Equipping for Evangelism and Witnessing
Sabbath School May 26, 2012
Teacher:
Larry R Evans
Introduction
One of the strongest
statements in the entire Bible regarding the need for developing an equipping
ministry is found in Ephesians 4:11-13.
“11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of
service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up 13 until we all
reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become
mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ.” (NIV)
It is important, however,
that we also see the context of this statement.
Ephesus was the capital and port city of the Roman province of Asia –
the western coast of what is now called Turkey.
This was not an easy place for Paul yet he spent two or three years
there. Despite the difficulties
encountered people all over the region heard the Good News! From Paul’s letters we learn that while the
message was spreading rapidly not all that was being taught was accurate. In
Ephesus, for example, there was the perception that Gentile Christians were
inferior or distinct from the Jewish Christians. Some of these misunderstandings likely came
from existing prejudices, diverse cultural backgrounds and from false teachers
that would arise from time to time. It
is important to keep in mind that a crucial principle for Paul in writing to
the Ephesians was that the unity of the church center on the Good News about
the transformation that takes place when Christ comes into one’s life! As he explained, we become “alive with
Christ.” (Eph 2:5) Any equipping
ministry that we talk about today must keep this desired experience in the
forefront.
In addition, there are at
least three objectives of this equipping ministry described in Ephesians
4:13. They are: (1) “reach unity in faith”, (2) unity in “the
knowledge of the Son of God” and (3) “become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ.” As
important as the equippers of ministry are they are not “the” ministry of the
church. The entire congregation, the
equippers and those who benefit from their training endeavors, is the ministry
of the congregation. Such a ministry
provides the widest scope of ministry needed in the church. When all is said and done, Eph. 3:20,21
describe the witness of such a congregation.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine, according to his
power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21)
Quiz
1. A person with a specific spiritual gift will not need training
in that area of ministry. (Eph.4:11,12; Matt. 4:19; Mk 1:17) True or
False?
2. Observing is part of the equipping process. (Matt. 14:13; Mk
6:31) True or False?
3. The wise equipper makes sure that those under his or her care
will be so adequately trained so that they will not make mistakes once they are
sent out on their own. (Matt. 17:14-20) True
or False?
4. Because of the nature of our enemy we are more likely to fail
than succeed in the mission given to us.
(1 Peter 5:8) True or False?
5. When mistakes or failures happened to His disciples while
they were witnessing, Jesus was quick to correct their methods. (Matt 17:19,20) True or
False?
6. Jesus had an advantage in His witnessing in that He knew in
advance who would be receptive and who would not be. (Mk. 5:21-34; Lk. 19:1-10; Jn 3:1-21) True or False?
Reflections
from This Week’s Study
1. A
person with a specific spiritual gift will not need training in that area of
ministry. (Eph.4:11,12; Matt. 4:19; Mk 1:17)
True or False? (False)
There are 5 different lists
of spiritual gifts in the New Testament (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:8-10; 1 Cor.
12:28-31; Eph. 4:11; and 1 Peter 4:10).
What is revealing is that when taken as a whole we see God the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit as the ones who provide the spiritual gifts – not just the
Holy Spirit though He may be the one who oversees them. In other words, this idea of spiritual gifts
is very important to the well being of God’s Church and His mission. Please note that this is His mission and
whatever giftedness He has given to us is for the purpose of fulfilling His
mission.
Secondly, we need to
recognize the difference between what
George Knight refers to as “saving
grace” (Eph. 2:1-10) and “serving
grace” (Eph. 2:11f). In other
words, something is wrong if we advocate “saving grace” without “serving
grace”!
With the three objectives
described in the introduction we see
equipping ministry not only dealing with skills but how those abilities some
together to bring about “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13) within the body as it goes about
its mission. Some call it synergy when
the total impact is greater than the sum of its parts. Equipping without the bigger picture the
intended objective is incomplete.
I can’t tell you how many times
we’ve been asked to deal with some financial problem when we give our seminars
on Stewardship. While that is certainly
part of the package it is seldom the real problem. No wonder Paul gives emphasis to “the
fullness of Christ.”
2. Observing
is part of the equipping process. (Matt. 14:13; Mk 6:31) True or
False? (True)
“31 And he said unto them, Come ye
yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many
coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” (Mk 6:31)
Jesus was an equipper and he
recognized the need to with those whom He was training but He also recognized
that a true equipper looks after the welfare of his disciples or those learning
from him. By being with Jesus especially
during these teachable moments they have the opportunity to be observers. Learning in a class conducted in the church
sanctuary how to give Bible studies or how to visit a discouraged church
member, for example, is not the same as seeing how the teacher does it. Observing needs to be part of the equipping
process.
