Being A Missionary At Home

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part X

….. because it equips the local body to serve the local community through Jesus.

I could never understand the mentality of short term mission trips. Christians come to help clean up impoverished, underdeveloped neighborhoods, built new building structures (usually church buildings), help with children’s Bible Schools, help build orphanages, visit the elderly, etc., yet they do not do the same in their own local communities at home when at home. Why?

I marveled at watching a local church get the invitation to use a vacated community center for anything they wanted, no strings attached, but all they could come up with was ideas for programs since no one in their church lived in that community. They were ready to treat the “project” as they would a “mission’s trip”. They would come into the community when convenient, but not commit to living in that community to live out their faith daily through common experiences with those who lived there.

Church doesn’t have to be held in a building to which you drive to, meet for an hour or two, then leave for a week. Church can be held in your home, like the first century model. If held in your home, you are anchored in your community or neighborhood.  The five fold would be perfect to be an effective ministry locally.

A person with an evangelistic passion would want to win the lost and birth the ideas the Holy Spirit would give the five fold group. The shepherding person would care for his/her neighbor, bringing cover dishes to the sick, meeting physical needs of the poor, minister to the hurting, and give advice and direction to those seeking. A true five fold teacher of the Word would not be an ivory towered theologian, but would want to make the Logos Word, the written Word, a Rhema Word, or a living Word in the personal lives of his/her community. A prophetic person would want to have his neighbors draw near to God, find God for themselves, commune with God when they have discovered him, and join in joint worship with their Christian neighbor. The apostolic person would marvel in what the Holy Spirit is doing through the many diverse members of the Body and network them to become more efficient and supportive in ministry. All this in their homes. All this in their own personal neighborhoods. This happened at the birth of the first century Church, and it can happen again. They identified their gatherings by naming them after their designated locations, communities, neighborhoods (ie. Church of Corinth, of Philippi, of Rome, etc.).

                  Before the days of automobiles, churches were local, and were very much part of the local community social life. Today, on Sundays, Christians pass each other when driving to the church of their choice several miles away because there they “preach the word”, or have awesome worship, or have a dynamic youth ministry and children’s ministry, or are contemporary or traditional, or whatever….. We have fallen into the attitude that church is all about what we want, not about serving others. It is not about loving your neighbor as yourself when your neighbors doesn’t drive to the same destination.

                  Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to show us what to birth in our own local neighborhood, how to effectively win the lost by showing “grace” by sacrificially loving them through service while demanding nothing from them, how to make the Logos Word a Rhema living Word that touches lives, how to make God real to them to draw them into His Presence, and how to minister to the whole man through the whole Body of Christ. That’s the mindset that birthed the Church; that’s the mindset that will revive the Church!

Sacrifice Beyond the U.S. Marine Model

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part IX

….. because it requires sacrificial service, the laying down of your life, for others.

U.S. Marines have a built a code of conduct through relationships that even the church hasn’t been able to match in the last couple of centuries.  A Marine will sacrifice his life for his buddy, lay down his life in battle to save his buddies; and even carry out a dead body from a combat zone so the enemy cannot desecrate it. That is the honor of the U.S. Marine Code.

The first century church was built on such a code since martyrdom was a reality, but since the easing of persecution, the code has been dropped. Today there is division, bickering, judging one another, and criticism about anything and everything different from the mode and code of worship one follows. Tolerance for other sects within Christianity is at an all time low. Rejecting one another, then shooting the wounded is common place.

Yet, what was Jesus’ mission on earth? It was to lay down his life for mankind, to be the sacrificial lamb for the sins of man. It was to suffer and die on a cruel Roman cross. Yet Romans 5:8 records, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He didn’t die for the righteous but the unrighteous, not for the godly but the ungodly. He became more than a martyr because not only did he die for the sins of mankind, but he rose from the dead to conquer death. Because of Him, the dead can now live! Ephesians 4:8 records, ““When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”. Like the Marines, he carried the dead, through a resurrection, to heaven with him and equipped those who remained on earth.

                  At the Cross, Jesus fixed broken relationships. Being the sacrificial lamb, he bridged the gap between God and mankind because of sin. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Man again could be in right standing with his God.  He also bridged the gap between man and mankind. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (I John 3:16-17)

                  It is now each believer’s responsibility to look out for his brother. Unlike Cain and Abel, we ARE our brother’s keeper. We are to take care of a brother or sister in need. We are to serve one another in spite of our diversity. We are to receive from other brothers and sisters even outside of our spiritual camps.

                  What better avenue for service than through the five fold where one has to give his gifting, passion, and desire to serve others, and the others reciprocally give back him. The five fold is all about give and taking the talents Jesus has given us for service.

                  As Christians, lets begin to carry one another’s cross, be willing to die for others, live by a spiritual code that is stronger than even the bond between two Marines. That is the calling for the body of Christ for today.

From Enabling Apathy To Promoting Equipping

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VIII

….. because instead of enablement and inactivity, it promotes equipping and releasing of believers in Jesus to actively pursue service.

As a 21^st Century Church we are not doing a very good job at what we call discipleship and promoting the Great Commission. American Christians have gotten lazy. Keith Green sang his “Asleep In The Light” song in the 1980’s; its prophetic message still rings in my ears. The average American Christian has chosen not to make Christianity its daily way of life, opting to be passive, and allowing themselves to be enabled by its leadership to the point of inactivity even while you are attending a church service or gathering. Like Keith called us out on over3 ½ decades ago, it is like we are a sleep in the light! What will be our wake up call?

The leadership team at the church I had attended is made up primarily of men who had Bible Degrees, not “uneducated” people, like Jesus’ 12 disciples. The Sanhedrin was amazed that these “uneducated” men of Galilee could speak with such authority. We, the church today, have made “education” a prerequisite to leadership, which is not what Jesus did. He had no Pharisees, Sadducees, or church officials on his leadership team of 12. He had men who may have come across as dumb, stupid, and always inserting foot into mouth, but men who were willing to follow Jesus, and later be taught by, and obedient to the Holy Spirit in all matters.

Jesus had poured three years of his life into building relationships with these 12 men. He walked, talked, and debated with them, took them of field trips of faith and a journey that would mold them into becoming leaders that would change the world. He never started a Bible College or seminary, not even built a church building; he invested in people by investing in relationships. Being Jewish, the 12 grew up being taught the Law, the Torah. They already had a Jewish Biblical perspective, but Jesus had to teach them how to make this written Logos Word, alive, relevant, a Rhema Word. He equipped them for their up coming faith journey, teaching them not only through parables but also personal dialogue, feeding the needy, healing the sick, taking care of widows and orphans, etc.  When they fought over position, he brought them back to relationships, emphasizing service, even washing their feet as an object lesson. He equipped them, and prepared them by giving them the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and then released them for ministry. He promised them that they would not do this alone, but sent the Holy Spirit to be their “suitable helper”.

