Chapter 6: A God-Designed Church Is a Training Center

So-called church growth experts draw on statistical data, business methodologies, survey information, marketing strategies, and personal experience to plan the progress and success of local churches. Ministerial competition drives pastors and church leaders to employ all manner of secular techniques in order to keep up with the “success-storied” churches down the road. Sadly, there’s great temptation to treat New Testament church-growth principles as if they’re passé, outdated ideas of a bygone era and move onto more progressive church-growth theories designed to meet the needs of a technologically advanced time. As a result, even the goals and purposes of the church can be lost in the milieu of trendy ideas that come and go. What is the church to be about? How did God design it to function?

The Apostle Paul defines one aspect of church-growth in his letter to the Ephesian church:

And [God] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love (Eph 4:11–16).

Note in this passage that God has provided the church with leaders. These leaders exist for the purpose of equipping the saints. Today, this is seen most significantly in the ministry of the pastor-teacher whose task it is to train people to serve in the church. As the saints are equipped to serve in the church the body of Christ is built up. This is an ongoing process—it continues until every believer knows Christ, is mature in Christ, and looks like Christ. Church-growth is all about becoming like Christ and the pastor-teacher’s task is to equip saints until they attain this goal.

Note also that the instrument of this training is doctrine. That is how the fully trained believer can stand strong in the face of false teaching. His faith is fully informed by sound doctrine. He’s been trained to discern truth from error. He’ll not be tricked by crafty heretics who couch their anti-gospel, anti-Christ, and anti-biblical philosophies in “Christian” terminology. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15), but the mature and fully equipped saint recognizes false teaching and is able to avoid its deceitfulness. Instead of succumbing to error, the equipped believer speaks the truth in love, and in doing so, both the individual and the corporate body of Christ grows up and is built up in love.

Unfortunately, some Christians don’t view themselves as learners. The idea of being trained is humiliating to them. They’re either too comfortable with their current spiritual state and level of obedience, or they’re too proud to admit that they have further to go in the process of becoming like Christ. Either way they refuse to acknowledge the pastor-saint relationship is also a teacher-student relationship. They argue that the church isn’t meant to be a classroom. Underneath, they simply don’t want to be tested on their knowledge of God.

Now of course, the church isn’t a lecture hall and church services don’t end with written examinations. And it’s true that our pastor is much more than just a teacher. He’s a shepherd, a worship leader, a father figure, a counselor, a reformer, a priest, an evangelist, and a chaplain. But don’t overlook his role as a trainer-equipper. Since God has gifted us with pastor-teachers, we must see ourselves as learner-trainees and we should listen to our pastor’s sermons with that in mind. If we want to grow, we need to maximize the sermon event by purposefully listening as a trainee who desires to learn how to better serve the body of Christ.

Note also the context of this relationship in Ephesians 4. The “saints” are to be equipped—the “body of Christ” is to be built up—and, these activities continue until “we all” become mature, like Christ. The context is the church where believers gather, learn, and fellowship together. Speaking the truth in love necessitates a community of believers where speaking and loving can occur. Christians can’t grow when they isolate themselves, so we need to learn and apply biblical truth alongside other Christians. Therefore, we must submit ourselves to the equipping ministry of a faithful pastor-teacher.

C. J. Mahaney believes,

When personal issues spring up in a believer’s life, there is no substitute for the anointed and discerning care of a pastor who has been entrusted with that soul (1 Pet 5:2–3). However, in a world of television ministries, Christian counseling centers, and mission agencies, we can easily forget that God has called pastors to be our primary source of spiritual oversight.[1]

So when you attend church this coming Sunday, see your pastor as your equipper—your trainer. View yourself as a trainee. And view your Christian friends and your family as fellow trainees. You’re all there to be equipped to serve in the context of the church. You’re there to learn. God has given you your pastor for this very purpose. He’s God’s gift to you all. This is God’s design for the church.

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[1] C. J. Mahaney, Why Small Groups? Together toward Maturity (Gaithersburg, MD: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 1996), 103.