1I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in us all. 7But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8Therefore he says,
“When he ascended on high,
he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts to people.”
9Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
11He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, 16from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts. 19They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20But you didn’t learn Christ that way, 21if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 22that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, 23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
25Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, 27and don’t give place to the devil. 28Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, producing with his hands something that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need. 29Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice. 32And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherdsand teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
God gives many gifts to the Church. Some of those gifts include: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. As I’ve said before, there are no more apostles like the first twelve. The last apostle was John, and he died on the Isle of Patmos. But that word “apostle” means “sent”. Today, a close equivalent of that would be missionaries—those who are “sent out” by God for a specific purpose in a particular place. There are now no “prophets.” If you encounter someone who wants to prophesy over you (telling the future or something), you might want to run in the opposite direction. But, there are now prophets in the sense of preachers who bring a special message to the Church. It might be an author who writes a book that encourages us and teaches us truths that we didn't see reflected in scripture or events unfolding at present. We have all seen evangelists like Billy Graham, who were gifted to present the gospel in a clear and fresh way. As a child, I attended a Billy Graham crusade in the Astrodome, where I saw thousands of people rush forward to give their hearts and lives to Jesus. That was seeing an evangelist in action. These are gifts to the Church along with pastors and teachers.
In these verses, Paul presents a mission statement and a directive for pastor teachers. Your pastor is not called to be your best friend, although you might be one of his best friends. He is commanded to help develop you and others in the “perfecting of the saints”. That means he is called to help others grow in maturity in Christ. He is called to serve in the “building up of the Body of Christ.” That’s his primary goal. That is his main objective. That is his purpose. That means he must accurately and adequately preach the Word and reveal how it can be lived out in the lives of the congregants. If the pastor teacher can’t do this, the people will starve to death spiritually. This growth is necessary so that the Church might dwell in unity and have knowledge of God and the things of God. The gifts of these callings are to provide the Church with a path for growth, one that looks more and more like Jesus. That’s called growing into our Christ Likeness. So if those are given, what are the rest of us to do? We are to be faithful in studying the Word on our own, and we must be faithful to avail ourselves of these gifts that God has given to us to grow us up in Him. Do your part. Get into the Word. Live the Word. Strive for “perfection,” which doesn’t mean sinlessness; it means to grow and become mature in Christ.