Built Up To Build Up

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: June 19, 2005
Built Up to Build Up
by Dan Trygg

"…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18-23

"And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to mend, equip and adapt the saints for work of ministry and service, for building up the Body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the true-knowledge of the Son of God, to mature personhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, …15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole Body, joined and held together by every ligament of support and supply, according to the proper functioning of each part, makes the Body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Eph. 4:11-13,15,16

"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

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." I Thess. 5:11

We have been parking on this passage in Matthew 16, where Jesus first mentions His intention to "build up" His set-apart people, the Church. It is important that we clarify some of the concepts surrounding what the Master said, because we have wandered far afield from His original intent for us as a people, …and because He seems to be on the move around the world these days to call a remnant of His people back to a way of meeting together which is more Biblical and effective.

Today, I wish to focus again on the words which Jesus used, "I will build-up My ekklesia". How was this to be done? What are the means which Jesus intended to use to accomplish the assembly and strengthening processes of His people? What does that tell us about how we ought to be conducting our gatherings?

According to Ephesians 4, the primary way in which Jesus has chosen to build His called-out people is through every-member-ministry.

His plan has been to give certain giftings to some people in the Body to enable them to prepare every person (all the "saints") to do the work required to strengthen and grow up the people of God. Note that it is not the responsibility of these people, -- the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers -- , to do the work of ministry, care for the needs of people, or build up the church by themselves. They are not able to do that. It was never the Lord’s intention for them to try to do that. Their place is to share with others in the Body, so that all of us can be prepared to do the work of growing one another up. It is important to realize that those people who have these giftings are not complete in themselves, either. No one is. We all need the mending, adapting, and equipping ministry from other people gifted to help us in this way. Also, we all need the interaction of the other members of the Body to help us grow up to health and maturity in Christ. No one is exempt. No one is beyond needing the interaction and service of others. Furthermore, no one is exempt from the responsibility of serving others in the Body through investing in them by word and deed, especially according to the way God has designed you. This is Jesus’ plan to build His ekklesia, His congregation of people called out from humanity to serve God. He intends to work through us to mature and equip us to serve one another, to assault the strongholds of the enemy, and expand the Kingdom.

How is the church built up? There are three areas of focus in this Ephesians passage.

First, we have to be built up as individuals. The underlying assumption of the passage is that we all start out as immature and undeveloped. Personal growth is the first area which Paul mentions. The goal, or end point, of this building-up process is that we would have a sound understanding of the faith, that we would develop a deep and intimate relationship with God, and that our character should become like Jesus in righteousness, love and integrity.

None of us starts out that way. We all start out as spiritual infants, and we need to grow and develop in these areas. Without a sound grasp of Biblical teaching, and without an ability to hear from God, we are vulnerable to deception. Without a transformed character, we likely have areas of weakness and blindness which also leave us open to being entrapped and held in bondage by the enemy. We must embrace the responsibility which God gives us to grow up in these three areas: sound doctrine, spiritual sensitivity and consistency of godly behavior. Again, none of us starts out with maturity in these areas. We all have to grow, so let’s have grace for ourselves and for one another. Also, since these are the marks of maturity which Paul indicates, it is essential that we understand that every one of us will eventually be established in these areas, if we apply ourselves to growing up in Christ. These are characteristics of what a spiritual grown-up is like, so if we become mature, we will become established in all three of these areas. On a personal level, this is part and parcel of what the Holy Spirit will bring about in our lives. This is the end point. If you walk with Jesus, this is where you are headed. So, don’t think that this can’t happen to you, or that you’ll never attain these characteristics. This is part of your spiritual heritage, and God will establish your walk in these areas.

