Recently, I have been thinking alot about the five-fold ministry. This term refers to the passage in Ephesians 4:11, "And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, & some pastors & teachers..." Paul continues by listing the reasons for this five-fold ministry, "For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith & the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..."
Paul continues the rest of the passage speaking of how this ministry is to bring up the rest of the saints as a whole into maturity. He begins that chapter speaking on having meekness & humility toward one another.
I have been specifically thinking about the apostolic ministry--what it means to be an apostle. Something that has really stood out to me is that an apostle has the ability to see what needs to be done, notice the giftings on other people, & call them into the giftings that are on their lives.
The sad thing is that many use their apostolic gifting to build their own ministry & establish networks of churches under them that all answer to one person as the head. The true apostolic ministry, however, is to promote Christ as the head, and to promote the maturity of all believers--pushing & pulling others into the fullness of their calling so that the body can be mature as a whole.
Each part of the five-fold ministry is designed to help & aid the other part for the edification of the entire body of Christ. The apostolic helps to call each person into their piece of the puzzle.
Help us, Your body, to come into the fullness of all You have planned for us, Lord.
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