Observing, however is a
two-way process. The teacher or equipper
but also observe and Jesus was a master at this. I sometimes receive emails prior to our
coming to conduct a seminar wanting to make sure we understand the particular
setting in which we will go. In reality
this is a request that we not only teach but that we also “observe” so that our
teachings might be relevant and meaningful.
The teacher must always be open to the fact that the ones sitting at his
feet may in fact do the job better than he.
His insights, however, may assist him or her to do even better. The teacher must not be superior to be
successful as a teacher.
3. The
wise equipper makes sure that those under his or her care will be so adequately
trained so that they will not make mistakes once they are sent out on their
own. (Matt. 17:14-20) True or False? (True
and False)
In this passage we have an interesting situation. Jesus is on the Mount
of Transfiguration at the time with three of his disciples. The remaining disciples who were left could
not perform as the father expected! When
Jesus returns the father tells Jesus that he had brought his son to the
disciples for healing but they could not. (Matt. 17:16). Would you call this a mistake or a
failure? If so was it Jesus’ fault for
not preparing His disciple to deal with these issues in His absence or was it
the disciples fault for not doing something right? Or is there another alternative? Could it be that this was actually part of
their training! Must all questions
be answered in the classroom? It is
interesting to see the take Luke, Matthew
and Mark take on this incident. For Luke this came about to reveal “the greatness of God.” (Lk
9:43) For Matthew it reveals the lack of faith of the disciples.
(Mt17:20). However, for Mark reveals that prayer is a vital element for success.
(Mk 9:29) Is it possible that the same
incident accomplished all these purposes?
One point becomes clear: the
disciples were not ready to carry on without Jesus! The disciples need a stronger faith if they
are to succeed after His ascension. It becomes clear that an equipping ministry
is an opportunity for the equipper to:
1. Be an example or
mentor.
2. Instruct.
3. Discipline or
correct when necessary.
4. Guide in development of the development of
choice-making – evaluating a situation.
[Illustration of what
I learned from my math/science teacher in the boiler room that wasn’t able to
be taught in the classroom.]
4. Because
of the nature of our enemy we are more likely to fail than succeed in the
mission given to us. (1 Peter 5:8) True or
False? [Not
Necessarily]
“Be
alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8 NIV)
Is the glass half empty or
half full? It really depends on how one approaches the
subject of success and failure. If
being a failure is a concern we might see the glass half full when we see
mistakes being made. However, if we see a mistake made as part of the
overall objective of training then we will see the glass half full.
We must keep in mind that
even Jesus was not able to win everyone.
We are too quick to use the word “failure.”
5. When
mistakes or failures happened to His disciples while they were witnessing,
Jesus was quick to correct their methods.
(Matt 17:19,20) True or False? (False)
It is common for us to either
blame the person, method or the situation when what seems to be failure is
discovered. (Adam & Eve; Cain).
Jesus responded differently. He sought to explain, empower and encourage
by sharing insights.
“19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in
private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly
I tell you, if you have faith as small
as a mustard seed, you can say to this
mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt.
17:19,20)
6. Jesus
had an advantage in His witnessing in that He knew in advance who would be
receptive and who would not be. (Mk.
5:21-34; Lk. 19:1-10; Jn 3:1-21) True or
False? (False)
What was it that caused Jesus
to say, “Who touched me?” when walking in the crowd? Of course the crowd was pressing but how did
that single touch of a sick woman get his attention? (Mk 5:21-34)
How did Jesus know that the
man in the tree (Zacchaeus, a tax collector) would be receptive? (Lk 19:1-10)
When sought after by
Nicodemus how did he know how to respond to his remark about the miracles Jesus
performed? (Jn 3:1-21)
Did His insights and
responses to these three incidents come because of His divinity or because of
something else that we too might have.
Can we learn from Him? What insights do we learn from the following and
what might they say about our own witnessing and that of equipping others for
ministry?
16 So, because Jesus was doing these
things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."
18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he
was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can
do nothing by himself; he can do only
what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also
does. 20 For the Father loves the
Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and
he will show him even greater works than these,
so that you will be amazed. (Jn 5:16-20)
Consider this:
The work Jesus did was first
of all a recognition of the work the Father was doing. The close intimate connection that Jesus had
with His Father allowed him to see the work He was doing upon the hearts of men
and women. Once Jesus saw where the
Father was working, where there were responses, He joined His father by healing
the woman, calling Zaccheaus down to have dinner with him and to respond to the
heart-searching of Nicodemus.
Our challenge is to have the
same close connection with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we can join
them in the work they are already doing.
We often have it backwards. We
come up with plans and strategies and then ask God to join us! This is after all His mission, His Church.
Conclusion
“Every church should be a training
school for Christian workers. . . . There should not only be teaching,
but actual work under experienced instructors. Let the teachers lead the way in working
among the people, an others, uniting with them, will learn from their
example. One example is worth more
than many precepts.” Ministry of
Healing, 149.
Comments