Forgotten – Fivefold Ministry

OK, if you’re still with me, or rather Hirsch, this is where we might lose you. It’s the part that has caused the most tension in my life. And when Pastor Tim and I were exposed to this idea at a conference in Indiana last year, we agreed that it was compelling but we needed to be cautious. OK, that’s all the disclaimer I’m providing.

If I asked you who leads the church, what would you say? Pastors? Elders? A denomination or council? Hirsch says that part of the problem with the church is that 1700 years of Christendom has left us with a deficiency. In an environment where Christianity was legislated, the church lost its intended form.

First, the intended form. In Ephesians 4, we find in a description of the plan of God being worked out through the church that Christ gave gifts to men (v.8). Following that verse, Paul writes,

It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, Ephesians 4:11-12

Now, because Paul says these were “gifts” we have identified them as Spiritual Gifts. Furthermore, our very conservative hermeneutic says that Apostles are people who spent time with Jesus and wrote the New Testament and therefore no longer exist in the church today. In fact, we’re uncomfortable with Prophets since they sound like people who tell the future and we don’t think that happens anymore, also because we already have the Bible. And Evangelists? Well, they're strange people with scary hair and belong on TV, not in the church. So that leaves us with pastors/shepherds and teachers leading the church.

Here’s the problem. The Greek word for “gifts” that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, and that Peter uses in 1 Peter 4 is charisma, a grace bestowed. But the words that he uses in Ephesians 4 are dowrea (v.7) – we get the word “dowry” from it – and doma. Both of these are simply a gift given.

Hirsch argues that the doma given to the church to equip her for her mission in the world are apostles (those who make sure the DNA of the faith is transmitted into other contexts), prophets (those who serves as God's truth-teller to His church), evangelists (those who call unbelievers to repentance), shepherds (those who nurture, protect, and disciple the church), and teachers (those who help God’s people develop wisdom and understanding from His Word). (Noteworthy is that the Greek construction around shepherds and teachers indicates that this may be one role, not two.)

Hirsch says that we have gone off mission because we lost A.P.E. from A.P.E.S.T in God’s design of His church’s leadership. He goes further in stating that we must return to a 5-fold Ministry, which he call’s Apostolic Environment, in order to be truly missional.

So, how do I come down on this? Honestly, I am still cautious, but I find it intriguing. It also explains why churches go through a lifecycle, lose their creative energy and eventually die. If new faith communities are created by involving APE but then blow them off in favor of ST leadership, you would expect decay to death. So, I spent $10 and took an online assessment to see how Hirsch would classify me. Interesting!