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The Ascension Gifts, also referred to as the 5-Fold Ministry, or the Ephesians 4:11-13 Ministries
“And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], [and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church]; until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity]” (Ephesians 4:11-13 AMP)
Pastors have a unique gift, it is unparalleled to the other gifts in that, if they are genuine “Pastors”, they show the heart of God.
Their ability to show compassion, sympathy and empathy, shows the love that God has for His people.
They are truly shepherds of the flock (congregation).
These people feel what people are going through.
Pastors genuinely feel empathy with the brother or sister they come in contact with.
They seem to get involved with the individual, this of course can be dangerous if they get too involved and lose their perspective.
Teachers and Pastors can help people to understand difficult teaching by dissecting each part and feeding it to the individual.
Pastors are very protective of their people.
They operate at a very high level of mercy.
They don’t push themselves forward as some of the other gifts do.
They have a tendency to feel guilty if they’re not active in looking after the people they feel that need help.
When you look at these pastors, you can sense they genuinely care.
At times they think they don’t care enough. This is because they see the needs of others and feel bad because they can’t help them.
This gift is essential for the correct functioning of the Body of Christ.
Without pastors’ people will not be fed. Pastors lead us to green pastures.
Psalm 23 is a great Scripture that typifies Pastors (shepherds):
“The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. ……” (Psalm 23:1-3 AMP)
All people, and it doesn’t matter how long you have been a Christian, need a pastor.
I’m not talking about someone who needs a leader, because leaders can be rather instructional, but everyone needs the listening ear of a pastor. They just want to listen to you. Some of the best pastors in your church are those who do not have the Gift of Leadership.
(Although leadership is a wonderful gift of God and there are many of them in the Body of Christ.)
Nobody is beyond needing pastoral care at times.
Genuine pastors have great wisdom and insight to impart.
I believe the Church, in some cases – or even in most cases, has taken people who were called by God into some specific 5 fold ministry – and trained them all, (or literally forced them), into the 5 fold Ministry office of Pastor.
In other cases some people themselves, who have felt the call of God upon their life, have seen being trained as a Pastor the only training available – and in many cases they are right.
How many Apostle schools do you know off?
Or Prophet schools?
Or (Biblical) Teacher schools?
But there are heaps of theological and Bible colleges only to willing to turn everyone who comes through the door into a “Pastor” – whether that is their calling by God or not.
So what are 5 fold Ministry Pastors?
In the Bible Pastors are often referred to as “shepherds” – or as “shepherds of God’s flock”.
So obviously there is a large correlation between “shepherding” and “Pastoring”.
In fact Pastors are the shepherds of God’s flock – the congregations to which God has entrusted to them to watch over.
One of the qualities of a Pastor is that they care for the one lost sheep from their flock.
They actively seek that stray, even if it means leaving the rest of the flock in safety while they go searching.
Unfortunately today though, many Pastors want to care for the flock and want the flock to grow, – without worrying about any singular lost sheep – whom they might loose or whom may stray.
In fact over the years I have heard such lost sheep referred to as “dross” or other derogatory terms.
Personally I can find no “New Testament” Biblical reference to “dross” whatsoever – let alone in as far as it applies to Christians.
In fact using this and other such derogatory terms really deny these people their humanity, their worth and their value to God.
Surely these are the very sheep that the shepherd has lost and the very ones that the shepherd needs to search out and find and bring back to the fold?
Jesus died for them.
He would have died for them even if we had never been borne and needed our salvation also.
Have no doubt that there are, and can be, bad shepherds:
Jeremiah 50:6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.
A good Godly Pastor will see that his congregation is fed, he will restore your soul, he will not ask to much of you but see that you are also rested, he will guide you in paths of righteousness, he will give you comfort when needed, he will shower you with goodness and blessing and love and he will keep you in the House of the Lord forever.
Godly Pastors care so much for you, their sheep, that you can actually feel their concern when talking with them.
