Purpose of the church (3)

In my previous blog post I quoted the basic scripture I will use for this series, in three different translations. Ephesians 4: 11-13 gives us an idea about the purpose of the church, don't you think?

Of course these verses are part of a chapter and that chapter is part of a Bible book, in this case a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the faithful believers in Ephesus in the 1st century AD. Ephesus was at that time the capital of the Roman province of Asia, in western Turkey.

Let's take a closer look at what the Bible says here ...

And He Himself [Jesus] gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers...

That sentence in itself gives quite some interesting food for thought and discussion, but is also reason for much gratitude. Jesus gave (appointed or called) some people for a specific task. How wonderful, is my first thought, at least we do not have to invent or set up our own system. The GNT says 'It was he who “gave gifts to people”. The callings and functions are a gift, we cannot earn or get them any other way, we can only receive in obedience.

Some theologians and religious denominations claim that apostles and prophets are no longer given today, that they were only given for a season to start the church two thousand years ago. They believe that only evangelists, shepherds (pastors) and teachers are still being appointed ... To me that seems a random selection with a devastating consequence: by deleting some of the people (functions, gifts, callings) Jesus gave to build up the church we  have elevated others, often to isolated positions.

No one is surprised if someone presents himself as 'the pastor of such and such congregation' or 'the minister of such and such church'. But if someone, for example, claims to be 'the prophet of such and such congregation' he will get the stamp 'strange' or 'sectarian' or 'false'. Now, how in the world did this happen? I invite you to think with me. Biblically speaking it is simply not correct!

Because.... the five are called together for a common task!

Purpose of the church (2)

Just the announcement of this new blog series, about the purpose of the church, triggered quite some views and responses. A great encouragement for me and at the same time a sign that I am not the only one who is interested in this subject.

For starters, I want to quote the basic scripture I will be using in my reflection on this topic in a few different translations, so that we will all get an idea (regardless of our denominational or theological background) of what the Bible says about the purpose of the church, also called the body of Christ (see also 1 Corinthians 12:27). That scripture is: Ephesians 4:11-13.

NIV (New International Version)

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

NKJV (New King James Version)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

GNT (Good News Translation)

It was he who “gave gifts to people”; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

Just reading these verses a few times brings about an idea of ​​God's intention with the church on earth, don't you agree?

Purpose of the church (1)

For quite some time I have been toiling with the idea of writing a blog series about Ephesians 4:11-13. That is a section in the Bible which describes (briefly but powerfully) the purpose of the church.

I kept postponing it for several reasons. First of all, because I do not want to give the impression that I have answers to the problems and issues our churches are facing today. Secondly, because writing such a series involves the unveiling of some weak spots (and that's putting it mildly) in our church 'system'. And thirdly, because I honestly have not experienced yet how a church should function properly. Nevertheless, I have decided to take a fresh look on the way we 'play church'.

The church is of great importance in society, more than we might dare to believe ourselves. This was the outcome of a research by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) which was published in The Netherlands about a year ago. I quote:

"Religion is an important factor in society. Religious alliance is often associated with participation in society, such as helping others, the commitment of volunteers, giving to charities and voting in elections (Bekkers and Schuyt , 2010; The Heart, 2014; Putnam and Campbell, 2012; Schmeets, 2015). Most often, religious persons are more involved in society than non-religious .... Religion also promotes well-being, weekly visitors to religious services tend to be more happy and satisfied than those who are less likely to attend a service (Coumans, 2014). "

There is, and always has been, quite some criticism towards the church and perhaps Christians are some of their own worst critics. But let's not forget that the more drama and turmoil we experience on earth, the greater the need will be for security, safety and a hopeful future. I think that we as a church (also called the Body of Christ) should be recognizable more than ever before, for example as bearers of light in darkness, as peacekeepers in times of war and as messengers of love in the midst of violence.

I hope you will read along and as always, your comments are very valuable to me and a welcome addition to the blog posts.

Do you receive encouragement?

Sometimes I want to throw in the towel. Yeah, honestly. I am talking about writing books, blogs and articles. I am talking about the calling that is on my life. Do you ever feel that way?

At times I find it very difficult to concentrate, to find (or better: make) time to write, to ponder, to reflect. At times I am disappointed because a book I expected to be a success, did not sell so well. At times I wonder if anyone is encouraged and built up at all by my writings.

Oh well, I know all writers and bloggers deal with this from time to time. I've read it on your blogs, I've seen it in other authors and artists. I call it 'being overrun by waves of doubt and discouragement'.

But somehow, each time I feel like throwing in the towel, I receive encouragement from unexpected sources. Like the other day... I received an email from a gentleman all the way in the north of Sweden, who picked up my latest book Spirit of Truth,

"Gull-Brith, my wife, loves your book Spirit of Truth very much and so do I. We belong to a generation that did not learn English at school... She has gone through the book a couple of times and now she is working on the vocabulary."

Such emails make my day and I see them as encouragement from the Lord... go on, don't stop, I have your back. And at such moments I know it: I am blessed!

I am wondering, what kind of encouragement do you receive from time to time? Want to share your thoughts?

Does your family need prayer?

In previous blog posts I wrote about starting Prayer for the Nations in our town as well as prayer for our region. Well, there is more....

About two years ago, when my brother-in-law became very ill and passed away much too young, we started up a family prayer group. Now, this is not a new phenomenon as far as my in-laws are concerned; my mother-in-law and her siblings prayed for many, many years for their children and grand children. We decided our turn had finally come to take over (thank you Lord!).

We come together with the (younger) believers in our family to pray for each other, for the children and grandchildren, our nephews and nieces and for the older generation that went before us and prayed fervently that we would live a life for God! We are very thankful for the parents and grandparents that did not give up on us when we were walking away from God and his Word.

I would like to encourage you... if you have family members who need prayer (and who hasn't?), please start a group and come together regularly to pray, to thank, to bless. Two is enough to start! Prayer changes things, I am living proof!