JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q5. Equipping the Saints for Ministry - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q5. (Ephesians 4:11) From a strategic point of view, why is it vital that pastors focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" rather than on serving as paid chaplains to the flock? What actions might this equipping involve? In what ways is "equipping ... for ministry" similar to what Jesus did when he trained his disciples? Exposition

Everyone must be involved in the equipping of the saints. As we have stated earlier in this study, each person has been given special gifts from God to be used in the building and maintaining of the church. Everyone has a part and the better each takes care of their individual part, the more effective the whole will be. Equipping the saints is exactly what Jesus did for his disciples so they in turn could help others become equipped.

For they are to feed the flock with God's word, to focus on Jesus not on what the people want. Equipping would involve deep study of who God is, for we may know Him & know His way so we may follow Him. Jesus equipped His disciples with the wisdom of God.

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5a.) Build our faith base so that it is solid and can withstand attacks.
5b.)  What actions might this equipping involve?
5b.) Praying, teaching, personal study to equipped themselves, correcting, rebuking, encouraging; showing themselves as workmen approved by God who do not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
5c.)  In what ways is "equipping ... for ministry" similar to what Jesus did when he trained his disciples?
5c.) Jesus taught by showing, then encouraged them to do, he constantly prayed for them.

(Ephesians 4:11) From a strategic point of view, why is it vital that pastors focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" rather than on serving as paid chaplains to the flock?

Because pastors cannot be everywhere and their congregation can be all over. The pastor cannot come to my (and every congregation member's) neighbor and tell the gospel. However, we, as a whole, can reach many more than the pastor could reach.

What actions might this equipping involve?

Praying with a congregation member. Taking time for each and every congregation member, explaining what they fail to understand. If the congregation is large then have ministers available.

In what ways is "equipping ... for ministry" similar to what Jesus did when he trained his disciples?

Jesus gave the disciples what they needed in order to get things done. He gave them power and authority .. He took time to teach them.

It is important for pastors to focus on equipping the saints for the ministry because we all are commission the go out and tell others. In order to do this we need to be prepared and ready. If we obey God and each do its part we can see a growth. We also have to be prepared to fight this spiritual warfare daily. Jesus fought satan with the word and that is how we are to fight him. Jesus trained his disciples because he was not going to be with them in the flesh always and they would have to continue his ministry and we are to do the same.

Since the Pastor is who many will look up to I would hope his concern for the flock would be guidance: pointing them the way. We all have the ability to help one another in their preparation to be equipped.

The Lord gave to the Diciples the equipping of the word, used by faith, followed by example, and with much prayer. He gave them the Authority by which was given unto Him by His (Abba) Father. I did notice that even Jesus had the Holy Spirit come upon Him... this was to empower Him. Therefore; by the use of the word, through faith, with much prayer and authority... the Holy Spirit empowered them.

Getting paid to do the will of God just does not fair well with me. I do believe we should bring into the House our tithes and offerings and if we are able support those who are willing to leave it all for the wide open mission field out there. People did help to support the Diciples and Jesus... they were given at times a place of Hospitality, but Jesus said He had no place to lay His head. Some of them mentioned in the word of how others would sell their land and anything in excess to support those in need.

I do however lack in understanding to those who minister and pay with tithes; $5000 for a dog, 4.5 million for a home with security and men who are considered the Bouncers for God's annointed. Did God and His followers ever need a bouncer? The Lord would have Rebuked this.


The best part of learning to be equipped was asking God questions and Him sending others to me to help me understand what actually equipping meant. The Book of Acts and Ephesians really helped me also.

Pastors,(under shepherds) as I wrote in my last post, are given specific job's, by God...Heal the sick, bound up the broken, go after those who have been driven away....seek the lost, etc. All this is found in Ezekiel34. To look after God's sheep, are their primary goal (or should be!) Just as Moses delegated certain job's to others, because of the size of the children of Israel, and his in-ability to handle it all by himself, so too, should a pastor focus on equipping the Saints, for ministry. This would be done, in my opinion, by teaching the word...helping the Saints to realize who they are in Christ, and the authority they have been given by Jesus! This is what Jesus spent over 3 year's doing with the deciples. As far as the part of the question, concerning "Paid Chaplains".....I read Sunshines post, and have to agree with most of what was said....To many Christian workers, (so called) seem to be in it for the $ and fame! How do we equate the many that live like "Kings", off of the money of the poor and needy, with those in the past (and some today) that give up all, for the sake of Christ? Matt.10:8.."Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; Freely have you received, freely give" Salvation is a free gift. I realize we are not living today, in the Book of Acts; "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need; And they continuing daily, with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness, and singleness of heart; Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved" Acts2:45-47.,....But maybe it would be a good idea to go back to some of the practice's!

I believe that it is more effective for the pastor to train the whole congregation to care for each other than to expect the pastor to do all the visitation, counselling, preaching and administration single-handedly. Otherwise the Body could never grow beyond the capacity of one person's ability to care. Nor could each member enjoy the responsibility of caring for others which helps to build up him or her to spiritual maturity.
What actions might this equipping involve?
Teaching how to pray with others; how to visit by phone or in person, the lonely, grieving and sick; helping out another family in crisis, etc and then giving the congregation permission and the authority to go out and minister.
This is exactly like what Jesus did, since a) he couldn't do as much himself as a well-trained team could do; he wouldn't always be physically available to preach, teach and heal; and c) by giving permission to his disciples to do as he had taught them, they grew in their understanding of how faith in God can be expressed in practical ways.

