Christ is the head of the church. And we are each members of his body.

First and foremost, it is important to clarify who is who and the nature of the relationship between Christ and his church. We don’t always understand or practice that relationship very well.

I would contend, in fact, that there has been confusion regarding this issue recently within the Catholic church. We recently, of course, saw the death and selection of a new Pope who is considered to be the head of the Catholic church. Instead of Christ at the head, we have a person in the headship role that will, in short, step into the place of Christ as the head over the church.

And while I point the finger at the Catholic church, I think it would also be right to say that we frequently, both positionally and authoritatively, see people in protestant and various evangelical churches do the same thing. While they would not, of course, say that they are the head of the church, we see an assumption of the headship role, a person through whom all final decisions will go, an executive of executives, if you will.

Paul spends a lot of time in chapter 4 in his letter to the Ephesians to emphasize these points, that Christ is the head and we are each members of his body. The members of the body work together to build one another up. Yes, each member performs its function. It must so that the body can function properly. However those members of the body also have the other parts of the body in mind. As each part works, it works for the good of the rest of the body, spurring each part within the rest of the body on to good works for the purpose of glorying Christ.

Paul says that, while we are one body, we are not necessarily all the same. Christ gave gifts to each of the people within the body. In this chapter, he lists five different gifts that were given by Christ to us who are part of his body, the universal church, here on earth:

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.

Ephesians 4:11-13

The five are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

And each of these five have a purpose. The purpose of these five gifts is to equip the people, the rest of the body, for works of service. Christ gives the gifts to the church so that the church will be built up. Not only that each of us would use our gifts individually so that we are individually glorified. Instead, it is so that the body will be built up.

But why build up the body? The head of the body is concerned about the health and growth of the body. The head of the body wants to see that the body comes to full maturity. Christ does not want to we remain infants. Instead, he wants that we become mature.

How would these gifts make us mature? Let’s think about the gifts themselves for a moment:

Apostles are the people that see where the kingdom of God has not yet arrived and helps to lead and organize the rest of us to reach out to those who do not yet know Christ. This brings the body to greater maturity by teaching the rest of us to see those around us who need to know Christ and do what is necessary to reach out to them.

Prophets call us to greater clarity and truth in alignment to the word of God. Prophets help us to know when we are out of alignment and are straying away from the calling of Christ on our lives. Instead, they point us back to the way of God and keep us pointed in the direction that Christ has called each of us to go, calling us to repentance and the truth of who God has made us to be.

Evangelists teach us and lead us to tell others. We need to know how to share the Gospel. We need to know when to share the Gospel. We need to know the best ways to share the Gospel given the diversity of the people all around us. Evangelists build us up by showing and leading the rest of us to do these things.

Pastors, or sometimes translated Shepherds, care for the flock. Jesus said that he is the Good Shepherd, but he has also placed shepherds amongst us. They take care of the people within body of Christ and teach each us to do the same with those who are around us.

Teachers continue to take us deeper into the word of God, helping us to understand its meaning and applying it to our lives. They help us to see what it is that the word is saying and teaching us also how we can teach others. They can multiply their gift by teaching others the meaning of certain sections of scripture, but they can also multiply their gift by teaching others to teach.

In these ways, we can see that the body of Christ will be built up. It will continue to grow until it reaches maturity, attaining to the full measure of Christ, glorifying him by using the gifts that he himself has provided to his body so as to bring the body to the fullness of maturity.