Description
In a perfect world each of these fivefold gifts would be functioning in every local church—equipping each believer and meeting the needs of the Body. However, in reality it usually doesn’t work out quite like that. We often think our gift is most important and undermine others, or at least view them a bit skeptically. How can these fivefold gifts function in balance in the Body of Christ and how does the historic imbalance in the Church continue to still affect us?
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Video Script
Episode 9: Balance in the Body
In a perfect world each of these fivefold gifts would be functioning in every local church—equipping each believer and meeting the needs of the Body. However, in reality it usually doesn’t work out quite like that. We often think our gift is most important and undermine others, or at least view them a bit skeptically. How can these fivefold gifts function in balance in the Body of Christ and how does the historic imbalance in the Church continue to still affect us?
How our Gifts are Viewed
We have been discussing the fivefold gifts from Ephesians 4 from both the perspective of the individual as well as from the perspective of the Church. In this episode I want to circle back and made a few more comments regarding the expression of these gifts through individual. Again, if you are following along we are in pages 32-35 of the workbook. In preparation, you can use our Assessments to identify your own gifts.
An individual does not typically just have one of these five foundational gifts functioning in their lives. It is more common that a person usually has a primary or main gifting and secondary or even other latent gifts that may only come to use when presented with a need. I made the case that Jesus likely operated with all of these gifts, but for the rest of us this is probably not the case– which is why it is so important to have a balanced ministry with a team approach. As we saw last time, this seems to line up with how ministry occurred in the early church, it was a team sport.
Over the course of church history, these equipping gifts have come to be recognized as a leader’s identity—I am a “teacher” or a “pastor.” This has then led some of them to be seen as official “offices” or positions. I would suggest that this is a bit problematic. Reducing the fivefold functions to “pastor,” or any other one equipping function, will lead to imbalance in the Body. This one-sided approach was non-existent in the early church and something that occurred later in church tradition. As I said previously, we are likely not going to be able to completely change this wineskin or perception, but I think we can restore the fivefold balance of ministry within each of our own contexts.
Restoring a balance of the fivefold functions is not easy since each of the gifts has a different emphasis. This is likely why Paul emphasized the need for unity, in the passage preceding his listing these gifts in Ephesians four. Though balance is not easy, it is possible. As we learn to view each of the other gifts in relation to what they bring to the Body, we can value them more—rather than seeing them in competition with our own gifts. Let’s look at a few examples based upon the description of each that I provided last episode. Again if you have not done so yet, our Team Unity Assessment would be helpful to do now. Note that the higher you score in each of these tables signifies the less you identify with that gift and likelihood that you do not have that gift.
For example, if someone has some apostolic giftings, they will always be seeking to move forward, shake up the status quo and reach beyond cultural, societal, and ethnic borders. They will likely find a natural affinity with those with prophetic gifting, as well as the evangelist who are helpful in the spread of the Gospel. However, they may tend to view pastors as those who only seek to maintain the status quo and see teachers as too focused on growth and learning, rather than doers of the mission that God intended for the Church.
On the other hand, if someone has prophetic giftings, they will likely view the organization with constructive—and sometimes not so constructive—criticism. With their greater insight into the current situation and what changes are necessary, they are more inclined—some would say driven—to move in a new direction, rather than merely maintaining the status quo. This gives them a greater affinity to apostolic and even evangelistic types, but again they may see pastors and teachers as too comfortable—you know just keeping the community as it is and meeting personal needs, when there are so many big picture issues to deal with. They are likely more interested in organizational change and aligning with God’s purposes than with making sure people’s immediate needs are being met.
Now if someone has more evangelistic giftings, they will be highly motivated to get the Message out, regardless of the cost. If they are mature they will recognize the need for people to be discipled and will see the need for pastoral care, even though they may not have the patience or skills to do this themselves. Immaturity in using this gift means they just focussed on “getting people saved.” They will usually identify with the apostolic/prophetic giftings since they have an outward rather than inward focus. Their desire to see the expansion of the ministry often means that they don’t fully appreciate those who want to take the time to go deep in the Word, or discuss the nuances of Scriptures. Their primary goal is to get out there and share the Good News.
If someone has pastoral giftings—and remember we are talking about giftings, not just a position—they will be driven by creating a healthy community of believers. This usually means that those with this gifting view the apostolic and prophetic giftings as a threat to this health and stability. They are often keenly aware of the lack of capacity for change of those going through the difficulties of life and so it is natural that they would not appreciate the critical analysis of the prophetic style that is wanting to always bring about change at an organizational level. They accurately recognize the need for the church to also grow numerically and so will likely appreciate those with evangelistic giftings. They will also have a natural affinity with teachers, since part of this gifting includes the ability to teach.
Finally, if someone has the gift of teaching, they have a desire is to research, go deep into the Word, and then share this with others. While their goal is life transformation, they may be more comfortable with ideas and concepts than with getting involved in the messiness of daily caring for others. They may see the need for change, but may not be as comfortable with the apostolic or prophetic approach to change “at all costs.” This is because they don’t usually identify with those who see most issues as black and white, they tend to see issues from both sides, a more nuanced approach.
