Church-building

Ephesians 4:7-16

By the grace of God, the church has been saved (and the work of saving is still continuing) by Christ's redeeming work on the cross.

As for the believer, He gives different gifts to different individuals, as decided by Himself.

However, the ones that he mentions in this passage, those that are directly related to the Word ministry, (in today's context would mean be it teaching it over at a rally to 1000, or at the pulpit to 100, or at a person's house leading a bible study to 10, or even one to one) have a great responsibility to fulfill even as they carry out their ministry because this is how the church will continue to be edified and to mature: each member of the body being equipped for ministry as they come to know more about Christ, and respond in an appropiate manner.

The end state in mind? Until when the church is wholly united in the faith and the full knowledge of Jesus Christ, when we as people of the kingdom of God become perfect ourselves(when He comes again and we're bodily resurrected).

The thing that definitely could happen if the word's not being faithfully taught: the body suffers, with no grounding it gets tossed about in every wave of (different) doctrine that comes our way, following every new trend that seems to work without being able to discern properly, or falling for the plots of evil men who only wish to exploit the situation for their own gain.

But instead of this happening, rather we should be carrying on growing, able to speak the truth in love, edifying the body as a whole by doing our part in ministry.

The continued work of saving people and the growing of the church is sovereignly God's, but we have our part to play whilst the judgement day has yet to come. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be mindful of why we do what we do, even as we try to improve on how we do things, and especially those involved in handling the Word: it's no joking matter, for with the great honour that comes with us all being called to participate in God's plans, comes responsibilities that we shouldn't conveniently shun also, even more so when it has a direct impact on the growth of the church.