Description
It’s pretty clear that Jesus’ ministry reflected the fivefold ministry gifts—they are actually a reflection of who he is. So it would seem that His Body should also reflect all of these fivefold gifts. But in the real world is it possible to have each of these ministries operational within our current ministry wineskins or structures? What would we have to change in order to see all five of these functioning with the community of believers, the called out ones?
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Video Script
Episode 12: Changing Culture
It’s pretty clear that Jesus’ ministry reflected the fivefold ministry gifts—they are actually a reflection of who he is. So it would seem that His Body should also reflect all of these fivefold gifts. But in the real world is it possible to have each of these ministries operational within our current ministry wineskins or structures? What would we have to change in order to see all five of these functioning with the community of believers, the called out ones?
Reductionism
In this episode we are going to begin to look at what a fivefold gifts would look like within a healthy, balanced church ministry or wineskin. What would ministry in the body look like if we were committed to all five of these equipping gifts? If you are studying the workbook with us, we will be on pages 43-46. As we have discussed previously, some – or maybe even most—have become uncomfortable with how the apostolic or prophetic gifts are often expressed and so it has become common to reduce the fivefold functions to just the two or three that we are most comfortable with – namely the pastoral, teaching and, to some degree, evangelistic functions. Let me be clear, I am not advocating for a return to an elite office of apostles and prophets, as some more recently are proposing. I think I have been pretty unambiguous that we are talking here about returning to all of the fivefold gifts as functions within the Body or Christ.
It is precisely these excesses that have developed in some church circles, that gives the rest of us pause. No matter how spiritual they make it sounds, once these gifts become positions of power and authority over others—instead of equipping and releasing—it makes sense to downplay some of these gifts that we see an inherently. However, as Hirsch points out, if any of these gifts is implemented in isolation from the others, the result is a Body that is dysfunctional, at best, and destructive at worst. At the very least, with a reduction of the fivefold functions, the Body will not be able to fulfill the purpose for which it was intended as an ambassador for Christ here on this earth.
By their very nature, the pastoral and teaching functions tend to create and function in structures that are more stable and reserved and more inward focussed. This is what the missiologist Ralph Winter calls modality cultures—those intended to foster discipleship and personal growth. Consequently, the church led by those with pastoral and teaching gifts resist change and gravitate toward establishing long term stability. This limits growth and expansion over the long term. Outward or sodality cultures are also needed. These are generalizations, I realize, but I would suggest that churches that do not have a fivefold ministry balance tend to become ingrown and inevitably begin the process of decline.
Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with desiring stability. All communities made up of people—that’s all of us—tend towards stability in order to have a safe place to heal and grow. However, if the church becomes isolated from either the initiators and catalysts, the critical thinkers and truth tellers or the communicators —which are the apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic functions—it will stagnate. Without renewal, it will no longer fulfill its vision and purpose. Left unattended long enough it will eventually cease to exist.
Evaluate your church or organization, do you have a balance of the fivefold gifts?
A Balanced Approach
In order for a church, or organization, to have a healthy life cycle, there needs to be a balance of these fivefold functions. Together, they provide for both the modality (nurturing) and sodality (sending) structures that are needed to meet the needs of those within the organization, as well as maintain an outward focus that keeps it moving forward as a healthy, growing organism.
It is possible to rekindle these other functions without invalidating or diminishing the pastoral/teaching ministry. If leaders with the pastoral or teaching gifts do not have any of the other equipping gifts, they typically do not have the capacity to recast vision, initiate change, or provide the critical analysis necessary for the church or organization. Throughout church history there have been movements that have restored one or more of these gifts. Missional movements have attempted to recover the apostolic fervor, while prayer and justice movements have renewed the prophetic, and revivals have renewed the evangelistic functions. Again, functions not positions.
The ideal would be a movement to renew all of these together so that they are expressed within leadership teams where there is a balance of all five. One of the major functions of leadership is to keep the church on track in fulfilling its mission and vision. Having this balance on a team ensures not only the sustainability of the organization, but also its reproducibility. As we have seen, the initiator and source of the Church, Jesus, embodies all of these gifts, so it would make sense that His Church reflects his fivefold ministry as it serves a 21st century world. It would follow then that those with these equipping gifts should function together in order to fulfill God’s purposes on this earth. Without a foundation of servant leadership, it is impossible to renew the fivefold approach without resulting in power based leadership, a leadership model that does not have the foundation of Kingdom values.
Reflect on your ministry to determine if you have a balanced approach or have a more reductionist approach. What changes could you make to become more balanced?
Developing a New Culture
Before the break we were discussing the importance of not getting hung up on historical misapplication of some of these gifts and by so doing sidelining some of these functions. But it is not enough to just believe that all five equipping gifts are important. In order to see them function, we will need to design or adapt our current ministries in order to facilitate their use in the Body. What kind of wineskins will be necessary in order to encourage a fivefold ministry approach?
I have been using the word Church with a capital “C” to describe the universal, eternal Body of Christ. But this universal Church of believers—the real members of which only God knows—is then expressed in time and space in the form of local churches, which I have signified with a small “c”. In some ways, a local church is also an organization – which is basically a group of people organized together to fulfill a common purpose. It is a mystery and eternal, but it is also made up of very human members. It is this interface between eternal and temporal that subjects it to some of the same natural laws that impact all organizations. A simple analogy would be that even though we are eternal beings we are currently influenced every day by something as mundane as gravity.
