On Equipping and Training

There is a lot of talk these days about the importance of equipping and training within Body. And, so there should be. The Scriptures give high regard to the role of equipping and training the Body for the purpose of growing up in Christ (Ephesians 4:11,13). With overloaded calendars and overwhelmed hearts, many pastors have looked more and more to the necessary role of equipping others so that the ministry load can be shared by the entire Body, not just a few people. And, once equipped, ministry can multiplied and the Church will grow in every way. No doubt, the Scriptures envision the work of ministry being done by the entire Body, and it envisions the multiplication of "works of service" so that the Body is built up. All, of this is good.

My concern for the Church today is the 'how' we do training and equipping. When the average person in a church setting hears the word 'training' he/she immediately assumes that it has something to do filling a job in the church. Learning to perform a task with competency and efficiency like leading a small group, volunteering for nursery, ushering, etc. Training is almost always used in church settings to help one become more proficient and competent in a specific ministry. Training today is almost exclusively tied to a job I perform. It's about becoming ministry proficient.

Now, there's little doubt that every church needs to have training for these areas. Nursery workers, for example, need to know where the diapers are or things will get messy real fast. Yes, ministry competence is necessary. However, those things are not what Jesus and Paul have in mind when they speak of training or equipping the Body. No, training in the Scriptures is not about ministry proficiency, but gospel proficiency. The primary purpose of training is not related to a job I do within the church, but related to the knowledge of God, of the gospel, the Church and how my life fits into that. Simply stated, training leads us not to job proficiency, but gospel proficiency.

In the Scriptures the training and equipping we are called to routinely partake in is not about mastering a competency, but perfecting our character in Christ. In fact, the goal of equipping/training in Ephesians 4 is the unification and perfection in Jesus Christ. So, what might training look like that had as its end goal to "attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ"? Well, for starters, that training would have to begin with something deeper than learning to do something in the Church. Getting "plugged in" at a church followed by four weeks of usher or greeter training sort of falls way short if you know what I mean.

Jesus offered training. He trained his disciples for three years. Many of those encounters recorded in the Scriptures were group training sessions. Other times of equipping were one-on-one. But, if we look at his training, it is almost exclusively the training through the teaching of sound doctrine (right beliefs) and the modeling of a godly lifestyle (right living). In fact, when his impatient disciples came to him about competency questions (how do we feed these 5,000 people?? how come we couldn't cast the demon out of this person? etc.), Jesus almost never gives them a direct answer. When he sent them out to do ministry these twelve evidently hadn't had any classes in healing, exorcism or homiletics. In fact Jesus' own words say it all. "I send you out as sheep among wolves." Thanks for the encouragement, Jesus! Were they ill-prepared and a bit overwhelmed by the task before them? Without a doubt! But, proficiency and ministry effeciency never was Jesus' goal.

His goal for these twelve men had always been full immersion and trust in a kingdom that could not be shaken. Jesus had bathed them in sound teaching of God's kind of life. Jesus had taught it on the hillsides. Jesus had modeled along the roadsides. And, the training they received from his heart and the modeling they witnessed from his hands prepared them for service. As they were sent out, the kingdom power and love transformed others lives. Today those ill-prepared, yet adequately trained disciples' still influence this world.

So, why don't our churches take the necessary time to train and equip others in the way of Jesus? Why are the people in church settings prepared to be trained in tasks and jobs, but not in discipleship? What's the point of mastering ministry areas when we have yet to allow the self to be mastered by the gospel?

Right now you might be thinking, yes, of course we need gospel mastery! Isn't this what Sunday services are for? My answer to that is both yes and no. Yes, the gospel should be preached in its fullness on Sunday mornings! But at the same time, no, it is not enough. It was never intended to be enough. No where in the Scriptures is training in the gospel life relegated to Sunday mornings. It's important for the Body to understand that the church (organizationally speaking) does not make disciples. Disciples make disciples according to Matthew 28.19-20. It is the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers within the church (lthis list is not limited to professional clergy) to train and equip the saints into the life of the kingdom. And, certainly this training was meant to take place throughout the week in a variety of shapes and forms. Perhaps often even one one one.

We know that the apostle Paul was instrumental in training Timothy. In II Timothy 3.10-17, the beloved apostle finds himself incarcerated in Rome awaiting execution. He's reminiscing over some of the most important things that he has taught Timothy over the years. As you read, notice how much of the training Paul points back to is connected with the authority of the Word and the modeling of a godly life.

"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it".

[First, we see here that Paul's equipping is sourced in modelling a way of life to a younger believer.]

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".

[Second, Paul's equipping of Timothy is sourced in the authoritative nature of God's Word. . .the truth of the gospel. No doubt, Paul has spent much tim teaching to Timothy from the Word. . .his two handwritten letters I & II Timothy are just two examples of that!]


So we see from the life of Jesus and Paul, equipping the Body is about taking those who are in Christ at various stages of spiritual development and helping them to grow up by become proficient in the gospel life (right belief) and modeling a godly lifestyle (right living).

As this takes place in the context of the Body, watch out! As we faithfully execute our duties to teach and train people in the gospel life, we are imparting to them a living concoction that has a power and potency all of its own. Because of the relational nature of such training, there is built-in accountability, encouragement and on-the-job training in ministry. No program has the power to do that!

Admittedly, sometimes I ask myself when the Body can afford time to do such training? Everyone seems so busy. However, when I look at the model of Jesus and Paul (both much more busy that us!), and am faced with the despairing need in the Church today, I am forced to ask how I can afford NOT to do such training. I am currently in the process of committing the best hours of my life to this kind of training. And, am encouraging mature believers in our Body to give the best of themselves to this as well. I pray that you would too.

As Dylan once wrote, "The times, they are a changin". We are rapidly facing the reality of living in a post-christendom world. There are no longer general assumptions about what Christianity is and is not. People's perception of Church has changed, and is changing. And, so it should. And, through all of this, we have an opportunity to redefine the ethos of the Church to an increasingly god-less and relationship-deficient world. I believe we need to revive a new breed of Christian discipleship in these times. And, in order to begin this task we must we must come to grips Biblically with what the training and equipping modeled and commanded in Scripture entails. Then we must find ways and means to contextualize the principles of such training in the life of the local Church.

As we do this, I believe that we will break the epidemic of spiritual infancy and spiritual adolescence in the church today. God's desire is for us to grow up in Christ. He has given the Church all it needs to accomplish this task.

The Lord himself modeled equipping and training as he walked alongside men on this earth. If the Master did this for us, how can we his followers do less for others?