Ephesians 4:11 - 13 Spirtual Gifts of Leadership

Spirtual Gifts of Leadership

Ephesians 4:11 - 13

We have talked about the Purpose of Gifts,to build up believers and win people to Christ Next we explained how we can discover our gifts through working for God, and a discerning congregation.

A spiritual gift is a supernatural motivation or ability, given by the Holy Spirit to each believer so that every believer can minister effectively in the church and in the world.

Today we would like to explain what the gifts of leadership are like.

Ephesians 4:11 - 13 tells us that God has given gifts to people who are to use them for the leadership of the church. These gifts of leadership are to guide the church and to equip believers. We see that there are 5 gifts mentioned in this passage: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

Those with gifts of leadership are to equip other believers to minister effectively and use the gifts God has given to each one. They are to guide believers and keep order in the church. Part of the problem in the Corinthian church was not that they lacked gifts but they did not have strong leadership to help keep the church orderly.

An Apostle is a person sent out by God and the church to proclaim the word of God, make disciples and establish the disciples into a church with Christ as the center. His work is often to minister to another culture and the goal should be to start new churches. Examples of apostles in the Bible are Paul and Barnabas, Timothy and Silas.

This person is able to make friends with different types of people and adapt to different cultures. An apostle is a person who learns other languages and cultures and presnt the gospel in such a way that people are drawn to Christ. This person must be flexible, creative and be able to fit in with new customs and practices. He must be able to eat new foods and live in all kinds of living conditions. An apostle should be of good health and physical strength to take the difficulties of new climates and conditions.

God needs apostles even in Canada to start new churches and reach new people groups.

A prophet is a person who explains what God has revealed to him. A prophet seeks to expose wrong motives, actions by presenting God's truth. A prophet sometimes seems cold and uncaring but he is so concerned about getting things straightened out that he does not always do it with love. He is one who dispises evil and often has the ability to sense dishonesty. A prophet tends to judge quickly. Some examples in the Bible are Elijah, Isaiah, Amos and Peter.

The evangelist. One Christian writer (Peter Wagner) says that about 10% of every congregation has the gift of evangelism. This is a person with a real desire to lead people to Christ. They get impatient whenothers are not out doing visistation or sharing truth. They tend not to be too concerned about organizing or even discipling after people become Christians. Their theme verse comes from Proverbs 11:30, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who is wise wins souls". Biblical examples of this gift can be found in Philip and Stephen.

Even though there are those with a special gift of evangelism, God wants every Christian to share with unbelievers. God wants the Whole church to be involved in helping those who do not know about Christ to find a very fulfilling life in Christ. We all need to learn from those God has gifted with the gift of evagelist.

The gift of pastor is not to be confused with the position in the church where someone is hired to preach and lead a congregation. In the new testament we never read about a church hiring a minister. The church did support people in full time ministry but Paul who is an example of this worked sometimes for his own support. In the New Testament there are several terms which refer to this person, pastor, elder and bishop. We do not have time to explain each in detail but they do refer to the same person.

A person who has this gift would guide or shepherd the flock. A pastor is one who is concerned about the spiritual well-being of the church. He would lead or co-ordinate, counsel and disciple believers. 1 Peter 5: 1 - 4 tells us of the way a pastor is to minister. Those involved in serving God's kingdom will receive a crown for their faithful service.

God has gifted some in the church teach the basic truths of scripture. In the early church those with this gift interpreted the Old Testament scriptures and explained the teaching of Jesus. A teacher enjoys leading Bible Studies and sharing God's truth in a way which transforms the lives of people. I depend on those who have done a good job of research and study to clearly interpret and explain difficult passages in the Bible. Luke was an excellent teacher.

These are gifts which God gives to His people. We need to discern those who have been given these gifts in the church and encourage them. We as a group need to sit down and determine who God has given these gifts to and give them the freedom to use these gifts in the church.

There are many tools available to help people to discover gifts.

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Dec 10/95