Part 7: The Fivefold Ministry Was Given to Equip You, Not Own You
Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers Under Christ
Apostles.
Prophets.
Evangelists.
Pastors.
Teachers.
Depending on your church background, these words might sound completely normal, or some might make you feel uneasy.
Some Christians believe apostles and prophets belonged only to the Church’s earliest period.
Others believe all five ministry functions described in Ephesians continue operating today.
That’s an important topic to discuss.
But there’s another question that often gets missed.
No matter what we believe about whether these ministries continue and how they function, we should ask:
Why did Jesus give leaders to His Church in the first place?
Paul answers that question directly.
And his answer should shape everything we believe about spiritual leadership.
JESUS GAVE GIFTS TO HIS CHURCH
Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11–12 (CSB):
“And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.”
Notice where ministry leadership originates.
“He himself gave…”
Jesus gives these ministries to His Church.
This shows us something important right away.
The apostle belongs to Jesus.
The prophet belongs to Jesus.
The evangelist belongs to Jesus.
The pastor belongs to Jesus.
The teacher belongs to Jesus.
And the Church belongs to Jesus.
Jesus is the one who designed ministry leadership.
But ministry leaders aren’t the Head.
Christ is.
Leaders are gifts from the Head to the body.
That difference is very important.
WHAT ARE LEADERS SUPPOSED TO DO?
Paul tells us:
“to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”
This might challenge how some of us think about church.
For many Christians, the unspoken model looks something like this:
Pastor = minister.
Congregation = audience.
Pastor studies.
Pastor preaches.
Pastor prays.
Pastor counsels.
Pastor evangelizes.
Pastor visits.
Pastor ministers.
And everybody else attends.
But that’s not Paul’s picture.
According to Ephesians 4, leaders aren’t given to the Church to do all the ministry.
They’re given to equip the saints to do ministry.
This changes everything.
The pastor’s job isn’t simply to minister to you.
Part of the pastor’s responsibility is to prepare you to minister.
The teacher doesn’t merely give you information.
The teacher helps you understand truth so you can live it and communicate it.
The evangelist doesn’t merely preach the gospel while everybody watches.
The evangelist helps awaken and equip the Church for gospel mission.
The prophet doesn’t exist to make people permanently dependent upon prophetic words.
Prophetic ministry should point people toward God’s purposes, God’s truth, and faithful obedience.
The apostle doesn’t exist to build a personal empire of people beneath him.
Apostolic ministry serves Christ’s mission and the establishment, strengthening, and maturation of His Church.
No matter which ministry role we’re talking about, the goal should always be the same:
Equip God’s people.
THE SAINTS DO THE WORK OF MINISTRY
Read the passage again.
“To equip the saints for the work of ministry.”
Who does ministry?
The saints.
That’s you.
If you belong to Jesus, you’re not just someone who receives ministry.
You are part of the ministry.
You may never preach from a platform.
You may never carry a church title.
You may never lead a large organization.
But God has placed gifts, opportunities, relationships, and responsibilities in your life through which you can serve His kingdom.
The ChuThe Church is at its best when everyone understands:try isn’t something I watch.
Ministry is something I’m equipped to participate in.
LEADERS SHOULD BE PRODUCING LEADERS
Think about Jesus.
Jesus gathered disciples.
He taught them.
Corrected them.
Answered their questions.
Modeled ministry.
Allowed them to watch.
Then He sent them out.
Jesus didn’t set things up so the disciples would always just watch while He did all the work.
He equipped them.
That’s discipleship.
Healthy leadership should reproduce.
A healthy pastor should eventually produce people who can teach.
People who can disciple.
People who can pray with others.
People who can evangelize.
People who can lead ministries.
People who can recognize truth and error.
People who can help hurting believers.
People who can eventually help equip somebody else.
Paul tells Timothy in2 Timothy 2:2 (CSB):
“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Look at the generations contained in that verse.
Paul.
Timothy.
Faithful people.
Others.
That’s multiplication.
Paul isn’t collecting followers.
He’s producing disciple-makers.
THE GOAL IS MATURITY
Paul continues in Ephesians 4:13:
“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.”
There is the goal again.
Maturity.
This idea keeps coming up in this series because it’s at the heart of New Testament leadership.
Healthy spiritual leadership should help believers grow up.
That doesn’t mean we outgrow the need for the Church.
It doesn’t mean mature Christians stop needing pastors.
It doesn’t mean we become independent.
Maturity doesn’t mean being alone.
But our relationship with leadership should produce increasing spiritual stability.
We should know Scripture better.
We should pray more confidently.
We should recognize error more quickly.
We should understand our gifts.
We should become more capable of serving.
We should increasingly resemble Jesus.
Notice how Paul describes maturity:
“measured by Christ’s fullness.”
Not:
Measured by the apostle.
Measured by the prophet.
Measured by the pastor.
Measured by the spiritual father.
Measured by the spiritual mother.
Measured by Christ.
Jesus is the standard.
IMMATURE BELIEVERS ARE EASILY CONTROLLED
Paul explains why maturity matters.
Ephesians 4:14 (CSB)says:
“Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.”
