According to ancient Greek philosophy, the four elements are earth, water, air, and fire. These four elements are thought to contain the answers to life and change. Within the Lord’s church I would like to propose four elements that reflect the life and change of the church. The four elements are equipping, edifying, educating, and evangelizing.
God has given us the Gospel message to share and with these four elements active in His church, the church will have positive change and life. The Apostle Paul tells us plainly what the Gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Jesus is the One who gave the command to share the Gospel in Matthew 28:19-20, when He told His disciples to: “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
It is from such a basic understanding of evangelism that lost souls are saved and become a part of the body of Christ. A healthy spiritual body of believers is evident when the elements of equipping, edifying, educating, and evangelizing are present.
Equipping is present when the leadership of the local body of Christ fulfils Ephesians 4:11-12, “11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” There must be a constant equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.
Edifying is possible when the body of believers adopts a one another approach to their faith. This is something seen encouraged over and over again in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 is my go to verse, “11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” I like this verse because the church is being encouraged to do something they’ve already been doing: comforting each other and edifying one another. Prayerfully, we are all regularly edifying one another. The important thing is to continue edifying one another until Christ returns or we go to be with Him.
Educating is a process that is also to never stop. Again, in Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells us to be “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” We need to always be teaching the Gospel to the lost, always teaching the saved to live like Christ and how to reach the lost with the Gospel. This is something that never can stop or else the spread of the Kingdom of God will stop.
The fourth element is evangelizing. This involves the entire body of Christ being committed to outreach, with each part doing its share (Ephesians 4:16). Last year, our VBS, and the Trunk or Treat were ways that we reached out into our community. The upcoming Pancake Breakfast in March will be another opportunity for us to reach out, invite, and share the love of God with those who need to hear about His hope and promises.
If we continue equipping, edifying, educating, and evangelizing, then the Lord will indeed bless His church.
