to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ,
The priority of the five giftings listed in the previous verse is to equip the saint. I hesitate to call it office, even though Paul used the word “office” in another place in the KJV (Romans 11:13). But the NET Bible, which is what this whole series is based on, used the word “ministry.” And more modern versions translate the Greek word as “minister,” "service," or “work.”
That word office creates a picture of someone in charge, while minister communicates someone who serves.
It may seem innocent to say I have the office of a prophet, the office of a teacher. But that communicates the fact that we actually need to be given regard, and in a way we are demanding respect, almost like being in an upper class where everyone is below.
That begins to fly in the face of the words of Jesus where he said that even though I am lord and master, I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27), and the greatest shall be the servant of all (Mark 10:43–44).
The challenge is to reflect Christ, rather than the practices we have around us, the self-elevation practices.
The gifts are directed at the saints; they are in service of the saints, just as Jesus told Peter to feed my sheep (John 21:15–17).
The focus is the saints, just as Paul wrote that the leaders should take care of the flock which God purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28), and Peter wrote that the leaders should shepherd the flock of God among them (1 Peter 5:2). The focus is not their status, but their work.
We can lose sight of that, and we lose sight of that when we have a fixation on the word “office,” especially with regard to the spirit of the Greek word, rather than a particular translational choice.
Even in the KJV, in the dozens of places where the Greek word transliterated as diakonia appears, the version uses office only in one place.
The word “office,” in my opinion, communicates prestige, but “minister/service” communicates work. And it is not for prestige that Jesus gave some apostles, etc.; it is for work, even as Jesus himself showed us an example.
It's about the work that needs to be done in the service of the saint, of other believers, of the children of God.
When Paul spoke against the church in Corinth dividing and saying I am for this minister, I am for that minister, and he wanted to correct them, he wrote:
What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his reward according to his work. We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Do you get the point? It's not about prestige. It is not about a seat to sit on; it's not about a literal office that you build or rent and get yourself a chair and table to reflect your ministerial office.
In another place, Paul wrote that it is expected of stewards that they be found faithful, again emphasizing the work (1 Corinthians 4:2).
When Jesus told a parable about leaving servants to serve others while He was gone, He said, Blessed is that servant whom the master will find doing the work when he comes back (Matthew 24:45–46), rather than blessed is the servant wearing a robe (not saying there is anything wrong with the robe).
But we must return to the thinking of Jesus regarding the work of ministry, and see it as work whose shape can differ from place to place, person to person, and time to time, but there has to be a common thread of work equipping the saints, which means saints-facing work.
There is no claim here about being anointed more than the rest, rather about serving the rest. No one person is the New Testament says to the other, I am more anointed than you. John said we have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20), but the work is the distinguishing factor and the grace we have from Christ to execute it.
Let's think again about the words of Paul to the Corinthians. He said we are servants. I know it is difficult to wrap your head around the fact that the man speaking to others is actually their servant, but is it not so difficult if you realize that what is being served is the word of God, the word of truth.
Whether in the planting (Mark 4:3–20) and the watering (Ephesians 5:26) that Paul mentioned, it is about the word of God being communicated. In another place, Paul said that when he comes, he would rather communicate five words in understanding so that others can be built up and helped (1 Corinthians 14:19).
So basically these five people/gifts equip the saints so they can serve one another. They occupy the top of the service food chain, if you will, with the overall goal of building up the body of Christ into a giant service system under Christ.
Service is the sacred duty that everyone should be engaged with.