Future leadership are not grown in seminaries and Bible colleges ,but from the congregation .Our churches are rich in potential leadership ,but they must be discerned ,trained and then after training should be released.Every one in the church has a role and function that he are she is responsible to fulfill. Lay persons in the congregation are no less important then the senior pastor ,but thier roles within the church are different. Lay leaders are someone who is not a paid staffer but has a role within the church and also has a job in the secular world.The church must eguip i'ts members to function in unity .A healthy church who utilizes it's body to handle the small things, there by allowing the pastor to take care of the things that are pressing ,will prevent burnout.The pastor should equip then release his people.trusting them with the small things s that he may be a more effective shepard.

Pastor Ralph, on May 23 2003, 09:06 PM, said:

The strategy is to equip the saints for the work of ministry so that they will each grow in their own walk with the Lord and take on the workload. If the pastors do everything and delegate nothing then it will be so overwhelming that they will get burned out quickly and in the end get nothing done. The more you equip properly, the more will rise up to be leaders and the less the pastor will have to work to look after them so that he/she can turn their attentions to other areas of need. The actions that equipping involves is discipling, baptizing, and teaching.

The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 'Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."'

All of the offices of the 5-fold ministry listed in Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher) must work together as one with each of their unique gifts to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to achieve the goal of the Great Commission through discipling. In today's church I think we are strong in the teaching part, but I have yet to find a church that is strong in the discipling part. I believe that balance is needed, not to just have a pastor who is a pastor/teacher, or one who is a prophet or apostle, but balance in a plurality of leaders in the church all working in unity.

Pastors and teachers build the church by teaching the word,so people can go out and do the worl.Pastors are equipping Gods people,educating and then the people go out and work and bring in the Harvest.We all are building the church..!!

[color="red"]5a[/color] The work of the ministry is more vital to the needs of a local congregation. Maturity, a focused ministry, is more beneficial in the warfare against our enemy, satan. The Scrupture states we are to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might....put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ep 6:10-11) We need to have a forgiviing spirit, lest satan should take advantage of us. "..for we are not ignored of his devices" (11-Cor:2:11)
Whom we resist by being steadfast in the Word of God which give us the Faith (I-Peter 5:8,9) which comes by hearing

Babes in Christ are not skilled in the Eord; strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age (maturity) Heb. 5:11-14 How can we be equipped unless we are taught [color="red"]how, when, what, why, where[/color]

[color="red"]5b[/color] Teaching and being an example . As Paul instructs Timothy that which he had heard of Paul to commit to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also (2-Tim 2:2)

[color="red"]5c[/color]Christ prepard them for service by being with them, spending time teaching them, showing them God's ways. The things they saw of him gave them faith in the truth (Jesus who is truth). They were eye witnesses to the things Christ did and taught. All he had taught was stamped in their hearts after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. When he breathed on them it gave them the power to wait on the promised Holy Spirit which would filled them.

If the saints are equipped for the work of the ministry, the body is alive and well, growing in grace and being active in doing Chirst's work. A pastor is only one man and cannot do it all!
A paid chaplain may preach a good sermon but there is no interaction within the body of Christ. Therefore the parts cannot function properly. The people come for a good sermon, then they can go home and get ready for the week. They have done their good Christian duty.
Eqipping means reading, studying God's Word, praying, discussing and interpreting the Word and praising the Lord -
active participation and interaction within the flock.
The purpose of constructing a healthy flock is so that everyone goes out into the community, living and acting in love to all those around them, helping their neighbors, forgiving each other, showing God's love to all, teaching salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 4:11) From a strategic point of view, why is it vital that pastors focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" rather than on serving as paid chaplains to the flock?

A pastor serving as a paid chaplain to the flock is no different from a company doctor who seats in his consulting room for patients to bring in spiritual ailments so that he can fix them, hoping to see them when they are sick again. From a strategic point of view, pastors should focus on teaching and training others for the works of service, because in doing so they will not only reduce the number of patients but will train more servants who will in turn train more servants and the chain will continues (2 Timothy 2:2).


What actions might this equipping involve?
Equipping the saints may involve, teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)

In what ways is "equipping ... for ministry" similar to what Jesus did when he trained his disciples?
Equipping the saints is similar to the Lord’s training of His disciples because it multiples the number of workers in the harvest field.

Pastors, as protectors of his flock, need to be equipped with whatever is necessary to fend off those who want to destroy or ruin his church. They have to be ready when trials and tribulations come their way, especially if it involves the heads of the church or if the whole church is placed under stress. They basically are the first and last line of defense against the devil's temptations.

This is exactly what Christ did with His disciples. During His ministry here on earth, He took His disciples with Him to show them what they should do during times when they are confronted with the devil and his minions. In so doing, He empowered His disciples with the right "equipment" to fend off the attacks of the devil.

Pastors should focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry so they can get on with their ministry. Once a person is saved and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghos they should be trained how to minister the word of God to the lost souls outside the building.

Equipping involves teaching the word of God and training the saints how to deal with those who are not saved, how to deal with spiritual warfare and how to build up the body of Christ.

Jesus trained his disciples to "observe all thing that he commanded them to do in the Great Commission" and we need to do the same things today.

Pastors cannot have all the gifts themselves, but they can teach and encourage others to read their Bibles and learn from them. Moreover the pastor is engaged in producing ripples which spread out from the centre of the church to the far reaches of the chuch's area and even further. The command given by Jesus was :

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So it is important that pastors teach their people to obey!

I think of a "paid champlain" as someone who comes in to pray for one when there is a need or when they are asked. Chaplains don't ordinarily build up, equip, feed, or guide their flock. Pastors need to do these and more if a church is to survive the onslaught of the enemy.

The Church has a ministry, a big one, to the lost world. If we are not strengthened or equipped, how will the gospel go forth? We are equipped to strengthen one another and minister to those we come in touch with in our daily lives.