Think what comes to mind when you see the word koinonia.
You probably recognize it as the Greek word for fellowship and likely know it as more than potluck dinner fellowship. Fortunately, this word effectively has been taught throughout the church so believers know koinonia as a sacrificial sharing driven by our commonality with Jesus.
Let’s try another word: katartizo (kah-tar-TEE-zo).
Got anything? Probably not.
It’s the Greek word that we translate equip, and just as our experience of fellowship is deepened by understanding koinonia, the Greek use of katartizo needs to deepen our experience in equipping. We’ve spent too long building discipleship around its English definition: “to furnish with intellectual or emotional resources” (Thanks, Dictionary.com). This definition sounds dry and boring and makes it seem to be something we can pull off a shelf. This is nowhere near the biblical use of the word equip.
The Text
Below are three situations where we see katartizo translated as equip (It’s also translated as complete or perfect in other verses). In order to freshen up these familiar passages and perhaps notice new detail, look for the answers to these questions in each passage as you read.
Who or what is doing the equipping?
Who is being equipped?
What are the results of the equipping?
“So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (
“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (
Think About It
Take another peek at who or what is equipping. Do you notice a commonality? The equipping in each passage comes from a divine source: Jesus, through gifted leaders (Eph. 4); God’s Word (2 Tim. 3); and God Himself (Heb. 13). Most occurrences of the word katartizo in the New Testament (19 by my count) are connected to a divine entity.
When the first readers of these passages saw the word katartizo in everyday use, they understood it as an impenetrable thoroughness. The object being equipped (a fishing net, a boat, a house) was being fully prepared or restored and readied for service. It is the perfect word to describe the work God wants to do in our lives.
Apply It
Thorough, complete equipping—the kind that produces spiritual maturity—must be divinely sourced. It’s not a book off our shelves or discipleship from a can. While helpful in a pinch, that approach won’t achieve the depth that God-driven equipping guarantees. (Take another peek at the results you just read.) Katartizo is spiritual. It involves all that connects us to the divine (i.e., authenticity, humility, grace) so the divine equipping agents—God’s Spirit, God’s Word, His gifted leaders—have free reign to equip us thoroughly.
Use the three passages above as models. Create opportunities for God to equip. Trust God’s Word to do what it says it can do. Maximize connections between teens and gifted teachers.
Katartizo. Admittedly, it doesn’t roll off the tongue as nicely as koinonia, but it’s just as important to understand.
Barry Shafer has been in youth ministry for more than 20 years. As director of InWord Resources (InWord.org), he has written numerous small group Bible studies and teen devos and is author of Unleashing God’s Word in Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties/Zondervan). While these are books you can pull off a shelf, Barry is committed to producing materials that take the katartizo approach. He lives in Middletown, Ohio, with his wife, Jessica.