The book of Acts is not boring, but filled with action; there is no apathy or enabling but is filled with constant activity. Jesus gives gifts to men, and they use them, effectively. Jesus’ preparations and the equipping of the saints for the works of service propels a spiritual movement that changes the then known world.

The five fold calling is to “equip the saints for the works of service.” The 21^st Century church needs to refocus it direction of equipping the staff for professional development to equipping its saints for works of service. Building relationships should take precedent over building programs and staff. People serving people; peers serving peers through sacrificial service, acceptance, grace, and mercy are the keys. Equipping the saints is more than taking a discipleship course or doing a Bible study on discipleship, it is about involvement, practical everyday experience, and community life. There is no room for apathy or enablement. It is a call to act-ion. The Church needs the five fold!

Accountability: We Need For A Suitable Helper

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VII

Genesis 2:20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found….. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman ….., and he brought her to the man,…. 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

  As independent as we like to think we are, man still has the need, the desire for fellowship. Loneliness is not a good thing! Even though Adam communed with God, there was still a void. Adam had a need, and God loves to meet our needs! In fact, God’s ways, His plans, the way He meets needs often surpasses the request given.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule ….. over all the creatures …..”  27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

                  God saw beyond Adam’s need. Adam needed more than companionship, he needed others to help rule over all the creation God had made. He could not do it alone. True, he was lonely, but he was also overwhelmed. God understood, for in Genesis 2:22 it says “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” He was doing everything alone; he needed a “suitable helper”. God’s answer: union with Eve! She not only filled his loneliness but was a compatible, “suitable” helper! They now ruled together by serving one another.

                  But Paul in his letter to the Ephesians takes it further.  Ephesians 5:29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

                  It is all about relationships! Paul goes beyond Adam and Eve’s relationship to sharing a profound mystery: it’s about Christ’s relationship to the church! Who is the Godhead’s “suitable helper” here on earth? The Church! It is through the Church that God chose to rule over the earth and to be protectors of His creation. God has provided a “suitable helper” in his eyes.

                  I believe God has given the Church the five fold in order to be the “suitable helper” He has created it to be because the five fold is build on SERVICE, serving one another, helping one another, aiding one another, sacrificially, the being willing to lay down your life for another as Jesus did for His Church!

                  As a Church we have to begin to allow believers in Jesus Christ who function as evangelists to birth, who function as shepherds to nurture, who function in a teaching role to make the Logos, written Word, a Rhema, living Word, who function in the prophetic to draw near and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who function apostolically by seeing the Church as a whole, networking the many parts of the Body of Christ for the common good. Each of the five ARE NOT entities unto their own, but parts of the Body of Christ who are to be “suitable helpers” to one another through service.

                  If the prophet has a Godly dream, he needs an evangelist to birth it, a shepherd to nurture it, a teacher to bring the truth of the Word of that dream alive, and an apostle to network everyone toward the completion and fulfillment of that dream. The prophet CAN NOT do it alone. He needs the body; he needs “suitable helpers”.

Accountability: We Need Each Other

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VI

….. because it makes believers in Jesus accountable to one another through service.

I believe one purpose of the five fold is to bring unity to the Body of Christ, to draw one another toward each other through service that will build up individual Christian growth and corporate unity. The church, I believe, will not experience true revival until it admits that “we need one another.”

God created man to draw near to him. God empathized with Adam’s loneliness when he said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will give him a ‘helpmate’.” Communing with one another is a basic need in humanity.  God met that need before the Fall. Sin brought separation, rejection, distancing, and a desire to “have one owns space”, withdrawal, and a desire for independence. God’s plan was for unity, acceptance, a drawing near, a desire for fellowship, a coming together, a dependence on one another. God’s plan is all about relationships. With sin, relationships were broken, Adam & Eve hid from God, and their son Cain killed his brother Abel. The Cross of Jesus Christ offered redemption. Relationships were mended. Man again could draw near to God, and redemptive people were now told “to lay down you life for your brethren” as Christ did on the Cross.

The five fold is all about “laying down your life for your brethren” (IJohn 3:16) through service in spite of your differences, diversity, your uniqueness, your individual callings and challenges. You are commanded to love those different than you; in fact you are commanded to even love your enemy. It is not an “us” verses “them”, where “we” are Biblically, doctrinally, and theologically correct, and “they” are in error, false prophets, or false teachers. It is about “us” serving “them”, and “them” serving “us” as equal brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, peers, one body, one Priesthood. The five fold CAN NOT function properly until this attitude becomes reality.  

The very diversity that has divided us is the very diversity God wants to use to unite us. We look at our differences as points of contention, but until we get to the point of NEEDING ONE ANOTHER, we will continue to be divisive opponents, not brethren. As I have pointed out in so many of my previous blogs, an evangelist needs a shepherd, a teacher, a prophet, and an apostle around him. Everyone of these needs the other for a balanced ministry. We need the whole package: the birthing, the nurturing, the teaching, the living out of the gospel, the drawing near to God, and the networking of all these in serving one another and drawing from one another. That is accountability; people laying down their lives for one another through service.

For a body of believers to be truly functional, it needs to develop this desire to serve one another, peer to peer, and to draw from one another, peer to peer, rather than counting on a professional ministry to do it for them. If “we”, the Priesthood of Believers, are the Church, then we got to begin to act like the Church and accept one another as equal peers and begin to serve one another, not oppose one another, and quit acting like Cains. I believe the five fold can be a tool for this coming together, this acceptance, this service, creating accountability.

When your are willing to lay down your life for a diverse Christian brother or sister whose giftings are different than yours, and they are willing to lay down their lives for you, then the church will experience an accountability that it has not experienced since the first century when the Church was born and during its infancy. That relationship of peer acceptance in Jesus is the key to establishing true accountability among the brethren. That is what the five fold has to offer.

Diverse Plurality Brings Activity

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part V

….. because it prepares the body, a priesthood of believers, the Church, to serve.

The purpose of the five fold is to equip the saints for works of service. The saints have not been called to be passive, pew sitters, stand byers, non-participants. They are suppose to be doing the work of the gospel through service! What a revolutionary mindset. Are they suppose to pay someone else to do it for them!