When people are immature, they are more easily influenced.
Every new teaching sounds exciting.
Every confident preacher sounds authoritative.
Every prophecy sounds divine.
Every viral sermon clip sounds profound.
Every charismatic personality seems trustworthy.
But mature believers learn discernment.
They ask:
“What does Scripture say?”
“What is the context?”
“Does this teaching actually follow the text?”
“Does this glorify Jesus?”
“Does this produce godliness?”
“Does this align with the gospelThat’s why healthy leaders aren’t afraid of church members who know the Bible well.ons.
They want them.
A healthy pastor shouldn’t think:
“If these people start studying Scripture for themselves, they might question me.”
He should think:
“Good. I want them rooted deeply enough in Scripture that nobody—including me—can easily deceive them.”
That’s shepherding.
THE FIVEFOLD MINISTRY ISN’T A CORPORATE LADDER
This is where modern church structures can cause problems.
Sometimes Ephesians 4 gets turned into a hierarchy.
Apostle at the top.
Then prophet.
Then pastor.
Then everybody else.
But that’s not what Paul is describing.
He isn’t drawing an organizational pyramid.
He’s describing Christ’s gifts to His body.
Different functions.
Different graces.
Different assignments.
Same Head.
Jesus.
The apostle isn’t more valuable to Jesus than the older woman faithfully praying for her church.
The prophet isn’t spiritually superior to the person quietly serving meals.
The pastor isn’t more loved by God than the new believer sitting in the congregation.
Having different roles doesn’t mean some people are more valuable than others.
Paul makes this incredibly clear elsewhere when describing the Church as a body.
THE BODY NEEDS EVERYBODY
In1 Corinthians 12, Paul explains that the Church functions like a human body.
Different parts.
Different functions.
One body.
The eye can’t say to the hand:
“I don’t need you.”
The head can’t say to the feet:
“I don’t need you.”
Every part is important.
That’s a radically different picture from celebrity Christianity.
Celebrity Christianity says:
“Look at the important person on the platform.”
Body Christianity says:
“Look at what Jesus is doing through His entire people.”
Some parts are visible.
Others aren’t.
Some preach.
Others pray.
Some lead publicly.
Others serve quietly.
Some evangelize crowds.
Others disciple one person at a kitchen table.
But every part matters.
APOSTOLIC MINISTRY ISN’T OWNERSHIP
If we recognize apostolic ministry today, then we need to define it biblically.
An apostle isn’t a Christian CEO who owns churches beneath him.
Paul’s apostolic authority was real.
But look at how he describes ministry in2 Corinthians 4:5 (CSB):
“For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.”
That’s apostolic ministry.
Jesus Christ as Lord.
Ourselves as servants.
That’s very different from making a ministry all about an apostle’s personal importance.
PROPHETIC MINISTRY ISN’T CONTROL
The same principle applies to prophetic ministry.
If we believe prophetic gifts continue, then New Testament instructions concerning prophecy still matter.
1 Corinthians 14:29says prophetic words should be evaluated.
That means:
“God told me”
doesn’t automatically end the conversation.
Healthy prophetic ministry doesn’t control people’s lives.
It doesn’t replace Scripture.
It doesn’t make decisions for people.
It doesn’t create dependency upon the prophet.
Prophecy operates within the body under Christ and remains subject to biblical discernment.
PASTORS ARE SHEPHERDS, NOT OWNERS
Peter tells elders in1 Peter 5:2:
“Shepherd God’s flock among you…”
Notice whose flock it is.
God’s.
Pastor, those aren’t your people.
They’re God’s people.
Yes, God entrusted them to your care.
Yes, you have responsibility.
Yes, you exercise oversight.
Yes, you’ll give an account.
But they’re His.
Then Peter warns against “lording it over” those entrusted to leadership.
Pastors shepherd.
Jesus owns.
Don’t mix up these two roles.
TEACHERS SHOULD MAKE PEOPLE HUNGRY FOR SCRIPTURE
A teacher’s greatest accomplishment isn’t getting people to say:
“I could listen to that teacher forever.”
It is helping people say:
“I want to know theGood teachers don’t make the Bible feel out of reach.em inaccessible.
They help believers learn how to read it.
Understand context.
Recognize sound doctrine.
Ask good questions.
Study responsibly.
Apply truth.
Eventually, the student should be able to teach somebody else.
That’s multiplication.
EVANGELISTS SHOULD AWAKEN THE CHURCH TO MISSION
Evangelists have a beautiful gift.
They proclaim the gospel.
They call people to Jesus.
They often have an extraordinary ability to communicate the good news clearly.
But Ephesians 4 places evangelists among those equipping the saints.
That means evangelistic ministry shouldn’t merely produce people who say:
“Bring your lost friends to the evangelist.”
It should also help ordinary Christians understand:
“I can tell somebody about Jesus too.”
Equip the saints.
That’s how it’s meant to work.
THE PLATFORM EXISTS FOR THE PEOPLE
We may need to reverse some of our thinking.
The congregation doesn’t exist to build the leader’s platform.
The leader’s platform exists to build the congregation.
