Mike Taylor - What is the Role of the Congregation? (2024)

16th March 2002

1. Introduction: the people of God

As always, I'd like to start by answering the question: in the church, the role of the congregation is: everything. Nothing gets done that's not done by the congregation.

In New Testament theology, the church is the congregation. The words even have the same meaning: one of the Greek words translated ``church'' is ecclesia (from which we get the adjective ``ecclesiastical''), which means ``the gathered ones'' - exactly what congregation means, ``those who congregate''.

We're going to spend the bulk of this session looking in detail through what Paul writes about the people of God in Ephesians 4. We've touched on this passage several times in this series on the church, but it's worth closer study.

It was [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to beprophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors andteachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, sothat the body of Christ may be built up until we all reachunity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God andbecome mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullnessof Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back andforth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind ofteaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in theirdeceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, wewill in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is,Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together byevery supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love,as each part does its work.

- Ephesians 4:11-16

Now we'll look at this passage section by section.

2. Leaders don't do all the work

It was [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to beprophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors andteachers, to prepare God's people for works of service [...]

In the New Testament, it's the congregation that does stuff - because everyone is a member of congregation. There is no distinction between clergy and laity - that divide in some of the historical churches does not derive from theology so much as from the social setup in the middle ages, when only the educated minority were literate enough to have access to the bible.

Similarly, we do not make a distinction between the leaders of a church and its members: the leaders are members. Leadership is a function rather than a position. Leading is a role that some people have in the church, just as other have a role of administration, of pastoring, of evangelism or any of the other ministries that God calls people to. If the church is like a ship, then the role of the leaders is not to provide the power - everybody is needed for that - merely to steer.

It's notable that Paul doesn't say that an evangelist's job is primarily to evangelise, or a pastor's job to pastor: their main jobs are to prepare God's people to do those jobs, and more. The ``works of service'' that Paul refers to include:

• Prayer.One of the congregation's roles is to pray:``I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kingsand all those in authority, that we may live peaceful andquiet lives in all godliness and holiness.'' (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
• Evangelism.In a church as new and small as ours, the sharedresponsibility for evangelism is so obvious we can hardly missit: if we don't reach people, then we won't grow. Weall need to be involved in this, whether or not we'reparticularly gifted as evangelists: ``But you, keep your headin all situations, endure hardship, do the work of anevangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.'' (2Timothy 4:5)
• Social action.This phrase always makes me cringe, but I can't think of abetter one that encompasses everything from homeless projectsand drug rehabs to teaching on raising children, running kids'clubs, etc.``Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultlessis this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.''(James 1:27)

All this is on top of - or rather, the foundation for - specific roles and ministries such as preaching, leading worship or whatever. This stuff is the substance, the ``bread and butter'', of Christian life.

3. We are headed for unity, and respond with worship

[...] so that the body of Christ may be built up until we allreach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son ofGod and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of thefullness of Christ.

As we grow in knowledge of Jesus, one inevitable result is that we grow in unity with each other. We also respond to that knowledge with worship - it's impossible not to, when we understand what Jesus is like. And worship in the New Testament is emphatically something the congregation does together, rather than responding passively to a worship leader:

``When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.'' (1 Corinthians 12:26)

And back in the Old Testament, the Psalms emphasise the importance of the congregation in worship:

• ``I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregationI will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All youdescendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all youdescendants of Israel!'' (Psalm 22:22-23)
• ``Praise God in the great congregation; praise theLORD in the assembly of Israel.'' (Psalm68:26)

(This is not to denigrate the importance of personal, private worship; just to point out that corporate worship is a different, and equally important, thing.)

4. We receive the truth and grow in it

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth bythe waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teachingand by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitfulscheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love [...]

This wonderful depiction of maturity speaks for itself. It represents safety, stability, invulnerability to every deceit that the world and the devil can throw at us. This comes by absorbing the truth that is spoken to us in love.

That's part of the reason that Hebrews 10:25 warns us: ``Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.''

5. The body builds itself up

[...] we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head,that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and heldtogether by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itselfup in love [...]

The body of Christ - the church - is held together by ``every supporting ligament'' - that is, the relationships between the members. That doesn't only mean social relationships: time spent eating together, and so on (although that's a part of it) but also more explicitly ``spiritual'' activities:

If [someone's] gift is prophesying, let him use it inproportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; ifit is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let himencourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, lethim give generously; if it is leadership, let him governdiligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

- Romans 12:6-8

The whole tenor of this passage and others is that we use the gifts that God has given us in order to build up the church. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:4, Paul observes that ``He who prophesies edifies the church.'' (The word ``edify'' comes from the same root as ``edifice'', meaning an impressive building: it literally means to build up.) Again, in 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul notes that ``Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up'': it's in the context of loving relationships that knowledge and understanding are able to build us up in a constructive way.

### Include the list of 21 ``one another''s.

If you think God has called you to a particular ministry, here's a good way to evaluate it. The word ``ministry'' means ``service'': if what you do in the church serves someone, then it's ministry; if it doesn't then it's not - it's just a hobby.

The corollary to this is that whatever you do to serve others is ministry, whether or not it's something you feel ``called to''. For example, everyone who grits their teeth and helps out with the kids on a Sunday morning just because it's a job that needs doing, it doing ``ministry''. Thanks.

6. Each part does its work

[...] as each part does its work.

OK, hands up if you think you're indispensible?

Go on, I mean it. Let's see now: one over here, two at the back ... That's it? OK, pretty much no-one. Well, you are indispensible. Every single member of the body. That's why Paul writes, ``... joined and held up together by every supporting ligament [...] as each part does its work.'' He expands on this point elsewhere:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [...]If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense ofhearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would thesense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts inthe body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.[...] The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" Andthe head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" [...]There should be no division in the body, but that its partsshould have equal concern for each other.

- 1 Corinthians 12:14, 17-18, 21, 25

Occasionally, you can hear church members complain that they are not valued for themselves, but only as a number, contributing to head count. In fact, this is never true. Even for Christians who are unfortunate enough to be in churches whose leaders are numbers-obsessed, their leaders' misunderstanding doesn't change the truth, which is that no member of the body is dispensible. The body needs every part present and healthy.

Each member needs to understand how valuable he or she is as an individual, both in the eyes of Jesus who is the head of the church, and the rest of the body. In the same say, Fiona and I don't merely have ``two boys'' (a headcount), but Danny and Matthew. The one who's on the way will not merely be Number Three, but a priceless individual, recognised as such not only by Fiona and me, but also by Danny and Matthew - his or her ``co-members'' in the family.

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If you're reading a paper copy of this document, the soft-copy can be found at www.miketaylor.org.uk/xian/congregation.html.