Fivefold Ministry | Apostolic Culture (Part One)

Over the past years, I have been doing an extensive study on the fivefold ministry. The fivefold ministry has always been something that has fascinated and challenged me. 

If you’re anything like me, then you’ve most likely have heard hundreds of perspectives of what the fivefold ministry is. However, there’s always this one theme that I have listened to with so many that I just can not get my head around. 

This one thing that I hear from the various teachings is how they characterize individual gifts. The problem that this leads to is we, in our human understanding of things or lack of seeing beyond the external, we in our minds categorize individuals based on what we see instead of what they’ve been anointed for. 

Now, this message is not to learn how to categorize someone, no, in fact, it’s the exact opposite. It’s to learn how to recognize an anointing. That doesn’t mean you say, “Hey, I’m this” or “hey, you’re a fill in the blank.” My heart is to break down the perspective that anointing and gifting have to look in a particular manner. 

For example, I’ve heard how an apostle is a quiet person, extremely introverted. Always to himself. However, I’ve also listened to the polar opposite; apostles are loud, extroverted, and so forth. 

I’ve heard just about every characteristic of each fivefold ministry, and I can confidently say that it isn’t all true. I know of numerous leaders who play a specific role in the fivefold, and they look like nothing depicted in some of the teachings that I’ve heard. That doesn’t mean the teaching is flawed or wrong; it just means that we can’t and shouldn’t categorize people based on how one acts or what we see them doing. 

Fivefold is first and foremost a gift, and secondly, it’s an anointing. God will place these things on whom He pleases. Just because a person is loud, abrasive, or extroverted doesn’t mean they are the evangelist. I have a friend who you wouldn’t even suspect this guy is evangelizing left and right because his personality and nature is the polar opposite to his anointing. 

Now, I don’t want to get narrow-focused on the human attributes of someone that will classify them this or that. 

So below, I did my best to mention attributes that come with the anointing. Some may seem like human attributes; however, it does not say how it looks. I wanted to leave that open because people of different personalities will manifest these attributes differently, and that’s okay. 

Before I dissect individual gifting, I want to mention the importance of why we need a fivefold ministry environment in church, or another term, an apostolic culture. 

Why is the Fivefold Ministry essential?

When you belong to a fivefold or apostolic church, you’ll quickly begin to realize certain things that you will not see in a typical church. 

You’ll learn quickly that a fivefold church heavily revolves around the presence of God. Vision and mission statements revolve around His presence. In a fivefold church, dreams, visions, and risks are celebrated. The environment of the fivefold is hugely empowering. People are empowered and pushed to jump into the destiny God has for them. 

Why is a fivefold culture so empowering? To put it simply, because a fivefold culture is called to equip the saints and send out. In other words, the word equip in its root definition means to “align,”; meaning the fivefold helps to align the body of Christ with heaven’s purpose for them. To be unified in the spirit with His kingdom and His will so that they may be equipped and sent out into the earth. 

Fivefold culture enjoys the sending. Its value is we are more robust and better because you go. We are expanding the kingdom of God because you are stepping into everything God has called you to be. 

The value system is based on how to serve God rather than serving people. 

Now, don’t twist my words. That doesn’t mean fivefold forgets about humanity. It just means that the reward or satisfaction is not in catering to a large body, but how can we join with heaven and see heaven manifested on earth. 

See, in a true fivefold or apostolic culture, everyone does their part so well that heaven and earth are being served well for the glory of God. No one is left clueless; no one is left behind; no one is insignificant. Everyone plays a crucial and significant role in making sure the needs are fulfilled. 

I will have another teaching soon on the importance of a church being led by not a pastor but an apostle. That is a teaching all on its own; however, that will be for a different time. 

In part two, I will break down the attributes of each fivefold anointing.