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We get sick; we go to the doctor;
he checks us over, makes a diagnosis, and we believe what he
says. He then writes a prescription that we can’t read. Yet we
confidently take it from his hands. We take the prescription to
a pharmacist, and we assume that he can read it. He fills the
prescription and we take the medicine home. We do not know what
is in the bottle. We do not know whether the pharmacist picked
the right medicine, and we do not know whether the drug company
put the right ingredients into the medicine. Yet we confidently
take the medicine! We trust the doctor’s education and
expertise; we trust that the pharmacist knows his field and has
chosen the right medicine, and we trust that the pharmaceutical
company put the right ingredients into the medicine. We
probably do not even think about any of this. We simply take the
medicine because we want to get well!
God has given to the church His
prescription for growing a church. God’s prescription is to
grow churches the grace way! There is no other formula given.
In order to understand God’s plan, we must go back and take a
short glimpse at the life of God’s grace champion, Paul.
According to
the Grace of God
Paul's ministry was unique, but
his life and work significantly parallel our own. Let’s go
through the steps of Paul’s life and find the principle that may
give us some insight into God’s plan for growing churches.
We begin our study by zeroing in
on some words from a prisoner. Paul was in jail! This is not
the place that many would pick to begin to think about church
growth, but read on!
“For this reason I, Paul, the
prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles,
if indeed you have
heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to
me for you”
that by revelation there was
made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By
referring to this, when you read you can understand my
insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other
generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has
now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the
Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow
heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers
of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which
I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace
which was given to me according to the working of His power.
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was
given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of
Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration
of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who
created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might
now be made known through the church to the rulers and the
authorities in the heavenly places. This was in
accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in
Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and
confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you
not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for
they are your glory.”
(Eph. 3:1-13)
Notice these words: “If you
have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to
me for you.” This small line is loaded with spiritual
truth! It is the sole reason behind everything that ever
happened to Paul, and to us! In fact, this “grace given to
Paul” holds the very key to growing churches. There is a world
of truth locked within these words.
The outward appearance of Paul’s
life seemed very depressing. Paul had been thrown into prison
for preaching God’s message. Yet he called himself a prisoner of
Jesus Christ. He recognized that God had prearranged his entire
life! Nothing could happen to him that was apart from God’s
will for him, nothing!
Paul’s Early Life
In his first letter to a group of
believers - the Galatians – Paul gave this testimony. He said
that God had set Him apart even before he was born and had
called him through His grace.
“But when God, who had set me
apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through
His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I
might preach Him among the Gentiles.”
(Gal. 1:13-16a)
God
had “foreknown” Paul (Rom. 3:29-30). (See
“What does God Know.”)
God had set Paul apart for his life’s work even before he was
born. It was God’s will that Paul be born a Jew. Paul had no
choice! It was also God’s will that he begin his earthly life
in Tarsus, Cilicia, which was a Gentile city. Paul had no
choice! Paul’s father named him Saul, Saul of Tarsus. Paul was
completely in God’s hands!
Our Lord had asked his disciples
who men thought He was. After the disciples gave various
answers, Christ asked Peter directly. Peter’s answer was
straight and correct. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God” (Matt. 16:16). Peter was right on target. Jesus Christ is
God manifest in human flesh. The Lord Jesus then said to Peter.
“I also say to you that you
are Peter (a stone) and upon this rock I will build My
church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
(Matt.16:18)
The rock that the church was to
be built upon was Christ’s identity. Note our Lord’s words: “I
will build my church.” This line should be forever etched into
our minds. Jesus Christ is responsible for building the church,
and He is still doing that today. We are going to see exactly
how Paul figured into our Lord’s plans.
Paul’s Call
Saul later moved from Tarsus to
Jerusalem and became a very prominent leader among the Jewish
religious crowd. Saul, at first, hated Christians and attempted
to destroy them (Acts 8:3). Then God reached into history and
changed this arrogant Pharisees’ life forever. Saul was on his
way to continue his personal vendetta against the people of God.
Jesus Christ personally met him
and struck him down. God was calling him into His ministry.
Christ spoke these words to the startled Saul.
“Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4)
How was Saul persecuting Jesus
Christ? This was the first time that he had seen Christ! He had
had no previous contact with the person of Christ, had he? Yes,
in fact, he had! Saul was persecuting Christ’s body, the
church. The body of Christ is made up of believers (Eph. 5:30).
“And Saul said, 'Who are you,
Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'“
(Acts 9:4-5, see also Acts 26:14)
One glimpse of the Savior in His
resurrected glory immediately deflated Saul and left him shaken
to his very soul. Saul at once addressed Jesus Christ as “Lord.”
