonía involves
compassionate love towards the needy within the Christian community.
Paul and Luke in the Acts use the word to designate those who preach
the gospel and have care of the churches, even as Paul
instructed Timothy to...
"be sober in all things, endure
hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry
(diakonia)" (See note
2 Timothy 4:5)
Therefore, diakonia is an
office or ministration in the Christian community viewed with reference
to the labor needed for others.
APPLICATION:
Having studied the NT nuances of diakonia, can you see how much more
meaningful Paul's statement was that Mark (who previously had not been
useful to Paul) was now "useful...for diakonia"?
Is there a "Mark" in your life,
who you might have discounted in the past for right or wrong reasons,
but whose "ministry" you now need to re-evaluate?
And possibly whom you need to restore?
Would you classify your service in your local body as "diakonia"?
