The five fold ministry - Part 3: Evangelists - Pastors and Teachers

 BY Argie Simonis

~ Evangelists

"And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came to Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and stayed with him." Acts 21:8

"But watch you in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry." 2Tim. 4:5

These are the two references that the word "evangelist" is used in Scripture.

In Acts 21:8, Philip, one of the first six deacons chosen by the Jerusalem church, was called an evangelist. However, there is no clear explanation of exactly what he did as an evangelist.

In 2Tim. 4:5, Timothy, who was the first bishop or pastor of the church in Ephesus, was asked by the apostle Paul to do the work of an evangelist. This means that even those who may not have that particular calling can serve as evangelists. It is commonly believed that an evangelist is someone who has a passion for leading people to the Lord. But every believer must have a passion for lost souls.

I believe an evangelist is someone who has a supernatural gift to bring people to the Lord. He finds special favor with the people of the world and goes to places that other believers would hardly go (ministry in prisons, to addicts, homeless people and generally outcasts, people who are usually rejected by society).

All believers must share their faith with others by the power of the Holy Spirit. But an evangelist ministers under a special anointing and does so as a calling.

All believers are to teach but that does not make them teachers:

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1Peter 3:15

All believers can prophesy:

"For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted." 1Cor. 14:31

but that does not make them all prophets. Likewise, all believers can and should evangelize the lost, but that does not make them all evangelists. Remember the Samaritan woman who evangelized her entire village (John 4:7-30)

The ministry of the evangelist is very important for the Church. He is the one who will contribute to the growth of the Church as he recruits new believers to join the body of Christ.

Observing well-known ministries of modern international fame evangelists, the gift of faith, gifts of healing and working of miracles characterize their ministry. Also the prophetic gift is strong with words of knowledge and words of wisdom, as well as gifts of mercy and help.

-------------------------------------

~ Pastors and teachers

The ministry of the pastor or shepherd, is one of the most prominent ministries in the modern church. Apart from Jesus being described as the good Shepherd, the only time the word shepherd appears in the New Testament is in Eph. 4:11, when Paul refers to the fivefold ministry. In the O.T the only reference we see is in some places to the prophet Jeremiah:

"And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Jer. 3:15

"Woe be to the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! said the LORD." Jer. 23:1

The word "bishop" is used instead of pastor (1 Tim. 3:1-2, Titus 1:7, 1 Peter 2:25) and was the common way of referring to the person who had oversight of the local church. The pastor as the leader of the local church or a group of believers, has a very important role in the body of Christ. Like a shepherd, the pastor will see to it that the Lord's sheep are spiritually fed, he will treat, help and counsel those in need. The pastor is the spiritual father of many believers.

Therefore, the qualifications of a bishop mentioned in 1Tim. 3:1-7 would be the qualifications of the pastor:

"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work.

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

One that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;

(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." 1Τim. 3:1-7

------------------------------------

~ Teachers

 

In the four Gospels it is mentioned that Jesus spent twice as much time in teaching as in preaching. There is an essential difference between them: Preaching presents and proclaims the Word of God, while teaching interprets and explains the Word of God.

In general, the emphasis that has been given in the modern church is to get people born again, but the further training and deep grounding of believers in the Word of God is insufficient.

Teaching is the basic building block of desciple making. Jesus made disciples, not just converts, and this was the last command He gave His disciples:

"Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" Matt. 28:19

Anointed teaching is necessary to fulfill this mission. The Apostle Paul also had the gift of teaching:

"Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity." 1Tim. 2:7

"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Acts 18:11

Teaching is also a characteristic of the pastor (1 Tim. 3:2). I personally cannot imagine a pastor being effective in his ministry without also being a teacher.

Most churches do not systematically teach through the Bible, so believers cannot be properly taught in just one hour a week in church. Pastors focus on bringing a motivating message that might encourage someone or fill a momentary need. The result is that believers are constantly in the "milk" without being able to move effectively in their calling.

"And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1Cor. 12:28

Paul's reference to the gifts here is very interesting. Looking at the same reference in Eph. 4:11, pastors and teachers are mentioned together, without a comma. Here, if you noticed in the chain of hierarchy, the pastor is absent. I believe that the ministry of pastor and teacher are together.

The teacher meets Paul's description in 1 Tim. 3:1-7. He loves systematic study and has a gift for communicating his knowledge with simplicity. I would liken the teacher to an architect. The architect will unfold in front of you the design of the house and will explain in detail the perspective, use and functionality of each space. It will help you understand your home and its potential.

The teacher's mission is to prepare disciples who will in turn make other disciples.

The five-fold ministry-Part 2: Apostles and prophets

 BY Argie Simonis

~ Apostles ~

"And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1Cor. 12:28

A modern day apostle would typically function as a church planter —someone sent by the body of Christ to spread the gospel and establish new communities of believers.

An apostle is a person whose main activity is church planting and their supervision. He is usually the spiritual father of believers who will later be appointed in charge of one of the ministries for the building of a church or a Christian community.

Being pioneers, the Lord equips the apostles with various spiritual gifts so that they can carry out their mission.

Without trying to put any limitations on how the Lord distributes the spiritual gifts, characteristic of the apostles are the gifts of healing and the working of miracles that follow them:

"Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." 2Cor. 12:12

Jesus also used healings and miracles as a bell to attract people to Him.