These influences are both seen and unseen. The visible aspects of an organization are its activities and these are a reflection of its “culture.” The culture—which can be defined as “just the way we do things around here”—is based upon the values of the group as a whole. Culture is the environment, or conditions, within which acceptable behaviors are encouraged and values and vision are translated into tangible activities and actions. While it is invisible, like gravity, it has an impact on everyone and everything in the organization.
The culture of a group is actually more influential than new vision, which I know is hard to believe. If you want to hear my teaching regarding culture and change be sure to check out my Mentoring Intelligence or Multicultural Teams podcasts or our Coaching Guide workbook. Healthy organizations, including churches, that have a systems in place that empower and release others, are a result of a healthy culture. The opposite is those that have hierarchical, competitive, and unhealthy relationships, create unhealthy organizations and churches.
To state the obvious, each of our cultures and society structures have been tainted by sin and the fallenness of humanity. But the Gospel is transcultural, it is above culture. It has the authority to speak into every culture. So while some ways of doing things are clearly wrong from Scripture, others may be neither right nor wrong, they are just the way things are done within a certain group. However, when a group gathers to fulfill a common purpose, their activities may actually be working against their common values and goals – and they may not even be aware of it and may even be frustrated as to why they are struggling.
It is important for us to understand this dynamic, for without identifying the culture and underlying values, change is impossible. Instead of changing the culture that is destructive for the organization, we will actually be controlled by that culture. To move a group of people to a new way of seeing things and new ways of acting—as will be necessary to move towards a fivefold ministry model—will require us to understand the current values of our group and how to make the necessary changes on a values level. Only then can changes be made on a behavioral level. For this to then be maintained long term, new structures, or wineskins, will need to be formed.
What do you think is the role of leadership in creating good culture and destroying counterproductive culture in an organization?
Form and Function
Confusion occurs as we fail to distinguish between “form” and “function.” Those in positions of leadership tend to be “doers” and so they focus on behavior, not always fully appreciating how powerful the unseen culture influencing the “form” is. Studies seem to indicate that the form is a stronger indicator of future behavior of an organization than even vision or aspirational values. To use Jesus’ metaphor in Matt. 9:17, without new wineskins (the form) the new wine will be wasted on the ground. He does not dispute the quality of the wine, but rather the need to keep the wineskin flexible in order to contain the new wine. Flexibility means being able to change.
The culture of a church or organization, is the outer expression of its values. Over time this culture has a tendency to solidify and the forms become institutionalized. This inevitably causes the organization to stagnate and no longer fulfill its purpose. This is why it is important to regularly revisit the “how” of ministry to make sure that the way we do things is coinciding with our values and purpose. To just rely on the way we have always done something—of course another word for this being “tradition”—means that our structures or wineskins are no longer flexible.
One of the key functions of leadership is to change culture that is becoming destructive to the organization and then create a culture that reflects the new values and resultant vision. In our next few episodes I will be introducing some tools that will help you do just that. But for now let me just reaffirm my point that those who God has called to serve the Body with an equipping gift, have a responsibility to align the culture with appropriate values. This is accomplished through what we measure; how we react to crises; what we fund; what we model, teach and coach; what activities are encouraged and rewarded; and who we recruit and promote.
Culture is reinforced by the way the ministry is structured. What systems and procedures are implemented? What traditions are developed and encouraged? What is the design of the physical, observable facilities? What are the creeds, philosophy and narratives that are repeated among its members? The danger, of course, is to confuse form and function and assume that the form—the wineskin itself –is sacred and therefore not changeable. Once this occurs, the church (and any organization) has taken its first steps towards decline. I am not talking about compromising the Gospel or even necessarily changing values, but changing the forms in which they are expressed.
It takes some time to internalize these principles and determine how to implement them in the real world of our church or organization. Creating appropriate wineskins may seem abstract, and hard to pull off, particularly in light of the long and sordid history of inflexible wineskins in the Church. Yet it is possible. It begins with an internal change of values and thinking. Specific to our discussion: a biblical view of the fivefold ministry gifts. The next step is to begin to design relevant ministries that will facilitate these truths. If we believe the biblical truth and principles, but do not change the wineskins of ministry, it is unlikely that any change will be lasting. Changing values and vision is never enough to bring about long lasting change at an organization level, including a local church. Without structural change the organization will pretty quickly revert back to the previous ways of doing things. This return to old forms then results in the death of any new values or vision.
Are the wineskins of your ministry/organizations flexible or have they become so sacred that you are not able to change them?
I hope that you have been tracking with me as I have tried to –in a very short few minutes—emphasize the need to change our ways of doing ministry, or wineskins, if we are going to implement a fivefold approach in our churches. I know I am being repetitive in saying that we are talking about functions and not positions here, but it is important that I make this clear, in light of our human tendency to gravitate towards power and position – yes even by some “bible-believing” evangelical groups. In the next episode I am going to expand on how to change the wineskins, so I hope you’ll stay with me, as we put the pieces together.