If we look at the above statement, we see “body” is a group of people. “Priesthood” is also a group of believer(s)! It is the plurality of believers together that serve! You never see “priest” mentioned in the New Testament, only the “priesthood”, the functioning body of Christ, the Church. The many individual peer believers working through service together brings individual growth and unity among the believers as stated in Ephesians 4.

That is why Jesus Christ gave himself, the Church, apostle(s), prophet(s), evangelist(s), pastor(s), and teacher(s). He gave plurality, diversity, creativity, the “supporting ligaments” that “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Each believer, each peer in Jesus Christ does it part so the corporate whole, the body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, the Church, serves!

The Church can serve through “birth” because He gave it evangelists. The Church can nurture growth through living care through shepherds/pastors. The Church can teach truth, the Logos Word, not legalistically, but through experiencing it, the Rhema Word, that gives life by allowing the Holy Spirit to teach through his believers. The Church can encourage man to “draw near” the Spirit of the Living God through the service of its prophets. The Church as a whole can function in unity as a whole through the diverse passions and spiritual giftings through service through the networking of its apostles. It is not about only one person, Jesus, yet not about the individuals who make up that person through the Church, the Body of Christ, but through many individuals, peers in Jesus, the Priesthood of Believers.

When individual believers in Jesus Christ, the Priesthood, is released to manifest their passions as evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles, and free to flow in the spiritual giftings God has given them, corporately they are an empowered, movable force called the Church! Satan and his kingdom of darkness cannot withstand the power, dominion, and authority of an united Church that is lead by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ who serves!

The Church will not remain in its caterpillar stage of a two tiered system of clergy and laity, but after being in a cocoon of revival and reconstruction, it will come out as a Royal Priesthood, empowered to soar. Every believer, every peer in Jesus Christ, every priest in this priesthood will follow the orders of their High Priest, Jesus Christ, through the leading of His Spirit. The Church will be known for its activity, not it passivity, its ability to move forward, not it being lethargic. It will move with authority and power because of these five fold passions, spiritual gifts, and the ability to hear the voice of the Lord through the Holy Spirit.

The passive nature of the 21^st Century Church will be looked upon as another chapter in the History of the Church. The Dark Ages led to the Reformation and Age of Reason and Enlightenment. This passive age is leading the Church to an Age of Preparation for the Bride, the Church, to meet its Groom, Jesus, at the Great Banquet Wedding Feast.

The church has to first pass through the cocoon stage from being a historic, lumbering structure to be retooled, remodeled, and “reformed” into a Butterfly.

Apathy to Activity

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part IV

….. because it replaces enabled apathy with Holy Spirit led activity for believers in Jesus.

Which church would you want to attend?

One whose Worship Service tells you when to stand, sit, or kneel, when to sing, pray, be silent, or listen, when to financially give generously or greet one another cordially. You can volunteer to be an usher, children’s worker, or nursery attender, or you can just show up, follow directions, and leave having no social contact but entertained. The music will be excellent. The sermon delivery will be professional; all done orderly. Bible quotes and lyrics to songs will be projected. Not much is required of you, nor is much expected from you. The Senior pastor and staff will do everything in a professional manner. An enabled apathy will settle over the congregation as everyone knows their place and expectations.

Or

One that will only be a hymn or chorus sing followed by a sermon unless the congregation comes prepared to give. If prepared, one may share a scripture that came alive during their private devotion; another may sing an original song or a song everyone knows and joins in. A poet may read an original poem; an artist may draw or paint. Peer believers in Jesus may be led to pray, offer healing, comfort or encourage one another. Some may release spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ, while others may release giftings to aid in their peer believers’ spiritual growth. A formal sermon is not necessary because sharing of scripture and its application may be given by believers or the sharing of narratives of how Jesus came alive in people’s lives may be shared. Invitations for salvation, empowerment, healings, may be given by fellow brethren . There is no formal agenda, only individuals and the body of Christ jointly listening to the Holy Spirit’s lead. The service in unpredictable, but the anticipation high that God’s Spirit is among his people, and Jesus will be manifested through them. The leadership is not on a platform, but among the people, not seen, but arises for encouragement, support, edification, and correction when needed. This service is not passive, but active, only if the congregation has decided to participate and give back to the Lord what He has already given them. If the people are apathetic, a hymn sing or choral response of songs and a planned, prepared sermon is given. If the people are active, a theme, a sewn thread in the tapestry of worship will relay the Holy’s Spirit’s theme.

The first choice is today’s typical Sunday service in most churches; the second is what would happen if the church empowered and released their people as peers to minister to the Lord and to one another. The first service is very predictable. The second is unpredictable because the Holy Spirit is in charge; leadership and their peers, the people, follow only what the Holy Spirit leads. The first choice appears to be dead and dry; the second choice appears to be full of life. The first choice requires nothing from you but your finances; the second choice requires your all: body, soul, and spirit. Finances are not needed unless the Spirit calls for them to meet the needs of the body, the poor, and the widows and orphans.

Two drastically different choices! An orlderly caterpillar structure that lumbers along, or an unpredictable butterfly structure that flies. The church today needs a cocoon stage for transition!

To Serve Through Your Passion

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part III

….. because it releases believers in Jesus to serve others through their passions, giftings, drives, and points of view..

Today’s local churches have a bent, usually caused by the passion, giftings, drives, and point of view of their current pastor since he is in charge of everything. His church may be known as evangelical if he’s evangelistic, a caring church if he thrives on shepherding his flock, a “Word” church if he strives to be Biblically correct, a prophetic church is he is free in worship, and apostolic if he emphasized church planting or church growth. But that all is conditional on the pastor. What happens if all those passions, giftings, drives, and point of view already exist in a church, but they lie with the laity, the congregation, the believers in Jesus Christ? What would happen if they all got released?