No one can call Jesus “Lord” but by means of the Holy Spirit (1
Cor. 12:3). He knew that he was standing in the presence of God
Himself. Paul believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul later
changed his name to “Paul,” meaning “little.” The name change
marked the great change that had taken place in his life. God
orchestrated all this!
“For you have heard of my
former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute
the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my
contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely
zealous for my ancestral traditions.” (Gal. 1:13-14)
Chosen Vessel
God led His champion to the house
of a man named Ananias. God was in complete control. Nothing was
left to chance!
“Now
there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord
said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am,
Lord.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the
street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas
for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he
has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his
hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.’ But
Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this
man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and
here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who
call on Your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he
is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the
Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show
him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’” (Acts
9:10-15)
Words like “chosen vessel”
and “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”
reveal to us clearly that God had marked out Paul’s life. Now we
begin to understand the meaning of the small phrase
“according to the grace of God
which was given to me according to the working of His power.”
Paul’s Message
Paul was to be God’s messenger to
the Gentiles.
The Gentiles up to that time had
been excluded from the blessings of God's promises to Abraham.
God promises had been for Jews only (Amos 3:2; Matt. 10:5).
“But I am speaking to you who
are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles,
I magnify my ministry.” (Rom. 11:13)
“For this I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying)
as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (1 Tim. 2:7)
“According to the grace of God
given to me
was now running full-throttle in Paul’s life. God had set him
apart in his mother’s womb, called him, and had given him the
message that he was to preach. Paul received his message by
revelation directly from the lips of Jesus Christ.
“For I would have you know,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not
according to man, for I neither received it from man, nor
was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of
Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 1:11-12)
“I did not immediately confer
with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those
who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and
returned again to Damascus.” (Gal. 1:17)
Equipped By God
In order for Paul to carry out
his special grace calling, Jesus Christ equipped him with the
gift of apostleship. The work of apostles and prophets was used
by Jesus Christ to build the foundation of His church (Heb.
2:3-4).
The word “apostle” means one sent
with a message. Because the written word of God had not been
given at that time, apostles became “living, walking Bibles.”
The word of God was communicated to them and then through them
to us.
“For
this reason we also constantly thank God that when you
received the word of God which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really
is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who
believe.” (1 Thess. 2:13)
“Paul, an apostle (not from
men or through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the
Father who raised Him from the dead).” (Gal. 1:1)
Paul’s gift of apostleship was
unique. It was unique because he – along with other apostles –
would be used to build the early foundation of the body of
Christ.
Paul’s
Stewardship
“The stewardship of God’s grace
which was given to me for you”
should take on new meaning to us. God had set Paul apart before
birth, called him, and equipped him for a very special purpose.
A steward is one who manages domestic concerns or superintends
an estate or farm; or a waiter on a ship. (Webster’s Dictionary;
PMC Publishing Co.)
The Bible word “stewardship” is
from the Greek word “oikonomeo.” It means “household
manager.” Through Paul, God made it known that He was forming a
new body from both Jew and Gentile. This new body was the body
of Jesus Christ, the church! Paul was to be among the first
human instruments that Jesus Christ would call in order to build
His church. The body of Christ was to become a new creation -
not Jew, not Gentile, not slave, or free, not male or female,
but an entirely new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
“There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither
male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal.
3:28)
Paul’s stewardship is illustrated
in his letter to the Corinthian believers.
“For if I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for
woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this
voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I
have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my
reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the
gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my
right in the gospel.” (1 Cor. 9:15-17)
Paul explained to the Corinthians
that because he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, he could expect
to receive certain rights. He should have the luxury of a wife
and he could expect to be paid a salary. But he voluntarily set
aside his rights for the purpose of making the gospel without
charge to everyone.
If he had volunteered to preach
the gospel, he could have expected a reward because he would
have been a willing participant. But he was not preaching
the gospel willingly. He had been set apart before
birth, called, justified, and He had been given a trust from
God, a stewardship. I say it clearly! It was not Paul’s
choice to preach the gospel. He preached because God had given
to him a stewardship responsibility to preach. That is
what Paul wrote, and that is exactly what he meant. His
ministry was all of God. His ministry was to build the
foundation for the body of Jesus Christ, Christ’s church. Paul’s
stewardship responsibility was clearly marked out with the words
“according to the grace of God given unto me.”
However the Lord Jesus Christ
had other “stewards” in mind. They were to come on the scene
later. They, like Paul, were to be chosen, called, equipped,
and given a special stewardship responsibility. And all of the
others would be set apart with these same words, According to
the grace of God given…! (See “Growing
Churches by Grace: On to Ephesus.”) |