The people aren’t there to make the pastor famous.
The pastor is there to help the people become faithful.
The Church isn’t successful because thousands know the leader’s name.
The Church is successful when people increasingly knowJesus.
Imagine churches where the question wasn’t:
“How many people attended?”
but:
“How many people are becoming disciples?”
Not merely:
“How many watched the sermon?”
but:
“How many are learning to serve?”
Not merely:
“How large is the platform?”
but:
“How mature is the body?”
These are very different ways to measure success.
HEALTHY LEADERSHIP WORKS ITSELF OUT OF DEPENDENCY
A good parent understands this.
When your child is two years old, you do almost everything for them.
But if you’re still doing everything for them when they’re thirty-five, something has gone wrong.
The goal of parenting is maturity.
Spiritual leadership should operate similarly.
At first, a new believer may need a lot of help.
“Where should I read?”
“How do I pray?”
“What does this verse mean?”
“How do I know what’s true?”
That’s completely normal.
But years later, you should grow.
Eventually, that believer should be helping someone else.
The relationship remains.
The pastor remains valuable.
The Church remains necessary.
But as people grow, they become less dependent.
LEADERS SHOULD CELEBRATE WHEN PEOPLE OUTGROW DEPENDENCY
This can test a leader’s heart.
What happens when someone you discipled becomes influential?
What happens when the young preacher becomes an excellent preacher?
What happens when someone you taught begins teaching others?
What happens when somebody’s ministry becomes larger than yours?
Can you celebrate?
John the Baptist gives us beautiful language inJohn 3:30:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
That’s what ministry is really about.
Not:
“How do I make sure everyone remembers who their spiritual father is?”
But:
“How do I make Jesus bigger in their eyes?”
THE REAL TEST OF FIVEFOLD MINISTRY
Want to know whether fivefold ministry is functioning healthily?
Don’t only look at the titles leaders carry.
Look at what is happening to the people.
Are saints being equipped?
Are believers maturing?
Are people learning Scripture?
Are gifts being discovered?
Are disciples making disciples?
Are evangelists raising witnesses?
Are teachers raising students of Scripture?
Are pastors raising shepherd-hearted people?
Are prophetic voices helping people respond faithfully to God?
Are apostolic ministries strengthening and extending Christ’s mission?
Is the body being built?
And most importantly:
Is Jesus becoming more central?
Because that’s the whole point.
GIFTS FROM CHRIST, UNDER CHRIST, FOR CHRIST
I believe Christ still gives ministry gifts to His Church.
And because they are gifts, we should receive them.
We need pastors.
We need teachers.
We need evangelists.
We need prophetic ministry operating biblically.
We need apostolic ministry operating biblically.
We shouldn’t take lightly what Christ gives.
But we also shouldn’t put Christ’s gifts in roles He never meant for them to have.
A gift from Jesus should never take His place.
The apostle isn’t the Head.
The prophet isn’t the Head.
The evangelist isn’t the Head.
The pastor isn’t the Head.
The teacher isn’t the Head.
Jesus is.
And every genuine ministry gift should function in such a way that the body becomes stronger, healthier, more mature, more discerning, more active, and more dependent upon Christ.
The fivefold ministry wasn’t given to collect servants around leaders.
It was given to produce servants of Jesus.
It wasn’t given to create dependency.
It was given to produce maturity.
It wasn’t given to build human kingdoms.
It was given to build Christ’s body.
It wasn’t given so leaders could own people.
It was given so leaders could equip them.
And when that happens, something beautiful emerges:
A mature Church.
A serving Church.
A discerning Church.
A reproducing Church.
A Church where every member understands that they have a place in God’s mission.
A Church where leaders are honored without being idolized.
A Church where authority is exercised without domination.
A Church where gifts operate without creating hierarchy.
A Church where spiritual fathers and mothers raise disciples rather than collect followers.
A Church where everyone, from the person preaching to the one quietly serving, understands one basic truth:
We belong to Jesus.
COMING IN PART 8 — THE CONCLUSION
Jesus Is the Head
Recovering the New Testament Family
We’ve talked about spiritual fathers.
Spiritual mothers.
Spiritual covering.
Submission.
Control.
“Touch not my anointed.”
Permission and calling.
Fivefold ministry.
Now we need to put everything together.
If we’re going to question unhealthy models of spiritual authority, we must offer something better.
And Scripture does.
In Part 8, we’ll examine the beautiful New Testament picture of the Church:
God as our Father.
Jesus as our Head and Chief Shepherd.
The Holy Spirit dwelling within God’s people.
Pastors and elders faithfully shepherding.
Fivefold ministers equipping.
Mature believers discipling younger believers.
Brothers and sisters carrying one another’s burdens.
Every believer growing toward maturity in Christ.
The answer to abusive authority isn’t no authority.
The answer to unhealthy submission isn’t rebellion.
The answer to bad church isn’t isolation.
The answer is to return to Christ’s design for His family.
And at the center of that family sits no apostle, pastor, prophet, spiritual father, or spiritual mother.
At the center is Jesus Christ.
Thoughts from Pastor Toney 