It is so difficult growing up in the church culture where there are never any true graduates of the system. No one understands that they are SUPPOSED to graduate into kingdom work when all they are taught is how to obey other people, how to be a good little sheep and to support the vision of that particular church or ministry with their money and labor. The original design set forth by Yashua before leaving his disciples to carry on His work—gathering together and facilitating the growth of the sheep so they could move on to maturity and be considered “peers” by those same facilitators, ala Ephesians 4—was changed by leaders to accommodate their own agendas along the way. They appropriated gifts of the Body as a personal resource or engine for their own visions and vehicles, stripping Believers of their kingdom identity and kingdom purpose.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ (Eph. 4:11-15).

These are ALL servant positions, designed for the perfecting (katartismos – complete furnishing, equipping) of the saints. Notice there is nothing here speaking of dominion or authority, but simply the picture of those assigned the task of giving the Body what it needs to “come into the unity of the faith & the knowledge (epignosis - precise and correct knowledge) of the Son of God, unto a perfect man (teleios – finished, adult, of full age, full grown, lacking nothing ) unto the measure (metron - measuring rod; rule or standard of judgment) of the stature (helikia - adult age or maturity, attained state fit for a thing) of the fullness – (pleroma – that which has been filled; completeness, in the NT, the body of believers, as that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ) of Christ.”

So the goal is to help the Body of Messiah to come to unity of the faith, precise/correct knowledge of the Son of God, to reach adulthood, to become a perfect and mature measuring rod of the fullness of Yashua.” The passage goes on to describe the purpose, which is to come to the place where our discernment is developed, where we are no longer led like babies—or sheep—by one another, but learn to speak truth in love so we can grow up as the Body into the Head, who is Yashua. At that time, we will all be moving as one to the voice of the Ruach HaKodesh, as 1 John 2:27 states: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

This leads us to another thread that has been running, that of being “led by the Holy Spirit” and the inherent snags when believers of different levels of knowledge and understanding attempt to do this. According to this passage, it is when the believers grow up and take their place in the Body that they will no longer be attracted to the colorful bait that hide the hooks of deception. Until we reach this place—together, even if at different paces—we will find much error as people try to discern spiritual things with carnal minds. The sooner we can get the Body spiritually equipped and functioning, the sooner we will all be on the same page. So we have to learn from one another with humility and grace, speaking the truth IN LOVE, helping one another with various blind spots and missing puzzle pieces so that ultimately no one is lacking and all are moving in synch as we listen to the one voice of the Shepherd. I love to recall an early scene in Forrest Gump where he is trying to run with his metal braces, placed on his body by well-meaning men but which were hindering him in his particular “race”…he moves clumsily, painfully, then—he breaks free! The metal falls away and goes flying as he runs with fluid movement and new speed. In many ways, it is a fitting picture of the Body today, trying to cast aside every weight as we run the race.

Back to the crossroads: I believe we are seeing a diverging in the wood, where one must choose to either follow the voice of man, or the voice of the Ruach. One is a safe but powerless choice. The other is higher risk, moving us into uncharted territory, but promises to supply all the power and authority we will need to effectively engage the forces of hell and move closer to the picture of the victorious last-days ekklesia described to us in Scripture.

I think most of us came out of the system because we were tired of playing church, we sensed there was something more, and we didn’t want to miss it. I believe these days are defining ones, and that we must press in like never before to hear the Ruach’s voice and to become a people who fulfill the mandate set forth for us. We are His Body connected to the Head of Messiah, taking direction from Him alone, in unity with one another, as we are used to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth.