But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift….And He gave some as apostles , and some as prophets , and some as evangelists , and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:7, 11-13, emphasis added).

And God has appointed in the church, first apostles , second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues (1 Cor. 12:28, emphasis added).

The ministry gifts, as they are often called, are the callings and various abilities given to certain believers that enable them to stand in the offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher. No one can put himself or herself into one of these offices. Rather, one must be called and gifted by God.

It is possible that one person might occupy more than one of these five offices, but only certain combinations are feasible. For example, it is possible that a believer might be called to stand in the office of pastor and teacher or of prophet and teacher. It would be unlikely, however, that one could stand in the office of pastor and evangelist simply because the pastor’s ministry requires that he remain in one place serving a local flock, and he thus could not fulfill the calling of an evangelist who must travel frequently.

Although these five offices are all gifted differently for different purposes, they have all been given to the church for one general purpose—for the “equipping of the saints for the work of service” (Eph. 4:12).^[1] The goal of every minister should be to equip holy people (which is what the word “saints” means) for acts of service . Too often, however, those in ministry act as if they are called, not to equip holy people for service, but to entertain carnal people who sit in services—church services. Every person called to one of these offices should constantly evaluate his contribution to the “equipping of the saints for the work of service.” If every minister did, many would eliminate numerous activities erroneously considered “ministry.”

^[1] This is just another way of saying, “For making disciples of Jesus Christ.”

If all these responsibilities are given to every believer, what then are pastors supposed to do? Quite simply, they are called to equip the holy believers to do all those things (see Eph. 4:11-12). They are called to teach those holy believers to obey all of Christ’s commandments (see Matt. 28:19-20) by precept and example (see 1 Tim. 3:2; 4:12-13; 5:17; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:16-4:4; 1Pet. 5:1-4).

Scripture couldn’t make this clearer. The biblical role of the pastor is not to gather as many deople as possible at Sunday-morning church services. It is to “present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28). Biblical pastors don’t tickle peoples’ ears (see 2 Tim. 4:3); they teach, train, exhort, admonish, correct, reprove and rebuke, all based on God’s Word (see 2 Tim. 3:16-4:4).

Paul listed some of the qualifications for a man to stand in the office of pastor in his first letter to Timothy. Fourteen of the fifteen have to do with his character, indicating that the example of his lifestyle is the most important thing:

It is a trustworthy statement; if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?); and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil (1 Tim. 3:1-7).

Comparing these qualifications with those that are often listed by institutional churches that are searching for a new pastor reveals the primary problem with so many churches. They are looking for an employee manager/entertainer/short-speech-giver/administrator/ psychologist/activities and program director/fund-raiser/friend-of-everyone/work horse. They want someone to “run the ministry of the church.” The biblical overseer, however, above all else must be a man of great character and commitment to Christ, a true servant, because his goal is to reproduce himself. He must be able to say to his flock, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

For further study concerning the pastor’s office, see also Acts 20:28-31; 1 Tim. 5:17-20; and Tit. 1:5-9.

In both New Testament lists of the ministry gifts, the office of apostle is listed first, indicating that it is the highest calling (see Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:28).

No one begins his ministry as an apostle. A person may be called to be an apostle eventually , but he won’t start out in that office. He must first prove himself to be faithful over a period of years in preaching and teaching, then, eventually, he will stand in the office God has prepared for him. Paul was called from his mother’s womb to be an apostle, but he spent many years in fulltime ministry before he finally stood in that office (see Gal. 1:15-2:1). He actually began as a teacher and a prophet (see Acts 13:1-2), and was later promoted to be an apostle when he was sent out by the Holy Spirit (see Acts 14:14).

We find mention of other apostles besides Paul and the original twelve in Acts 1:15-26; 14:14; Rom. 16:7; 2 Cor. 8:23; Gal. 1:17-19; Phil. 2:25 and 1 Thes. 1:1 with 2:6. (The word translated messenger in 2 Cor. 8:23 and Phil. 2:25 is the Greek word apostolos. ) This dispels the theory that the apostolic office was limited to only twelve men.

Only twelve apostles, however, can be classified as “Apostles of the Lamb,” and only those twelve will have a special place in the millennial reign of Christ (see Matt. 19:28; Rev. 21:14). We no longer need apostles like Peter, James and John who were uniquely inspired to write Scripture, because the Bible revelation is complete. Today, however, we still need apostles who establish churches by the power of the Holy spirit, just as Paul and other apostles did, as described in the book of Acts.

But that is not all. Every believer is supposed to lay hands upon and heal the sick:

And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:17-18, emphasis added).

Every believer is to bear the burdens of fellow believers:

Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).

Every believer is expected to exercise his or her gifts on behalf of others:

And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Rom. 12:6-8).

Every believer is supposed to deny himself, sacrificing for the sake of the gospel:

And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:34-35, emphasis added).

And every believer is expected to make and baptize disciples, teaching them to obey Christ’s commandments:

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them , he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19, emphasis added).

For though by this time you ought to be teachers , you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb. 5:12, emphasis added).

