Stepping Off the Bleachers and Onto the Playing Field

Out of the Bleachers and onto the Playing Field—Ephesians 4:7-16

This might be the only time you hear me say this, but this Sunday, we’re going to talk about sports. Now, there have been occasions before where I’ve picked on sports, referring to football as a time when a bunch of grown men get together and play with a ball while people pay hundreds of dollars to watch them. And you know what? That may be true, but to be fair, it’s also true that there’s a high level of thought and planning and organization and training and practice most sports—especially at the professional level. Something as simple as winning a football game isn’t really simple at all. It actually requires a high level of sophistication. That why Mike Tomlin gets paid what he gets paid and you get paid what you get paid. In the world of professional sports, there’s no such thing as winning by accident. 

And in a similar way, when it comes to church, a church doesn’t become what God wants it to be by accident. Just like a sports team, people in the church have to understand certain things about the way God has designed the team to work. And our biblical text this evening is a very useful and practical guide that teaches us how God has designed the church to work. So please turn with me to Ephesians 4. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 812. Ephesians 4:7-16. And as I read this passage, I think it’s helpful to keep in mind this comparison between the church and a sports team. And specifically as I read, try to identify who the coaches are, who the players are, and what the object of the game is. Okay? The coaches, the players, and the object of the game. 

Let’s read, beginning in verse 7: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

All of that is God’s will for the church. That’s how God designed things to work and what he desires to see accomplished. And I asked you to compare the church to a sports team and identify three things. The coaches are the church leaders, the players are the believers, and the object of the game is to grow into the likeness of Jesus. And I believe that the main takeaway from this passage is that a church grows out of perpetual childhood when “ordinary” believers step off the bleachers and onto the playing field. A church grows out of perpetual childhood when “ordinary” believers step off the bleachers and onto the playing field. 

You see, the problem is that for whatever reason, there’s this tendency in many churches for people to view pastors as the players—the ones chiefly responsible for ministry—and themselves as mere spectators. They view their role as merely attending the church service and watching the professionals do their thing. And if a need arises during the week—like if someone’s sick in the hospital or perhaps struggling with a certain issue in their life—people often think that there’s nothing they can do except call the pastor because he’s the only one who has any real ability to minister. It’s like ordination or seminary or something else has given him magical powers to do ministry that no one else has. And so there’s nothing left for everyone else to do except sit in the bleachers and watch the professionals do their thing. But Ephesians 4 rescues us from that mentality. It shows us how God has designed the church to function, and it’s a lot different than the mentality I just described. It shows us three elements we have to understand if we’re going to be all that God has called us to be. Let’s look at each of those three.

The Role of the Coaches

The first element is the role of the coaches. The role of the coaches. Look back at verse 7: “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.” So every believer has received grace. Every believer has received a gift. And what was that grace—what was that gift? Well, in some of his other letters, Paul identifies these gifts as special abilities the Holy Spirit gives to each believer that they can use to build others up. So that’s definitely part of it. But interestingly, here Paul identifies the gifts as the leaders God’s given to the church. The leaders are the gifts. Look at verse 11: “And he [Jesus] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” So God’s given these different kinds of leaders to the church, so that so-called “ordinary” people in the church can be equipped for the work of ministry. 

Now, Paul mentions five different kinds of leaders. And I think we’d be wise not to place too much emphasis on the distinctions between these terms since there’s a lot of debate about their specific meaning and there definitely could be some overlap. But here are my thoughts, very briefly. The first term, “apostle,” literally means “one who is sent out.” And it commonly refers to the twelve men plus Paul as the thirteenth that Jesus sent out with unique authority and who would ultimately be responsible for writing the New Testament. That’s one kind of “apostle,” and that was only for a limited time when the church was in its infancy. But I believe “the apostles” Paul refers to in verse 11 are a different kind and refer to a continuing gift that God has given some leaders for going out, starting new ministries, starting new churches. And then “the prophets” are those who receive words from God to share with others. Not new doctrine since all of that’s already written in the Bible. But simply words from God related to more practical matters that can serve as an encouragement or perhaps a warning to other believers. 

