“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
– Ephesians 4:32
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you hope to one day become a leader of or in a Christ-follower fellowship of guys and gals? Who do you think should be the leaders today of Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals? What do you think that leaders of Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals are to do today? How do you think that Christ-follower guys and gals should comport themselves today in Christ-follower fellowships? An excellent template to answer these questions is found in Ephesians 4. Paul in his letter to the guys and gals in Christ-follower fellowships in Ephesus conveys that leadership positions are ministry or task specific. A guy who God – as God the Spirit, has gifted to be an apostle or a prophet or an evangelist or a pastor or a teacher is to be seen as a leader of Christ-follower guys and gals. One of the task descriptions for a guy who God – as God the Spirit, has gifted with a ministry gift is that the guy is to use his ministry gift to enable Christ-follower guys and gals to do works of service within and for the body of Christ – with the body of Christ being an amalgamation all Christ-follower fellowships of guys and gals. Another task description for a guy who God – as God the Spirit, has gifted with a ministry gift is that he is to use his ministry gift to build up the body of Christ through helping each Christ-follower guy and gals to mature in his or her faith that he or she has in God – as God the Son, and in his or her knowledge of God – as God the Son. A mandate that God has for a guy who He – as God the Spirit, has gifted with a ministry gift is that he acknowledges that there is one body of Christ that consists of all and only Christ-follower guys, gals and kids, that there is one Spirit – Who is God the Spirit, that there is one faith that is through an unrestricted, blind belief in the death and resurrection of God – as God the Son, as a ransom payment and the fulfillment of a promise of eternal life for each Christ-follower guy, gal and kid, that there is one baptism – with water symbolically used as the blood that God – as God the Son, shed to wash away all the sins of the guys, gals and kids who God – as God the Spirit, has led and will lead through predestined means to and through the faith/grace door to believe in and accept Jesus – as God the Son, and to join the Christ-follower guys, gals and kids in the body of Christ and that there is one God – as God and Father, over, through and in all.
Every Christ-follower guy, gal or kid – whether God – as God the Spirit, has gifted him or her with a ministry gift or not, begins his or her Christ-follower walk as an infant. A Christ-follower guy or gal who has been led to and through the faith/grace door by God – as God the Spirit, does not have a clue what his or her role is to be initially in the body of Christ. Until the guy or gal is solidly cemented on the core belief doctrines of the Christ-follower belief paradigm, he or she will be susceptible or vulnerable to the deceitful teachings and schemes of cunning, crafty guys and gals who are tasked to inhibit guys, gals or kids who have recently become Christ-followers from being able to assimilate the peace that takes place while being around guys, gals and kids who through the sanctifying process are closing in on the bar of having humble, patient, gentle, kind inner spirits that translate into an unconditional love for other guys, gals and kids. Even though a guy, gal and kid – as he or she is led to and through the faith/grace door by God – as God the Spirit, will have all of his or her past, present and future sins purged as he or she pass by the cross on which God – as God the Son, was heartlessly hung on and brutally nailed to and on which He suffered and died, an inherited sin DNA from Adam’s abject disobedience that is embedded in the heart of every guy, gal and kid who is born on planet Earth will challenge every Christ-follower guy, gal and kid to act out in their old sin nature. The devil – who is the enemy of all Christ-follower guys, gals and kids, takes advantage of the depravity DNA that is in each Christ-follower guy, gal and kid. The devil is still quite capable of being able to push the hot buttons that cause Christ-follower guys, gals and kids to get mad and of being able to pull the green-eyed strings to get Christ-follower guys, gals and kids to contort truth in order to undermine rivals. The devil has access to the old sin nature that hangs out in each Christ-follower guy, gal and kid – which is where sin DNA is found and where God – as God the Spirit, works overtime to sanitize, where he will try to use the bitterness and hate spirits to imprint his influence.
After your grandpaa joined the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church that is in Aberdeen, South Dakota, your grandpaa became one of the two church’s elders. Because your grandpaa believes that there is a responsibility attached to being an elected elder – that the elder position is not to be considered just a titled position, your grandpaa took very seriously what he understood to be what the elder position’s role entailed. Your grandpaa believes that most guys today who are elected to a church’s elder board do not begin to fulfill the very clear mandates of the role of an elder let alone living their lives in ways that clearly demonstrate that they know what a Christ-follower life is about. Verse 32 says “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” – which your grandmaa and grandpaa memorized when they were living in Aberdeen, is a place to begin for a guy or gal who knows that God – as God the Spirit, has gifted him or her with a ministry gift. The guy or gal will innately want to help Christ-follower guys and gals to come together as ligaments join the physical body together.
Ephesians 4 (1017)