With The Demise Of Apostles, Prophets And Evangelists, Are Pastors And Teachers Next?

Is the church suffering from a lack of these five
kinds of leaders?

He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 

Ephesians 4:11-13 (CEV)

Apostles (sent ones) were recognized in the early church as having a special first hand relationship to Jesus, especially those who were his disciples throughout his ministry, and as having a special role in establishing communities of faithful followers of "The Way." Paul, Barnabas, and Junia, though not of the Twelve, are also recognized as functioning in that role, and the term came to used for emissaries of the faith to outlying regions or people groups, such as Patrick, "the apostle of Ireland" or Boniface, the "apostle of the Germans." Apostles are laser focused on helping believers remain faithful to the life and teaching of Jesus, and to help expand the network of Jesus followers around the world.

Prophets are equally invested in maintaining the integrity and faithfulness of God's people. According to Richard Rohr, prophecy is "the least licensed and rewarded of any of the charisms (gifts) or ministries." To maintain their integrity and ability to speak truth even when it is unpopular, Rohr believes they should avoid dependence on financial rewards, "in order to ensure the freedom of their soul and its message." They are a necessary and often missing expression of Jesus's role as Prophet and Truth-teller in God's worldwide empire.

Evangelists are often thought of as Billy Graham types who bring gospel messages to large crowds. But in the New Testament they are more likely ordinary believers with a special passion for sharing the good news that God loves everyone and is recruiting people from all over the world to join a movement governed by the Prince of Peace. With fewer people identified as evangelists today, the church has become dependent on outsourcing their recruiting efforts to special mission agencies and to mega church preachers with the goal of selling the gospel as if it were a product. Such efforts are often led by charismatic personalities and involve huge investments in church real estate and salaried staff rather than being a natural part of each congregation's ministry.

This leaves pastors and teachers, often people hired from outside the congregation as trained specialists in caregiving and preaching, and as the primary means of nurture in our churches. But is that really what God intends?

What if we were to revive the first century tradition of having home-grown and Spirit-confirmed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers emerge from each of our communities of faith?

I welcome your comments.