Then, third, “the evangelists” refers to those who proclaim the gospel. And of course, in one sense, all believers are called to be evangelists in the sense that we all share the gospel, but these “evangelists” Paul’s referring to are those who share the gospel in a more formal and public way, perhaps with greater fruitfulness than others. And then the “shepherds” refer to those who are especially gifted at taking care of the flock of God—taking care of the church. They can nurture and counsel and listen and help. And then the last item, “the teachers,” seems to be grammatically described as a subset of the shepherds, but they publically instruct the church about what God says is true and how God says we should live. Pretty much what I’m doing now. 

So that’s how I understand those five categories. If you understand them differently, that’s okay. There’s no need to go out and start a new denomination over it. It’ll be okay. And the pastors or elder of a church—whatever you want to call them—will hopefully have strengths in one or more of those areas. One pastor might be gifted more as an apostle while another might be inclined more towards shepherding. Hopefully you have multiple leaders in the church, multiple pastors, who have strengths in different areas. That’s really the biblical ideal—to have more than one person leading the church. 

And these leaders have the task not of doing all the ministry themselves but of equipping the rest of the believers to do the bulk of the work of ministry. That’s what verse 12 says. That’s how God has designed things to function. And in a smaller church, you may be able to get away with looking to the leaders to do all the ministry. But that’s something that will actually hinder the church’s overall growth and effectiveness moving forward. And the larger the church grows numerically, the more essential it becomes that the pastors mainly have the role of equipping for ministry rather than doing all the ministry. 

The Role of the Players

And that brings us to the role of the players. Remember: we’re comparing the church to a sports team. And we already said the leaders are the coaches, and now we’re going to discuss how the rest of the believers are the players. They’re not the spectators sitting up in the stands. No, God’s called them to have their cleats and their helmets on, ready to engage in the work of ministry. Verse 12: leaders “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” That’s what every believer does. He or she does the work of ministry and builds up the body of Christ.

On Monday evenings, I’ll go to the gym. And as you can probably tell, I don’t do a whole lot of weight-lifting. I mainly just play racquetball. But I’ll see these guys at the gym, and they are ripped. And especially with these younger guys, you can tell that they’re really proud of their muscular appearance. You know what I’m talking about. They go around with these shirts that have these enormous armholes going all the way down to their hip. They’re always looking around to see if anyone’s watching them. Or maybe they’ll go over to the mirror so they can admire themselves—especially if no one else is admiring them because, hey, it would be a shame to let such a perfectly sculpted body go to waste. And I just think to myself, “What are you going to do with all of those muscles? What practical value do they have? Clearly you are so ripped that this goes beyond just your own personal health. And I’m guessing you don’t need all those muscles just for your daily tasks either. So what is it? What exactly are you planning on doing?”

But then think about what’s commonly taking place in churches. It seems like many believers just want to keep lifting weights and getting more spiritual muscles, but they don’t actually do anything with all of those muscles. They read and study and learn and acquire knowledge, but they don’t actually do anything with it. They don’t use all of their learning to make disciples or build up the church or make a difference for God’s Kingdom. They just want to keep on studying and supposedly “growing,” but their knowledge never actually gets put to good use in ministering to other people. And no, arguing about theology on Facebook or in the comments section of different blogs doesn’t count as ministry. Ministry is about people. It’s about building relationships with people and loving people and helping people and humbly speaking truth into people’s lives. And you know what? That’s something God gives every Christian the opportunity to be a part of. And not only the opportunity but also the calling.

