HEALING A NATION (part 3): THE ROLE OF THE FIVE-FOLD MINISTRY
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
(Ephesians 4:11-12)
Jesus established his first line of leaders in His Church within five categories:’ the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers’
In this post, I will only discuss the purpose of those first line leaders: Jesus established them to equip His people for works of ministry, so that the Body of Christ can be edified.
This means that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers must:
Service goes beyond the service rendered at church. For example, an individual serving as an usher at church can find himself/ herself also serving in the marketplace in his/her daily occupation. When a minister equips an individual for service, the minister should intend on leading a person to become a servant not only in Church but also in society. This implies that a Christian should aim to be of service, not only in the church building or ministry, but also in society. Being of service in society implies being willing to be of good use to others.
If a person comes to Church, according to Ephesians 4:11-12, there is an expectation that he/she will be edified or improved through the ministering received from the 5 fold ministries. This also means that a person ,who attends Church or who is fed through a ministry , should have an improvement in their character.
Those people who serve in church or just attend church and ministry events are the same people working in government offices, in businesses, in the security clusters and in various working environments.
Though ministers cannot control the choices made by their audience, ministers have to ensure that they work at equipping their audience for service and that they edify or improve their audience.
Sometimes, as ministers,we have to ask ourselves very difficult questions when we are faced with realities in our society.
(Ephesians 4:11-12)
Jesus established his first line of leaders in His Church within five categories:’ the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers’
In this post, I will only discuss the purpose of those first line leaders: Jesus established them to equip His people for works of ministry, so that the Body of Christ can be edified.
This means that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers must:
- Provide an equipment for service to Christ’s people,
- Edify the Body of Christ.
Service goes beyond the service rendered at church. For example, an individual serving as an usher at church can find himself/ herself also serving in the marketplace in his/her daily occupation. When a minister equips an individual for service, the minister should intend on leading a person to become a servant not only in Church but also in society. This implies that a Christian should aim to be of service, not only in the church building or ministry, but also in society. Being of service in society implies being willing to be of good use to others.
If a person comes to Church, according to Ephesians 4:11-12, there is an expectation that he/she will be edified or improved through the ministering received from the 5 fold ministries. This also means that a person ,who attends Church or who is fed through a ministry , should have an improvement in their character.
Those people who serve in church or just attend church and ministry events are the same people working in government offices, in businesses, in the security clusters and in various working environments.
Though ministers cannot control the choices made by their audience, ministers have to ensure that they work at equipping their audience for service and that they edify or improve their audience.
Sometimes, as ministers,we have to ask ourselves very difficult questions when we are faced with realities in our society.
Why would a person call themselves a Christian while syphoning funds dedicated at building schools in poor communities? Why would so many people who called themselves Christians be responsible for manufactured crises causing unemployment, poverty and lawlessness?
When we, as ministers, are surrounded by such phenomenal crises, we ought to ask ourselves difficult questions and we need to review some of the things we preach.
Though we cannot control what others do, we have to remain faithful to our mandate: ‘equipping others for service and improving them.
When we, as ministers, are surrounded by such phenomenal crises, we ought to ask ourselves difficult questions and we need to review some of the things we preach.
Though we cannot control what others do, we have to remain faithful to our mandate: ‘equipping others for service and improving them.