We’ll truly become the church described in Ephesians 4:11-16 when the value of equipping pervades our whole church body. Consider these five stages of building an equipping culture:

Stage 1 – Top leaders let go of pride and seek to become leaders who focus time and attention on helping key leaders become equipping leaders.

Stage 2 – Top leaders believe the biblical call of leadership in the local church is to equip God’s people and personally embody this belief. The executive or senior leadership team must be committed—heart, soul, and mind—to this belief or other leaders will never be committed.

Stage 3 – Top leaders create the environment for others to learn how to embody this biblical call and give them the freedom to do so. Key leaders within the church are responsible for creating the culture of equipping and must be willing to revamp policies and performance measure to achieve success.

Stage 4 – All leaders, paid and unpaid, believe their role in the church is to equip God’s people—not “do ministry.” The end goal should be this: If someone asks a leader what his or her role is in the church, rather than responding, “I do this or that,” he or she responds, “I equip God’s people for service within this particular ministry.”

Stage 5 – Equipping leaders fill every level of leadership …from the leader of the parking lot attendants to the children’s classroom leaders—everyone who leads a ministry area.