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What Is Exhortation Without Teaching?

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; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (Eph. 4:11-15).

I've noticed a tendency in some churches to be overly exhortative in an attempt to move Christians into action. While the motive seems genuine, this strategy to bring about change is, in my opinion, ineffective in causing any real or lasting change. In fact, I would argue that "moral cheerleading" or motivational like "hoopla" may actually be a detriment to a Christian's growth in their relationship with Jesus Christ. While Christ has given some the gift of exhortation, we must be careful to use it exclusively at the Holy Spirit's prompting, and only in love and to build each other up, not to tear each other down (see 1 Corinthians chapters 12-13). I guess my point is this: how can we expect people to change if we just keep telling them to change without equipping them to change? So, how do we equip?

In the passage above, Paul the apostle tells us that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to the Church by Christ Himself for the equipping of the saints (all Christians are saints) for the work of ministry, for the edifying (the building up) of the body of Christ (the Church).

To bring real change in the Church, we must teach God's word consistently, verse by verse and chapter by chapter. We must exhort each other to spend more time with the Lord in our daily prayer and personal study of the Scripture. We must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach us, to guide and empower us in our lives. This kind of "day in and day out" relationship with Jesus is the only way to bring about lasting change in any of us. As Peter said, we need to be exhorted to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The is a progressive process that takes place over our lifetimes.

Instead of beating each other up about what we think someone else is doing wrong within the body of Christ, let us build each other up in God's love, in His word, by His Spirit, that we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head- Christ.

What do you think? Have you noticed a trend of negativity? Exhortation without teaching? Do you think this is a problem or does it effect change? I'd love to hear your feedback!

» left by Teresa^(1,655) (2 years 31 days ago.)

Very good lesson. We must have the balance that Jesus speaks of so often. Well said! Teresa

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» left by Brian Farrell⁽²⁴⁶⁾ (2 years 31 days ago.)

Thanks Teresa. There is so much pressure to do. And doing is imperative. But, sometimes it seems like we miss the what and the how in our churches!

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