Every Member Ministry
One of the unique qualities of a biblical church is the understanding and application of what we may call every member ministry.
Let me briefly explain what I mean.
According to Scripture, every person is uniquely created by God, and every believer in Christ is spiritually gifted by the Holy Spirit to edify the church. This means that every person in the church—young and old alike—is an essential means to the proper functioning of the body of Christ.
This is made crystal clear in the book of Ephesians. For example, a key responsibility of church leaders is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). As leaders equip each person in the church to serve in his or her particular way(s), this proper functioning contributes to our growth toward spiritual maturity. This growth is partly measured by our attaining to “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13). However, knowledge alone does not equal spiritual maturity. Therefore, the apostle goes on to say that our growth in Christ will also be marked by “each part working properly,” and it is the service of every person which “makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Eph. 4:16).
[First published on the Cornerstone Community Church blog.]
