Not All the Ones Doing the Verbs are the Nouns

We’re continuing to see in Nehemiah not just the rebuilding of a wall but of a culture.

While Christians can have broader building interests than the local body, the increasing health and maturity of the local body is critical. God has even given certain men to see this happen.

But everyone has a part. It’s not that some produce and others merely consume.

Elders/pastors are equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). This is the work of some who are qualified and affirmed, on behalf of all.

The work of ministry includes speaking the truth in love for the growth and unity of the body (Ephesians 4:15). This is the verb of shepherding, again, which is part of what elders oversee, but done by more than those wearing the noun of Shepherd.

This means that equipping unto the body’s building up has layers on the way to the body’s maturity (Ephesians 4:13). It is not just elders who do the verb, even though only elders have elders’ authority.

Shepherds equip other-than-shepherds (that is, saints) to help shepherd. The methods might look different (one-on-one, small groups, etc.), but an shepherd who isn’t sharing the work isn’t doing his job.

Again, there are probably a variety of methods to pull this off, on a spectrum of informal to structured, happening in classrooms and living rooms and hallways. Our L2L groups are one place for equipping and ministering, and there’s more to say about it.

In the meantime, remember that we need “each part working properly.”