Twisted Sisters - Common Bible Misconceptions -Pt.1

Part 1 - There is No Five-fold Ministry
People love to take the ancient writings and fit them into neat little packages with colorful bows to make them more marketable.But when an individual really comes face to face with the word of God, the encounter is not usually so nice and neat. Just as God cannot be tamed, when He speaks it often reflects his wildness and goes over the heads of all but the most studious.

Many a Christian leader have I heard do amazing tricks using random verses of the Bible with the skill of a seasoned magician. I have no problem with preachers, only with taking random scriptures out of context. This is one such case.
The New King James version of the Bible records Ephesians 4:13 as follows: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the minstry..." Somewhere someone took this list and made a really marketable doctrine out of it, and now the term "Five-fold ministry" is a common phrase in the Christian-speak dictionary. The fivefold ministry is usually referred to with awe, like it is the all-star list on the roster of Christian workers. Be one of these and you are at the top of the heap. Usually paid for it too.

As if Ephesians was the only epistle in the New Testament.

There is something of a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians:
"And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts..."

Most assuredly the same exact list mentioned by Paul as in Ephesians, but to a different church, and the gifts that he mentions are pointedly different. There is no evangelist and no pastor mentioned - instead, a handful of other gifts are thrown in as companions to the apostles, prophets, and teachers - miracles, healings, helps, administrations, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. Maybe fivefold is more like nine-fold. Or maybe if we put both lists from Ephesians and Corinthians together, it is the eleven-fold ministry? But that can't be right, eleven isnt a very round number... won't sell as well...

Anyway, it seems apparent that when examining these lists side by side, there is no set-in-stone five-fold ministry. There are only gifts that God has passed out to everyone in his body to profit the whole. Perhaps there is a significance and a heavier responsibility behind the consistent mention of a few key giftings first (apostles, prophets, teachers), but it should be without dispute that the ministry is not five-fold... rather we should suffice it to say that it is manifold. The gifts are many and ALL are vital. All are used for the same purpose - to build up the whole body - till we all come in the unity of the faith and a perfect knowledge of the son of God.

One further note - Ephesians 4:13 is the ONLY verse in the New Testament which uses the word "pastor" (shepherd) when describing a gifting. Pastor and teacher are not mentioned as two separate gifts, they are mentioned as being the same gift - "pastors and teachers" - a teacher IS a shepherd (so then it is a four-fold ministry in Ephesians 4... eh, you get the idea) A shepherd feeds the sheep (1 Pet. 5:1). The idea of a one-man "pastor" over each church does not find its roots in the primitive Christian church or in the scriptures. But I will address that topic as the next common biblical misconception in part 2!