Perhaps we could have varied opinions on this question, so I will give what I see in the following verses, while allowing you to have your thoughts on them. Ephesians 4:11-15 will be our foundation for this article: “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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 fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, Which is the head, even Christ: From Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
I realize that I will not get through all of this in one article, so look for more in the next article, but I could not find any good place to separate the information in these verses. Without going into any deep discussion on the “gifted officers” in verse eleven, I will simply say that God gave what was needed for the young church, without the New Testament, to get their feet on the ground, before the New Testament was written. It seems to me that all of these positions were not necessary after the New Testament was given and the church was established. I do know that there will be only twelve names of apostles on the foundation of the New Jerusalem, according to Revelation 21:14, which may give an indication as to the number of the apostles. The office of “prophet” would not seem to be necessary, after the full revelation of God’s Word was given to the early church. Certainly, no one should seek to add to, or take from, what is written in the Scriptures, according to Revelation 22:18-19. Actually, we do not need new revelations, since evidently no one has “mastered” the “Old revelation”, namely the Bible!
Notice the purpose of God’s having given the various gifts and offices, for it was for the “perfecting of the saints”, or for our becoming more mature in the things of God. Never has God given anything simply for the purpose of “showmanship display”. A second reason God gave gifts to men was for the maturation of the saints, so that we could minister to others from the Word of God! I think that many in the church have missed this point, for God never gave anything for self-glorification! Nor did He give anything that it should be used selfishly, for the Spirit of God in believers seeks to work through believers to help younger Christians to become more mature. We are not given abilities from God simply for self-gratification, but rather we are given abilities that we may help others, especially those who are young in the faith. I tire rather quickly with churches who seem to think that their meetings are simply for the joy of believers coming together. No, it is not wrong that we enjoy fellowship with other believers, for we should, but the meetings of the church should be at least in part a place of training workers to evangelize church communities. The idea of driving for hours to attend a bigger church may not necessarily fit the bill for what God means the church to be doing. After all, who would know more about the needs of a community than those who live in it? Notice that our verses above show that even the gifts that have been given to the church have been given for the purpose of helping others, not simply for self-gratification! Men like the apostle Paul did not think about themselves and their own joy or happiness, rather they were involved in a ministry that was forever reaching out to those who needed salvation, or maturity for those already in the family of God. Selfish worship is not something pictured in the Bible as the “norm”. The work of the ministry shown in our verses above was for the “edifying”, or building up of the body of Christ. The word “architecture” is used in the Greek definition of this word, so we are to be about the business of building up others, not just ourselves!
By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921