Evangelism, emphasizing birth, would arise winning the lost to Christ and producing new converts to the faith in spite of the pastor’s strengths or weaknesses. Nurture and care for every believers spiritual growth and development would come with brothers and sisters coming beside these new converts to walk out their faith journeys with them. Those who not only know the written word but live it out in their daily lives could teach this Logos and Rhema word to the new believers, strengthening them, giving them a firm foundation. Those with prophetic desires can encourage the new believer to draw nearer to God through worship, reading the Word, and learning to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit for themselves. Finally, those who can see the big picture of the Church as a whole, the body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, and network these other four together in the development and maturity into the image of Christ of each individual believer while brining unity in the body.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4)

Christ gave “himself”, the Church, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, (all plural, not singular) for the purpose of “equipping his people for works of service”. The people are “to do it”. The Church is a place of continuous activity. The books of Acts records the “Acts of the Apostles”, not the theology, doctrine, status, office, and title of the apostles. It is a running narrative of action, all lead by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Almost every church I have visited, attended, or worked with has people already in their congregations who have evangelistic, shepherding, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic passions just looking for an avenue to be released. Church leadership has a tough decision to make today. Do they remain in control, or do they allow these people of God, these believers in Jesus Christ, this Priesthood of Believers, to be released, let go, in their passions to become “active” believers, supporting other believers with diverse giftings, and leading when their gift, passion, or point of view is needed. That is the challenge in this cocoon stage: transferring the energy of the church from controlling leadership with a passive congregation to releasing the energy that is already in them to become an active congregation. That is the miracle of metamorphosis.

Accountability To the Priesthood of Believers

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part II

….. because it makes the priesthood of believers, the laity, us, accountable.

Why would a church be open to the five fold? One reason would be that it makes the parishioners, the believers in Jesus Christ accountable and not just passive. To encourage the people of the local church to do works of service, to evangelize, to nurture, care, and shepherd, to study the Word of God and listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit for themselves, and network different giftings for the good of the group would be a revolutionary change in the way we think about doing church and being the Church. No longer could you just apathetically attend.

Ephesians 4:14-15 outlines how the five fold makes each believer accountable for their faith walk in Jesus individually, and corporately, “15 Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Embracing the five fold would challenge individual believer to “grow up”, take responsibility, and support the other members of the body while doing their part. That is a radical change from just being a pew sitter.

“Do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (I Cor. 6:19) If every believer has the Holy Spirit in them, then the gifts of the spirit are also within them. The key is to release those gifts, then equip that believer for works of service that would result in releasing life back into our churches. Anticipation brings excitement.

Sunday mornings corporate gatherings could be times when that excitement could be shared corporately. Instead of being told when to sit, stand, kneel, pray, sing, financially give, greet one another, and exit the premise, believers would now want to share what the Holy Spirit is doing in their midst. They would change from being passive, to engaging, to becoming aggressive. The life that existed in the book of Acts would again become evident.

With the five fold would come an accountability to peer believers with diverse gifts. One’s strength could bolster the weakness of another, and your strength could build others up in Christ. Accountability would be reciprocal, not conditional on office, rank, or title.  Accountability would be built on peer relationships, not a pyramidal structure of offices. What is important is who leads you so you can follow, or who is behind you covering your back, or who is willing to walk beside you as a brother or sister in the Lord as an equal, not who is over you who demands you submit to them.

No longer would accountability be toting the line as dictated by leadership “over” you, but accepting and giving service and grace to those who walk their faith journeys in Jesus together, side-by-side. Acceptance of one another as equals because of relationships enhances accountability rather than submitting to authority because it is required.

It is a revolutionary way of thinking for the current church, but a way enabled passivity could be diminished in today’s local church. Let’s enter the cocoon of revival and allow the Holy Spirit to take away our apathy and reconstruct it into activity, a butterfly, soaring in service to one another.

What Does Equipping The Saints Mean?

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VIII

….. because the purpose of the five fold is to “equip the saints” for what? Oh, “works of service”! Oh, janitorial and secretarial work or lawn care or building maintenance! But wait! To develop them into evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles? Inconceivable! That would require laity to become active, not passive or lethargic. That would require them to become active, not in church programs, but in service to one another.

The opposite of apathy is activity, so what should the church be doing to keep their parishioners, congregation, or laity active? You keep them busy. Is that the calling of the church? I have caught myself being “church busy” often in my life, but that came to a halt when I saw that the church is suppose to “equipping the saints for the works of service.”

What does “equipping the saints for the works of service” mean to the church today? Does it mean giving them opportunities to volunteer for janitorial, secretarial, or building maintenance work, or being involved in committees? Does it mean staffing the nursery, aiding in children’s ministry, ushering, parking cars, greeting, being “auxiliary personnel”, etc. to keep the Sunday morning program efficient and friendly?

How many people in your congregation actually go out and evangelize, or nurture the younger saints in their walk with Jesus, or passionately dig into studying the Word or listening to the voice of God for themselves, or work towards networking others in their diverse giftings to bring unity to the body but releasing the creativity that is already there?

What would happen if the attitude was changed from “call the pastor” to directly  ministering to one another within the local body, a thing called body ministry, by the saints to the saints? What would happen if God’s people began doing what they had required of their pastor because they want to serve one another, and he would have nothing to do but “see over” what the Holy Spirit is already doing amongst the congregation? Would he still be worth his wages, or must he be busy “doing” too?

Ephesians 4 doesn’t say to “equip the saints” to keep them busy. Being too busy can also be destructive. Americans are always busy; having time to do something is a precious commodity! We, as a Church, have been exhorted to “equip the saints for works of service.” We are called to serve; church leadership is called to equip us, not do it for us!

If my church keeps me busy by having me volunteer to keep a building looking nice and to keep programs running smoothly, then I think we missed the mark, and they will NOT be receptive to the five fold as passions to be released among the saints. The Church is about birthing, nurturing, training, equipping, and releasing through relationships between believers, not about programs, rituals, and traditions.

To truly equip the saints for works of service would require a radical mind set change in the way Christian leadership thinks, acts, and reacts. So until that mindset becomes a reality (through revival, a cocoon stage), my church will not be open to, nor want, the five fold.

Order, Chaos, & Trusting The Holy Spirit

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VII                

….. because you will have a free-for-all if everyone runs the church. The church is not a democracy but a theocracy, a hierarchal structure, so a senior pastor is needed (hired) to run all meetings, head all programs, and lead in an orderly fashion. Order through control prevents chaos.

By faith, my whole theory of metamorphosis is built around the assumption that the church will be willing to face change, though church history has proven me drastically wrong. Well-established, entrenched institutions oppose change opting to follow rituals and traditions instead.  The crux of my metamorphosis theory is that the “structure” of a caterpillar faces total transformations into an entirely different ‘structure” as a butterfly when it emerges from its cocoon. If true, then the current church structure that is a pyramidal, hierarchal structure of leadership, locally headed by a professional senior pastor, would be in danger of a total reconstruction if the church is in a cocoon of change and revival. What new form of leadership will emerge as the butterfly structure?

