Ephesians 4:11-14 gives instruction on how God gifts some more than others in the church. The "He" in verse 11 refers to God in verse 6. Our Father has given these additional spiritual gifts to some for the purpose of perfecting and fully equipping the saints toward building up Christ's Body. Verse 13 shows that these roles or positions will help the Body function until all of us attain "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." This is the order God has established until the Body is glorified in the resurrection.
Verse 14 adds another reason why these roles are given. Religious anarchists believe that structure and authority hinder us from attaining our potential. In contrast, Paul says that God places people into these roles as a means of attaining spiritual maturity: He gives these spiritual gifts to a few so that the rest do not continue to be spiritual children.
A hallmark of immaturity is not knowing what we do not know, but at the same time, believing that we are right and feeling as if we are invincible. The immature are especially susceptible to novel concepts and charismatic personalities that may tickle their particular fancy. Spiritually, the stakes are high; some winds of doctrine blow the immature so far off course that they never return. To protect against this, God has provided a bulwark against such storms, giving additional spiritual gifts to some to keep the rest headed in the right direction by declaring and expounding the whole counsel of God.
If we reject the spiritual gifts God has given to others, we put ourselves at risk of being deceived, and we may find ourselves radically altering our belief system in response to every shiny new idea that comes our way. But the human leadership God provides is intended to be a steadying force, which is not to suggest that it is perfect or infallible. Nevertheless, it is part of the order God has established.
Conversely, anarchy has come to be synonymous with chaos and confusion because those are the results of rejecting leadership. Even worse than confusion, to paraphrase Jesus, rejecting someone God has sent is the same as rejecting God Himself (Luke 10:16).
