Weekly Message
Perfecting the Saints, or In Other Words, Kissing Frogs!
And He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, 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. (Ephesians 4:11, 12)
I don't know who wrote the story of the prince and the frog. Most of you have heard it. It appears that a wicked witch cast a spell on a prince and turned him into a frog. Only the kiss of a beautiful maiden could save him. But how many beautiful maidens would want to stoop low enough to kiss a frog? Eventually a beautiful maiden did kiss him and he turned back into a prince and the two of them lived happily ever after.
I was blessed to have a teacher in Bible College who equated workers in the church, with the maiden; and individuals who were feeling unwanted, disgusted, and depressed, were equated with the frog. At one time or another most of us have felt the same way that we imagine a frog would. But the good news is that there were individuals in our lives who were willing to sacrifice their comfort to help us get better.
In the passage above, Paul tells us that the Lord gave different Spiritual gifts that were to be used to help people become better Christians, which in turn would edify the Church as well.
The Church should be about helping people get from the froglike state, to the princely state. Sometimes that will entail helping people who are addicted to drugs; or who have relationship problems; or who need financial assistance, among other things.
"Kissing a frog" might mean just talking with them. Or it could mean taking them to a ball game; or teaching them how to prepare for a job interview. And of course, we should always tell them about the good news of Jesus Christ as we help them.
In the story, the maiden proved that she cared enough to "kiss a frog" to help him escape his depressed circumstances. What are we willing to do to help people who are overwhelmed by life's problems? I can only imagine that many of the maidens would have kept going and let the prince stay in a froglike state. I hope that we don't pass up the opportunities to use our Spiritual gifts to help others.
So what is an important task of the church? According to my teacher, it includes perfecting the saints, or in other words, kissing frogs!
