Are you a lopsided Christian?

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…”
Ephesians 4:11-12

Have you ever heard of weightlifters whose upper body strength is like Arnold Schwarzenegger's back in his heyday, but their legs look like Olive Oyl’s from the old Popeye cartoons? (Wow, I just hugely dated myself). What was their problem? They worked excessively on one area of their body while neglecting another. This is where I think many in the body of Christ are. We’ve focused greatly on one area, neglected the others, and have ended up as lopsided believers!

This could apply to a bunch of different areas, but I am talking about the fivefold ministry.

What is that? The scripture above says that Christ gave these five graces—apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher—to equip the saints for ministry and build up the body of Christ.

I just think we’ve been built up A LOT in some of those graces, and VERY LITTLE to none in others.

As a preface, I understand that some churches don’t even believe that apostles and prophets are for today (which would clearly contribute to the neglect and lopsidedness). And this would be a stumbling block to even finish reading this article. 

But we’re going to take scripture at face value and trust what it says—Christ gave some to be apostles and some to be prophets, and so on  “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13) I don’t think we’ve gotten there yet, so it’s safe to say that God’s plan is still in effect.

I don’t mean to say that there is the same type of apostles today as the original twelve—eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection and writers of scripture. But there are people who carry that same grace to pioneer, establish and oversee churches, and move in signs and wonders.

I’ve found that because many have not embraced apostolic and prophetic ministry, they’ve been a bit lopsided in their view of the kingdom and Christian life.

God’s plan is all five, but many have embraced only three.

Let’s take a closer look:

1. Identify the five

Here is a brief overview of the fivefold ministry.

Apostle: Sent ones. Pioneers, the ones who establish and oversee churches, move in signs and wonders, and establish the culture of the kingdom. Some would say missionaries.

Jesus borrowed the word “apostle” from the Romans. “It referred to the leader of a special envoy. That leader had the job of establishing the culture of the empire he represented into the daily lives of the citizens the empire conquered…Jesus adopted the term to reveal His intentions. His apostles lead a special envoy of people who have the job of establishing the culture of the empire of heaven into the daily lives of the citizens they serve.” (Bill Johnson, The Essential Guide to Healing, p. 117)

Prophet: Prophets reveal God's heart to His people, giving guidance to individuals and the body, giving revelation, as well as interpretation, application and timing. They speak forth the word of the Lord to a particular body of believers.

Evangelist: An evangelist carries a great burden for those who are not a part of the kingdom of God yet, and an anointing to preach the gospel to them that comes with great conviction and draws them to the Lord. They will often have signs and wonders following them to confirm their message.

Pastor: A shepherd who deeply cares for his sheep, ready to lay down everything for them. He wants them to be fed, to grow, to be equipped, to develop their giftings and step into the calling of God.

Teacher: The teacher illumines Scripture and brings forth truth never seen by their listeners before. They reveal God’s mind and hidden things in the Word. They ground the church in the truth.

Apostles govern.
Prophets guide.
Evangelists gather.
Pastors guard.
Teachers ground.*

All of their functions are to equip the believers for the work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ…shall I say, proportionately. (We need them all!)

*most definitions are taken from sandboxchurch.com article on fivefold ministry

2. Take note of your emphasis

Ed Cole said, “The characteristic of a kingdom emanates from the character of the king.”

What “king” have you been under the most?
Which ones are you getting leadership and equipping from the most?

Are you only listening to teachers?
Are you only around prophetic people?
Are you neglecting the evangelists?

You get the point.

It seems like people who are in a prophetic culture have to have a prophetic word to do ANYTHING. I’m like, open your Bible. There are all kinds of words in there for you…lol.

But then there are others who hang around teachers all the time but need clear direction in their personal life. The teachers could give them principles…but a prophetic word would really be useful.

There are some who are so pastoral and just want to care for and take care of the people who are in the “sheepfold” but have neglected the lost “sheep” that are wandering all around them. They need to get around some evangelists to fire them up for sharing the gospel with the lost and feel God’s compassion.

Sometimes pastoral people can only see who’s in front of them, but the apostolic people see the big picture and vision God has for the community. 

All of the graces are vital and needed; however, I think you can see how easy it is to get lopsided.

I believe that God puts us around certain ministries because He wants to develop that grace in our lives. But I also know that God wants all five to equip us with their unique grace and gift.

3. Get balanced out

The challenge I see for the general body of Christ is that we’ve embraced the teaching anointing above all the other graces Christ has given.

Surely, all of the fivefold ministries should be able to teach. But each one of them will teach from a different perspective.

I encourage you to get balanced out.

Don’t just work out your upper body and have twig legs!

Question for church leaders: Are you giving your congregations a well-balanced diet of all the fivefold ministries?

The fullness of equipping the saints will not come unless all five have a voice in the people’s lives.

One thing my pastor did over the years was brought in other ministers who were equipped differently than him; which allowed us at the church to get a “well-balanced” diet. 

At the end of the day, we should be rooted in the local church and submitted to the leadership there. God places each member in the body as He sees fit, and you’re where you’re at for a reason. God is developing you in specific areas on purpose.

However, a great opportunity that we have in our day is access to resources. We can turn on YouTube or a podcast and find great ministries that vary across the board of the fivefold. However you do it, get balanced out.

If you’re in super teacher mode, go hang out with some prophetic people.
If you’re always around prophetic people, go hang out with some pastoral people.

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but one goal we all have in common is to be like Jesus.

Essentially, the fivefold ministry is Jesus breaking Himself into five different graces and giving some to take on those functions and train others.

Jesus is THE Apostle. THE Prophet. THE Evangelist. THE Pastor. THE Teacher.

We’ll find that we lean towards some more than others; but if we really want to be like Jesus, we should embrace them all.

Then, instead of lopsided Christians, we’ll be well-rounded Christians.

Question: What has been your emphasis? How could you get balanced out? Comment below!

I preached about the apostolic anointing recently at Fire & Glory: