Last week we looked at the first two steps to equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry: 1) teaching and 2) training. The next step is equipping. In the military, equipping begins when you have satisfactorily completed your instructions and training and are given your own weapon. If you are in the infantry, you are given your own rifle. If you are a pilot, you are given your own aircraft.

After equipping there is one final step before doing what you have been assigned to do—deployment. You are assigned to a unit where you take your place in the forces. In New Testament church life, this is when we begin functioning in ministry as part of the body we are called to be. This is exciting and fulfilling, but it is not the end, only the beginning.

In the military, once you are deployed to your unit, if you are not in actual operations or combat, you will be constantly studying and training to improve your knowledge and skills. The same is true in the body of Christ. We are disciples for life. There is no discharge from His army. He ultimately called us to become like Him, do the works He did, and even greater works. Until we are doing this, we should be growing in Him. As we are told in Ephesians 4:15, “We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”

         The ministries the Lord gave to the church to take the members of His body through this process are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. This continues “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” (Ephesians 4:13). Is there a church body anywhere on earth where this has already been accomplished? If not, we still have some growing to do.

In the military, as you become more proficient at your job,  you will be promoted to a higher rank commensurate with your knowledge, skills, and experience. The same is true in the body of Christ. If we are faithful in what we have been given, the Lord promises to trust us with more. This is not just so we will be more respected and honored, but so we can get more done.

As we have covered, growing in Christ is growing in our ability to do more and become like Him. Our calling is both to do and to become, and these are accomplished together. In Christ, doing is the natural outcome of becoming. If we are in Him, we will bear fruit. Just as a fruit tree does not have to strive to bear fruit, but bears fruit by being what it is, we too naturally bear fruit as we abide as a branch in the Tree of Life, Christ.

The Lord said His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. If our work becomes too burdensome, we have taken a yoke He did not give us. It may be our own yoke resulting from our own ambitions, or yokes others have placed on us to help meet their expectations. We can accomplish things by taking these other yokes, but only by taking the Lord’s yoke can we bear true, lasting fruit. When we take His yoke, we will always find refreshment for our souls, not stress. This is one way to discern whether we are abiding in Him.

© 2022 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.