Fivefold Ministry, part 1: Competition
The Five Fold Ministry: Individuals, part of a whole.
“The seasons of our ministries is over. It’s the hour of Christ and the corporate manifestation of Him in us.” –Allen Hood
When I had been a Christian for just a few months, I was sitting on a greyhound bus, and the Lord spoke to me as clear as day: “Denominations are not going to matter. People are going to unite under the banner of Christ.” I understood that to mean that denominations would still exist, but that people would not define themselves by them as they had in the past. And I can tell you–I wonder if you agree–that since I became a Christ-follower 15 years ago, that is most definitely true. I think that happens when people meet the Man first, and not just his messengers. He’s irresistible–a huge cornerstone–to fall upon or be crushed by. And I think that when we meet Him, we see less and less of ourselves, while at the same time he makes us more and more who we are.
The Five Fold Ministry
God has been bringing the “five-fold ministry” to my mind, and I’m going to post a couple of entries about it. Ephesians 4 says that when Christ ascended, he gave some gifts to people: the gifts to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Some people may have more than one of these–and it’s possible that some may have none of these. I don’t think this list is exhaustive, but it has an important purpose, which I’ll discuss in part 2. In any case, I believe that the Lord is awakening and honing people; awakening them to their callings and mandates, because a time is coming, yea, is already here, when we are going to need to know exactly which direction to move in; which area to put our energies in. Already we do not have the luxury of waiting around until conditions are “ready” for us to move out for the Lord. I personally have such a sense of urgency about evangelism–though I’ve always had a passion for it, it’s now becoming a major priority–and yet my flesh and mind are having some trouble keeping up. Others are hearing the call to be pastors, teachers, church planters–and aren’t waiting around to start walking in it, but are doing it now, because God is putting the flock right in front of them, and their eyes are open. “Open your eyes; the fields are white with harvest.” The fish are already in the nets, and we are wasting time wondering if we’re in the right waters or not. It’s time to pray and think seriously about our giftings, and move out in faith.
God has been driving home to me the importance of walking faithfully in my calling. I’ve been thinking of the image of a 3-D puzzle–a sphere puzzle–in which each one of our lives is a puzzle piece, that together makes up the whole church, and the whole Missio Dei (Mission of God). We only get our one little piece. Nobody gets a monopoly. We’ve got to stay in the position God has placed us in (Acts 17:26). If we neglect God’s calling on our lives, or try to fill someone else’s calling, we leave a hole where our piece should be, and the integrity of the whole structure is compromised.
Ministry as a Competitive Sport
A preacher I heard recently said that we as the Church need to begin to affirm and support each other’s ministries–to forsake competition and ambition and stop perceiving each other as threats. I believe there is a lot of that in the Body, and it is a sickness. The other night after worship team, Jeff De Marco, Rich and Jenny Shannon and I went to Rita’s to get some ices. We piled into the VW Thing with CSN blasting, and pulled into the lot where a dozen college kids were hanging out. I was more intimidated than you can imagine. (I get very nervous around groups of young kids. I won’t go into it here.) But Jeff immediately went into their midst and started talking music with them. We wound up staying with a kid named Michael for an hour. By the end of it, Jeff knew exactly what his next step would be with Michael and managed to draw all sorts of stuff out of him effortlessly. That’s why the De Marcos fill their living room with college students every week. Jeff is a natural evangelist. He knows it, and hones it. I found myself getting jealous of that–I thought I was an evangelist. Why couldn’t I find a connection with this guy? Competition and envy reared their ugly heads.
But as I’ve been pondering it, I have to say: I still know I’m an evangelist–but it looks different for me. So I’m going to release Jeff to pursue his “ministry” and go ahead and pursue mine, and if the two intersect, then praise God! There are plenty of opportunities for groups to minister together–plenty of times when we need a prophet along with a teacher, etc., or when we need many teachers at once (leading a VBS would be a good example of that). The fact is, that just that day I had two significant “friendship evangelism” times, one with my little 9-year-old neighbor, doing art together. How each one of us goes about our “ministry” is between us and the Lord.
Hearing God’s Voice
Remember the story about Cory, the girl on the airplane, a couple of entries ago? God gave me a word of knowledge for her, and I was able to respond to Him, and fruit was borne. I’m learning how to hear God’s voice with more clarity and acuteness, little by little. It’s so important to listen to Him alone, and not others, for ultimate direction. No one has the corner on the “hearing God” market. He indwells each of us, by the Holy Spirit. (How well we heed His voice is another matter.) If you are a pastor, then find opportunities to pastor. I’m not talking about usurping authority–humbly go through the proper channels; submit yourself to the existing structures and get your sea legs, never, ever cutting down the existing pastors. If you’re a teacher, tell someone that you would like the opportunity to teach. Or better yet, start by teaching your kids or someone else’s. (Kids really help you to know if your message is getting through with clarity.) Volunteer for Sunday School or nursery. If you’re called to plant a church as an apostle, make sure you absolutely have the blessing of your current local church. Otherwise, you are being divisive, and I believe God won’t stand for it. There are more examples.
The bottom line is this: we need to not dial each other down out of fear, but seek to build each other up. There’s too much work to be done–we’re building a Kingdom here, not individual citadels on far-apart hills. There’s only one King, so there can be only one Kingdom. Ours don’t matter one bit. But if He’s telling you to build a fortress and you’re playing around with Lincoln Logs wondering why no one wants to play with you, then by all means, get up and about your Master’s business.
It’s ALL about His Name and His fame.
In the next entry on the Five Fold Ministry, I’ll be talking about the purpose of it, which is to equip the saints.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Vesper,
thank you for sharing so honestly and genuinely! I really appreciate these thoughts that you are sharing… and I HATE that I find competition in my own heart! ugh.
And, just a thought — if you feel so inclined, I’d love to hear more about how you met this Man, Jesus.
Keep goin!
May 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Thanks, Jessie! I’ll have to post my testimony on here sometime. Maybe it might help other folks. Thanks for reading!
May 29th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I couldn’t give a bigger AMEN to this entry. I heard someone once say, “Just cause you blow out someone else’s candle, doesn’t make yours burn any brighter…”
Yet, how often we make judgmental comments or criticisms of other peoples ministries and methods…. blowing out their candles, so to speak, in hopes that ours will appear to look a little brighter! Bologna crap! And still, I am constantly faced with the temptation to do this when I am intimidated by another’s gifting or ministry. Even what I “do for the Lord”, I want recognition and credit for…. when it is not even me who does it by Him through me! Argh! Stupid, pride. Always getting in the way…
All this to say, thanks for this entry. I am convicted.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thanks, Noelle. And I especially like your erudite use of the term “bologna crap”. Now, is that “bologna” or “baloney”?
But I digress.
Imagine if the Church really functioned like this fully? Can you even imagine it? I think it would completely do away with mega-ministries like Joel Osteen’s (shudder). Imagine people thinking for themselves, instead of depending on “professionals”, like Puzzle the Donkey depended on Shift the Ape in The Last Battle. Remember how much destruction came of that?
Imagine it a completely different way. God’s Word seems to suggest that in the Kingdom, it’s normative to know who we are and what our callings are.
I’ll leave you with an amazing passage in relation to that. In Matthew 7, right before Jesus says “Come to me, all who labor…”, he says, “I thank you, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for this is your GRACIOUS WILL”. God’s “WILL” that we fret so much about being “in” or “out” of is this: that HE give us understanding about Kingdom matters. He wants to give us each clarity. He wants to give us each a stake in the Kingdom. He eagerly desires that. More and more I am beginning to see everything God does in His word through His heart’s smile. All we need do is ask.