I believe it will be a five fold model of believers, peers, leading through their five fold passion, drive, or point of view that is needed at the moment in service to “equip the saints”, help believers mature in their journey to be more Christ-like, and to bring unity to the body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, the Church. There will no longer be a clergy/laity distinction, but a family of God, built on peer acceptance as equal brothers and sisters in the Lord, the need for peer diversity, and the networking of distinctly different giftings toward the common good through consensus.

If there is no one hierarchal leader, where does the buck stop? Who is in charge? Who is going to maintain order? Who is going to sail the ship? The current caterpillar structure demands strong leadership, who strive to keep order and avoid situations causing chaos by controlling at any cost. It would oppose a movement of God that would threaten to take its power away. It believes that taking its power away will only create chaos. Church history records their belief that you can’t trust the masses; you can’t trust the laity.

But the gospel is full of paradoxes. One has to die in order to live. One has to lay things down in order to pick them up; that is what Passover is all about. One has to give up control in order to receive it; that is what Pentecost is all about. One has to give up old structures for new to get into the promise land; that is what the Feast of Booths is all about.

I’ve asked over and over again throughout these blogs, “Can you trust the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ to be in charge?” Really, “Can YOU trust the Holy Spirit!” Or do you “fear” that He will bring “chaos”? That is “fear”, not “faith” which is the backbone of true Christianity. Bottom line: Can you trust Jesus?

How do we see Jesus today? Answer: Through his body, the body of Christ, the Priesthood of Believers, His Church! His Church is made up of His children, believers in Jesus Christ, so I ask, “Can you trust your fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, even though they are now labeled as ‘the laity’ and may be a member of a different sect or denomination than your own?”

Who or what can you trust? The Holy Spirit? Jesus? Your fellow brethren? If you can’t trust all three of them, you have CHAOS, the very thing you fear!

If your trust is still in your current hierarchal church leadership and not in your fellow brethren or if your trust is in your doctrinal decrees, tenants, and theology and not in the Holy Spirit, you are not scriptural.! All those in the book of Acts learned to trust the Holy Spirit.  Bottom line: Are you willing to trust the Holy Spirit, or will you oppose Him?

The Professional Staff Does It Well!

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part VI

….. because our senior pastor gives evangelistic messages in his sermon, he is an evangelist. Our Pastor is a pastor, duh, of course, thus the title! His sermons prove he is a teacher. His spiritual discernment and desire to draw near to God for us demonstrates that he is a prophetic priest, and his oversight of our church as a whole makes him apostolic.  If he is doing it all, no wonder the priesthood of believers is apathetic when enabled, and has the attitude, “that is what we pay him to do, and he does it well.”

“That is what we pay him to do, and he does it well,” is the mantra of a congregation who has been enabled in everything they do. They’ve been babied all their spiritual life, thus they do not know how to read the Bible or pray on their own, listen to God’s still small voice for themself, or lead others to Christ, or care and nurture others in their body. They call the pastor or his staff to do that for them. “Isn’t that we pay them to do,” they think, and are impressed with the staff because they “do their jobs well.” Why shouldn’t they? They are professionals and are professionally trained.

Then we wonder why they have become apathetic? Why they can’t get anybody to volunteer to do ministry other than building maintenance, janitorial services, ushering, or serving in the nursery. From whom nothing is required; nothing is given. In spite of all leadership thinks they have invested in them, their wells are still dry.

The process of “Growing Up” is taking on responsibility. A baby has no responsibility other than eat, sleep, and poop! As one grows up, responsibilities are bestowed upon them as chores. Going to “work” means independence because you are growing up.

Ephesians 4 exhorts believers to “grow up”, not be tossed back and forth, be able to stand on your own in maturity! How? By serving others; not being dependent on others. The five fold is all about peers depending and being accountable to peers while enhancing their own independent growth. It is not expecting others to do the gifting and passions God has gifted you with. If properly “equipped”, everyone needs to be “released” when they have “matured”, or “grown up” in the “likeness of Jesus”. That’s the purpose of the five fold!

Church leadership needs to equip the laity, not enable them; develop the laity, not mold them into little clergy; and release the laity, not control them.

If the congregation has been conditioned to believe their clergy is to be all things to all men because he has been professionally trained to do so, are they in for rude awakening. Their pastor is a human with limitations too!

My church doesn’t want the five fold because our congregation is conditioned, enabled, and expects their professional staff to do the work for them with professional excellence because they are paid with benefits. That kind of attitude will never be receptive toward the five fold.

When The Trickle Down Effect Is Mandatory

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part IV                  

….. because the five fold are positions and titles within the church, thus “leaders” exhibit these gifts, not the everyday priesthood of believers, the laity.

Some would point to Moses and his Old Testament paradigm as being scriptural worth following, for it supports the trickle down theory as Moses went into God’s Presence and talked to him as a brother. What he heard he carved in stone or shared with the elders who relayed it to God’s people. Moses “position” even trumped the office of priests in this system. A supreme leader hears, informs leadership, who apply it to the laity.

                  There is this belief system in the institutional church that believes in the trickle down theory that God speaks to his leader (Pope, Bishops, Senior Pastors), who tells his leaders (Priests, Associate Pastors), who relay what they heard to his people (the Laity). It is like the people of God are too low to hear from God; only the elite leadership can hear. The church office, title, or position determined who can and cannot hear from God.

                  The Old Testament paradigm with Moses supports the trickle down theory since Moses went into God’s Presence, talked with Him, then either carved in stone or relayed to the elders what he heard to tell the people. Moses’ “position” trumped even the priests.

                  Religious cults like the Branch Davidians under David Koresh, the Peoples’ Temple under Jim Jones, and Charles Mansion demonstrate the dangers of charismatic leaders who claim only they hear from God when there are no checks and balances.

                  Because of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falls on “all mankind”, the young, old, women, and even gentiles! The outcasts would become family members! The excluded were now accepted. “All who called on the name of the Lord” would be saved and could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Trickle Down theology was now not only obsolete but archaic.

                  God would release, His People, the Priesthood of Believers, the Body of Christ, the Church to receive the five fold giftings and passions to propel this new movement forward. Common believers became evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles by reading the Word of God and being taught by the Holy Spirit, not manly, academic scholars.

                  God originally created a priesthood to “draw near to him.” Now the Priesthood of Believers could “draw near to Him” and be capable of hearing Him for themselves. Since then the institutional church has trid to confine the capability to hear God to the clergy and their hierarchy. No Roman Catholic can question Papal Bull; no Protestant can question their clergy without being accused of lacking submission to their spiritual authorities. Laity’s frustration lay in spiritual gifts and five fold passions being released, only to face opposition from the church’s leadership who wish not to loose control. Rather than following Ephesian 4’s call to “equip the saints,” they prefer to provide “professional development” to their staffs to maintain control of leadership.