Until the new church is organized with evangelists, pastors and teachers, the apostle will assume this responsibility: The recruitment of new believers into the Body of Christ and their training:

"If I be not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord." 1Cor. 9:2

Some believe that an apostle has all the ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11. This is something that may be true, but it cannot be supported Biblically.

There will be seasons when the apostle will settle in an area, until the local Christian community can function autonomously, leaving people in his place later.

Because apostles are at the top of the hierarchy in church government, they tend to speak with authority and boldness:

"But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." 1Cor. 4:19-20

Among his responsibilities are included the supervision, reprimand and correction of wrong doings.

He will have a strong manifestation of the gifts of knowledge and wisdom, discernment, prophecy, teaching and evangelism. Also a gift of governance/administration for the supervision of Christian communities.

------------------------------------------------

~ Prophets ~

The ministry of the prophet has always been very important to God's people. In the New Testament, the prophet is the second highest position in the hierarchy of the Church, comes after the apostle and holds an important role in the building of the church:

"And are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" Ephes. 2:20

A prophet is God's mouthpiece (2 Kings 17:13, 23, 21:10, 24:2; Hosea 12:10; and Amos 3:7) where he gives specific instructions, warnings, or rebukes. Although not limited to this alone, much of the prophetic ministry deals with the future. Attention: The Spirit of prophecy is one thing (John 16:13, Rev. 19:10) and the spirit of divination is another (Acts 16:16-18).

Prophets have also been used

 - to give God's perspective on past and current events (1 Kings 20:13-14 and 2 Chronicles 12:5), to anoint people for service (1 Samuel 10:1, 16:1, 13,1 Kings 19:15-16 and 2 Kings 9:1-6),

 - to preach God's justice to those who have practiced injustice (Nehemiah 6:7, Acts 15:32 and 1 Corinthians 14:3), as spiritual advisers to kings (2 Samuel 7) and

 - to be used for people to inquire of God (1 Samuel 28:6; 1 Kings 14:1-18, 22:7; 2 Kings 3:11; 2 Chronicles 18:6; and Ezekiel 14: 7).

Abraham was called a prophet (Gen. 20:7), although he never foretold any future events or spoke of judgment messages. The test of a true prophet who predicts future events is whether the prophecy comes true or not:

"When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him." Deut. 18:22

There are six women in the Bible who were called prophetesses:

  - Miriam (Exodus 15:20),

  - Deborah (Judges 4:4),

  - Ulda (2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22),

  - Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14),

  - wife of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3) and

  - Anna (Luke 2:36).

Philip also had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). We also have references to other prophetesses:

  — Rachel (Genesis 30:24),

- Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10),

  - Elizabeth (Luke 1:41-45) and

  - Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:46-55).

The ministry of the prophet is different from the gift of prophecy. According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, this gift of prophecy is for edification, exhortation, and comfort:

"but he that prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and comfort."

The prophet will of course speak edification, exhortation and comfort to the Body of Christ as we are all called to do, but in addition the ministry of the prophet includes direction, rebuke and warning as we have seen in the previous examples.

In the next article we will close the teaching on the five-fold ministry with the evangelists, pastors and teachers.

To be continued...

The five fold ministry - Introduction

"And he gave some, apostles; and 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:" Eph. 4:11-12

There are two different interpretations of the fivefold ministry that Paul mentions here.

- It can refer to individuals who were called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. In other words, God gave some people the gift of being an apostle, others the gift of being a prophet, etc.

- But it can also refer to churches or ministries that receive these ministry gifts. That is, it is this characteristic, or otherwise the special anointing that characterizes the particular church or ministry. This is how we can have apostolic or prophetic churches and ministries etc.

The gifts that Christ gave to the church, or the five-fold ministry, were supposed to be more of a coach for believers, rather than operating the way we usually see them operating today. The coach's role is to train and help team members to function at their highest potential.

In most churches, the pastor is the one who does all the work of the ministry. The responsibility of spreading the gospel should not fall on the shoulders of the fivefold ministry. What should be happening is that the pastor, teacher, etc. should train the believers so that they can better share their faith, and as the members of His body are the real players doing the work, witnessing  Christ and people are saved.

Shepherds don't bear sheep. Sheep bear sheep.

Let's look at a similar reference made by Paul:

"And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 1Cor. 12:28

The use of the word "first" implies that Paul established an order of authority-hierarchy among these gifts. Apostles have the greatest authority, then prophets, then teachers. The reason the shepherd is absent here is because I believe the shepherd is also a teacher (Eph. 4:11). Here it is very important to remember the way Paul described how the different gifts in the body of Christ resemble different members of the physical body:

"For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." 1Cor. 12:12.

"No, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:" 1Cor. 12:22

Members have different functions, some more important than others, but there are no unimportant members. Therefore, this authority should not be exercised as an unbeliever would exercise authority:

"But Jesus called them to him, and said, You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority on them.

But it shall not be so among you: but whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:" Μatt. 20:25-27

Ministers should not dominate over their brothers and sisters, but should lead by example:

"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." 1Pet. 5:2-3

Paul is not trying to promote an absolute chain of hierarchy in the church. This "lifeless" dominance has proven ineffective and damaging in many of the most functional churches.

It is biblical and necessary to have a system of church government that includes these ministry gifts (five-fold ministry). The solution lies in finding true apostles, prophets and teachers who answer to God and not to doctrines and traditions of men.

In the following messages we will deal with ministry gifts from Eph. 4:11. We will examine their characteristics and their function within the Body of Christ.

To be continued...