And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Ephesians 4:11-14

For the last few months, I’ve been following a daily training plan to help strengthen the muscles supporting my right knee. It is a regimen prescribed by a doctor, reinforced by a physical therapist, and then followed by me on an exercise app. Everything is designed with a single goal of strengthening my knee and the difference is meaningful.

It’s the same idea expressed by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. Christ gave “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers” to complete Christ’s goal of building the church into a mature, unified group of followers of Christ.

Notice that the first responsibility lies at the feet of those leaders in the church. The writer of Hebrews commented –

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Hebrews 13:7

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

James 3:1

The leader’s responsibility is to do what is needed to build up the people in the church. From what I read in the passage above, they are to equip the church, build up or encourage the church, to unify the church through sound leadership and to help those in the church to achieve maturation in their faith.

What’s the outcome if they don’t take their responsibilities seriously?