Amazingly, many church leaders took on titles of “Bishop” and “Overseer” when their attendance numbers swelled, took on the title of prophets when the prophetic was released, and became apostles when the apostolic became popular. There has been little if any recognition for the laity who have these gifts. 

                  Finally, leadership at the top of hierarchal structures lack accountability. Lower levels fall in line to keep their positions, while the five fold offers peer acceptance and accountability.  Four different passions support a gifting so diverse from their own bringing checks and balances through service and the willingness to lay down one’s life for another.

                  The clergy, at least at my church, wouldn’t let the five fold among laity flourish in fear of losing influence, affluence, and power. 

Hierarchy Divides

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part III

….. because the senior pastor heads our ship and his staff is onboard; the priesthood of believers, the laity, the saints are not “trained” professionally to lead.

                  I remember Mylon LeFevre singing, “How would you like to take a trip on that good old gospel ship?” which for me through my childhood, adolescence, and most of my adult life was the local church, often headed by a senior pastor (if a large congregation) or a pastor (in a smaller congregation) who captained the ship.

                  Senior pastors would often amass a staff of associate pastors, a worship pastor, a youth pastor, a small group pastor, a home visitation pastor, etc., etc. as well as a janitorial and secretarial crew to maintain the building and church office. All were aboard; all the pastors were professionally trained through Bible Colleges and/or Seminaries.

                  Because of the system, I’ve seen pastors come and go; it is not a permanent job to serve one congregation for a lifetime to birth, nurture, care, and release those in your congregation. The captain of the ship was often replaced every three to ten years. Pastors would abruptly leave, often not leaving time for a congregation to grieve; often leaving due to a conflict or disagreement. If retired, they did not stay, but moved on, so that they would not be a threat to the next pastor. Congregations always hoped for new direction, new life, and new leadership from each new pastor. The direction of leadership by the pastor defined the theological direction of that church. Many families remained in the local church for generations, but their leadership came and left, which caused the local church to build archives of previous pastors and their influences.

                  The westernized, institutionalized church has made higher education, and/or seminary training a prerequisite for professional training. Those with Masters Degrees and Doctorates were rewarded with larger congregations and greater pulpit presence and prestige. Today, the westernized church can’t conceive what it would be like without a dominating professional clergy presence leading its churches. This mentality would want to prevent any influence of the five fold by members of the congregation to permeate its present existence; they would oppose it.

                  Ephesians 4 does not call for “intellectual training” as the key component for “professional leadership” that establishes a professional clergy class, but calls on the elders, those older in the faith, to “equip” their fellow “saints”, not the professional staff, “for works of service.” Equip them for what? Evangelize and birth, shepherd and nurture, teach and train, embrace the prophetic by drawing closer to God, and seeing the Big Picture, the Church as a whole, with its many members, and network them into a body, a family, the Church, bringing maturity to individual believers and corporate unity to the body of Christ.

                  Training the laity to do what the clergy claims is their rightful duty would be looked upon also as heresy. Although Jesus never founded a Bible College or Seminary to train his disciples, did not stress the intellect but taught through parables that were not understood unless taught by the Holy Spirit and experienced by the believer, the institutional church still clings to its academic requirements as being central to their establishment.

                  Jesus promised that “where two or more are gathered”, there you would find Him. The Church exists when two or more believers gather in unity to exalt the Father God through His Son Jesus by His Holy Spirit. None of that needs to be done professionally; neither does “equipping the saints” for “works of service.”

                  To exalt the “saints” to be equals or superior spiritually to their professional leadership, the clergy, would be rejected and too labeled heretical by today’s church.

The Drive For Exclusive Biblically Correct Doctrine Divides

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church – Part II

….. because my institutional church values their traditions, their view of Biblically correct doctrine, and their desire for a professional hierarchal view of leadership over change, challenges to one’s theology, and having to give up control.

                  In John 17 Jesus prays that the Church will be one, but over two thousand years that prayer seems to not be answered yet. Sectarianism has brought division in the Body of Christ, the Church, as there are hundreds of different splintered groups; all claiming to have the correct Biblical perspective and correct doctrine.

                  The Gospel was a simple message at the beginning of the first century, as the twelve apostles taught the same principles with simplistic clarity. The gospels also warned of false teachers, and since that time every sectarian group thinks they teach the truth while the others are in doctrinal error somehow, being the false teachers.

                  If there is ever a time the Apostles’ teaching is needed to restore doctrinal unity, it is today, but that teaching, although simplistic, would challenge the majority of the theology of most church sects today. They wouldn’t want their theology challenged, would be offended that others have challenged their theology, and would immediately become defensive.

                  The church has been deeply entrenched in a hierarchal form of professional leadership since Rome made it their official religion. What started as leadership based on relationships turned into a hierarchal structure lead by bishops and eventually a pope. A professional priesthood/ clergy would be formed separating it from the laity, an unbreached chasm that still remains.

                  The five fold would equip, train, birth, nurture, and release common believers in their evangelistic, shepherding, teaching, prophetic, and apostolic passions that would empower the laity for service rather than the professional clergy, thus threatening the control currently held by the clergy over the laity.

                  If my church did not want its doctrines, creeds, tenants of faith, and theology challenged and wanted to maintain its control through a professional hierarchal leadership structure, it probably would not embrace the five fold mentality of equipping and empowering the saints for the works of service. It would not be open to relinquish the offices and positions it has established to maintain control. It would accuse this five fold paradigm that I propose as heretical. They’ve done it throughout history. Unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to work among them to nurture a culture of unity, they will do it again.

Why I Would Want The Five Fold In My Church

Reasons To Embrace This Incredible Journey

I believe part of this metamorphosis, the change of physical institutional structures of the church, will come through the truth and understanding of the purpose of the five different passions, drives, and points of view found in Ephesians 4 (the evangelist, shepherd, teacher, prophet, & apostle). It’s purpose is to “equip” the “saints”, not staff, for the works of “service”. The “priesthood of believers”, the Church, is about to learn how to not only serve their God but serve each other. They will be willing to lay down their lives for their God and for each other. “Service” will be their motive, their passion, their desire, and they will use their personal passion to serve the body of Christ and edify their Lord and Savior, Jesus, whose fruits will be unity.

