From the Many, One: Ephesians 4:7-16
From the Many, We Become One
Ephesians 4:7–17
While Ephesians 4:1–6 shows us all that Christians have in common, verses 7–17 remind us that God has also given each of us something unique. We are many different people, with different gifts, abilities, opportunities, and roles—but Christ is building us into one body.
Here are several truths about our differences, our gifts, and the unity and maturity of the church.
Christian, You Have Gifts
Paul writes in Ephesians 4:7, “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
Every Christian has been given gifts.
The Bible speaks about spiritual gifts in several places. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, and faith. In Romans 12, Paul speaks of gifts of grace such as encouragement, generosity, leadership, and zeal.
But God has given His people more than what we might traditionally call “spiritual gifts.” You have talents and abilities. You have opportunities. You have time. You have relationships.
What gifts has God given you?
You cannot say that you have no gifts. The Bible says that grace was given to each one of us.
The question is not whether God has gifted you. The question is: Where are those gifts? And what are you doing with them?
Your Gift Is Grace
Notice Paul’s language: “But grace was given to each one of us.”
Is that how you view your gifts?
Do you see your talents as God’s grace in your life? Do you see your bank account that way? Your open schedule? Your ability to sing, teach, lead, encourage, or serve? Your abundance of friends, family, or coworkers? Your spiritual gifts?
If it is grace, then it is something God gave you that you did not deserve.
Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve—indeed, giving us things that only Jesus deserves, but that become ours because we are in Him and He is in us.
God’s riches at Christ’s expense.
Understanding our gifts as grace keeps us out of two ditches.
The ditch of pride
If your gift is an act of God’s grace, then you have no reason to boast.
You cannot boast about someone giving you a gift. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t deserve it. God was simply gracious and merciful.
So there is no reason to think that your gift makes you more special than anyone else. Your gift is not ultimately about you.
The ditch of envy
But there is another danger: becoming jealous of someone else’s gifts.
I’ve always been envious of people who could sing. It’s strange because in my hometown and at the high school I attended, the biggest sport we had was choir. But I was never a great singer.
In fact, my singing was so bad that my junior year the choir director asked me to be the Tenor 2 section leader. When I told my friends, one of them responded, “Doesn’t the choir director know you can’t sing?”
Thanks. Appreciate that.
I’ve always envied those who sing well, especially those for whom it seems to come naturally.
But to envy someone else’s gifts is to ignore the wisdom of God. It is to act as though I know better than God what gifts I should have.
Who is wiser—me or God?
Your gifts and my gifts are gifts of grace. There is no reason to be prideful about our own gifts or envious of someone else’s.
You Have Gifts Because Jesus Ascended
Paul continues in verse 8:
“Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’”
Paul is quoting Psalm 68, a triumphant psalm celebrating God’s victory over His enemies.
The ultimate triumph belongs to Jesus. He has defeated our great enemies—sin, Satan, death, and hell. And we look forward to the day when Jesus returns, makes all things right, and brings His eternal kingdom.
When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, He ascended as the victorious King.
To the victor go the spoils.
Jesus has claimed the spoils of war. He received men and women, boys and girls, those whom He purchased through His death on the cross.
And what does the victorious King do with His gifts?
He gives them to His church.
That means the gifts you have—the talents, spiritual gifts, opportunities, time, and relationships God has given you—are gifts from the ascended and victorious Christ.
Jesus is a gifted King, and He gives gifts to His people.
God Gave Leaders to Equip the Church
Paul then lists gifts God has given specifically for the purpose of equipping His church:
“He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”
The apostles and prophets were uniquely connected to God’s revelation. The apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus who were called and commissioned by Him. The prophets spoke the Word of God to His people.
We do not have apostles and prophets among us today in the same sense that they existed in the Bible. But we have their writings. We have the Word of God given to us through the Old and New Testaments.
And then there are evangelists, shepherds, and teachers.
Whatever distinctions we might make between those roles, Paul’s point is clear: God has gifted His church with His Word and with people who help His church understand and proclaim that Word.
And why?
To equip the saints.
I remember being a water boy for my high school football team. The team was still using one of those old square-toed kicking shoes for the kicker. After a touchdown or before a field goal, the kicker would run to the sideline, take off his regular shoe, put on the kicking shoe, and strap it on while the play clock was running.
My friend Russ was responsible for holding the kicking shoe.
But because the shoe was only needed occasionally, Russ would sometimes zone out. Sometimes I would distract him myself.
Then fourth down would come—or worse, a fumble would be returned for a touchdown—and the kicker needed that shoe immediately. The coach would have to remind eleven-year-old Russ rather emphatically that having the shoe ready was important.
Why?
Because the kicker was not equipped to kick the ball without the shoe.
That’s Paul’s point.
