Ephesians 4:11-13 NKJV
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
To edify is to build up and that is a key component of the mission of the church. The Bible tells us that God gave what we call the five fold to equip the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. This equipping is important as it facilitates the growth into maturity of the believer so that they will no longer be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.
This grounding is necessary because Christ gave each believer a mandate to go out and make disciples. For one to make disciples you must be grounded in the word. This will only happen if we stay dedicated to be taught as the believers in the book of Acts who were steadfast in the apostles teaching.
As much as it is the responsibility of the five fold to equip and train the believer for the works of ministry, it is also the responsibility of the believer to avail themselves and to be steadfast in being taught and applying what they are taught.
Hebrews 5:12 NKJV
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
The writer of Hebrews mentions something we should all take note of. He tells the church that by now they ought to be teachers but they still need someone to teach them the first principles of the oracles of God.
This brings out two important things. Every believer needs to be taught, and every believer needs to grow to be a teacher who in turn teaches others.
The great commission charges us to make disciples and to teach them what Christ has taught us. In essence, the church is a school where disciples are raised and sent out to make more disciples.
