Suffragan Bishop Larry J. Hunt
THE EMPOWERED CHURCH
There are many things about which I am passionate. At the top of my passion list is two things. They are:
1. THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST which consists of the events surrounding his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection with all of the doctrines and truths that theologically flow out of those events.
2. THE PURPOSE OF THE EMPOWERED CHURCH in the earth along with its mission and role in the world and local communities.
There are three utterances of Jesus that state clearly the purpose and mission of the empowered Church in the world.
They are these:
St. Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
St. Mark 16: 15-16, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
St Luke 24: 46-47, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should b e preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
These three declarations of Jesus contain both the purpose and mission of THE CHURCH. Clearly the purpose of the Church is to GO, TO PREACH AND TEACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. The mission is to convert people to believe in Jesus Christ, to baptize those believers, and to instruct those believers in the teachings of Jesus Christ. For the Church to preach anything less is to abandon her purpose and mission. God has empowered the Church. Without this empowerment, it is impossible for the Church to fulfill her purpose and mission.
How did God empower the Church? After the resurrection, Jesus met his disciples and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem. There in Jerusalem they were to “Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many day hence,” Acts 1:4-5. He continues to tell them, “But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth,” Acts 1:8.
Three things are revealed by these scriptures.
1. God empowered the Church to fulfill his purpose and his mission.
2. It is the Holy Ghost that empowers the Church to do God’s work.
3. This empowerment comes from God. We cannot forget that God placed this power in us and we are responsible for its use.
Acts 2:1-4 recorded the event of this empowerment. We use this scripture as a salvation message and, when coupled with Acts 2:38, this is a salvation message. However, we must keep in view that, according to Acts 1:8, the Holy Ghost empowers the Church to be His witness of the gospel. To forget that the Church is empowered by the Holy Ghost is to disregard her empowerment.
Now that we know that the Church has been empowered to achieve her purpose and mission, we must also know that God has equipped his Church with all spiritual gifts that are needed.
Throughout the ages, God has always call, prepared and sent ministers forth to accomplish a specific objective. In the New Testament, according to Eph. 4:11-12, God gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The fivefold ministry is placed in the church “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The purpose and mission of the Church is the responsibility of every one of its members.
It is incumbent upon the fivefold ministry to perfect (equip) members with the ministry of the gospel. The Greek word for perfecting is (katartizo) meaning “to equip” for the work of ministry. The purpose of the pastor is to equip the Church for ministry. The objective for the equipped members is to take the gospel to a lost and dying world.
To forget this important truth is to disregard the purpose and mission of the Church. For a pastor to preach anything less than the rich gospel of Jesus Christ is to neglect his/her God given responsibility.
In the same vein of empowerment, the apostle Paul tells the Church at Corinth that the body of Christ is empowered with SPIRITUAL GIFTS. In I Cor. 12:1, Paul writes this, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant (lack understanding).” He lists them in verses 8, 9, 10 and 28. They are these: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kind of tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostles, prophets, teachers, helps and governments.
About these manifestations of the spirit, Paul says this, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” I Cor. 12:4-7.
It is important to note carefully that these are gifts given by the Spirit through which every believer might spiritually benefit. These gifts are given to empower believers to do gospel ministry. These gifts are not given to cause contention in the Church, but rather, these gifts are given to edify and help the Church and others. When these gifts work in harmony within the Church, the Church is empowered to grow and be edified. For the Church to neglect her empowerment, she has forgotten her God given purpose and mission.
We are the empowered Church and we must be about our Father’s business.