There will be a new accountability to each other in this new paradigm, not based on a hierarchal structure of dominant leadership, but based on horizontal leadership of walking beside the brethren in service; leading them by being in front of them, covering their back when behind them, and serving when walking beside them. This paradigm will demand intimate relationships of trust through service to be established among the brethren. Instead of being accountable to a hierarchal structure or titles and positions, the accountability will come through relationships and the willingness to “lay down your life for your brethren” and serving them.

So “Why Would I Want The Five Fold In My Church?”

….. because it makes the priesthood of believers, the laity, us, accountable.

….. because it releases believers in Jesus to serve others through their passions, giftings, drives, and points of view.

….. because it replaces enabled apathy with Holy Spirit led activity for believers in Jesus.

….. because it prepares the body, a priesthood of believers, the Church, to serve.

….. because it makes believers in Jesus accountable to one another through service.

….. because instead of enablement and inactivity, it promotes equipping and releasing of believers in Jesus to actively pursue service.

….. because it requires sacrificial service, the laying down of your life, for others.

….. because it equips the local body to serve the local community through Jesus.

….. because every believer is special, gifted, and equipped through Jesus to do the Great Commission, the Golden Rule, and to love one another.

….. because it forces every believer, me, and the entire priesthood of believers, us, the church, to ask the question, “Do I totally trust the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and can I trust my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord?”

….. because it requires us to be our brother’s keeper through service and love.

….. because home grown leaders are birthed, nurtured, taught, equipped, and released by the local church, the priesthood of believers, to serve their local community.

….. because we can not afford NOT to embrace the five fold and its benefits.

Why I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church

Reasons To Reject This Incredible Journey

I believe part of this metamorphosis, the change of physical institutional structures of the church, will come through the truth and understanding of the purpose of the five different passions, drives, and points of view found in Ephesians 4 (the evangelist, shepherd, teacher, prophet, & apostle). It’s purpose is to “equip” the “saints”, not staff, for the works of “service”. The “priesthood of believers”, the Church, is about to learn how to not only serve their God but serve each other. They will be willing to lay down their lives for their God and for each other. “Service” will be their motive, their passion, their desire, and they will use their personal passion to serve the body of Christ and edify their Lord and Savior, Jesus, whose fruits will be unity.

There will be a new accountability to each other in this new paradigm, not based on a hierarchal structure of dominant leadership, but based on horizontal leadership of walking beside the brethren in service; leading them by being in front of them, covering their back when behind them, and serving when walking beside them. This paradigm will demand intimate relationships of trust through service to be established among the brethren. Instead of being accountable to a hierarchal structure or titles and positions, the accountability will come through relationships and the willingness to “lay down your life for your brethren” and serving them.

So “Why Shouldn’t I Wouldn’t Want The Five Fold In My Church?”

….. because my institutional church values their traditions, their view of Biblically correct doctrine, and their desire for a professional hierarchal view of leadership over change, challenges to one’s theology, and having to give up control.

….. because the senior pastor heads our ship and his staff is onboard; the priesthood of believers, the laity, the saints are not “trained” professionally to lead.

….. because the five fold are positions and titles within the church, thus “leaders” exhibit these gifts, not the everyday priesthood of believers, the laity.

….. because our pastor reads scripture to us, prays for us, and instructs us through his sermon when in his pulpit on Sundays; the laity, or priesthood of believers, is intellectually incapable of properly doing that themselves, I guess.

….. because our senior pastor gives evangelistic messages in his sermon, he is an evangelist. Our Pastor is a pastor, duh, of course, thus the title! His sermons prove he is a teacher. His spiritual discernment and desire to draw near to God for us demonstrates that he is a prophetic priest, and his oversight of our church as a whole makes him apostolic.  If he is doing it all, no wonder the priesthood of believers is apathetic when enabled, and has the attitude, “that is what we pay him to do, and he does it well.”

….. because you will have a free-for-all if everyone runs the church. The church is not a democracy but a theocracy, a hierarchal structure, so a senior pastor is needed (hired) to run all meetings, head all programs, and lead in an orderly fashion. Order through control prevents chaos.

….. because the purpose of the five fold is to “equip the saints” for what? Oh, “works of service”! Oh, janitorial and secretarial work or lawn care or building maintenance! But wait! To develop them into evangelists, shepherds, teachers, prophets, and apostles? Inconceivable! That would require laity to become active, not passive or lethargic. That would require them to become active, not in church programs, but in service to one another.

Revival and the 21st Century Church

Options: Traditions or Change

I haven’t written a blog entry in almost a half a year, but I am back. I have been working on editing manuscripts, including over 500 blog entries into book form  (over 800 pages worth!), and I have reread every blog entry that I have written. I truly thank the Lord for some amazing insights.

I have realized that if a church truly wants revival it will have to be willing to embrace drastic change, and historically the institutional church has only embraced gradual change. Traditions have ruled the day. There is a sense of safety in doing things the traditional way, for traditions don’t make waves. They don’t flow; they are established.

If what I am sensing is truth, that the church is entering a cocoon stage in its development, drastic change will be a requirement. The necessity of changing the church’s very structure is at the core of this metamorphosis. The caterpillar structure of the current church with is squishy body, its multi-legged segments, and its ravishing eating habits to sustain constant growth will have to yield to a hard shelled, three segmented structure with wings whose purpose is to soar into the heavens. These are two totally different structures; same creature, but new look and purpose!

The churches who are willing to face this metamorphic state will find themselves surrounded by conflicts that demands change. Every program they have will be challenged; every thing they have done will be questioned by the standard of “relationships”. How does this standard or program enhance the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and their relationship to mankind, us? Can I trust the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ? How does this standard or program enhance the relationship between man with his brother in this priesthood of believers that is known as the Church, us?  Am I truly my brothers’ keeper; if so, am I willing to “lay down my life for the brethren”? Can I trust my brother or sister in Jesus Christ? Those are the basic, challenging questions that will be asked.

Under the old caterpillar mentality of doing church, the Church cannot fly. It’s multi-legged, multi-bodied structure of splintered, divided factions, and its ravish appetite for constant church growth have often hindered its vertical relationship with the Godhead. It has not been able to bring an united, corporate atmosphere of worship or fulfilled John 17’s vision of church unity with the Godhead. Every segment feels it has the inside scoop with the Father through their church doctrine and beliefs, and the other segments of the body don’t, thus bringing division.

Under the butterfly mentality, the Church will be “equipped” to fly because it will “equip” the “saints”, the priesthood of believers, for the works of service. Everything that they do will be seen as an act of worship to the Godhead. Everything that they do will be an act of service to each other; all at the price of being willing to lay down their lives for their God and their fellow brothers and sisters, exactly what Jesus did on the Cross! The Cross is still the central component of the message of the gospel.