[I would be remiss if I did not refer to Acts 20:32 at this juncture. In this verse, Paul is leaving the church of Ephesus, thinking that he may never return. He commends these fledgling believers "to God and the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." God Himself is a living personal spiritual being who cares for you immensely. He is able to work in your life to build you up. Furthermore, He has given you His Word, the Scriptures, as a means to also help you. In II Tim. 3:16,17, the apostle reminds us that these writings were "breathed out by God" and are beneficial for "teaching, reproof and training in righteous-living, in order that the God-follower may come to be competent, equipped for every good work." So, if we really want to grow in those three areas mentioned in Eph. 4, we would do well to focus on asking God to grow us up, and to invest in studying, memorizing and meditating on the Scriptures as a means for Him to do so. II Pet. 1:5-7describes a progression of faith development, moving from desire through knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and agape love. Knowledge is only one ingredient in this process. Without new information, new ideas, we will stay stuck in our old ways of thinking and operating., so growing in knowledge is important. However, unless we apply what we learn, it is of no benefit. Christianity is not a "head game". We must become doers of the word, not just hearers or thinkers (Jas. 1:22-25). Knowledge without implementation is valueless.]

Secondly, we must actively engage in sharing honestly and lovingly with each other to build up one another. For this to take place effectively, there must be three ingredients.

(1.) We must be people who are willing to take the risk to become personally involved in helping others grow. This can be a scary thing, especially in our culture where we have been taught to respect other people’s privacy and ignore (at least not speak about) their flaws or weaknesses. We have to be willing to move beyond the insular boundaries between ourselves and others. We must approach them with concern and caring, asking real questions, expecting honest answers.

(2.) We must be people willing to be honest enough about our needs and struggles to open up, share our needs and ask for input and help. Any attempt at helping will come to an abrupt halt if the recipient is not honest and open. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and He will not push Himself into areas where He is not welcome. This too can be a scary thing, especially if we have spent years and years of our lives hiding things from ourselves and others. Yet, if we are to truly find freedom from old destructive thought patterns and behaviors, we must get them out in the open. Please do not be offended by people who may approach you about issues they see in your life. Everybody has areas that they need help seeing. That’s why we call them "blind spots". Your brothers and sisters in Christ have a responsibility before God to help you see the need to put off the works of darkness, so you can put on the armor of light, and walk in liberty in Christ. Some people say, "I don’t want people getting into my business." Well, if Paul is right, and we truly are members of one another (Rom. 12:4,5), and your sickness and immaturity affects all of us (I Cor. 12:26), then your business is our business, …not because we are snoops, or we want to find fault with you. Our genuine desire is to help you grow up in Christ.

(3.) We must be a people who are sensitively acting in response to the leading and prompting of Jesus, the head of the Body. The effectiveness of our interaction is directly proportional to our being obedient to the leading of the Spirit. (We come back to our need to personally mature in our walk with Jesus. We can’t act on the leading of the Spirit if we cannot discern when He is leading us.) This interaction between members of the Body is to be the expression of love and truth from Jesus’ heart through His members ministering to the hurting person (Eph. 4:15,16), all for the purpose of building that person up, …mending what is broken, binding up the wounds, offering encouragement, insight and hope. We need to guard the quality of our interactions, being careful to avoid controversies, disputes, or human opinions. These can put up defenses between people, and be counterproductive.

Thirdly, as the Body is functioning well, with people becoming more like Jesus and actively, respectfully expressing love and truth to one another in honest, practical ways, the life and vitality of God will be seen in us as a people, and the ekklesia will attract others. In this way, the grace of God is displayed to a watching world through the church. Jesus spoke of us being the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14-16). It is our job to display the light of the glory of God into our world of darkness (Phil. 2:14,15). The quality of our love and interactions with each other will produce something in us that will be visible to others. Isn’t this our greatest evangelistic tools, that people could see that our lives have changed and that we really do love one another? Jesus said that love should be the signature mark that we are His followers (Jn. 13:34,35). How can they see our love, unless we interact with one another, and are involved in one another’s lives? Furthermore, our commitment to one another must go much farther than what is evidenced by other groups, or there would be nothing special about our love. There must be something very noticeable different about our relationships that cause people to stand back and say, "God must really be with these people. They are truly followers of Jesus."

Jesus said, "I will build My church." The way He has chosen to do that is through His people, especially as we interact with others. Following Jesus is not for the lazy or weak of heart, unless you are willing to be changed. Change and growth is what it is all about. God wants to work in you, and He wants to work through you.