Not Five-fold but Manifold!

I do not know from where we have got this notion that there is only a five-fold ministry within the church and that you need to be at least one of these five, to be of any use to the church. First of all, it is mentioned in this portion of Ephesians that Christ gave gifts to men. And Paul very clearly mentions other gifts elsewhere, so that we know for sure that this list is not exhaustive. Secondly, just because Paul mentions the gifts in ‘noun’ form (e.g. prophet instead of prophecy) instead of the ‘verb’ form seen elsewhere, we take it for granted that this list is more important. Paul also mentions that these are gifts given to equip the saints which always rankled me, because some of the gifts are not just for use within the church. But then I saw that they are also meant to build up the body of Christ, so we cannot just call them ‘equipping gifts’. Of course, there are the greater gifts that Paul wants us to covet, but surely the nature of the gifting is not a sign of how much the Lord has blessed you.

The point that I am trying to make is that there are manifold gifts within the church and there should be no frustration in a saint for not graduating in any of the five! There are more; and what is more important is that he or she has a longing in their heart to serve the Lord. Those who are not in the five are not children of a lesser God! Their gifting may be a bit discreet for others to classify clearly but the Lord knows and there is equal reward waiting in heaven.