Implementing the Five-Fold Ministry: Fathers Releasing Sons

Before looking at strategies and programs for implementing the five-fold ministry, it is necessary to implant foundational principles at the root of the process for the development to actually work. Another foundational principle that is necessary for the five-fold ministry to work is that of fathers releasing sons who become fathers.

One huge area lacking in our society is that of fathers who know how to call forth a younger generation and release them into what God has called them to do. Although God can come and transform the existing church structure, many people become set in their ways, making it difficult to make a new definition to old ways of doing things. However, the best way to transform a culture is for those fathers in the older generation who have seen the wrong ways of doing things, to impart their wisdom and anointing to the next generation and release them to go farther than they did.

The problem is two-fold. First, many older people where never fathered themselves, and do not know how to properly be fathers. Second, many young people are rebellious against authority and want to usurp the authority of the older generation rather than learn from them.

However, God’s design was for the older generation to pave the way for the younger generation and create a new, higher foundation for the young ones to walk on than what they had when they were young. Furthermore, His design is for the young ones to walk on that old foundation and build on it, rather than tear it down and move to another place to build.

In the previous teaching on Love & Service, we looked at the verse where Paul was speaking of Timothy as being the only one who was like-minded and served as a son serves a Father (Phil. 2:19-22). Even in Paul’s day, he was looking to raise up sons who would care for the Church as much as he did—and even in his day, it was lacking.

Not only did Paul raise up a son in Timothy who would serve and love the Church, but he raised up a son who also became a father in the church (I Cor. 4:14-17). God is not looking for sons who drain the life out of the older generation to take what they need for themselves. He is looking for sons who are so thankful for being called sons that they—in turn—call forth others as sons.

Also, God is looking for fathers who call their “children” into the identity and callings that are over their lives. A father who is secure in the love of His heavenly Father can see the God-given destiny on a person and call them forth into what God has called them to do.

Implementing the five-fold ministry cannot be a sterile process learned from a book or manual. It must be birthed. It must be birthed in prayer and birthed in lives. This takes labor and it takes trying and failing. It also takes learning from the mistakes of the older generations—and also learning from their successes. We must have the hearts of fathers turned to children and children to the fathers in order for the five-fold ministry to work in the Church.