Of course this is a bit of an oversimplification, but I think it is helpful for us to consider our view of the other gifts and why we have come to those conclusions. Now, those with equipping gifts functioning in their lives do not usually have just one of these gifts, but have a mix. As with personality styles, our particular mix will affect our calling and our role in the Body. For example, a person who is particularly strong with the pastoral or teaching gifts will offer the Body something different than someone who is stronger in the apostolic or prophetic gifts. If a person with a gift mix of apostolic/prophetic/ teaching will also have a different gift set than someone with the pastoral/teaching ones, and so on.
With which of these do you have a greater natural affinity with and which ones do you have less affinity with? Our Assessments can help you identify your own particular gift mix and how you relate to the other gifts.
Two Extremes
Before the break we were discussing how the fivefold functions or giftings relate to each other and the need for finding a balance in the Church. This is all within the context of previous episodes where we looked at how our personality, our other gifts, as well as our roles and calling all relate to our service in the Body of Christ. I think it will be helpful at this point spend a few moments considering how we got here and specifically the two extreme positions that have historically developed over the last two thousand years. This misunderstanding of the balance of the fivefold ministry in the Church has typically led to two positions. On one hand there is the Reductionist approach, and on the other, a Hierarchical approach. In one of our first episodes I mentioned these, but I would like to take a deeper dive at this point.
Most church traditions find themselves somewhere on the continuum between these two views. On one hand some believe that some of the fivefold functions—particularly the apostolic, prophetic and perhaps even evangelistic – have ceased, while others view these fivefold functions as distinct offices with a hierarchy that validates leadership and power. Hirsch has identified these two groups as being either Cessationists—believing some functions have ended—and Hierarchical, who see these fivefold functions as positional offices for the Church. I would suggest that either of these positions taken to the extreme creates a problem. If a church holds to a Reduced ministry model will it be able to produce the same results as Jesus’ fivefold ministry model? What are the results of such an approach to fulfilling the mission of the Church?
Now there are varying degrees to which church groups hold to the Cessationist approach, but generally they believe that with the coming of the canon of Scripture, the apostolic, prophetic and sometimes even the evangelistic gifts are no longer necessary. This usually coincides with a greater emphasize on a priestly role and relying more on church tradition than others would be comfortable with. Some groups in this tradition may accept some prophetic ministry, and more would be open to evangelism, yet most would be in agreement that the general apostolic function has ended.
This view seems to have developed based upon concepts of ecclesiastical authority and power which many do not see within the New Testament. Later concepts of ordination, clergy/laity divisions, and ecclesial power that developed in the tradition of the Church are then read back into Scripture. Many evangelical scholars believe that the meaning given to these passages have a different meaning that what is found in the original texts in the New Testament. These passages have taken on meanings that could never have been understood by the original readers, which, as we saw earlier, is a red flag that this could not have been the meaning of the original authors.
The reasoning of this approach is that the primary role of the Apostles was to write the Bible and, after this was done, they passed on the apostolic baton in the form of the New Testament to the priest or pastors and teachers to study and interpret it for the rest of us. The problem with this reasoning is that only a maximum of six—likely five—of the original Twelve Apostles wrote canonical material and so it begs the question, “Were the remaining non-writers therefore not apostles?” The belief is that once the apostolic writings had been reduced to the canon of Scripture, there was no longer any need for the ongoing functions of the apostles and prophets. Again the problem with this reasoning is that the role of the early apostles was far more than just creating Scripture. They were engaged in vision casting, church planting, networking movements, and so on.
Often Ephesians 2:20, “…members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone,” is used to prove that the apostles and prophets function is now embodied in the Bible. But to say that this function is no longer needed according to the coming of the canon of the Bible doesn’t make much sense since Paul did not even have the canon of the New Testament at the time. So back to basic hermeneutics, the original readers could not have understood the passage to mean the Bible replaced these gifts. Paul actually contradicts this view only two chapters later in Ephesians 4, where he lists these gifts as being given to the church, with no linguistic clue that they would be rescinded at some point. This is why, in my opinion, the most simple, plain interpretation should be used: they are still for today.
The role of good doctrine does not seem to be a credible reason to replace the equipping functions. To carry this reasoning to its logical conclusion, all five of the equipping gifts should have ceased, as they cannot be linguistically, theologically, or even practically separated from each other in this verse. So, if one or two have ended, to be consistent, they all must have ended. The text does not allow for picking and choosing which to keep and which to discard.
What problems do you see with this reductionist approach to the fivefold gifts? In what ways do you agree/disagree?
Okay, at this point we need to bring this episode to an end and perhaps give your brain a needed break. But we are kind of in the middle of our discussion here, so next time I will continue with a few more thoughts regarding Reductionism and then look at the extreme on the other end of the scale, where each of these gifts is seen as an actual hierarchical position of authority. I think you’ll find it helpful as I pull some of these loose pieces together.