Definition Of The Fivefold Ministry
Ephesians 4:11-13 (NASB95) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians lays out the five main areas of ministry for building up the Church. These ministries are sometimes called offices, because they are areas of responsibility within the Church.
Ministries differ from gifts in a couple ways. Ministries are positions in the Church that are ordained by Jesus for the purpose of building up the Church. Gifts are given to individuals by Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving others.
Another way to look at the differences is to compare them as offices, which are positions held by a person, and functions, which are duties performed by a person. Generally a person only holds one office at a time. But a person can perform several functions over the course of a day, week, or month. So, basically, an office is a job title, and a function is a specific skill or ability.
I have been in churches where they believe that the offices of Apostle and Prophet have ceased, the offices of Pastor and Teacher were merged into just Pastor, and the office of Evangelist was not mentioned. These kinds of churches tend to believe that a lot of things that happened in the New Testament don’t happen any more.
I have also been, and am now, in churches that believe in the fivefold ministry. Though some of these kinds of churches can get carried away with using the titles for seemingly egotistic purposes, I tend to be suspicious of those. My church uses the titles, but mostly only for service context and rarely as a symbol of status.
When I began attending churches of the fivefold pursuasion, I looked for help to understand what it meant, and why there was disagreement on it among the denominations. I found a few simplified explanations that satisfied my curiosity and eased my concerns, and left it at that.
From that I have come to understand the fivefold ministries as such:
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An apostle is like an entrepreneur meant to keep adapting to changes in the world and introducing Christ to the world where it’s at.
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A prophet is someone who is led by God to share a word from God for a specific purpose, and also to provide correction to the Church if it starts going away from God.
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An evangelist is like a marketer, spreading the good news and inviting new people into the Church.
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A pastor is like a care-giver, tending to the needs of the people in the Church for the purpose of supporting them in their faith and strengthening the Church overall.
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And a teacher is like a coach and, well, a teacher, providing guidance and understanding of what God’s word says, and also demonstrating how to walk out and apply God’s word to daily life.
And I have learned not to expect anyone in any of these ministries to carry it out perfectly. We are all imperfect people, and our imperfections will show up in our ministries as well as any other part of our lives.
I also don’t think that any one of these ministries can operate on its own, or even hold authority over the others. These ministries are all pieces of the whole puzzle of the Church. The Church is not made up only of these ministries - but also of those who are being ministered to. Each of these ministries is a position of service rather than a position of status, and they must work together. It’s more like an orchestra than a business. Each section of instruments plays its part. It’s not a matter of one office managing and controlling the others.
Here’s a video that explains the ministries very simply and clearly in terms of the personality types of people in each ministry. It even describes some of the negative sides that people in each of these ministries can display - given the defects in their particular personality type.
So, when you hear people talk about being part of the fivefold ministry, that is generally what they are referring to. Some people may have thought about it much deeper and have more nuance built into their understanding, but that will differ from person to person.
As I was writing this I began to dig deeper into the topic for myself. I asked myself where Paul got these five particular ministries from.
First you have to realize that Jesus represented the fullness of each office, so by observing His whole ministry we can see each of these offices exemplified and defined by Him. These are the ministries that Jesus exemplified during His earthly life that Paul lists as the foundation of His Church.
He is the Apostle - sent from God.
He is the Prophet - that God told Moses would come.
He is the Evangelist - telling everyone that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
He is the Good Shepherd.
He is the Great Teacher.
He also exemplified the offices of Great Physician, High Priest, and King of Kings…
But did Jesus define these as offices to be held as the structure of the Church, or as functions to be performed in service to the Church?
He did name 12 of His disciples Apostles, so we could say that He officially designated that title, or office, but the only time the Bible talks about Apostles is in reference to the 12 and Paul. And Apostle litterally means “one who is sent,” so in our modern churches the closest thing we have to literal Apostles are missionaries.
He likened His disciples to prophets (Luke 10:16;23-24), and charged them to be watchmen, which are analogous to prophets (Matthew 26:38), and He charged them to be witnesses, which are also analogous to prophets (Acts 1:8). He didn’t assign anyone specifically as a prophet, but elluded to prophets in ways that carry the Old Testament office/function of the prophet forward into today.
He implied that we are to be evangelists by sending disciples and apostles out to tell people that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and by making disciples of all nations. But I don’t see anywhere that Jesus specifically calls out an official position as an evangelist. In some places He includes healing and casting out demons in the same context as telling people about the Kingdom of God, so evangelists could be more of broader skillset of telling people about Jesus, performing miracles, and making disciples. If you wrap all the functions of an evangelist up into one office, you more-or-less define everything that all Christians are supposed to be - so that doesn’t turn out to be a very specific office in my mind.
Jesus told Peter to “feed my sheep” implying a Pastoral role, but pastoring is only ever meaningfully referred to as analogous to shepherding, which was one of the lowest ranks in society at that time, so I don’t see that as being given as an official job title either. It’s more of a humble approach to servanthood.
Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations - teaching them to obey all of His commands. Teaching is all of our responsibility. We won’t all have the same skill in it, or be able to teach a large number of things, but we all know something valuable that we can share with others who don’t know it yet. Making disciples is the act of instructing, coaching, guiding, and counseling people in the way they are to walk with God.
The Church
Where Did The Modern Church Get Its Structure From?
Early Church Structure
Catholic Church Structure
Eastern Orthodox Church Structure
Protestant Church Structure
Community Of Believers And Bride Of Christ
Apostle
Prohpet
Evangelist
Pastor
Teacher
References
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NASB95) Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NASB95) And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:3-5 (NASB95) But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church. Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB95) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Ephesians 4:11 (NASB95) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
Romans 12:6-8 (NASB95) Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
References
A Look at the Biblical Offices
Five-Fold Ministry: A Social and Cultural Texture Analysis of Ephesians 4:11-16