Spiritual Gifts: Gifts of the Son
The gifts of the Son:
Ephesians 4:7-16 reads:
7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,
“When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
What beautiful imagery we are given. Christ descending to our world and ascending back into the heavens so that He might fill the entire universe with Himself. He would fill the entire world with Himself by releasing gifts to His people.
The gifts of the Son include aka five-fold:
The apostles
The prophet
The evangelist
The shepherd (The pastor)
The teacher
(Just like the hand, they were all intended to function together in unity.)
The gifts of the Son are given to the church for 3 main purposes:
To equip God’s people to do God’s work
To equip more leaders
To build up (edify) the church (the body of Christ)
To be a blessing to the church as a whole
To grow in maturity
Note: The word of God tells us that “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” (v.13) This tells us that the five-fold gifts are for today since we have not arrived to the full and complete standard of Christ.
How is the 5-fold meant to operate?
Ship analogy:
Apostles: are the helmsman. They stir the ship forward towards new growth and territory. Often the visionaries.
Prophets: are the sails. They are blown by the wind of God and want to go where He is. They blow up towards the Father.
Evangelists: are the rescue crew. They are looking outward to save those who may have fallen overboard or are lost at sea.
Shepherds: are the serve crew. They are inward, caring for those on the ship who need care.
Teachers: are the anchors. They love to go deep and always want to be rooted in the word of God.
***Christ is the captain!***
Each gift pulls in different directions: Forward, upward, outward, inward, downward,. This makes working together a challenge and a huge reason why people quit trying to function together. However, all are meant to move together as each operates the way they were designed.
Does everyone operate in the 5-fold?
Remember there are 21 spiritual gifts, which fall in 3 categories: gifts of the Spirit, gifts of the Father and gifts of the Son. We all get a gift, but we don’t get them all. Some of us may have a lean towards one of these 5 gifts, (prophetic edge, apostolic vision) but that doesn’t make you a prophet or apostle.
To operate in one of the 5 fold gifts means that you have been divinely appointed by God to equip God’s people and edify the church. This gift is submitted to Christ, godly authority and a local church. It is recognized by your leadership and you are released to operate in your gifting to edify and equip the body. (No one self identifies in the kingdom of God)
I believe that one of the main reasons the church struggles to embrace the five-fold ministries is because it goes unsubmitted. There are many men and women who possess one of the gifts of the Son, but are unsubmitted. They refuse to submit their gift to the Lord, to godly authority or to be planted and serving their local church. They use their giftings to build their own thing, unto their name. When a gift goes unsubmitted, the results are harmful to the body because it is unto man, not unto God.
How do you know if it is unto man/built around man?
Here are 3 red flags:
The ministry is named after themselves
The leader is not submitted to godly authority (no covering)
Unsubmitted to the local church
Beware of this!
Spiritual gifts are not given for personal gain, to build a personal platform or ministry, but to equip God’s people and edify the body. Spiritual gifts were designed to be submitted to God, then to godly authority and committed to a local body. Be cautious of ministers that are independent, not submitted to godly authority and not planted in a local church. God has not called us to be independent, but interdependent (submitted to His design for the church).
What should the gifts of the Son look like?
One way you know you have the gift of an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd or Teacher is when your desire is to see people “catch it”. When you are passionate about seeing others elevated and empowered. When your greatest joys come from seeing people operate in their callings and giftings and go further than you. In fact, that is why you love to edify and equip the church because you long for them to go further than you. For their reach to be greater than yours, for them to surpass you because you are about the Father’s business and about seeing the entire universe filled with CHRIST HIMSELF. Not little copy and paste apostles that look just like you, but apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers that look just like CHRIST!
An apostle rejoices when He sees territory taken back for the Kingdom of light, not when they gain fame around their city.
A prophet rejoices when a Word from the Lord sets their sister free, not when they are known as THE prophet of the Lord!
An evangelist rejoices when 1 comes to the feet of Jesus, not when 1,000s celebrate him because he is a great motivational speaker!
A shepherd rejoices when someone receives inner healing during a secret place deep dive, not because the church is growing in popularity.
A teacher rejoices when they see a student apply what they have learned from the word of God, not because they are tweetable.
How to operate in the 5-fold:
The goal of the 5-fold is unity. Moving together, functioning in different ways, but with the same destination.
***Importance of a united language in culture. Helps to ensure we are moving together in unity with the same vision, values, characteristics, standards of leadership and covenant. We all have different giftings, but our vision is the same, our values are the same, our standards of leadership are the same and our covenant is the same and we are committed to arriving at the same destination: to be the place where heaven touches earth!
Now if the goal of the five-fold is unity unto the Lord, the key is forgiveness.
Listen to how Epehsians 4 begins:
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. 7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift[a] through the generosity of Christ. (v. 1-7)
Paul, before speaking on the gifts of the Son, begs us to lead a life worthy of your calling! Remember, our gifts are awesome, but it is the fruit Christ is looking at. What is it worth if we operate in many gifts, but our lives are not worthy of the calling!?
Paul, before he even discusses the gifts of the Son, prepares us by telling us: “Listen, expect to be hurt, expect to be offended, expect to be annoyed by others, in fact prepare for it and make room for it, being ready to forgive A LOT as you pursue unity!”
A standard of leadership at East Gate is forgiveness. We say it this way: Jesus forgave so we forgive. The moment we stop forgiving, we stop reflecting the heart of the Father. Refusing to forgive is spiritual death for you and the people you lead.
This is why forgiveness is a standard of leadership here at East Gate. It is not an option for our leaders (news flash: it is not an option for any believer) because we understand that where humans exist, messiness exists also. We understand that by embracing spiritual gifts we welcome the tension that comes as we navigate how to run together. This is why we build culture at every board meeting, every leadership meeting, every counseling session because we are committed to arriving at the same destination. Each bringing their gift to the table, submitted to God. We all function differently then one another, but we are all headed in the same direction. To see a city transformed for Jesus. To see every citizen of Bethlehem become the place where heaven touches earth.
