By Nathan Householder
In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of laying a strong foundation. Now I would like to share with you of God’s provision to do so.
And He gave some as Apostles, and some as Prophets, and some as Evangelists, and some as Pastors and some as 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. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of man, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers….These five ministries have been ordained by God to help us build our foundations. As Scripture tells us, these have been instituted to equip and train us into the fullness of Christ. This is the governmental structure that God has designed for His church.
We hear a lot about evangelists, pastors and teachers, but what about the other two? Some teach that they’re not for today. Let’s read Eph 4:13 once more:
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.
We certainly have not attained to this standard yet, and it is doubtful we ever will before the second coming of Christ. If this is true, that would mean that neither the Apostles nor the Prophets have left the God-ordained structure.
If we compare the Church today to the standards that God has purposed to accomplish through the five-fold ministers, it is quite clear that the current condition of the Church is due to the lack of such a God-designed governmental structure.It is their mission to build up the body of Christ. They have been given these gifts to equip us, not to hurt us. Now it is our choice whether to submit to God’s will for our lives or to resist these authorities God has placed above us.
Let’s not be like the man who built his house on the sand. May we never be content with the bare minimum. Ask yourself “could my foundation use a little more strengthening?”.
Hi Nathan…Your study series on “foundations” is truly an extensive one…Could you please let me know the God ordained duties of an Apostle and an Evangelist?..For me sometimes, both of their functions in Christ’s body has sounded the same.
It is very difficult to say exactly how an Apostle or any other five fold member should operate. It all depends on the anointing of the individual and the season in which he or she is in. The only examples we can go by are in the Bible. John the Baptist is a great example of an Evangelist. He spent his life in ministy calling out to the unsaved and declaring the coming of Christ. The Apostle Paul however was focued mainly on the health of the church. Yes he did minister to the unsaved, but this was not his primary gifting.
So to put it simply… The ordained duties of the Apostle is to over-see and strengthen the health of the church. The ordained duties of the Evangelist is to reach out to the unsaved, and to delcare the coming of Christ.
I hope I have helped to clarify things for you.
Hello Preeji,
I agree with Nathan.
Scripture does not give us a precise defintions of the roles of these two ministries.
The evangelist, best illustrated by Philip (Acts 21:8), seems to have been a primary soulwinner — in large groups (Philip in Samaria — Acts 8:5) and individually (the Ethiopian Eunuch — Acts 8:26).
The apostle seems to have broader, foundational (Ephesians 2:20) gifts in his ministry. The apostle Paul (1 Cor 3:10) likened himself to an “expert builder” laying a strong foundation. The King James says “a wise masterbuilder”.
Sidharth