Are You Using Your Spiritual Gift?

¹¹And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 ¹²For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

 ¹³Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

-Ephesians 4:11-13 (KJV)

Paul is giving a look at some of the gifts of the Spirit. Not everyone has these specific gifts, but all of us has gifts that needs to be used in the church. Are you using yours?

Verse 11 says, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;" These are all pastoral roles for the church. These are people who are in leadership positions in the church, and they have 3 primary duties to the church. Verse 12 says, "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;"  This threefold ministry to the church included the "perfecting of the saints," We need to be trained how to live the life that Jesus expects us to live. Pastors and teachers of the Word teach us the life principles that we need to apply to our lives. Think of it this way, when we were young, we were taught how to tie our own shoes. It didn't come natural, we had to learn it. Our natural desires in life are the things in sin. We desire sinful things. We must be taught how to live life in the way Jesus expects. If the pastor or teacher of the Word fails to teach us how to live the Christian life,then we will never be the people we were supposed to be. 

Secondly, the teachers and preachers of the Word train us "for the work of the ministry," Each of us has a job to do, has some ministry that we must do for the Lord. I know some people who can shake the foundations of Heaven with their prayers, I know some who cannot. We need to be trained how to live the Christian life, so that we may do the work that Jesus has called us to. Again, if the pastor or teacher of the Word fails to teach us how to live the Christian life, we will never be the people we were supposed to be, and we'll never complete the tasks that we were supposed to complete.

The third part of the duties of the pastor or teacher of the word is the "edifying of the body of Christ;" Edifying means to "To instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement.*" In other words, it means to build up, or improve spiritually. Part of the role of the pastor or teacher of the Word is to build up, or help us spiritually improve. By helping us to improve our spiritual life, we will become the people Jesus expects us to be, we will be trained and ready for the work that He wants us to complete.

Verse 13 provides for us the end result to this. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" Just like there is a three part ministry to the pastor or teacher of the Word, there is a three part ending as well. First, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith," The end result of us being trained on how to live the Christian life is so that we will be unified in the faith. Take a look around. Is there a unified church today? Secondly, "and of the knowledge of the Son of God," Do we really know and have a knowledge of Jesus and what He's done for us, and what He expects of us? Third, "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Are we living in the fullness of Christ? Think About It.

*source: thefreedictionary.com