Ephesians

The Building Gifts

There are four Building Gifts, all of which are listed in Ephesians 4:11, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers” (italics added). You may look at that list and think, I count five gifts in that list. The last gift in the list appears as two separate words in the English translation: pastors and teachers. In the original Greek text, however, it is actually a single concept: pastor-teacher or teaching pastor.

In Ephesians 4:12, Paul unveils the purpose of the Building Gifts: “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Here, in a single breath, Paul uses two figures of speech to describe the function of these gifts—a body and a building. This is one of several places in Scripture where Paul mixes his metaphors—rather like saying, “You buttered your bread, now lie in it.” Yet it takes a mixed metaphor to convey the richness of the truth that Paul wants us to understand.

The church is a body, made up of many parts that are miraculously, mysteriously coordinated to function together. And the church is a building, set upon a foundation, constructed stone upon stone, designed to be a fitting dwelling place for God. In this mixed metaphor, the church is truly a living, organic, growing, active building!

We can never understand the church unless we understand the truth Paul is getting at here. The church is where God lives and is at work today. Those who say there is no God or that God has gone away or God is dead simply don’t know where to find Him. They have lost His address. But we know where He lives. He lives in us. He is at work in us, because we are the building that was built for Him by the Holy Spirit. And the means by which the Spirit has constructed this building is a set of tools called spiritual gifts. The foundation for this building has been laid by what I call the four Building Gifts. They are: