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About Jesus Steve Sweetman
The
Four Fold Ministry – Ephesians 4:11 The
apostle Paul speaks of 5 ministries in Ephesians 4:11 that are given by
Christ to the church. We
call these ministries the "gifts of Christ" because the text
states that Jesus gave these ministries as gifts.
As a side note, we see the "gifts of the Spirit" in 1
Corinthians 12:. The
difference between the gifts of Christ and the gifts of the Spirit is
that the gifts of Christ is a ministry, a job, or, a life's work.
The gifts of the Spirit are not a ministry or one's life's work.
They are simply gifts that are given in a gathering, or wherever,
to benefit the recipient of the gift. The
five ministries listed in Ephesians 4:11 are, apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers. You will note that there are five
ministries listed. Many
people miss this point, but because of the Greek sentence structure
here, pastor and teacher are the same ministry.
Therefore, we don't have a five fold ministry as many think..
We have a four fold ministry.
They are; apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor/teacher.
My
intent in this short article is not to explain each ministry in detail.
My intent is simply to explain them by using a modern day
business example. You
can think of the prophet as a visionary; the one who has the vision, the
grand ideas for the business. You
can think of the apostle as the one in business who knows how to put
legs to the vision, or, brings reality to the vision.
He takes the vision and creates the business.
The evangelist goes out and gathers support and employees for the
business. You can have a
business unless you have people to work in the business.
The pastor/teacher is the one who daily manages and cares for the
business. He keeps the
business on the right track, on a good level playing field so it can
grow. If
you can think of these ministries in this way, you'll have a good
beginning to understanding the four fold ministry.
The
prophet has the prophetic blue print, the vision from the Lord.
The apostle puts legs on the vision to bring it into reality.
The evangelist preaches the gospel and wins people to the Lord
to participate in the prophetic vision.
The pastor/ teacher cares for and teaches the converts in order
to keep them and the church on the right track.
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