Four Not Five

There are four leadership roles in the Church. In other words, there are four positions of authority. The men who have such positions should be respected and honored among us. Paul, the great church planter, enumerates these four positions for us in Ephesians.

And he [Christ] gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some shepherd-teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service (Ephesians 4:11-12; NASB, MacArthur).

Other translations help us to understand that there are not five, but four leadership roles. The last one (pastor-teachers) should be hyphenated.

Other translations that nicely bring out the meaning of the original Greek are the following:

He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some proclaimers of good news, and some shepherds and teachers (Young’s Literal Translation).

His ‘gifts to men’ were varied. Some he made his messengers, some prophets, some preachers of the Gospel; to some he gave the power to guide and teach his people (Phillips).

And he himself gave some, on the one hand, as apostles, and, on the other hand, as prophets, and still again some as bringers of good news, and finally, some as pastors who are also teachers (Wuest).

Four Basic Activities

Much more than a statement about who is important for the functioning of the Church, more than a hierarchy, these four leadership roles define Church activities. Think of the list as a summary of the activities of those who lead by example in the Church. The list speaks to what we do as the Body of Christ. These are four essential activities for God’s people:

• laying doctrinal foundations (the function of an apostle)

• prophesying (the function of a prophet)

• evangelization (the function of an evangelist)

• teaching (the job of a pastor-teacher)

When the Church carries out these functions harmoniously, it’s because we are working the way God wants us to work. The men who lead in laying foundations, giving prophecy, doing evangelization, and teaching are called apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers in Ephesians, but you can call them whatever your culture and language deem appropriate. Even in Biblical times, different places used different names for the roles. That's because it’s the function that matters, not the title.

Apostles

Call an apostle a missionary, a church planter, or a founder—if you want. As long as that man is sent by God and is establishing churches in the Truth, he’s doing his job. God will be happy with him. The missionary’s fulfillment of his duty is what matters in God’s sight, not the name people give him. Here's Paul saying goodbye to believers of Ephesus as he boards a ship from Miletus.

Evangelists

Likewise, you can call an evangelist a preacher, a herald (1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:1), a soul winner (a term Christians used in the 19th century), or the modern version: outreach coordinator. Each of these names are fine—as long as the evangelist baptizes people as a conclusion to his preaching--and his preaching must consist of repentance, forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ, and the Resurrection which ushers us into the Kingdom of God.

If he proclaims those four things, he’s fulfilling his role as an evangelist. God will be pleased with that man whether people call him an evangelist or not. It’s the activity that counts in the eternal judgment.

Pastor-Teachers

Pastors are called by at least four other names in the New Testament: bishops, overseers, elders, and teachers—those titles change from Bible passage to Bible passage, and context to context. Today, there are even some denominations that call their pastors superintendents—a legitimately Biblical name. That last one matches well with the original Greek word epi-scopos, often translated over-seer. As long as a man assumes a pastoral role over God’s flock, and feeds God’s people with the Word, you may call him by the name that’s most appropriate for your culture.

The idea is not to bicker over words and definitions, but to assure that God’s will is being fulfilled in the Church. We encourage men to lead the Church in its activities because we love the Church. We need men to fulfill these four roles because through these roles the Church can be all God has designed it to be, a living body. Yes, the Church is an organism that establishes the Truth, proclaims prophetic words, wins souls, and teaches people all they need to know.

The Importance of a Founder

There’s an order among the four functions, an order of importance. Although no one person is more important than the whole, apostles have the first place among us. Every Christian should recognize that founders are the principal leaders in the Church.

Every local church is duty-bound to conserve the principles upon which it was founded. To conserve sound doctrine, members need to give honor to the founders of the church. We need to act like children who appreciate their parents.

When the Corinthians grew cold in their love for the apostle Paul, it was tragic. Disregarding Paul was tantamount to turning their backs on sound doctrine. Why? Because Paul laid the solid doctrinal foundations of that church. He fathered them.

I am not writing these things to shame you, but admonishing you as my dear children. For if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the Gospel (1 Corinthians 4:14-15; LEB).

This same Paul, the apostle to the Corinthians, did not preach in places where Jesus had already been preached. Why not? He didn’t want to build upon another foundation.

The Apostle Paul wanted to invest his time establishing solid Biblical foundations, not wasting his time adding new floors to weak foundations. Building upon weak foundations is futile. It's a waste of time.

I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation (Romans 15:20; NASB).