North Springs Alliance Church

The Five-Fold Ministry Gifts (APEST)

Last revised: February 29, 2020

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” - Ephesians 4:11-13

Excerpts from Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen

Apostles

From the Greek apostolos meaning “one who is sent out.” Apostles are visionary and pioneering, always pushing into new territory. They like to establish new churches or ministries. They come up with new, innovative means to do kingdom work.

The core question Apostles ask: “Are we leading the people of God to their destiny?”

• Biblical examples: the Twelve, Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila.
• Jesus’ example: Jesus was the one sent by God (John 3:16).
• Mature Apostles enjoy dreaming, doing new and challenging tasks, change.
• Characteristics of Immature Apostles: They are unable to distinguish between the constant flood of good and innovative ideas they have and the God-ideas that are being given to them. It's about an inability to discern. They try out something new every week and never really develop any of their ideas and jump from thing to thing to thing. After a while, people stop following them because they have a hard time staying focused on the task at hand and people refuse to give their time and energy to something when they know could change with any whim of an idea coming from the immature apostle.

Prophets

One who hears and listens to God (prophetes); the prophet foretells and tells forth revelation from God. Often they are able to stand back from circumstances to get a clear picture of what is happening and therefore see creative solutions and develop a vision for situations others don’t see. They understand the times and what people should do.

The core question Prophets ask: “Are the people of God hearing his voice and responding appropriately?”

• Biblical examples: Anna and Simeon in Luke 2 as they prophesy over the infant Jesus. Agabus in Acts 11:28 and 21:10 when he predicts a famine and prophesies about Paul. Philip’s daughters in Acts 21:9 were all known as prophetesses.
• Jesus’ example: Every word spoken from the mouth of Jesus was revelation from God. He often foretold events such as Peter’s denial and the details of his own death. He, himself, is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah such as found in Isaiah 53.
• Mature Prophets enjoy being alone with God, waiting, listening.
• Characteristics of Immature Prophets: While they have a natural gift to "see beyond" what most people can see, immature prophets make two fundamental errors. First, if they sense God is saying something, they provide the interpretation themselves and don't release it to a community of people outside of them. Just as Paul said, the prophet will give their sense, but it's up to the community to weigh and give an interpretation. Their job is to share, release what they've received, back away and then see what other people make of it. The proper path goes like this: Revelation to Interpretation to Application. An immature prophet, having received some sort of revelation, wants to go straight to Application. This is incredibly harmful and not the pattern that scripture gives us. Second, they assume they are always right. The problem is that often times they are right and this builds a false sense of confidence that they get it 100% of the time. Because of this, they can become arrogant, haughty and difficult to deal with. In contrast, a mature prophet is actually quite humble because they know that any revelation they receive isn't their own and they entrust it to the community.

Evangelists

One who brings good news and shares the message readily (euanggelistes). Evangelists love spending time with non-Christians and often remind other Christians that there are non-Christians still out there in the world. They are not necessarily all like Billy Graham; they may be “people gatherers.” Evangelists know the Word and can make it relevant to non-Christians.

The core question Evangelists ask: Are new people entering into the Kingdom of God?

• Biblical examples: Philip in Acts 8:12. The people believed Philip when he preached.
• Jesus’ example: Jesus embodied the Good News. He was the Good News. We can see Jesus as evangelist in John 3 with the Samaritan woman at the well.
• Mature Evangelists enjoy discussion and sharing their point of view. Wherever they go, they seem to draw others into discussion about Jesus. They are passionate about sharing the Gospel. They are not timid about their faith and seem to easily share with others regularly.
• Characteristics of Immature Evangelists: Like immature prophets, there are two things they typically do that can be truly harmful. First, they present a reductionist Gospel that's all about getting people out of hell, that while important, doesn’t always include Jesus’ invitation to discipleship and the availability of the Kingdom that Jesus' central message was about. When they do this, they make faith and Christianity all about when they die and nothing to do with what happens here on earth. This is terribly destructive. Second, many immature evangelists can have sort of a "Love you and leave you" strategy. It's like once you've "crossed the line" into becoming a Christian, they make the world's fastest baton pass-off to the local church or a small group and are never heard from again. They move on to the next person. Now this isn't to say that evangelists need to be there forever, but that it shouldn't be a jarring experience for someone who is just entering a discipling relationship! Being a disciple is about relationships and immature evangelists can make a bad first impression when it comes to Christians and relationships.

Shepherds

One who shepherds God’s people (poimen), who cares for others with a tender heart. One who sees needs, provides comfort, and encourages others. Shepherds spend most of their time with other Christians. They can easily empathize with others and exhibit lots of patience with those in need.

The core question Shepherds ask: “Are the people of God caring for and showing compassion for people?”

• Biblical example: Barnabas in Acts 15:36–41. Barnabas clearly demonstrates a pastoral heart in his defense of Mark.
• Jesus’ example: In John 10, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd who has come to lead his people.
• Mature Shepherds enjoy one-on-one chats and showing hospitality. They get burdened by others’ problems and have a knack for speaking the truth in love. They are good listeners and are easy to talk to and share inner feelings with.
• Characteristics of Immature Shepherds: Shepherds love nothing more than being with people in the midst of their brokenness, pain and suffering. However, they can have a really difficult time in moving people from that stage to one where they are seeking healing, transformation and redemption. Immature pastors sometimes don't have the confidence to push or challenge people to move forward, to take a step forward into the Kingdom, for fear that the person will be angry with them. The mature pastor can live in this tension while the immature counterpart stays a mile away from it and will let people sit in their brokenness far longer than should happen.

Teachers

One who holds forth the truth and is excited by it (didaskalos). The teacher looks for ways to explain, enlighten, and apply truth.

The core question Teachers ask: “Are the people of God immersing themselves in scripture and incarnating it?”

• Biblical example: Apollos in Acts 18.
• Jesus’ example: He was often referred to as Teacher or Rabbi. His “students” often remarked that his teaching was different because he taught with authority.
• Mature Teachers enjoy reading and studying the Bible and helping others to understand it.
• Characteristics of Immature Teachers: The good thing about Teachers is their profound love of scripture. The bad news is that scripture can be the end rather than God. Immature teachers tend to forget that scripture is a thing that brings us to God. Scripture isn't the point. God is the point. They can suffer from “Biblidolatry” where they idolize scripture and put it over their relationship with the living and breathing God that we come to know by means of reading and incarnating scripture. (See John 5:39-40) There are few things more beautiful than watching a Teacher learn from a Prophet because their ability to teach goes to a new level as all of their teachings drive people to the arms of the Father. Also, immature teachers can rely on their own intellect to "wow" people rather than the authority that is given from scripture and from the Holy Spirit. People's comments about Jesus were that his teaching possessed an authority that they didn't see in the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. Likewise, the writer of Hebrews says, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." A teacher's authority doesn't come from how smart they are but from the Word of God and the power of a transformed life. An immature teacher will often forget this.

This reference is provided by North Springs Church (http://northsprings.church) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is comprised of copyrighted content from Mike Breen’s book Building a Discipling Culture.