Think about it like this. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit, right? The Bible teaches us that when we’re saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. And the Spirit lives within us for a purpose. The fact that we have the Holy Spirit should tell us that God is calling us to do something that requires the Spirit. Think about the physical body. We have pointy teeth, right? They’re called canine teeth. And no offense to any vegetarians in here, but the fact that I have these pointy canine teeth tells me that I was meant to eat meat. God gave me those teeth so I could sink them into a nice juicy steak and enjoy it. Or think about our feet. God gave us feet because we’re supposed to walk places, not just crawl around everywhere. God also gave us hands because we’re supposed to grab things. All of these parts of our body point to a purpose. And in addition to having all these physical things, we also have the Holy Spirit. Why do you think we have the Holy Spirit? It’s because God intends that we do things that require the Holy Spirit. He wants us to minister to other believers. 

The Object of the Game

And as we minister to other believers, we help the rest of the body of Christ—the rest of the church—to grow. If you wanted to continue with our comparison to a sports team, that’s the object of the game. And it really helps to know the object if you want to win the game. So the coaches are church leaders, the players are believers, and the object of the game is for the church to grow. Look back at our main text, beginning in verse 11: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry”—like we just talked about. And why does God want the saints to engage in the work of ministry? “For building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

That’s God’s desire for the church. He wants the church to grow to be more and more like Jesus. I wonder how many churches are mostly stagnant in their spiritual growth. People just show up on Sundays and go through the motions and keep doing that for year and years and years. And then you have people who have been professing Christians for 40 years but only have the maturity of spiritual infants. You know, my son Silas is a cute little guy. He’s 10 months old and has the cutest little smile and just makes the most adorable noises. And I get so much enjoyment simply from being around him and watching him discover the world, which for him often means simply discovering the other end of the living rom. He’s a cute little guy, but something would be terribly wrong if he stayed that way for years, never growing up, never getting a job. That wouldn’t be good. We would say that something is wrong with him. Because if a baby is healthy, gradually and over time, that baby grows to maturity. And in the same way, God wants to church to grow “to mature manhood,” as Paul states. 

And notice also that he doesn’t stop there. He describes mature manhood, calling it “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” That’s what spiritual maturity looks like. It looks like Jesus. That means when we look at a church, the main question we need to be asking is not, “How many people attend on Sunday?” or “How many programs do they have?” or “How nice is their building?” The main question we should be asking is, “How much does that church look like Jesus?” That’s the most important thing about a church. That’s the most important question a church should be asking itself: “Do we look like Jesus? Do we love the way Jesus loved? Do we serve the way Jesus served? Do we share the gospel and make disciples and announce the coming Kingdom the way Jesus did all of those things?” That’s the main way God measures a church, and we would do well to ask those questions of ourselves.

So God wants us to grow “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” And the result of this, verse 14, is “that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” That means you should read the Bible and make an effort to understand the Bible enough so that when someone uses the Bible in an inappropriate way or to teach something the Bible doesn’t really teach, you’re able to discern that. That’s a key element of spiritual maturity: understanding what the Bible does and doesn’t teach. 

And you might wonder, how does this spiritual maturity come about? How do we make sure that we don’t become a church where people profess to be Christians for 40 years but remain spiritual infants? Verse 15: Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” So you see how that works? It all goes back to the church members ministering to each other, stepping off the bleachers and onto the playing field. That’s how the growth happens. Not just from the pastor preaching, but from church members ministering to each other, discipling one another, doing what verse 15 says: “speaking the truth in love.” What a great definition for ministering to each other: “speaking the truth in love.” What we tell people isn’t always what they want to hear. And it’s not just a shallow cliché that we picked up. We speak truth to them. But we don’t do so in a harsh or insensitive. We speak truth in love—in humility, with gentleness. And in that way, the church builds itself up in love and actually grows. 

So let me challenge you to begin viewing Sundays as equipping sessions for your ministry throughout the week. Have others in the church over for dinner, grab some coffee together. Talk about your Bible reading, your prayer times, marriage, parenting, the struggles and uncertainties of life—whatever you think would be meaningful for you to talk about. I can tell you that my life wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for godly men who invested in me and had substantive conversations with me and led me closer to spiritual maturity. It was all because they stepped off the bleachers and onto the playing field.