Having paused to reflect on Jesus descent in baby humanity and ascent to fill the universe, Paul now gives us a list of the gifts that the Descended and Ascended Lord Jesus gives to the church. These gifts are in the form of people who are particularly gifted in certain areas to grow and build the church.
There are four ministries given to the church:
1. Apostles: From the Greek (Apo (out) + stello (send)). These are the pioneers, the planters, the ground-breakers, the missionaries and the innovators. They are the ones who love starting things. They go where no-one has gone before. They go "out" beyond the realms of the familiar and the already organised.
2. Prophets: Most people think that a prophet fortells the future, but this is only a small part of what they do. The best definition of an Old Testament is "someone who gives God's comment on current affairs and the impact this will have on the future." They courageously stand for truth. They are not comfortable people to have around, but they speak out for God's justice and righteousness. Whether it is Amos speaking about the oppression of the poor or Desmond Tutu taking on the NP and then the ANC about corruption and injustice, the prophets are much needed.
3. Evangelists: These are people who have the amazing ability to share the Good News (Evangel) in an amazingly attractive way. Some do it for the crowds (like Billy Graham and Angus Buchan) and others do it one on one like the folk who are always bringing another friend to church. They have an wonderful way of sharing their faith in an attractive and sincere way.
4. Pastors and Teachers: Some have tried to separate these two but a careful look at the sentence structure both in English and especially the Greek reveals this cannot be done. (Look at the four repetitions of "some to be") Think of your favourite teachers at school - they were the ones who cared. Good teachers really care and if you really care about someone, you will teach them what they need to know. Pastoring and Teaching are inseparable.
This is what the church needs to be healthy...
Unfortunately we have many who want to be teachers but don't want to be pastors. We are also resistant to the prophets who tell us things we might not want to hear. The apostles scare us because we want to stay in the safety of the known instead of heading into the unknown. We have lost sight of the need for evangelism and we don't encourage those who are good at it.
A healthy church needs loving teaching, courageous truthfulness, a pioneering spirit and those who will bring the lost in. Jesus has given the church people with those gifts - now let's encourage them!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
