In our last episode, we looked at the Five-fold ministry gifts Jesus gave to the church. The gifts of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher, which is found in Ephesians 4:11. It is important to understand what a “gift” is in this context. A gift from God is a gift of Grace. What I mean is that a gift from God is unearned and undeserved! Salvation is such a gift of Grace. The Apostle Paul makes it very clear that the moment you try to earn or work for God’s gift you void the gift or nullify it. Look at the following verses: Show More
- Romans 4:4 “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt”.
- Romans 11:6 “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work”.
- 2 Timothy 1:9
These and many other scripture verses make the case that the words Grace and Gift are interchangeable. Now how does this apply to the Five-fold ministry?
Five-Fold Ministry; servants or to be served?
As I mentioned in the last episode the Five-fold ministry gifts describe functions, not titles. The function describes what they do and how they are used to bless the Church. The church, in this case, describes the people of God, not a building, organization or denomination. The overall function of the Five-fold ministry is to create the smooth, effective operation of the Body-of-Christ. That the Body-of-Christ would work in harmony advancing the Kingdom of God. So, the Five-fold ministers are servants to the Body of Christ or the Church, they serve the Church by leading the church body to serve Jesus. That may sound confusing to say that they serve by leading, but that is exactly what a Five-fold minister is, he or she is a servant-leader. The church does not serve the minister it is the other way around. The church or Body of Christ serves Jesus as the minister serves the church.
Since Jesus gave the gifts of the Five-fold here is a question to think about; do we appreciate the gift or the gift giver? Of course, we should appreciate the gift giver more than the gift. The conclusion of all of this is that the Five-fold ministry gifts are given to the Church to serve the Church. If you are called to the Five-fold ministry the burning question you must ask yourself is, “am I here to serve or be served?”. All of us whether clergy or lay-people are here to serve our Lord Jesus.
The Pattern for Serving
As the Apostle Paul was speaking to the church, he stated the following, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:9-11).
We are “God’s fellow workers” in the ministry. What a glorious thought that is! We are not just working for God but working with Him. When we use the word ministry we often think of the “five-fold ministry”, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Now, remember what Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed (ordained) you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16).
What does it mean to bear fruit that remains? To understand this phrase, it means that we must look at this issue from God’s perspective. As ministers, we often think in terms of attendance and finances as a measure of success or producing fruit that remains. While attendance and finances are necessary to successful ministry these things are not at the center of God’s heart. John 3:16 clearly states God’s heart, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. God has made His desire known and that desire is for the redemption, through Jesus Christ, of every person from every tribe and nation on the earth. The ministry is how He will accomplish this great commission through you.
The Pattern for Ministry
The scriptures in Ephesians 4:11-16. gives us the pattern we need to follow to build the church or ministry.
- Verse 11– Jesus gave 5 gifts to the church
- Keep in mind that these names describe
functions rather than titles. It is common to find people that don’t have the title but are very effective in performing God’s function. The opposite is true also, some have the title but are not performing God’s function.
- Keep in mind that these names describe
- Verse 12– Two important functions that all the five-fold ministry gifts have in common is to “equip the saints to do the work of the
ministry and to edify the body of Christ“.- God has not called the Five-fold to do the ministry by themselves. Even Jesus trained 12 disciples, who in turn trained others to reach the entire world. If your vision for ministry is all about you- you have a very small vision.
- Ministry is about edifying, encouraging and equipping the believers to do the work of the ministry. Ministry is not about you doing everything. By training others to do what you do, you are in effect multiplying the impact of your ministry and the Kingdom of God.
- We make the greatest impact on our community when we train others to do what we do. We should be training and creating opportunities for our members to preach teach, evangelize, intercede, heal the sick, cast our demons, and to continue the reach of the ministry by training them to be trainers of others.
- Verse 13– The goal of the ministry is threefold: “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
- To work towards producing maturity and agreement of God’s truths (Colossians 2:2-3).
- To help others to come to the Knowledge of Jesus. This means we are helping others to establish a personal
relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit (John 17:3). - To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. means to be like Jesus in character and integrity, illustrated by the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). As well as authority and power demonstrated by the Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11).
- Verse 14– Describes what to avoid in the ministry. “That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting”.
- Because of evil in the world, we must discern between righteousness and unrighteousness. In Colossians 2:8 the Apostle Paul states, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”. (1 Corinthians 3:1-4, Hebrews 5:12-14).
- Verse 15-What to seek to establish in the ministry. Love and to become like Christ “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ”.
- As God is love (1John 4:8) so should we be, because of Jesus in us. We are to be conformed to be like Jesus, “29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). (Romans 12:9-21, 1Peter 1:22)
- Verse 16-Why we need one another in the ministry? The body of Christ (the Church) is made up of many parts, dependent upon one another for growth and edification. “From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies , according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causesgrowth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”. (1Corinthians 12:12-27, Colossians 2:19)
Conclusion
As we co-labor with the Lord and focus on His