Ephesians 4:11-16

August 12, 2018

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

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The sermon starts at 16:40 in the audio file.

Or, It Does the Body of Christ Good

It is always easy to forget why we’re doing what we’re doing. Sometimes we even forget what we’re supposed to do, which, could be sinful, or it could be immature, or it could be because we’re busy trying to do a lot of things. You might forget to put the salt in one of the fourteen dishes you’re making for a big party, not because you’re malicious but because you were stirring a lot of pots.

It’s also easy to forget that we are disciples of Christ, not so much in terms of our identity as disciples but in terms of our mission as disciples, though we should tie our identity to our mission as closely as possible. Our tagline at TEC is “Reformed and still reforming disciples of Christ.” At times we’ve focused on what it means to be Reformed and also why we believe we need to keep reforming. We are gathered in the name of Christ, we confess our faith in Christ, we enjoy communion with Christ. Christ is Lord. And we are His disciples.

Disciples are not less than, but should not be satisfied only as, learners. In Jesus’ day, and as we read the record of His own master plan in the Gospels, disciples were followers. They listened and they watched and they interacted and they imitated and they obeyed. Jesus called men to be “with Him,” and this was not because He just didn’t have the technology available to send them an e-newsletter.

We are followers of Christ, followers of the followers of Christ, that is our identity. And we work, with words and with our lives, to see more people become followers of Christ. That is our mission. We are still called to make disciples. This is the calling of every Christian, not just some. A church is an assembly of disciples, learning how to follow Christ better and being encouraged and equipped to help others follow Christ better. Our discipleship efforts happen within the church, not just getting someone into the church. The goal is not merely conversion to Christ but conformity to Christ, to be “complete in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). Those who are being conformed to Christ are also building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:16).

The Discipleship Target

The following paradigm is simple, but profitable for equipping the saints for the work of ministry. We are all somewhere on the path of Christlikeness, and so we all need encouragement and training for our part of the work. Many of you have seen this target before, a shepherding bull’s-eye.

There are three levels, three general contexts.

Evangelism

The evangel is the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for all who will ever believe. We are, Trinity Evangel Church. Evangelizing is telling others that news. We have a message of forgiveness, a message of reconciliation ultimately with God, but even with other image-bearers of God. Those who hate God hate those who represent God, so relationships are messed up vertically and horizontally. This is the largest, outermost circle on the target because this is where most people in the world are.

The message of disciples is not first a message of culture changing, it is a message of salvation, purchased on a cross. When that message is believed, it turns a person’s life and world upside down.

Evangelism does not require memorizing an outline, but it does require courage to tell others that there is only one way to peace with God. This evangelism, for most of us, happens “as we are going,” with our kids, with our neighbors, with those we befriend as we do our work. It happens even in the church, since not all who profess Christ actually are possessed by Christ.

Edification

When a man believes, he is like a newborn baby. This is t[...]