Partnership One With Another
Chapter 5 Serving The Gift To One AnotherWe
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but manifesting
(exhibition of) the truth. II Corinthians 4:2 Here, Paul
contrasts craftiness and the truth. It is available to exhibit the
truth of God by honest handling of the word of God. When we handle the
word deceitfully, (for our own purposes) we are walking in craftiness,
which is of the devil.
As we saw in the case of diakonos, we
have to deal with crafty and deceitful translation of the word.
The KJV was translated by the Church of England. The Church of
England was controlled by King James. It essentially was the Roman
Church with a new pope, the King. Most of the paganistic beliefs that
had diluted the truth and power of God in the Roman Church were still
in effect. The translators believed the Church of England doctrines to
be true. They translated the KJV according to "their" understanding.
They were sincerely concerned about doing a good job of translating,
but they were in a position of servitude to the king. A simple reading
of the translator's dedication to the KJV will reveal the position and
purposes of the translators. They were bound to translate according to
the doctrines of the king.
Thanks be to God that we can look
beyond that to the critical Greek texts to find the true meaning and
power of the word of God. Within the state controlled church in
England, there were many levels of rulers. Each position carried
varying amounts of authority to exercise dominion over the people under
their supervision. One only need read history to see the degradation
and offenses of this type of system. Jesus said, "Ye shall not be so".
Luke 22:26
We must look honestly at the word of God and sift out
the organizational craftiness. There is much sifting to be done in the
area of our ministry of reconciliation. We have no rulers to
exercise dominion over us. We lead one another by example, in the power
of God, through Christ in us. My observation of your operation of the
gift makes it easier for me to operate the gift in me. My operation
builds your believing in the same way.
If I rule over you, I
suppress your believing in the gift and build your believing in me and
my organization. Jesus said, "Ye shall not be so." Luke 22:26
Dominion
and ruler-ship have been so ingrained in us that it is difficult to get
past it. We automatically think that there must be a hierarchy. But
honest translation of the word of God proves differently. Let's look at
some examples of how the word has been deceitfully handled and exhibit
the truth:
The word "apostle" is not a translation. It is a
transliteration. A transliteration is a transfer of a word from one
alphabet to another. "Apostle" is an English alphabet spelling of the
Greek word apostolos. By transferring the word to English letters, the
meaning of the word is obscured. The word apostolos means
"messenger", or "one sent with a message."
Remember our ministry of reconciliation? Our one errand to run for God? Part of that errand is to carry the gospel message.
Jesus
while on earth chose his first "messengers". He spent a lot of time
training and teaching them the message that they were to carry. He
himself was a messenger. Did he rule by force or constraint? In the
book of Acts we see the record of the message being taken to the Jews,
then the Gentiles. But the first messengers did not exalt themselves
and make themselves rulers. They were servants (diakonos) that carried
the message, and taught others to carry the message to still others.
Any one who places themselves in a position of dominion becomes a
psuedoapostolos. (false messenger)
In each of the 81 times
that the Greek word apostolos is used, the word "messenger" should be
read and understood. This rendering conveys the simplicity and truth of
the mystery of the body of Christ.
Again, the word "prophet"
is a transliteration of the Greek word prophetes. The meaning of the
word is "one who speaks forth." In the Old Testament, the
Hebrew word for prophet means "inspired person." The context of each
usage must be read to find out who inspired the speaker, God or the
devil. The same is true today. There are many inspired speakers in the
world around us. By the manifestation of discerning of Spirits we can
know the Spirit or spirit inspiring the speaker. We also can compare
what is being spoken to the written word of God to verify the
authenticity of the message.
A "prophet" (inspired speaker) is
one who speaks forth and "foretells" or "forthtells" by the revelation
manifestations, or by the written revelation of the Bible. One
who speaks by any other inspiration is a "false prophet", or speaker
inspired by Satan. For a proper understanding of the word
"prophet", it should be read "inspired speaker" and understood as such.
The
word "evangelist" is a transliteration of the Greek word euggelistes.
This word means a "good message carrier." An evangelist is one who
proclaims the good message. This is part of each born again persons
responsibility as a minister of reconciliation.
Paul exhorted
Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist, (good message carrier) make
full proof of thy ministry." (ministry is diakonia, the ministry of
reconciliation)
The word "evangelist" only appears three times in the New Testament and should be read as "proclaimer of the good message.
The
word "pastor" is of French origin. It is translated from the Greek word
poimen which means shepherd. Of the 17 times poimen is used, it is
translated into English as shepherd 16 times. Why then is it rendered
once in French as "pastor?" The Church of England had a ruling position
called "pastor." Let's be consistent in our handling of the
word. Poimen means "shepherd" every time it is used.
Teacher
is a good translation of didaskolos. It is interesting to note that
this word is used 48 times in the gospels and only once is it
translated "teacher". Yet in the Acts and Epistles it is translated
"teacher" all but once. Didaskolos means "one who teaches" in every
case.
As every man hath received the gift,
even so minister (serve) the same one to
another. I Peter 4:10
Every born again person has
received the gift of holy Spirit. In that one gift is all the power,
authority, and enablements that anyone ever receives in this body of
flesh. We are to minister (diakoneo, serve) that gift to one another.
Some
of the ways that the gift is served one to another is listed in
Ephesians 4:11: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ."
With proper translations of the ministries
and the word "some" which is not in the Greek removed, Ephesians 4:11,
12 reads as follows: "And he indeed gave messengers, inspired speakers,
proclaimers of the gospel, and teaching shepherds, for the equipping of
the holy ones, for the work of the ministry, (of reconciliation) for
the building up of the body of Christ." Eph. 4:11, 12 These
ministries (ways to serve) have been called "gift ministries" but more
accurately should be called "ministries of the gift."
To exalt
the persons that believe to serve the gift to others is contrary to the
word of God and honors the flesh. "Wherefore henceforth know we no man
after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet
we know him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new. And all things (new) are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation."
II Corinthians 5:16-17
Each of us who are born again of God's
Spirit has the gift of holy Spirit. Our ministry of reconciliation is
part of that gift. Let us, by love, serve the gift to one another.
Link to Chapter 6 By Neil Tolman
1996
