Verse 15 says, “But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, Who is the Head, Christ.” This verse clearly speaks of growth. Oh, how we need to grow! It is good to be encouraged by the word that we all can do the same kind of work as was done by the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. We all have the potential for this, but this potential can be realized only by growth. Without growth, the potential does not mean anything. If we would grow, we need to get into the Word, feed on the Word, and exercise our spirit to pray and to receive the Lord each day. By feeding on the Word and by receiving the Lord, we shall receive the nourishment required for the growth in life.
The following verse, verse 16, reveals that the Body comes out of the Head: “Out from Whom all the Body, fitted and knit together through every joint of the supply, according to the operation in measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” This verse indicates that the Body causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. Here “every joint of the supply” refers to the specially gifted persons, such as those mentioned in verse 11. But “each one part” denotes the members of the Body. There is an operation in the measure of every member. This indicates that every member is a building member. The building members in this verse are those who have grown in life and who have developed the skills in function.
I am extremely burdened that we all grow in life and that we all receive training in order to function. We are here to be absolute with the Lord. The church meetings are not a time for relaxation or entertainment. The Lord needs a people who are willing to grow, to be trained, and to be disciplined. Thus, every church should set aside one evening a week for training. If we are faithful to the Lord in this matter of training, after a few years all the saints will be useful in His hand. May we be willing to say, “Lord, we want to be trained. We want to know how to grow in life in a practical way, and we want to develop all the necessary skills.”
We need training in how to speak, how to preach the gospel, and how to teach and shepherd others. Every proper Christian who is up to the Lord’s standard should be one who is sent out, who speaks for God, who preaches the gospel, and who takes care of others. We should not be those who are merely saved and who are just waiting for heaven. Such believers are actually not very different from the people in the world. In contrast, we must be those who are continually sent out to speak for the Lord. We must preach the gospel and shepherd those who are saved through our gospel preaching. If we are like this, we shall be different both from the worldly people and from most Christians. We shall be a heavenly people carrying out a heavenly commission.
Do not wait for others to be raised up to be the Lord’s servants or to do the work of ministry. We all must function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. We all must be and we all can be the building members. We do not care to have some vain title or empty position. We would like to be today’s apostles and prophets in a practical way. We need to be genuine preachers of the high and rich gospel and also those who truly know how to shepherd the new ones. May we all go to the Lord in a desperate way and pray that He train us to be such members of His Body. I cannot be at rest until I see that all the saints in the Lord’s recovery are being trained in such a way. Our burden is to perfect the saints unto the work of ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
I believe that the Lord has made this vision clear to us all. Now the crucial matter is how the saints will respond. I believe that all those among us are sincere and faithful to the Lord. The only thing remaining is that we make a definite decision before Him, even a vow, that we do not want to be left behind. Rather, we want to be those who answer the Lord’s call, satisfy His desire, and make Him happy. If we are not for this, then our life on earth is meaningless.
Perhaps we can do little to help those Christians in today’s religion, but by the Lord’s mercy and grace we ourselves can be helped to become building members in reality and in practicality. We believe that even the weakest one among us can become a building member. On the one hand, the leading ones must endeavor to perfect the saints. On the other hand, the saints must make a definite decision with the Lord regarding their willingness to be trained to be building members. If we are faithful on both sides, then God will do superabundantly above all we ask or think for the sake of His economy concerning Christ and the church.