Today I want to look at the so-called “Five Fold Ministry.” Is that all there is? Or is there more to it than the Church teaches? Let’s look to the Bible and see what it says, Ephesians 4:11-12. “And He gave some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
I believe there are more than five aspects that we need to look at. Here is a list of all the ones I have found as I researched this subject. Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, Teachers, Elders, Ministers, Bishops, Deacons, Ambassadors. I probably missed something but it is at least ten different job descriptions. Plus gifts of Miracles , gifts of Healing, gifts of Governments, gifts of Diversity of Tongues-1 Corinthians 12:28, Hospitality-1 Peter4:9, 3 John 1:5-8, Hebrews13:2, 1 Timothy 3:2, Helps 1 Corinthians 12:28.
Paul gives us the ministry gifts in order of importance in 1 Corinthians 12:28 as Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Miracles, Gifts of Healing, Helps, Governments, Diversity of Tongues.
We all are in this together, and each one of us has a specific job or occupation of ministry or lifestyle if you please, to fulfill. Now, which ones are most important? According to the Bible it is Apostle, Prophet, and Teacher- 1 Corinthians 12:28. But then Paul goes even further as he informs us of the most important gift there is in this life of a Christian. What could that be, you may ask? He tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, which we have named the Love chapter.
You can have any or even all of these gifts, but if you don’t excel in love you have missed the purpose of being a Child of God. So don’t get discouraged if you don’t have a “big ministry,” just walk in love and be a blessing to everyone who meets you. Now back to my subject of ministry, and the top three gifts as written in 1 Corinthians 12:28.
What is an apostle? Mr. Joseph Benson comments on this word as- “those who plant churches,being honored with an office of the highest distinction and furnished with endowments peculiar to themselves.” PThen another commentator that I sometimes use is Mr. Albert Barnes, and he makes this comment-“in the rank or order, or as superior in honor and in office, He has given them the highest authority in the Church, He has signally endowed them and qualified them than He has others.”
So we can see that an apostle is someone who has extraordinary abilities and miraculous powers, who plants and oversees churches. They are the highest ranked in the church. Why then is our “church system” not set up this way? Why is the church not using the manual (Bible) on how to operate it? Politics and government inside the church is the reason why! Mankind is obsessed with control and power, and it doesn’t stop with the world, it is also inside our Christian world too.
We have become a tradition of men, which makes the Word of God powerless and ineffective, and this is another reason we do not find signs and wonders following the preaching of it. (Mark 16:20) God, the Holy Spirit is only concerned with the Word of God, and He will confirm it by His power.
Now on to the second gift or ability, Prophet. The BMOGs (big men of God) I go to for commentary are of the opinion that this office has been done away with. Poppycock! Sometimes their education gets in the way of their logic and common sense. Use the word of God and it will explain itself every time. The Holy Spirit wrote these words, and He meant them to be part of the Church system, and we were to follow it to the letter. Done away with? Such nonsense is laughable to me.
A prophet according to Benson is someone who either foretold of things to come, or spoke by extraordinary inspiration for the edification of the church. John Gil reveals it is someone who has the gift of foretelling things to come as Agabus and others. We as humans have always wanted to know what the future holds, and God knew this when He made us. We are not to follow them blindly or seek out our futures with them. They are there to prophesy things into this realm of the the natural as God informs them. They will never contradict the Bible and we should always judge their words according to it.
Teachers round out the top three gifts the Holy Spirit has placed in the church. Just what is a teacher? Someone who is able to impart truth and wisdom. The Greek word is didaskalos, one who disciplines, a trainer, one who corrects. A biblical teacher should be someone who shares what is honorable and noble, someone who imparts goodness. These three are the ones God has put there for our benefit, to guide and nurture the church in righteousness and correct Christian behavior. And they are still there to this day, just waiting on the church to wake up and get its act together according to the word of God.
I am reminded of a saying I read many years ago, Christianity began as a new birth in Jesus Christ. When it came to Athens, it became a philosophy. When it went to Rome, it became an organization. When it spread throughout Europe, it became a culture. When it came to America, it became a business. The greed and the pursuit of money, and the love of it, has corrupted the complete church and has become an embarrassment to the word of God. Preachers that are multi-millionaires, is not what Paul would condone today. I will leave that until another day.
I hope this small look into the “Five Fold Ministry” has shown you that we are all in this together, and just maybe the Church needs to rethink and even change their traditions to get in line with the word of God. There are many aspects to this world of ministry we are in. Maybe this is why the Church is in such disarray today and losing their place as leaders in this world we all live in. We still need Apostles, we still need Prophets, and definitely, we still need Teachers. There is a job for each of us, so just look into these gifts and ask God what He wants you to do.
Read over these scriptures I have given you and get busy with your work of ministry. There is something each of us can do, just look for it in the Word of God. There is no such thing as small, when you trying to find someone to show the love of God to. We all have this Ministry of Reconciliation, (2 Corinthians 5:17) so don’t think you have nothing, just start loving the people around you in your circle of influence, and begin your ministry of helps and progress from there, and see what God can do through you. Always remember this, you will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week.
In His Service As Kilted Priest
The Kilted Priest 