Equipping is not delegating. Think about it. Pastors who think they are equipping may only be delegating.Elders, i.e. more mature and experienced brothers who are servants in the church, are so very crucial to a healthy church. Their value to the church is not in administration or ruling or authority or "vision casting" or whatever else we throw out there as buzzwords. Pastors are to equip those who are less mature so that they become mature and are equipped, prepared and released for the work of ministry. Giving people the tools and permissions they think they need to assist you in your idea of ministry is not really what Paul has in mind here. Every believer. properly equipped, will find ways to minister to those around them. Equipping ministers doesn't mean creating assistants for the pastor.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Equipped for what?
Dave Black said something interesting this morning. The Bible is clear that the church has been given pastor/elders for the purpose of equipping the saints, all of them (Eph 4:11-16). But what is "equipping"? Dr. Black wrote:
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Equipping: To minister one to another. To BE the church.
Saul and Barnabas spend a few months with a couple local gatherings, preaching the gospel and equipping the saints. So if they equip with the definition above, they then leave those churches on their own to minister to one another and to BE the Church.
For me the difference between 'equipping' and 'delegating' is very simple. One equips the person to be a minister INDEPENDENT of their mentor, the other allows them only enough freedom to minister in a way where they remain fully dependent on their mentor. The task of any pastor/elder is to equips others so as to do themselves out of a job!
Goblin, that is a great summary! I posted something along those lines a while ago about preaching yourself out of a job. Might be time to repost that!
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