God’s
Beautiful Plan for the Church
Who are these women? They’re the women of
your local church, designed and gifted by God for specific
purposes.
They’re the women who, alongside the men, are fulfilling God’s
plan for his church:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ… (Ephesians 4:11-14, emphases
mine)
Two important truths stand out here about the
church:
The highest measure of a church’s life and health is
Christlikeness. When we talk about the “life and health” of a church, we aren’t
talking about its size, programs, or leadership, at least not in isolation.
These may be indicators of a church’s life and health, but not its foundation.
Rather, Paul says a healthy church body is unified in the faith and in the
knowledge of Christ, both of which cause the church to reflect him in increasing
measure – which is its highest goal.
Christlikeness is attained as men
and women do the work of ministry. How does God bring about Christlikeness
within his church? Partly through the gifts of its congregation. God intends to
use sinful, flawed, undeserving people – men and women alike – for “the work of
ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” All our varied gifts and efforts
in serving the church aim toward God’s goal of Christlikeness.
[written
by Kristen Wetherell]
