Believers, What Are You Doing? (Ephesians 4:11-13)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

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While Gloria Arroyo was the country’s president, she employed a policy called holiday economics. This policy seeks to schedule all holidays on Mondays to promote tourism and encourage spending. In the United States, long weekends are a regular occurrence. Every long weekend, whole families would go on vacations; in fact, church attendance drops by half during such weekends. There is nothing wrong with spending. If money isn’t spent, it is dead and useless to us and to society.

Li Jia Cheng is Hong Kong’s richest man. One time, as he stepped down from his car, a ten HK dollar coin dropped from his pocket into the gutter. He ordered his driver to pick it up. Maybe if it happened to us, we wouldn’t think of picking it up because we consider ten dollars not worth the effort. Li Jia Cheng was a millionaire, what is ten dollars to him? If you think that it is because he is greedy for money then you are wrong. After his driver picked it up, Li Jia Cheng gave it to him. Here is his explanation: “If I don’t pick it up, the whole HK economy will have 10 dollars less in circulation. This is not an individual’s loss, it is society’s loss. If money doesn’t circulate, the gap between the rich and the poor will grow wider.”

Spending or consumption is good. However, in the church, we must not embrace a consumer attitude or come in as a costumer. What is a costumer? A costumer adopts the following attitude: `I am your source of bread and butter; if I don’t come, from where will you get your earnings; therefore, you have to listen to me, because a customer is always right.’ What is a consumer’s attitude? A consumer’s attitude is ‘I am here to spend money, what can I gain?’

The clearest indication that a believer is assuming a customer’ status, or a consumer attitude is when he rates the church, giving it grades. For example, he will say, “The church’s air conditioners are not cool enough, the church’s pews are too hard, my back hurts from sitting on it. Although the ushers did smile nicely today and the choir’s singing was not bad, the pastor’s message was too long. The sound system wasn’t very clear today. Today’s program sheet is good.” Then as he leaves, he gives the service a grade of 85, and he puts some corresponding amount into the offering box. This is a consumer. No one should be a consumer in God’s house. We must be builders of the church. This is the truth stated in Ephesians 4:11-13. Today, with the question `believers, what are you doing?’ in mind, let us study this passage:

I. The Lord Gave the Church 5 Vocational Gifts v.11

“And he (Jesus Christ) gave some to be apostles; and some to be prophets; and some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers.” I call these five gifts vocational gifts. What is a vocational gift? On one hand, it is a gift; on the other hand, it is a vocation. There is a close relationship between the gifts and the vocation. When a church ordains a pastor it is because he is gifted with pastoring a church. A church confers a person the choir conductor because he is musically- inclined. When I started to pastor CBCP, I envisioned every member serving the Lord according to his gifts, that is, preachers have the gift of preaching, teachers have the gift of teaching, song-leaders have the gift of music, ushers have the gift of ushering. In this manner, the church will be built up.

The Lord gave the Church five vocational gifts:

A. Apostles – Apostles are those people whom the Lord has sent out to establish churches. The Twelve Apostles are the ones we are most familiar with. They established churches in different places. In India there is a Thomasian Church. Every three years, they hold national revival meetings and each meeting would usually have 30,000 people in attendance. We know immediately from the name that it was established by Thomas. Thomas went to India to preach the gospel and was martyred there. Are there apostles today? Some people call themselves apostles, but I believe there are no vocational apostles because no longer can we meet the Lord Jesus personally as with the case of the Twelve Apostles. However, there is the gift of apostleship. People who do pioneering work of evangelism and establishing churches are those with the gift of apostleship, they are sent out by the Lord to establish churches.

B. Prophets – Prophets are messengers of the Lord. Nowadays, those who stand on the pulpit and proclaim God’s word can be called prophets. Prophecy is a gift as well as a vocation. But I believe there are no longer vocational prophets, although there remain people with prophetic gifts. People who are gifted in preaching have the gift of prophecy.

C. Evangelists – Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer, but the Lord gives certain believers the gift of evangelism. These people have a special burden for evangelism. In church history, there once emerged a famous evangelist by the name of Moody. The pastors in England looked down on Moody, because Englishmen had always felt themselves superior to others and viewed Americans as illiterate cowboys. Moody was not a very educated man, he was a simple shoe-maker. But when Moody preached, tens of thousands of people repent. And so the English pastors were envious of Moody. They were puzzled that a person with little education, who errs grammatically while preaching, can bring so many to repentance.