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you ; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20, emphasis added).^[1]

All of these responsibilities are given to every believer, yet most church attendees think these tasks are given just to pastors! The reason is probably because pastors themselves so often think these tasks are solely their responsibility.

^[1] If Jesus’ disciples were to expected to teach their disciples to obey everything He had commanded them, they consequently would have taught their disciples to make disciples themselves, baptizing and teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded. So the making, baptizing and teaching of disciples would have been a perpetual commandment that was binding upon every successive disciple.

It is clear from Scripture that elders/overseers/pastors are to be paid, as they are fulltime workers in the church. Paul wrote,

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (1 Tim. 5:17-18).

The subject is clear—Paul even uses the word wages . His more vague phrase of letting the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor is easily understood when the context is considered. In the verses just before, Paul unmistakably wrote of the church’s responsibility to financially support widows who otherwise would not be supported, and he began by using the same expression: “Honor widows who are widows indeed” (see 1 Tim. 5:3-16). So in this context, to “honor’ means to financially support. Elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, receiving at least twice what is given to widows and more if they have children to support.

The institutional church around the world supports its pastors for the most part (and even in poor nations), but it seems that many house churches around the world, especially those in the West, do not. This, I believe, is due in part to the fact that many people’s motives in the Western world for joining house churches is that they are really rebels at heart, and they are looking for and have found the least demanding form of Christianity that is available on the planet. They say they joined a house church because they wanted to escape the bondage of the institutional church, but they really wanted to escape any degree of commitment to Christ. They’ve found churches that ask for no financial commitment, churches that stand in sharp contrast to what Christ expects of His disciples. Those whose god is money and who prove it to be so by their laying up treasures on earth rather than in heaven are not true disciples of Christ (see Matt. 6:19-24; Luke 14:33). If one’s Christianity doesn’t affect what he does with his money, one is not a Christian at all.

House churches that claim to be biblical should be supporting their pastors, as well as taking care of the poor and supporting missions. In giving and in all financial matters, they should far excel institutional churches, as they have no buildings to pay for and no program staff to pay. It only takes ten people who do nothing more than tithe to support one pastor. Ten people who give 20% of their income can fully support one pastor and another missionary who lives at the same standard as their pastor.

It is also very clear from the above-quoted scriptures that, not only have the elders/pastors/overseers been given the spiritual oversight of the church, they also have been given the governmental authority. Quite simply, the elders/pastors/overseers are in charge, and the members of the churches should submit to them:

Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account (Heb. 13:17).

Of course, no Christian should submit to a pastor who is not submitted to God, but he should also recognize that no pastor is perfect.

The pastors/elders/overseers have authority over their churches just as a father has authority over his family:

An overseer [pastor/elder] must be above reproach….He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God? ) (1 Tim. 3:2-5, emphasis added).

Paul went on to say,

Let the elders [pastors/overseers] who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching (1 Tim. 5:17, emphasis added).

Clearly, elders are to govern the church.

How does a person know if he or she is called to one of these offices in the church? First and foremost, he will feel a divine calling from God. He will find himself burdened to fulfill a certain task. This is much more than simply seeing a need that could be filled. Rather, it is God-given hunger within that compels a person into a certain ministry. If he is truly called of God, he cannot be satisfied until he begins to fulfill his calling. This has nothing to do with being appointed by a man or a committee of people. God is the one who does the calling.

Second, the truly-called person will find himself equipped by God to fulfill his God-given task. Each of the five offices carries with it a supernatural anointing that enables the individual to do what God has called him to do. With the calling comes the anointing. If there is no anointing, there is no calling. One may aspire to function in a certain ministry, attend Bible School for four years educating himself and preparing for that ministry, but without the anointing from God, he has no chance of true success.

Third, he will find that God has opened some door of opportunity for him to exercise his particular gifts. In this way he can prove himself faithful, and eventually he will be entrusted with greater opportunities, responsibilities and gifts.

If a person hasn’t felt a divine inner compulsion and calling to one of the five ministry gifts, or if he isn’t aware of any special anointing to fulfill a God-given task, or if no opportunity has arisen to exercise the gifts he thinks he possesses, that person should not attempt to be something God has not called him to be. Rather, he should work to be a blessing among his local church body, his neighborhood, and at his workplace. Even though he isn’t called to the “five-fold” ministry, he is called to serve using the gifts God has given him, and he should strive to prove himself faithful.

Although Scripture mentions five ministry gifts, this does not mean that every person who stands in a certain office will have an identical ministry. Paul wrote that “varieties of ministries” exist (1 Cor. 12:5), making variations between ministers who stand in the same office possible. Furthermore, there seem to be various levels of anointing resting upon those in these offices, so we could further categorize each office by degree of anointing. For example, there are some teachers that seem to be more anointed in certain ways than other teachers. The same is true of the other ministry gifts. I personally believe that any minister can do things that will result in an increased anointing upon his ministry, such as prove himself faithful over a period of time and deeply consecrate himself to God.

