Bible Studies

The True Five Fold Ministers

by Honey Stone
09/07/17
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Some Christians call themselves pastors or prophets or evangelists or teachers or apostles when they really aren’t. Here’s how to tell who is one of the five equipping gifts:

First of all to be one of the Ephesians 4:11 gifts you have to train others in the body of Christ. That eliminates a whole ton of people walking around with those titles. Here are some roles and descriptions of the five fold gifts.

Prophets - Some people think that because they give prophetic words on someone’s destiny that they are equipping. No! Prophets train others how to hear the voice of God; they don’t just give prophetic words. Prophets typically emphasize holiness and repentance. The early prophetic movement took this to an extreme and that’s because sometimes newbie prophets or those with the gift of prophecy are like bulls in a China shop but not all. There is a need for boldness in order to address wandering and power-monging leaders but that must be tempered with love if they are to truly enter their office and have real power and not just a title and fame.

Evangelists – Their emphasis is on training others on how to evangelize others. They don’t just lead people to Christ. Those with an evangelism bent have a passion for lost souls and will pray for the lost. Likely they will emphasize love and sharing the gospel. Likely, they will have a very giving nature. Some will become missionaries. If they have the gift of teaching mixed in then they may be into apologetics or emphasize discipleship after conversion.

Pastors – These people train others on how to love the body of Christ. Those with a pastoral bent are likely to have a gift of mercy and/or encouragement. They will start off in counseling types of roles or ministries. Sometimes those with the gift of teaching get a title as a pastor. This is unfortunate because the priority and nature of a pastor is to nurture others and not necessarily preach. Yet, there are many teaching-pastors who preach.

Teachers – These people will train others on how to read the Bible accurately. They care about doctrine in the church being right just like the Bereans. Those who study the Bible but don’t teach it still have a teacher’s bent or gift but not the office nor the ministry. Other gift mixes determine if they are going to preach. Preaching alone does not make someone a teacher. You must care about rightly dividing the word of God. Don’t mix this up with being a Pharisee because those dudes created their own doctrine. Teaching gets a bad rap in Charismatic circle probably due to its emphasis in the other denominations. There are churches and denominations that could use a true teacher to balance out the heresy, apostasy or error in those churches.

Apostles – Apostles are defined as sent ones. Typically they start ministries or para-ministries. Sometimes they are missionaries. Apostles will be trained in all five of the equipping gifts. A true apostle is loving otherwise they are just someone who has propelled themselves into the position or that title. God will give Apostles clear blueprints for their ministry. They will not use their own human creativity to design their ministry. Apostles care about accuracy in doctrine. You won't find a newbie Christian as an apostle. If a newbie Christian is given a word that they will become an apostle than there still will be an intense training period. I know of no apostle who has gone the fast track or who have had an easy life.