| Newsletter for 4/26/07- The Five-Fold Ministry- Pastor vs. Evangelist |
Good Morning,
The goal today is to share some thoughts with you regarding our definitions of the Five-Fold Ministries. In the past, I
have not totally understood why some churches do things the way that they do them. (By the way, I am not saying that
I have complete understanding of everything now!!) But after doing some study on the Five Fold Ministries, it has
given me a much greater understanding of the different perspectives of the different giftings.
What I mean by this, is that based on what gifting we have as a leader, it can effect the way that we think, perceive,
preach, teach and even interact. Before I go any further, let's look at the only real blueprint that God has given us for
the leadership of the New Testament Church, Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4:1-8
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8
Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
Paul goes into great detail here to describe the unity of the Trinity and how the three parts of the God-head work
together to accomplish a single purpose. Our picture of the Trinity in the Western World is of a great big God, a man
sized Jesus and a little dove representing the Holy Spirit. In the Far East, the Trinity is pictured as three equal sized
beings sitting around a round table conversing about us. This is an awesome example of how the Five Leadership
Gifts should be manifested to work together for a common goal.
Ephesians 4:9-10
9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the
earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
These scriptures in my opinion show that Jesus was ready to serve. As leaders in the church, we are called to serve
not just the church parishioners, but also the other leaders. Most leaders have no problem serving the church but
when it is time to serve someone that we are in "competition with," it gets a little tougher! Or how about somebody that
has a different gifting than we do?
I have found myself caught up in this trap, but before you judge me, listen to the situation. I have read the books and
listened to the sermons of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen and to be honest, at the time, I didn't like them. I found
myself asking "What happened to preaching holiness? What happened to the Gospel? This is milk toast
Christianity!!" The problem with my thought process at that time is, they are successful in getting many people into
the Kingdom!! They are getting some of the same people that we have been unable to reach, to read scripture and
do something about it!
Lest you think that you are above all of this, perhaps, you have been looking at it from the other perspective! "I can't
believe these preachers, that only preach Holiness!! They probably think that they are the only ones going to
Heaven! Didn't Jesus preach a Gospel of Grace? Didn't He tell us to do the same thing?!? What a bunch of legalists!!"
I have a very good friend that pastors and his church's sign usually says something to the effect of "Come as you are
and we will love you." I have heard quite a few people say that "His sign shouldn't say that! They need to get those
people cleaned up!" However, I don't know of another way to come than the way that you are. Because even if you
change, you will be the way that you are!! Besides the fact, that this church has programs set up to disciple these
people and not leave them the way that they came in!
My point today is that depending on what gift you have, it doesn't mean that the other gifts are unimportant. Most
church leaders are gifted as one of the Five Fold Ministries listed in Ephesians 4:11. Paul goes on to explain why we
need these gifts in verses 12-16. Let's look at these-
Ephesisans 4:11
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but,
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which
every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Next week we will talk more about some of the other Gifts listed here. But today, let's compare the Evangelists and
Pastors perspectives. In the modern day vernacular, we title anyone with an itinerant or traveling ministry an
Evangelist. However, if we do further study on this word, it just refers to someone that preaches the Gospel. That is
pretty vague. But upon further study and comparison, we realize that an Evangelist is someone that has a goal of
getting people saved. The Pastoral Role on the other hand, is a shepherd. Someone that has the goal of nurturing
the sheep and bringing them to maturity. The true Pastoral person is someone that loves to sit down with a
parishioner and counsel or guide their lives.
The people that I have met, that are truly Evangelists, have very little time for someone that has been saved for a
couple of years and is enduring problems. These leaders usually have no time for counseling. They will tell you to quit
doing whatever it is that you shouldn't be doing and move on!! On the other hand, these people will go anywhere they
can to get people saved. They will go into jails, prisons, city parks, grocery stores, malls or anyplace else that have
people that aren't saved! These people don't expect the unsaved to act like Christians. They know that the unsaved
should act like the unsaved. One Evangelist that I worked with, stated, "There is no greater smell than a person in the
altar that smells like alcohol, drugs and cigarettes!" Evangelists expect sinners to sin and Christians to act like Christ.
One member of our team, wisely compared Evangelists to OB/GYN Doctors, while Pastors are more like Pediatricians.
The Evangelist wants to see as many "baby Christians" born healthy as possible, but they don't want to inoculate
them or set their broken arm when they are five years old. On the other hand, a Pastor can deliver a baby if needed
but is much better at knowing how to diagnose the "diseases" that are keeping someone from growing and help get
them healthy again.
Unfortunately, we have labeled anyone that works in a church as a Pastor. This is very inaccurate. I knew one Church
Leader on the Washington Coast that had 50 people a month or more get saved but his church never grew above
200 people. Even though it said "Pastor" on his office door and business card, he was much better at delivering the
"babies" than he was at caring for them. Other pastors in his fellowship felt that he was unsuccessful. The truth is, he
was very successful at what God gifted him to be. However, because he wasn't working with the other four parts of the
Five-Fold Ministry, he couldn't complete the work. We will talk more about this next week, but God's plan is for all of
the Gifts to work together. It would be very irresponsible for an OB/GYN to deliver a baby but not refer the parents to
a good Pediatrician that could help their child grow up healthy. Unfortunately, because the gifts haven't worked
together, we have created too many spiritual orphans.
Orphans usually grow up with a distorted view of the world and parents. In fact, most babies left to their own means,
either die an early death or are taken advantage of by the enemy of their spiritual life. God please help those that
have been abandoned by the church. By your grace, give us another chance at these orphans and help us to do a
better job of ministering to them! Lord help us!!
