By Jon Hietbrink
If indeed God gives us the five-fold gifts to play a “symphony, not a solo”, then it’s critically important that we understand both the unique role that each of the five gifts play (differentiation) AND how that gift interfaces with each of the other four (integration) to create a rich kingdom harmony. Perhaps more clearly than with any other gift list in the New Testament, we can see how the five-fold gifting of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers are designed to work interdependently as a beautiful all-channel system given by God to develop the body of Christ into maturity.
What Apostles Bring
As I’ve discussed earlier in “How to Identify an Apostolic Leader”, the apostolic gift is marked by a deep burden for expansion across borders that calls the church forward to care about new peoples, territories, and nations. They love starting new things, and do so with a remarkable zeal. They are pioneers of mission, architects of movement and embody “sentness”throughout their lives. Each of these traits are profoundly good, and as a church, we must learn how to both welcome and empower apostolic leaders fully if we are to see the kingdom advance in our context.
However, every gift casts a shadow, and apostolic leaders are no different. While they demonstrate incredible intensity, that good gift can often express itself as a kind of insatiable hyperdrive that is never content and perpetually restless. While they love to start new things, apostles often grow weary of the day to day diligence necessary to see the things they start grow into maturity. Though they thrive off big challenges, all too often the respond to those challenges from a place of self-reliance rather than dependence on God.
So, though apostles play an absolutely necessary and catalytic role in Christ’s church, they must learn to operate in harmony with the other four gifts of Ephesians 4—welcoming the balance and correction they bring for the good of both the communities they lead AND their own souls!
What Apostles Need
In any collaborative system, harmony can sometimes feel like dissonance—opposing notes that seem to counteract the vision God has entrusted to us, voices of dissent that seem to sidetrack our communities, fellow leaders with whom we have seemingly perpetual conflict. Part of the journey of leadership is learning how to exercise the discernment necessary to recognize when those experiences of dissonance are in fact counterproductive, and when they are examples of God’s beautiful, collaborative, Kingdom at work. In that light, here are a few of the notes that apostles count on Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers to hit to foster the maturity of the body of Christ.
Prophet —Kingdom, not Empire
There is perhaps no more critical partner for an apostolic leader than that of a prophet whose primary concern is faithfulness and obedience to God. Apostles can’t help but build something—but in isolation, they will all-too-often often succumb to the temptation to build their own empire instead of the Kingdom of God. Prophets play a critical role for apostles in calling the communities they create to Kingdom faithfulness and personal obedience. They ask the question, “Is this about God, or about you?”and are relentless in their persistence that we must depend and wait on the Lord.
Evangelist —Towers to Streets
At their best, apostles start conversion communities where the lost are found, but sometimes their compulsion to see anything start can override their vision to see the right thing start. Evangelists are essential to ensure that apostles don’t lose sight of why all this pioneering activity matters—that God longs to save lost people. They call apostles out of towers of movement and down into the streets of transformation; they insist that the movement apostles seek to lead be marked by hands and feet that are dirty from investing in the lives of those who are far from the Kingdom.
Shepherd —Beyond Cause to Community
One of the clearest “shadows”the apostolic gift casts is its tendency to prioritize Kingdom expansion over the relational needs of a community, and this is a place where the shepherd must play a critical “humanizing”note. Shepherds call apostles to move beyond merely zeal for a cause to a real, tangible concern for the needs of the community, and do not allow the apostle to forget Jesus’great commandment to love God and other people. They help ensure that the members of Christ’s body never become mere cogs in the engine of expansion and insist that the apostle care about the healing and maturation of the community she has started.
Teacher —Transferable Depth
Just as the apostle leads communities forward across boundaries, they need the teacher to call those same communities down into transferable understanding. Whereas the apostle can sometimes betray an overly utilitarian bent (“if it works, it must be right”), the teacher insists that the movement be grounded in the timeless truths of scripture and that ideas be communicated with clarity. Teachers are guardians of transferability, ensuring that others be trained to do what the apostle might do instinctively.
Conclusion
It’s hard work to partner with others who’s God-given gifts are different than ours, and too often, we apostles mistake prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers for competitors instead of collaborators. We assume that they aim to sidetrack our plans to grow and frustrate our vision to see the Kingdom expand because they’re scared of risk, unwilling to work hard, or because they don’t embrace real “Kingdom priorities”. More times than I care to admit, I’ve mistaken a critical word from a prophet or a correction from a compassionate shepherd as the voice of competitive dissent rather than what they are—the beautiful and necessary harmony of God’s five-fold symphony at work. As apostles, let us never relinquish our burden to see the Kingdom expand across boundaries, but let’s exercise the humility necessary to listen to these partners God has given us that the body of Christ might be built up to maturity!
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