A humbler pastor went to Moody’s hotel and asked him how he is able to bring so many to the Lord. Moody told him, “Come, open the window.” Then he asked the man, “What do you see?” The man replied, “The street is full of people. I see many people.” And then Moody looked and suddenly tears flowed from his eyes, he said, “I see a street full of people whose souls are heading towards eternal destruction.” Moody said: “I believe this is God’s gift to me, he has placed the burden of saving souls upon my heart.” Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer. We cannot argue about it, we are still to share the gospel even if we do not have the gift of evangelism. But praise the Lord for He has given the gift of evangelism to some people, to help the church preach the Gospel.

D. Pastors – Pastors are shepherds. The basic responsibility of a pastor is to shepherd the flock. Of course, pastors are to preach, for if not, the sheep will starve. But the most important aspect of a pastor’s ministry is shepherding the flock.

E. Teachers – A teachers’ task is to teach the truth. The pastor and the teacher’s work are somewhat similar, but the pastor shepherds the flock while the teacher’s main task is to educate the flock. Some pastors not only have the gift of pastoring but also teaching, they are pastors and teachers as well.

II. The Reason the Lord Gave the Church 5 Vocational Gifts – to Equip the Saints v. 12

Ephesians 4:12, “To equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” The main reason the Lord gave the Church these five vocational gifts is so that every believer will be equipped to build up the body of Christ (the Church). However, the Church often fails to equip the saints. Often, the church employs professionals to do its ministry. We invite many pastors to do the work, while the saints gradually become the bosses. Frequently, the church ends up with believers giving money and pastors doing all the work. As a result, the church ends up with more and more bosses, more and more consumers.

Do you know that one of the hardest jobs in the world is that of a pastor’s? I am speaking not of the tasks, but the weight of the responsibility. Many tasks are difficult, responsibilities are heavy, but a pastor encounters a much greater difficulty. Let me ask you, when you go to work, who do you listen to? Please do not try to be spiritual and say `I only obey the Lord Jesus.’ If you do that, you will be fired. If I ask my co-worker to do something and he says I will not listen to you, I will only listen to Jesus; I will tell him to leave and go find the church were Jesus is the senior pastor.

Work is work; we must observe proper work ethics. No matter what organization you are in, you have to listen to your boss. To put it simply, we all have to obey the orders of the one who pays our salary, because he is the boss. If you refuse to, then you’ll have to leave. This is a very simple principle that we all understand. In the church, apart from the pastors, all the others are volunteers; only the pastors receive remuneration for their services. Sometimes, the church would give volunteers an allowance but it is a minimal thing, only the pastors are wage-earners. Consequently, many elders and deacons refuse to listen to the pastors, especially when their opinions differ; because in their mind they think` I am the boss, I give you your salary; you have to listen to me.’ Although they don’t say it out loud, that is what they think in their hearts – `if you refuse to listen to me, then you’ll get into trouble when it’s salary review time, you’ll find out come contract-renewal time.’

Hence, pastors are in a difficult position. If the church doesn’t have a good group of elders and deacons, it will encounter problems sooner or later. I do not know if we will have problems in our church in the future. Carefully select your deacons. Only with good deacons will there be good pastors; and only with good pastors, will the church have a future. As for deacons, perform the function of your office well; we only have one boss, we are all his workers. You may be the ones providing the salaries of the workers, but you must remember all `wealth’ belongs to the Lord. The Lord gives it to the workers through your hand, He is the only boss, He is the wage-provider. The Lord gives the church different vocational gifts and the purpose is to equip the saints, that each may become a worker in the church. Only such a church will have a bright future.

III. The Church’s Problem – What are the Believers Doing?

Now, we begin to understand the church’s problem: we by-pass the saints. The church lets the professionals or a small group of active and devoted believers do all the work, while the rest are just onlookers. Many times these onlookers are even a bad audience, for not only do they not applaud, they criticize and fault-find. Such people are very troublesome, they make no effort to help yet criticize unendingly.

A famous pastor shared his own testimony. In his church was a brother who criticized the church all the time, but the pastor ignored him. His co-worker asked the pastor, “Why don’t you solve the problem?” He said, “Since the first day he had criticized the church, I have already resolved the problem. I went to the church treasurer and asked about the brother’s offering practice. I found out he had never given any offering, so I decided not to pay him any attention.”

