The Five-Fold Ministry
Read the Scripture below and think about what ministry is.
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16
The verses above give a summary of the purposes of ministry that characterize Religious Practitioners (pastors). These are:
- Perfecting of the Saints
- Edifying the body of Christ
- Maturing the saints to the unity of faith
- Imparting the knowledge of the Son of God
- Attaining the stature of the fullness of Christ
- Producing stable, unmovable believers
- Producing ministers who will speak the truth in love
Dr. Ralph F Wilson (http://www.jesuswalk.com/ephesians/10_ministry.html) summarises it as follows:
- The purpose of pastors and leaders: to develop ministry
- The purpose of ministry: to develop maturity
- The purpose of maturity: to develop unity with Christ and His church
The Five-Fold Ministry
The Scripture is clear about the Five-Fold Ministry and the purpose of the church. Ministers have different gifts and callings, none more important than the other, but each serving a specific purpose. It is not that unusual for some individuals in the church, even those who feel called to ministry, to now know about this.
Here is a good background on the Five-Fold ministry and offers a free ministry test that can help with understanding your gifting.
Watch this video teaching on “What is the Five-Fold Ministry” by Theo Heartsill.
Here is another called “5-Fold live” with Bill Johnson of Bethel Church.
Intergenerational Equipping and Edifying and Discipling
To “equip” means to give the tools or things needed.
To “edify” means to build up, instruct or improve.
To “disciple” means to strive to become like the person. For Christians, it means to become Christ-like.
When we follow the Ephesians 4 model, we realise that every born-again believer is called to be equipped, edified and to grow spiritually (to reach maturity and unity).
In Africa, children are often left out when “real church” is being done. Children are sent outside, or isolated to a place where they are out of sight and not disruptive to the adult service. Are these practises conducive to the discipling of young people?
Let’s sample some child inclusive passages and observe what the Bible says about the spiritual capacity of a child:
- 2 Timothy 3:15-16
- Matthew 18
- 2 Kings 5:1-13
Do you see any of these things happening in your church, especially considering the operation of the Five-Fold ministry?
Dr Wilson points out that one of the challenges leaders have in developing others for ministry, is that modern churches possess “a strong clergy-laity distinction.” This means that professionals are given the task with all the work of the ministry, while the congregations pay their salaries. Dr Wilson’s is that tells us that the five-fold ministry exists so that ministers can be “equippers and trainers, rather than the bottom-line ministers.”
Listen to this podcast about equipping and edifying. It will give further explanation of this role for ministers.