Apostles are “sent ones”—sent by God to authoritatively fulfill a specific work in an assigned region or realm. For instance, Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter was an apostle to the Jews. One pre-Christian use of the word, apostle, signified an emissary who had been sent into a conquered area to establish the culture and government of the empire. The Christian use of the word carries a similar meaning. Apostles are sent by God to establish the culture and government of heaven in assigned regions and realms of the earth. Some are sent into geographic regions, and others are sent into sectors of society to bring kingdom influence.

Apostles are always concerned with the big picture of what God is doing, both in heaven and on earth. They are more attuned to the heartbeat of heaven than they are to any agenda that earth may try to dictate. They often desire to network with other apostolic leaders of like passion, reaching beyond their own immediate ministry contexts to build such relationships.

Following the biblical portrayal of apostles, they are noted for ministering supernaturally, and they provide a model of leadership that motivates others to do the same. Often they are able to move in and out of the other four leadership anointings, and they have the ability to discern how all five can work together within the ministry context. Apostles are anointed to bring everyone into alignment with Kingdom purposes. They keep the people moving in the same direction. As Peter Wagner states it, they are leaders of leaders.

Attention needs to be given to the leading role of the apostle among the other four equipping gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:28 presents an order depicting a flow of authority and leadership:

"And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues."

The placement of “apostles” at the start of this list suggests that they functioned with authority over the other equipping gifts.

For those who may question forms of church government that allow one person to exercise the primary leadership role, Harold R. Eberle observes and states,

"After observing many, many churches, I can tell you that no matter what form of government a church claims to have, there is always one person who openly or quietly holds the greatest influence over the church. Setting up the proper government is never a matter of keeping it out of the hands of one person, but putting it into the hands of God’s person."

How prominent was the apostle in the New Testament? Obviously the original Twelve fulfilled a role of great significance, as they were the first to accept the commission to extend the kingdom of heaven into the earth. Beyond the original, there were others. Including the original Twelve, there are at least twenty-two apostles named in the New Testament.

1. Simon (Peter)

2. Andrew

3. James, son of Zebedee

4. John

5. Philip

6. Bartholomew (Nathanael)

7. Thomas (Didymus)

8. Matthew (Levi)

9. James, son of Alphaeus

10. Thaddeus (Lebbaeus)

11. Simon the Canaanite/Zealot

12. Judas Iscariot Others

13. Matthias

14. Barnabas

15. Paul

16. Andronicus

17. Junias

18. James, brother of Jesus

19. Epaphroditus

20. Apollos

21. Silvanus

22. Timothy

Recognizing a person as an apostle has nothing to do with elevating him to a place of lordship over a church or grouping of churches. Only Jesus is Lord. However, recognizing a person as an apostle is about acknowledging that Jesus has commissioned this individual to come into our midst to lead and to serve, and if we will allow him to fulfill that commission, we will all benefit from the deposit that the apostle carries. The kingdom will advance; the culture of heaven will be propagated in the earth; the church will become better established; a place will be made for the prophets, teachers, evangelists and pastors in our midst; and the saints will become equipped for works of service. The bottom line is that the work of the apostle is to lead the church into becoming apostolic—to authoritatively extend the kingdom of heaven into the earth. For the apostle, it is all about the kingdom and the big picture.

Prophets see and hear the heart and mind of God, and they act and speak accordingly. At times they speak of what is to come; at other times they speak of what God reveals regarding the past or present. From a leadership standpoint, they know what God wants to accomplish, and together with the apostle, they work to lead the church in that direction. The prophet leads the way in helping the church become a prophetic church—a community of believers devoted to living their lives and fulfilling their mission on the basis of what God has revealed. For the prophet, it is all about what God is saying.

For an in-depth understanding of the prophetic, I would encourage you to work through my online course, Prophetic Life and Ministry.

Evangelists are consumed with a passion to release the kingdom of heaven to everyone on earth, and they are just as zealous about motivating every other believer to have the same passion. They carry both the message and the power of the cross. They lead people to faith in Christ, but they also demonstrate the power of the Good News through healings, miracles and deliverances. The mission of the evangelist is to prepare and empower the church to be an evangelistic church. For the evangelist, it is all about souls and the hope that the Good News brings.