God has given pastors, teachers, evangelists, and others to the church so that you would be equipped.
The Pastor Is Not Supposed to Do All the Ministry
Paul’s teaching also tells us something important about why we have pastors.
Churches do not have pastors to do all the work of the church. Churches have pastors to equip the church to do the work of the church.
It is not the pastor’s job alone to do ministry. The pastor’s responsibility is to help ensure that God’s people have the tools and develop the skills necessary to accomplish the ministry God has given them.
Paul says that these gifts are given “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”
That means ministry belongs to every Christian.
Every Christian has been given gifts to do ministry.
Some churches describe this as “every member a minister.” That makes sense of what Paul is teaching here.
Every Christian is a minister.
This is not a spectator sport at Pleasant View. You did not come to be part of a show or an audience.
There are no bleachers at Pleasant View.
There are no sidelines.
As you get older, what your ministry looks like may change. But you never sit out.
I want especially to encourage our older saints: you never reach retirement in the church. You still have gifts God has given you, and therefore you still have ministry.
And to the younger: be careful.
I once sat in Starbucks with a young man who was interested in ministry. I asked him, “What do you want to do?”
I’ll never forget his answer.
He looked across the table at me and said, “I want to be the guy on the stage.”
At that moment, I knew I wasn’t going to give him opportunities at our church with that attitude.
He wanted a title. He wanted prominence.
But that is not why we serve.
We don’t minister so that we can become the person on the stage.
Be careful thinking that your gifts are for you. They are not.
Our gifts are given to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
Your Ministry Builds the Maturity of the Church
Paul continues:
“…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…”
The goal is maturity.
And maturity means unity.
So can you draw a straight line from your gifts → your ministry → the maturity and unity of Pleasant View?
Maturity also means knowing God.
Do people know the Son of God better because God gave you gifts, you were equipped to use those gifts, and you ministered to others?
Or are people being left vulnerable to false teaching and lies?
God did not fail to give you gifts.
So if the ministry isn’t happening, where did we go wrong?
Were you not equipped?
Or are you not ministering?
Paul’s picture is of a body in which every part is working properly—building up the other parts so that the whole body grows in love.
The heart pumps as it should. The blood vessels carry what they should. The synapses fire as they should. The eyes see. The ears hear. The spine supports the body.
When every part is working properly, the body grows.
That is the picture Paul gives us of the church.
Can you draw a direct line between the gifts God gave you, the equipping you have received, the ministry you are doing, and Pleasant View being a loving and mature church?
Because God is doing something much bigger than simply making us a collection of individuals.
As Paul showed us in Ephesians 3, God is displaying His wisdom through His church. The church is part of His plan to unite all things in Christ, and even the spiritual powers look upon God’s work in the church and see His wisdom and grace.
So if you cannot draw that straight line—from gifts, to equipping, to ministry, to maturity—where did we go wrong?
And how can we fix it?
Ministry Requires Speaking the Truth in Love
Finally, Paul says that we are to “speak the truth in love.”
There is no such thing as a silent ministry.
There is also no such thing as a loveless ministry.
Ministry is not simply filling a role. It is not merely plugging a hole. It is not simply serving in a church program, serving on a committee, or holding a leadership position.
Ministry means speaking the truth in love.
And that is hard.
Everybody loves the idea of being the person who speaks the truth.
It is easy to say things in this room that everyone already agrees are true. But it is much harder to look at someone you love and say:
“I’m worried about your absence from church.”
“I’m worried about what I heard you say.”
“I’m worried about what I saw you post online.”
“I am worried about you.”
That is hard.
Sometimes we stay silent because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. Other times we wait until a problem has exploded before we finally confront it.
It is hard to lovingly speak the truth.
We can fall into either ditch: loving truth while failing to love people, or withholding truth because we are afraid of seeming unloving.
But biblical ministry requires both.
We need the supernatural love of God because God Himself is the One who speaks truth to us in love.
And if we do not speak the truth in love, we should not expect the church to grow in maturity.
Will a child who is never told “no” mature?
No.
In fact, a child who doesn’t know the word “no” is a picture of immaturity.
And I’ll be honest: I’m not always strong at this either.
Everyone wants to belong to a loving church.
But are we willing to use our gifts in ministry for the sake of others?
Are we willing to tell hard truths to people because we love them too much to remain silent?
Who do you need to lovingly confront?
Make sure it comes from love.
But remember: love does not hide the truth.
From the Many, We Become One
So can you draw a straight line from your gifts to your equipping, to your ministry, to the maturity of this church?
Are you speaking the truth in love?
Are you using what the ascended Jesus has given you so that His body would be built up?
Christ has given gifts to His people.
He has given leaders to equip His church.
He has called every Christian to ministry.
And as every part works together, the body grows in unity, love, and maturity.
So from the many, we might become one.