Each person is created special and unique and has a unique God-given purpose. “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works” (Psalm 139:14). Who in the body of Christ addresses this type of uniqueness? It’s not the instructors of the masses. It is the equippers. Christ gives some people in the body of Christ the authority and responsibility to recognize and build on these unique characteristics. People have to be uniquely equipped to discover purpose and fulfill destiny. The job of the equippers is to bring forth the truth and initiate transformation. This study examines how equippers mature believers and transform their lives.
My dad raised me as a cowboy, starting at age 5 when I broke and trained my first horse. From that day forward, I worked with cattle and horses almost every day of my life until I was grown. It took blood, sweat, and tears and continuously working with horses and cattle to become a cowboy. I could have read books about cowboys and taken courses about horses and cattle, but I would never have been a cowboy. Like my dad made me a cowboy, believers need people in their lives who will mature them and transform them into the image of Christ. It takes personal relationships with the equipping gifts of Christ for believers to become all they can be in Christ.
Equipping Ministry Gifts of Christ
Who will act as a guide to God’s narrow way? “The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14). Many offer their help, claiming their authority is inspired by God, but their instruction gives only general guidance to a broad way.
Christ gave equipping gifts to equip the saints, so they could do the work for which they are called (Ephesians 4:11-12). Just because a person has a title as a minister does not make that person an equipping gift. Every person who is referred to by man as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher is not an equipping gift of Christ.
Instructors inform, but equippers transform. There are many more instructors than equippers. Only one out of a hundred ministers are equippers. “Though you may have ten thousand teachers in Christ, you do not have many fathers” (1 Corinthians 4:15 EXB). How can you identify an equipping gift of Christ? You cannot go by titles because titles are deceiving. Equipping gifts of Christ are known by their fruit that remains. Are they building ministries or equipping and transforming lives? The majority of people in the body of Christ are merely being instructed and not equipped.
While instruction can inform people about doctrine and ideas, equipping helps transform them into the image of Christ. Equipping causes Jesus to come alive in the hearts of people. Paul wrote, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19 NIV). Who has travailed in childbirth until Christ is formed in you?
How the Equipping Gifts Mature Believers
It’s God’s love in the equippers that sets people on a path of life to be successful. They may choose to leave this path, but love will draw them back. When the prodigal son came to his senses, he returned to his father who loved him (Luke 15:17-20).
Guidance
Many ministers teach and preach God’s word without maturing believers. Their intellectual instruction touches only the mind of man without touching the heart. Their instruction that touches the heart of man may add to the heart without making any corrections. Wrong thinking must be replaced with God’s word. When a person’s thoughts come in line with the truth, he/she is in a position to mature spiritually.
Equippers lay a foundation of spiritual principles in believers so they will be able to bring forth the Christ in their lives. The message of an equipper is passed on from one generation to the next. Paul wrote to his son Timothy to keep passing on the same message (2 Timothy 2:2). Equippers draw potential out of believers by helping them discover their purpose and equipping them to fulfill it.
Prayer and Impartation
Equippers teach believers to pray and be led by the Spirit. They are prayer warriors themselves, and they teach believers how to be led by the Spirit so they can pray effectively. Paul labored in prayer for the believers at Corinth so that they would mature. He desired that Christ would be manifested in their lives (Galatians 4:19). Paul’s message to spiritual infants was not with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4, 3:1-2). Mere words would not mature them, but the Spirit’s power would.
The Lord shows equippers the gifts which he has placed in the people that they might activate the gifts and impart his power to them. Also, equippers impart spiritual gifts to believers and teach them how to operate in the gifts. Paul wrote to the church at Rome before he ever knew them, “I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established” (Romans 1:11).
Transformation
Equippers mature believers and bring forth Christ within them. Paul’s goal was to proclaim Christ, “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28 NIV). As long as equippers keep this goal as their focus, they will stay on the right path. Being Christ-like is not based on performance. Instead, believers are to let the Christ within them dominate their lives and manifest himself through them. As believers begin to talk like Christ talks and do what he does, they can share his glory (Colossians 1:27). Like Paul, every mature believer can proclaim that it is no longer I that lives, but it is Christ that lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
Equipping Application: Paul and Timothy
Timothy was led to Christ by his family and friends, but it was Paul who equipped him. Timothy’s family instructed and inspired faith in him. “I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5). They began the process to help him fulfill his purpose. The elders of a congregation laid hands on Timothy and imparted a spiritual gift to him. “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery” (1 Timothy 4:14).
Paul taught Timothy the mysteries of Christ, equipped him for the Lord’s work, and set an example for Timothy to follow. “You followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings (2 Timothy 3:10-11). Paul invested enough time and effort in Timothy that he could call him his true son (1 Timothy 1:2 NIV). Paul’s prophecies over Timothy helped him fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 1:18). Timothy became a co-worker with Paul. “Timothy my fellow worker greets you” (Romans 16:21).
Paul, as an equipper and spiritual father, walked with Timothy forming a relationship of trust and mutual respect. He deposited the revelation the Spirit had given him into Timothy. He imparted to him because he had been found faithful. Paul wrote to Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Timothy, as a son, was a disciplined learner, watching and listening to Paul. He grew in grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. He was then ready to be sent forth to do the work of the kingdom (1 Corinthians 4:17, 16:10). Fathers train up and release sons to fulfill their destiny. They do not require them to catch their vision and always be with them.
Conclusions
Instructors can only inform, but the equipping ministry gifts of Christ help mature and transform believers into the image of Christ. The problem believers have is finding the one equipping gift out of a hundred of instructors in the body of Christ who can help them. The equipping gifts see purpose and gifts in believers. They offer guidance and impartation to mature believers and bring forth Christ in their lives.