Working while it is still day,
Pastor Jeff McCracken and The Kingdom Power Now Team
www.kingdompowernow.com
The goal today is to share some thoughts with you regarding our definitions of the Five-Fold Ministries. In the past, I
have not totally understood why some churches do things the way that they do them. (By the way, I am not saying that
I have complete understanding of everything now!!) But after doing some study on the Five Fold Ministries, it has
given me a much greater understanding of the different perspectives of the different giftings.
What I mean by this, is that based on what gifting we have as a leader, it can effect the way that we think, perceive,
preach, teach and even interact. Before I go any further, let's look at the only real blueprint that God has given us for
the leadership of the New Testament Church, Ephesians 4.
Ephesians 4:1-8
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in
one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8
Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
Paul goes into great detail here to describe the unity of the Trinity and how the three parts of the God-head work
together to accomplish a single purpose. Our picture of the Trinity in the Western World is of a great big God, a man
sized Jesus and a little dove representing the Holy Spirit. In the Far East, the Trinity is pictured as three equal sized
beings sitting around a round table conversing about us. This is an awesome example of how the Five Leadership
Gifts should be manifested to work together for a common goal.
Ephesians 4:9-10
9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the
earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
These scriptures in my opinion show that Jesus was ready to serve. As leaders in the church, we are called to serve
not just the church parishioners, but also the other leaders. Most leaders have no problem serving the church but
when it is time to serve someone that we are in "competition with," it gets a little tougher! Or how about somebody that
has a different gifting than we do?
I have found myself caught up in this trap, but before you judge me, listen to the situation. I have read the books and
listened to the sermons of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen and to be honest, at the time, I didn't like them. I found
myself asking "What happened to preaching holiness? What happened to the Gospel? This is milk toast
Christianity!!" The problem with my thought process at that time is, they are successful in getting many people into
the Kingdom!! They are getting some of the same people that we have been unable to reach, to read scripture and
do something about it!
Lest you think that you are above all of this, perhaps, you have been looking at it from the other perspective! "I can't
believe these preachers, that only preach Holiness!! They probably think that they are the only ones going to
Heaven! Didn't Jesus preach a Gospel of Grace? Didn't He tell us to do the same thing?!? What a bunch of legalists!!"
I have a very good friend that pastors and his church's sign usually says something to the effect of "Come as you are
and we will love you." I have heard quite a few people say that "His sign shouldn't say that! They need to get those
people cleaned up!" However, I don't know of another way to come than the way that you are. Because even if you
change, you will be the way that you are!! Besides the fact, that this church has programs set up to disciple these
people and not leave them the way that they came in!
My point today is that depending on what gift you have, it doesn't mean that the other gifts are unimportant. Most
church leaders are gifted as one of the Five Fold Ministries listed in Ephesians 4:11. Paul goes on to explain why we
need these gifts in verses 12-16. Let's look at these-
Ephesisans 4:11
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all
come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about
with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but,
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- 16 from whom the
whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which
every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Next week we will talk more about some of the other Gifts listed here. But today, let's compare the Evangelists and
Pastors perspectives. In the modern day vernacular, we title anyone with an itinerant or traveling ministry an
Evangelist. However, if we do further study on this word, it just refers to someone that preaches the Gospel. That is
pretty vague. But upon further study and comparison, we realize that an Evangelist is someone that has a goal of
getting people saved. The Pastoral Role on the other hand, is a shepherd. Someone that has the goal of nurturing
the sheep and bringing them to maturity. The true Pastoral person is someone that loves to sit down with a
parishioner and counsel or guide their lives.
The people that I have met, that are truly Evangelists, have very little time for someone that has been saved for a
couple of years and is enduring problems. These leaders usually have no time for counseling. They will tell you to quit
doing whatever it is that you shouldn't be doing and move on!! On the other hand, these people will go anywhere they
can to get people saved. They will go into jails, prisons, city parks, grocery stores, malls or anyplace else that have
people that aren't saved! These people don't expect the unsaved to act like Christians. They know that the unsaved
should act like the unsaved. One Evangelist that I worked with, stated, "There is no greater smell than a person in the
altar that smells like alcohol, drugs and cigarettes!" Evangelists expect sinners to sin and Christians to act like Christ.
One member of our team, wisely compared Evangelists to OB/GYN Doctors, while Pastors are more like Pediatricians.
The Evangelist wants to see as many "baby Christians" born healthy as possible, but they don't want to inoculate
them or set their broken arm when they are five years old. On the other hand, a Pastor can deliver a baby if needed
but is much better at knowing how to diagnose the "diseases" that are keeping someone from growing and help get
them healthy again.
Unfortunately, we have labeled anyone that works in a church as a Pastor. This is very inaccurate. I knew one Church
Leader on the Washington Coast that had 50 people a month or more get saved but his church never grew above
200 people. Even though it said "Pastor" on his office door and business card, he was much better at delivering the
"babies" than he was at caring for them. Other pastors in his fellowship felt that he was unsuccessful. The truth is, he
was very successful at what God gifted him to be. However, because he wasn't working with the other four parts of the
Five-Fold Ministry, he couldn't complete the work. We will talk more about this next week, but God's plan is for all of
the Gifts to work together. It would be very irresponsible for an OB/GYN to deliver a baby but not refer the parents to
a good Pediatrician that could help their child grow up healthy. Unfortunately, because the gifts haven't worked
together, we have created too many spiritual orphans.
Orphans usually grow up with a distorted view of the world and parents. In fact, most babies left to their own means,
either die an early death or are taken advantage of by the enemy of their spiritual life. God please help those that
have been abandoned by the church. By your grace, give us another chance at these orphans and help us to do a
better job of ministering to them! Lord help us!!
Working while it is still day,
Pastor Jeff McCracken and The Kingdom Power Now Team
www.kingdompowernow.com