The Greek word translated apostle is apostolos and literally means “one who is sent.” A true New Testament apostle is a believer divinely sent to a certain place or places to establish churches. He lays the spiritual foundation of God’s “building” and is somewhat comparable to a “general contractor,” as Paul, an apostle himself, wrote:

For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it (1 Cor. 3:9-10a, emphasis added).

A “master builder,” or general contractor, oversees the entire building process—he envisions the finished product. He’s not a specialist like the carpenter or the bricklayer. He may be able to do the work of a carpenter or bricklayer, but probably not as well as they can do it themselves. Likewise, the apostle has the ability to do the work of an evangelist or pastor, but only for a limited time as he establishes churches. (The apostle Paul usually remained in one place from six months to three years).

The apostle is best at establishing churches and then overseeing them to keep them on God’s course. An apostle is responsible for installing elders/pastors/overseers to shepherd each congregation he plants (see Acts 14:21-23; Tit. 1:5).

Because God gives the pastor spiritual and governmental authority in his church, this does not give him the right to dominate his flock. He is not their Lord—Jesus is. They are not his flock—they are God’s flock.

Shepherd the flock of God among you, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples for the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:2-4, emphasis added).

Each pastor will have to give an account for his ministry some day before the judgment seat of Christ.

Additionally, in financial matters, a single pastor/elder/overseer should not act alone. If there is money being collected regularly or sporadically for any reason, others within the body should provide accountability so that there will be no mistrust regarding the handling of funds (see 2 Cor. 8: 18-23). This could be an elected or appointed group.

1). The word of knowledge and word of wisdom: The gift of the word of knowledge is often defined as a sudden supernatural impartation of certain information, past or present. God, who possesses all knowledge, will at times impart a small portion of that knowledge, which is perhaps why it is called a word of knowledge. A word is a fragmentary part of a sentence, and a word of knowledge would be a fragmentary portion of God’s knowledge.

The word of wisdom is very similar to the word of knowledge, but it is often defined as a sudden supernatural impartation of the knowledge of future events. The concept of wisdom normally involves something regarding the future. Again, these definitions are somewhat speculative.

Let’s look at an Old Testament example of the word of knowledge. After Elisha cleansed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy, Naaman offered Elisha a very large sum of money in gratitude for his healing. Elisha refused the gift, lest anyone think Naaman’s healing was purchased rather than graciously granted by God. Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, however, saw an opportunity to gain personal riches, and he secretively received some of Naaman’s intended payment. After Gehazi had hidden his deceitfully acquired silver, he appeared before Elisha. We then read,

And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?” (2 Kin. 5:25b-26a).

God, who knew full well Gehazi’s dirty deed, revealed it supernaturally to Elisha. This story makes it obvious, however, that Elisha didn’t “possess” the gift of the word of knowledge; that is, he didn’t know everything about everyone all the time. If that had been the case, Gehazi would never have dreamed he could conceal his sin. Elisha only knew things supernaturally when God occasionally revealed those things to him. The gift operated as the Spirit willed.

Jesus operated in the word of knowledge when He told the woman at the well of Samaria that she had had five husbands (see John 4:17-18).

Peter was used in this gift when he supernaturally knew that Ananias and Sapphira were lying to the congregation about giving the church the full price they had received for their recently-sold land (see Acts 5:1-11).

As for the gift of the word of wisdom, we see frequent manifestations of this gift throughout all of the Old Testament prophets. Whenever they predicted a future event, the word of wisdom was in operation. Jesus was granted this gift quite frequently, too. He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, His own crucifixion, and events that would befall the world before His second coming (see Luke 17:22-36, 21:6-28).

The apostle John was used in this gift as the judgments of the Tribulation Period were revealed to him. These he recorded for us throughout the book of Revelation.

2). The gift of discerning of spirits: The gift of discerning of spirits is often defined as a sudden supernatural ability to see or otherwise discern what is occurring in the spiritual realm.

A vision, seen through the eyes or mind of a believer, could be classified as discerning of spirits. This gift might permit a believer to see angels, demons, or even Jesus Himself, as did Paul on several occasions (see Acts 18:9-10; 22:17-21; 23:11).

When Elisha and his servant were being pursued by the Syrian army, they found themselves trapped in the city of Dothan. At that point, Elisha’s servant looked out over the city’s walls and, seeing the masses of soldiers assembling, became quite concerned:

So [Elisha] answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kin. 6:16-17).

Did you know that angels ride around on spiritual horses and in spiritual chariots? You’ll see them one day in heaven, but Elisha’s servant was granted the ability to see them on earth.

Through this gift, a believer might discern an evil spirit oppressing someone and have the ability to identify what kind of spirit it is.

This gift would include not only seeing into the spiritual realm but any other kind of discernment into the spiritual realm. It could involve, for example, hearing something from the spiritual realm, like the very voice of God.

Finally, this gift is not, as some have thought, “the gift of discernment.” People who claim to have this gift sometimes think that they can discern the motives of others, but their gift could be more rightly described as the “gift of criticism and passing judgment on others.” The truth is, you probably had that “gift” before you were saved, and, now that you are saved God wants to deliver you from it permanently!