Recently a small group of us have been getting together to prepare to plant a new local church. As a part of this I was compelled to walk us through the book of Ephesians to learn how to “do church”. Ephesians is, in my opinion, the most succinct handbook for the local church in the New Testament.1 As we worked our way through this, I was once more struck by the five offices of the church Christ gives in Ephesians 4:7-11.2 It is amazing that these five offices together are what Christ meant for the local church to have to function properly.3 I specifically use the term “offices” rather than “gifts”, for while they are gifts to the church given by Christ so the church will be unified and grow to maturity, these need to be exercised by publicly recognized leaders (as well as privately) for the local church to truly be effective. It is precisely when these five are not all exercised publicly, or all five are embodied in that one paid employee we call “pastor”, that the church is wobbly and does not grow to a size that is effective for the community it is ministering to—both as either mini-churches or mega-churches.

We see in these five offices five pillars that make the church stand firm and grow: the vision and representation of the person of Christ by the Apostle, the exhortation and purification the comes from the Word of God preached by the Prophet, the proclamation of the Gospel to believer and unbeliever alike by the Evangelist, the care, leadership, and understanding of the flock’s need by the Shepherd (pastor), and the solid teaching and application of the word by the Teacher. Together these offices are necessary for the church to thrive. As I ponder these offices, I believe that a church must be led by at least five men who each hold one of these offices and are recognized as the Elders (presbyters) of the church. They must exercise these gifts in harmony, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, and unity through divine peace (see Eph. 4:1-6). This cannot be done by one man alone. From the text, it is also clear that women hold these offices in the roles and realms where they exercise their divine gifts. I have been often taught by my mother, the teacher, and am frequently exhorted by one of my sisters in this local planting effort, who is a prophet, and I am encouraged by my wife, who is a shepherd at heart.

How wonderful would it be if all our fellowships were led by people exercising these offices, rather than putting all the weight on that one paid, seminary-trained man! Together we can accomplish far more, and the church would grow in maturity as Christ envisioned it. Let us find our five pillars and put them in place as the humble, Christlike, servant leaders they ought to be for God’s glory in our local fellowships.

• 1

  Yes, there is lots about the local church in the other epistles, whether of Paul or the other Apostles, but Ephesians is the most succinct of all of them, covering everything from the value of the individual believer to their position in the body and the attitudes and actions necessary to make the local church be true light and salt in its environment.

• 2

  For more depth on this see J.M. Diener “Unity and Division in the Church Part 1 - Unity”, J.M. Diener’s Writings, 2017 <https://wh5.lndo.site/musings/devotionals/church-unity-and-division-1-unity>. Accessed: 2024-07-23.

• 3

  I am aware that the lists in Rom. 12 and 1Co. 12 exist and that they have bearing on how the Body of Christ works, however, here the emphasis is on how the five offices in Eph. 4 grow the church, not in a full treatise on the spiritual gifts.