Pastors (or "shepherds") are devoted to the care of people. They are intimately involved with congregants, and they want to make sure that everyone’s needs are met. People with a pastoral anointing and calling generate a church culture all around them that is characterized by care. Members of the congregation are supernaturally drawn together around that anointing, just as sheep are drawn to their shepherd. For the pastor, ministry is all about care and the meeting of needs.

What can be confusing is that through the passing of time, the church world has settled into referring to the primary congregational leader as the “pastor.” The term “pastor” is seldom used in the Scriptures to refer to congregational leaders. Floyd McClung is correct in saying, “’Pastor’ is an overused term.” In many cases, the person holding the title, “pastor,” does not function under the anointing of a pastor. He may be an apostle—a big picture kind of person who needs others on his team who are prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral and able to teach. Or the congregational leader may be an evangelist. In such cases, he may need to partner with apostolic and prophetic leaders, and a team of pastors and teachers may be needed as well. A congregational leader can be any one of the five within the five-fold model; he does not have to be a person who functions primarily in a pastoral anointing. In fact, Eberle goes so far as to say, “God’s intention was that pastors work among the sheep, not rule over the local church.”

Teachers have an extraordinary understanding of divine truth and have the anointed ability to communicate that truth in a way that transforms people. The teacher is first and always a student—a lifetime learner. He or she is a student of the Scriptures, a student of the Spirit and a student of the world around them. They are not just people who astound others with their amazing knowledge or intellect; they are gifted in the area of spiritual formation. They help people make the connection between cognitive knowledge and experiential knowledge. Their gifting is not limited to instruction in the Scriptures. The teacher is also gifted to impart understanding related to practical and even logistical aspects of ministry. Because they follow the lead of the apostle and the prophet, their teaching is focused on making the church’s apostolic direction and prophetic vision comprehensible and applicable to the life of the believer.

Ultimately, the teacher empowers the church to be a community of disciples consumed with a passion for insight and understanding. The teacher also empowers God’s people to be instructors of others—disciple-makers, in other words. For the teacher, it is all about the Scriptures, truth, insight, understanding and the making of disciples.

Honor is the factor that causes the five-fold equipping gifts to strengthen and improve the health of the church. The five-fold equipping gifts—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers—are gifts that Jesus has given to His people. Jesus taught us that when we receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, we receive a prophet’s reward. In other words, when we receive or honor a prophet on the basis of the anointing that is on his or her life, we increase the likelihood that we will receive from the grace that is on that prophet’s life. The same principle applies to the other four equipping gifts as well. If I do not receive a person on the basis of the grace or anointing that is on his or her life, then I shut down the exchange of blessing.

The Spirit of God is attracted to environments where mutual honor is taking place. When every person is valued and esteemed on the basis of what they bring to the rest of us, it is then that we become open to what God wants to do in our midst. A culture of honor is the culture in which Spirit-empowered ministry thrives.

Our ability to appropriately honor these equipping gifts is a bit hindered by a long history of assigning the wrong titles to congregational leaders. What do we call the top leader in a local church? We typically refer to that person as the "pastor." The number one leader in a church is not always a pastor. Sometimes that person is an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist or a teacher.

If we insist that our primary congregational leader be a pastor while he is actually a prophet, teacher, evangelist or apostle, we run the risk of stifling his or her ability to function in their true anointing, and we are shutting out a great gift that Jesus is trying to deliver to us. Understanding which of the five enabling or leadership anointings a congregational leader functions under is vitally important. Otherwise, it can be a very frustrating leadership situation.

If people are expecting their leader to be a pastor when he is actually an apostle, they might erroneously perceive that their “pastor” does not care about the needs of the people. “All he cares about is his vision or the next big city-wide project,” they may say. Likewise, if they are expecting their “pastor” to be an evangelistic soul-winning leader just like their previous “pastor,” while his or her true anointing is that of a teacher, they might erroneously think that their “pastor” does not care about souls. “All she does is study and conduct all of these classes and seminars. When are we going to reactivate our outreach ministries?” they may complain.

