Does it ever seem like everyone’s role in the body of Christ is to equip others, yet it’s hard to find anyone actually doing the work? Somehow we can find ourselves in support roles, training others in the things we’re gifted in, instead of doing them ourselves. We think this is humble and reproducible.

The way I got trapped in this is by misreading this popular passage:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up – Ephesians 4:11-12

“Equip” is καταρτισμός, which is only used here and means bringing to a condition of fitness, perfecting. It’s the noun form of καταρτίζω, which is translated by the NASB as: complete (1), equip (1), fully trained (1), made complete (2), mending (2), perfect (1), prepared (4), restore (1).

I worked this through in my head by retranslating from the Greek using a football analogy:

So the owner himself brought in a quarterback, a wide receiver, a running back, a defensive tackle and a middle linebacker to complete the roster for the season, so that the team might be built

The team is complete/prepared/mended/perfected/restored because it now has gifted players filling those positions. They’re ready to win a championship. Having them primarily train the other players so they everyone can take their turn is something you’d only do in a recreational league.

I’ve come to the conclusion that for the church to be victorious we actually need the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to do their jobs, not spend most of their time equipping others. Another way of saying this is for them to receive their gifts from God and let others operate in theirs, like the rest of the chapter says:

• to each one of us grace has been given – v.7
• gave gifts to his people – v.8
• the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work – v.16