Every church revival that I have studied about or have personally experienced has been a messy affair as man has been challenged with new ways of doing things, new mindsets, a new awareness for the need of worship, a new burden to truly be one’s brother’s keeper, and a hunger for healthy relationships with the Godhead and the body of Christ, the priesthood of believers, that only comes through brokenness, repentance, and healing through Jesus Christ. Churches who don’t want the mess or the challenges will safely continue to crawl into its security and safety that tradition and being an institution can give. We are faced with only two options: tradition or change!

A Question: Who Can You Trust

The Lack of Trusting in Today’s Christianity

Why is it so hard for Christians to trust?  Particularly one another? At least here in the United States?

It is hard for many Christians to trust the Holy Spirit because they feel the Holy Spirit may do something rash, radical, different, obnoxious, and maybe even embarrass them! They want to keep the Holy Spirit “under control” at an arm’s distance rather than trust the Holy Spirit to be “in control”.   Because of this lack of trust, most church services have become “safe” places, with predictable, well orchestrated, micromanaged, planned programs.

It seems to be very difficult for professional Christian leaders to also trust those in their congregation, the laity. They equate themselves as “shepherds to be trusted”, but the laity as “dumb sheep,” untrustworthy.

The demise of Mars Hill Church in Northwestern United States under the leadership of Mark Discoll was caused by a “toxic atmosphere” of leadership mistrust. Leading elders would lose trust in their younger, lower positioned elders who might question them, then literally “throw them under the bus”, dismissing them for lack of submission to their leadership. The laity, on the other hand, had absolutely no voice; the only thing they were asked to do is financially give to support their “trusted lead elders” who made fabulous salaries and to volunteer to help keep church programs running smoothly.  The elders of these satellite churches, now newly formed independent churches, have chosen to continued to follow their exclusive “elder led; congregational informed” model of leadership.  The laity still has no voice, unless it is through their wallet.

Christians are known for not trusting other Christians outside their own religious “camps”. Everyone outside their tunneled scope of theology is wrong; only they are right. Every sect warns about “false teachers” and “wolves in sheep’s clothes” that are among believers in the body of Christ who believe differently than they do. They claim exclusive “Biblical truth”, as if no other Christians follow the Bible correctly. Judgment and “correct doctrine” triumphs over grace and mercy, and Pharisees again arise as they did in Jesus’ day. Jesus still cries, “Woe you scribes and Pharisees” to the religious order of our day!

Ephesians 4 says we are to “equip the saints (not the staff) for works of service.” If we truly follow this scripture, we are to not only “equip” the saints for service, but then must “trust” them by “releasing” them to be led by the Holy Spirit.

The United Methodist Church offered a Lay Speakers class to teach laity how to prepare and deliver sermons, so they could fill pulpits when clergy was on vacation or ill. Only a handful ever got to “preach” because most clergy would not “trust” the “none seminary trained” laity in their pulpit for fear of false teaching or dogma contrary to sound United Methodist teaching.

Ironically, this lack of trust has now “enabled” Christians to remain passive, for nothing is required of them but financial giving. Some churches still give mini-sermons before every offering because they fail to trust their tithers to follow through each week.

The lyrics to an old hymn was “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Today’s Christian leadership demands “obedience” from its laity, but still questions if they can “trust” them.

Five Fold Fluidity

The Five-Fold Can Be A Fluid Model

I have written several manuscripts about the five fold, still trying to decide what to do with them. I wrote a Master’s Thesis in 1999 researching the history of each of the five fold in British and American history. I rewrote it in simple language in a manuscript I called Revealing and Releasing Jesus. I followed it with four fictional novels based on the five fold: Five, Five=One, Five Squared, One of the Five. Someone recently commented that I had given them a neat formula, only to crush and destroy it by having varying applications in different situations. They discovered the secret to my five-fold formula or star shaped circle; it is very versatile and very fluid.

The church loves simple models and formulas. If a church perfects a successful model, others immediately duplicate it. Leadership conferences are born around it, but the Holy Spirit isn’t into duplicating. He is into creating and loves to speak into unique situations. The Holy Spirit applies Godly principles to bring the best outcomes for the kingdom of God.

I believe the five fold to be linear based and should not be hierarchal in nature, for no one five-fold passion should be elevated above another. Each with its own place, vision, voice, and point of view, if allowed to dominate or be overpowering, can bring division in the body. If that same vision, voice, and point of view be in a submissive, service spirit as equal peers, it can bring unity to the body. The five fold is powerful when it operates in unity from each, through each, and to each of the five. It creates a circle of love.

They keys to this models success is found in allowing the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to be in charge, for it is a very fluid spirit, working in many ways naturally and supernaturally. The Spirit knows the will of the Father, how to glorify the Son, and how to instruct the saints, the Bride, the Church. Giving up control is difficult for any institution because control defines an institution’s image. Giving up control to something unpredictable and fluid can be scary. The Church’s stringent control over the Holy Spirit led it into the Dark Ages. Why does the church old on to its traditions, just as their Jewish forefathers had, getting the same frustrating results? When the early Jewish founding fathers of the Church yielded to the Holy Spirit rather than traditions, a powerful movement of God emerged, the Church.

So I ask you, the reader, “Can you trust the Holy Spirit?” Are you willing to allow Him to “teach you all things” about the kingdom of God. Is he directing your spiritual journey? Are you holding on to control, or are you willing to release it to him? For the five-fold to work effectively, relinquishing and releasing is mandatory. The model won’t work if the Holy Spirit isn’t in charge! It will only be another lifeless institutional model if implemented without the Holy Spirit’s leading, guidance, and instruction.

In the next several blogs we will look at this model and its potential if we yield to the unpredictable, the Holy Spirit to initiate it, mold it, lead it, direct it, and form it according to the diverse believers’ talents in the body of Christ. Institutions love to reproduce themselves, thinking their way is the only right way which brings division in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit produces organisms, living forms of a living gospel of a living Word in unique and diverse ways, yet producing unity. If Jesus prayer of John 16 is to come true, unity is mandatory. “Father, make them one as we are one!” The “laying down of your life for your brethren” is the mandatory ingredient for unity, and the Holy Spirit who works with the heart and the spirit of man can do that by bringing repentance, revival, and restoration.

Let’s continue to look at scenarios of how the Holy Spirit can work in this model, uniquely through the people yielding to it and their specific situations.