Maybe you will think this pastor is greedy for money, solving the problem based on the member’s offering. However, you are wrong in thinking so. Do not judge! This pastor is a well-respected pastor. He has been in the ministry for more than 30 years. He reasons, “In my 30 years of serving the Lord, I discovered that those who like to criticize the church do not have their money in the church. Those who love the church put their money in the church. No matter what you say those who do not love the church will always have something to say, you can never please them. So, just ignore them!” Isn’t this what Jesus said: “Where your treasure is there your heart will also be.” Believers, where is your treasure? Where is your heart?

In business, there is a 20/80 principle. Twenty percent of the people support 80% of the business. If you open a restaurant, you must take good care of the 20% who are your regular customers, because they support 80% of your business. When there are no seats, you must find ways to provide them seats, because if you lose your loyal customers, then your business will close down. However, this should not be the case in the church; we mustn’t let 20% of the people do 80% of the work.

Ideally, every man is to serve, every man gives, and every man evangelizes. Believers, those who are actively helping in the church also have work outside of the church; they also have families and children to take care of. If you reason that you do not have the time, do you think these active members have 36 hours in a day? No, they only have 24 hours a day just as you do, but they are willing to give a part of their precious time to the Lord’s work. Do you know that I as a pastor work an average of 12 hours a day? My reason is I feel I won’t do right by you if I don’t work long enough, when you brothers and sisters who put in 8-hour workdays nevertheless come and help in the church after office hours. Actually, if many would volunteer and help, each one’s burden would be reduced.

As a pastor, I am not in favor of anyone taking on too much work. Back when we were only few in numbers, I also did that- I took on administrative work, I was the speaker, I led the fellowships, I did visitations, I even joined the choir, but as church members increased and more people began to help in different ministries, I relinquished the tasks to others. I hope that every brother and sister will be involved in at least one ministry, and unless it is absolutely necessary, no one should be involved in more than three ministries. So do not join three choirs (Main Choir, MOST, HV) except if you have too much time on hand. But believers, if you are not involved with even one ministry, then rise up and serve!

Brothers and sisters who are already involved in ministry, do not be discouraged, continue faithfully in your work, because the Bible promises you grace upon grace, strength upon strength. What does this mean? Look at your two hands, which one is stronger? Usually it is the right hand. If you are an athlete such as a badminton or tennis player, your right hand is usually larger; it became stronger because you used it often. The right hand can be called the foolish hand because it takes on every task. The left hand is the noble hand, its most important purpose is to hold a gold watch or wear diamonds. But years of use makes the right hand stronger and stronger, while the left hand remains weak.

It is similar inside the church, some people seem foolish as they take on every task, as a result, they are continually busy; not only do they have to manage their own business and family, they still concern themselves over God’s house; but the Lord Jesus said: “To him who has more, more will be given.” As a result, those who love the Lord and serve him are given strength upon strength, grace upon grace. The Lord will not shortchange those who love him and his church. I have been a pastor for 27 years; and I have been serving the Lord in the Philippines for 23 years, the Lord has never shortchanged me all these years. I really hope you understand it is our privilege to serve the Lord. In fact, we only have one life, one chance; when our life is over, everything will be over. I am not willing to live a life of ease; in fact I hope to do my part in God’s kingdom. Believers, how about you? Rise up and serve the Lord who loves us, who died and rose back to life for us!

Paul said, “I am a fool for Christ!” If you love something, such as a particular sports e.g. basketball, football, badminton, boxing, etc., you will do crazy things; yet for you, these things are just normal. For example, you’re football fan, you love the Brazil team and at 3 a.m. tomorrow is the championship game between the Brazil and British teams. This morning, you come to worship and serve in the church; this afternoon, you still have the church council meeting; you return home only after six; in the evening, you still have a party to attend; and tomorrow morning you need to go to Hong Kong for a meeting. Despite a tiring day, you will wake up at 2:30 a.m. to prepare some refreshments; before 3 a.m. you will go to the rest room because at exactly three, you will be watching the championship game on TV and cannot be disrupted. Those who aren’t football fans, may be your wife, will tell you that you are crazy.

Similarly, as you zealously serve in the church, your wife or husband may say you’re crazy, but for you, it is a normal thing because your heart is with the Lord. Is your heart with the Lord? If you really love Him, what are you doing?