You can hear it in the quaver of their voices when people are hurting.
You can see it in their eyes when they are speaking.
Their empathy and concern and love show forth.
It doesn’t mean they will always be right – but because they are Godly Pastors it does mean that they see to serve God with honesty and integrity and they do love their sheep.
Pastors must stay close to God and give every situation and problem into His hands otherwise being a pastor and operating in pastoral ministry can be very stressful.
Studies have shown that stress leads to 90% of diseases.
‘Doctors, lawyers and clergy have the most problems with drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide.’
Since 1980, studies in the U.S. describe an alarming spread of burnout in the profession.
For example, Jerdon found three out of four parish ministers (sample: 11,500) reported severe stress causing ‘anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation’.
Why is pastoral ministry so stressful?
The reasons may be as numerous and unique as there are pastors.
However, recent research is unanimous in citing the following problem areas:
* the disparity between (somewhat idealistic) expectations and hard reality;
* lack of clearly defined boundaries – tasks are never done;
* workaholism (‘bed-at-the-church’ syndrome);
* the feeling of incompetence in leading an army of volunteers;
* conflict in being a leader and servant at the same time;
* intangibility – not being able to quantify success in their role
* confusion of role identity with self-image – pastors derive too much self-esteem from what they do;
* time management problems (yet pastors have more ‘discretionary time’ than any other professional group);
* few ‘perks’;
* multiplicity of roles;
* inability to produce ‘win-win’ conflict resolutions;
* difficulty in managing interruptions;
* clergy are too serious, they have difficulty being spontaneous;
* preoccupation with ‘playing it safe’ to avoid enraging powerful parishioners;
* ‘administration overload’ – too much energy expended in areas of low reward;
* loneliness – the pastor is less likely to have a close friend than any other person in the community.
The other danger for those in ministry, and particularly pastors, is burnout. Burnout is emotional exhaustion, ‘compassion fatigue’ (Dr Arch Hart). And the most conscientious people-helpers are most vulnerable.
Dr. Arch Hart(1) says burnout symptoms may include demoralization (belief you are no longer effective as a pastor); depersonalization (treating yourself and others in an impersonal way); detachment (withdrawing from responsibilities); distancing (avoidance of social and interpersonal contacts); and defeatism (a feeling of being ‘beaten’).
Christina Maslach(2), described burnout as ‘a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion marked by physical depletion and chronic fatigue, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and by development of a negative self-concept and negative attitudes towards work, life and other people’.
Personality and attitudinal factors may increase the propensity to burnout.
For example: the pressure to succeed; an authoritarian personality which may come across insensitively (or a too-sensitive person who can feel with others’ hurts but who is vulnerable to criticism); inner-directed rage; under-assertiveness, feeling victimized; carrying too much guilt about our humanness (an occupational hazard for clergy, so we develop facades for various occasions); inflexibility; and many more.
The essence of the problem, however, is the clash between expectations and reality.
Clergy, mostly pastors, are often put on a pedestal – by others, and by themselves.
Many of these expectations just can’t be met.
They try to please, but may either become too goal-oriented for their people, or else too accommodating to their spiritual ‘slackness’. People-helpers have another hazard: in counselling they’re exposed almost exclusively to the negative sides of people’s lives.
So, the pastoral leader ought to spend as much time with the strong as with the weak – for his or her own sake (they give him strength and support), for the leaders’ sakes (they can be trained for ministry), and for the spiritual and emotional health of the whole church (there are more ministering persons available to help).
Theologian A.B. Bruce made the observation that Jesus spent more time with the disciples than with the crowds.
All of this is why nobody, including pastors themselves, are beyond needing a pastor and pastoral care at times.
(1)Archibald Hart, Coping with Depression in the Ministry and Other Helping Professions (Word, 1984), and The Success Factor (Revell, 1984)
(2)Christina Maslach, Burnout – The Cost of Caring (Prentice-Hall, 1982);
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