We need to consider how we are going to receive these equipping gifts with honor. The Bible teaches us to honor everyone, and to honor one another above ourselves. One aspect of honor is the acknowledgment of another person’s value—receiving that person on the basis of what God has made them to be. As previously noted, Bill Johnson of Bethel Church (Redding, California) teaches that believers are truly functioning in a culture of honor when they are able to celebrate who people are without stumbling over what they are not. When a church is functioning in such a culture of honor, it strengthens the unity and reduces the likelihood that divisions will occur.

To restate my opening emphasis in this section, Jesus taught us, “Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.” There is a principle here that helps us understand the function of honor in any relationship, but it especially speaks to how we receive leaders who come to us as one of Jesus’ five equipping gifts. When we receive apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers with honor, we open a door through which the rich deposit that these leaders carry may be imparted into our lives. If we do not receive a person on the basis of the anointing that he or she carries, we will miss out on the blessing that God intended to bring our way.

Consider this case study that illustrates how our receptivity to the five enabling gifts works. Jason (not his real name) was a thirty-seven year old lead pastor recently appointed to serve a thriving New England congregation. Jason already knew many of the people in the church; he had grown up with a number of them and had actually attended this church when he was younger. One Sunday evening Jason and one of these friends met at a restaurant to get caught up with one another; it had been about seven years since they had last spent time together. While eating dinner, Jason’s friend said, “It is great to have you back, I want you to know that. But I could never receive you as my pastor. You are my friend—not my pastor.”

While Jason was glad to hear the affirmation of friendship, he sensed that not being received on the basis of his leadership anointing could become problematic. About two years later, that gut-level feeling proved to be accurate. His friend encountered a personal crisis in which pastoral guidance was greatly needed, but there was no openness at all to receiving such assistance from Jason. Eventually his friend left the church.

A few months later Jason was ministering to a different friend from the past who had been struggling with a number of family issues. This friend said, “I know that we have been friends for a long time, but....” His friend choked up, trying to hold back the tears. He tried to continue, speaking with emphasis on each word, “You... are... my... pastor.” In this second example, Jason had great freedom in ministering out of his place of anointing. In this case, a pastor had been received in the name of a pastor. This same principle carries over to all five of the equipping gifts.

Recognizing these enabling leadership gifts is important both for the leader and for the ones being led. Harold R. Eberle notes, “In the New Testament, we do not see Christian leaders being labeled as president, assistant pastor or superintendent or anything else short of their gifts.” When a person traditionally labeled as a “pastor” comes to recognize that he is actually an apostle and is able to say, “I am an apostle,” that person is then able to move more fully in that calling. The same applies to recognizing any of the five leadership gifts.

Peter Wagner affirms this point when he applies it to the identifying of apostles in particular:

"When a given apostle knows for sure exactly what ministry or call God has given him or her, their self-confidence rises accordingly. This is not pride. Their confidence rests not in their own ability but in a deep assurance that they are obeying God and acting according to His will. To the degree that this happens, the apostle’s authority increases." [C. Peter Wagner, Apostles and Prophets: The Foundations of the Church (Ventura, California: Regal Books, 2000), 28.]

Others also need to recognize a leader’s calling or anointing. Each enabling gift needs to acknowledge and partner with the other enabling gifts. For instance, the apostolic needs the prophetic around it. It is the apostle who bears the responsibility for making a place for the prophet. When we recognize which anointing or gifting is functioning through our leaders, as Eberle teaches, it is then that we will know what to expect from them. If we will recognize all five leadership gifts, then the church will have a greater potential for seeing all five in operation.

Based on what we have covered thus far, here I offer reflections on the implications of the 5 Essential Functions for the following areas:

1. Unique Leadership Perspectives

2. Spiritual Development

3. Assessing Church Health

4. Planning and Priorities

5. Ministry Teams

6. Ministry Description and Direction