Evangelical charismatic groups talk about the fivefold
ministries – apostle, prophet, teacher etc.
They each have their place and that’s fine but I do think that sometimes
we get a bit hung up about particular sentences or phrases in the Bible. Actually reading again Paul’s words in 1
Corinthians 12:28 there are more than five listed! But the main point that I’m getting at is
that we can overemphasise some things and create a whole new (and wrong) aspect
of following Jesus. Some people attach a
great deal of importance to titles. I
have heard people ask whether someone is a prophet or apostle or which ministry
gift they possess. It’s as though there
are rungs to climb up the ladder of spirituality and according to the thinking
of many people, apostle is really as high up as you can go because Paul
mentioned that first! He says ‘first of
all apostles, second prophets, third teachers … …’ but is he really giving them
that order of importance in a hierarchical sense or is he just listing a few
ministries that he thought of? I know
when I’m trying to think of a list of something, I mention them, sort of
counting on my fingers, ‘there’s 1)this, 2) that … … ‘ as they come into my
mind but that doesn’t imply any degree of importance to that order of items on
the list.
My mind goes back a few years when I was with a prayer
team in a northern city and we were at a conference with some of the church
leaders of the area. One particular man
was so excited because he had just been given the authority by his congregation
to be called ‘Apostle John’ (I say John as I don’t recall his real name.) To
him and his congregation the title was very important. It made me smile – I was pleased for him in a
way. Again, as I said last week about
the term ‘missionary’ we need to rethink exactly what we mean and believe. Some church leaders are so taken up with
their own importance that no-one dare question their words – after all they
insist on you knowing that they are God’s anointed and chosen and have
authority over the rest of us. It sounds
much to me like the authority given to the Roman Catholic priest and the
so-called infallibility of the Pope. Maybe
they forget the words of Jesus about ‘the first shall be last’ when the
disciples were arguing about the very same thing – the importance of
position. But the Bible clearly teaches
that we are all equal in the eyes of God!
Having said that, I must also affirm that it is good to
seek after spiritual gifts. The Bible
teaches as much. But there can be a
danger of seeking with a misguided attitude; becoming almost like a child who
sees another child’s new toy and immediately thinks ‘I want that’. There can be a sense of following the latest
spiritual fad or fashion; wanting to show off the latest ‘in thing’. I remember being at a gathering when during
the proceedings a group of people began to laugh – quite loudly. (You may remember that the Toronto Blessing
had such an effect on people, the Spirit filling them with such joy that they
couldn’t help laughing.) But on this
occasion I couldn’t help wondering if this was a genuine outpouring of the
Spirit or if it was more of a desire to be seen as being ‘full of the Spirit’;
a sort of spiritual ego trip. We must
remember that spiritual gifts are given by God in order to help us fulfil His
purposes and not for our own spiritual status within the Church
I think there are ministries that people are involved in
that are not looked upon as such but can be life-changing. This week (as those who follow me on Facebook
will know) my son got a job after being unemployed for 2 years. A couple of months ago he started as a
volunteer in the local charity shop of St Margaret’s Hospice. The manageress had said that they didn’t
really have any vacancies but she had seen his CV and said ‘You’re too
good. We don’t want to lose you’ and so
he began helping out whenever they needed it.
Those words made such a difference to his attitude and whole demeanour. Until then he had begun to doubt his own
ability and after 2 years without paid employment, self-esteem was very
low. Her words of encouragement made
such a difference that after hearing her say that, he was a different person
going for interviews. Encouraging others
and offering such friendly support is not in Paul’s list but surely God using
someone in that way is as important.
As Paul says, not all are apostles or prophets but all
are important to God and His kingdom.
What is most important of all is to be the person God made you/me to be
and do what He asks of us. That is far
more important than any man-given title. Sadly we get caught up with the attitudes of
today when people are impressed with titles and position and forget that on the
Christian journey our man-given titles aren’t important. God is really not impressed by them. He just wants us to listen to Him and go and
live out His plan for our time here. Whatever
title may seem important to some people here on earth, there is no hierarchy in
the Kingdom of God. 
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