The fingers of the hand symbolically represent the five-fold ministry that God set up within the church:
1. The Thumb represents the Apostle: The thumb touches all others and it enables us to grip.
2. The Forefinger represents the Prophet: It points
3. The Middle finger represents the Evangelist: it is the furthest reaching finger
4. The Ring finger represents the Pastor: married to the sheep he is always with them
5. The Pinky represents the Teacher: this finger is the one that gives balance to the hand
The Apostle governs, he must be called, appointed, and anointed, by God Himself in order to wear this mantle.
The Prophet guides, he is the body’s eyes and ears. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the body sees and hears what God has done, is doing, and will do.
The Evangelist gathers, they ( the evangelists) love sharing the gospel, and when they do, people get saved! Evangelists see Jesus Christ as the solution to every person’s problem. Frequently ‘signs and wonders’ accompany their ministries, authenticating their message about Jesus Christ.
The Prophet guides, he is the body’s eyes and ears. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the body sees and hears what God has done, is doing, and will do.
The Evangelist gathers, they ( the evangelists) love sharing the gospel, and when they do, people get saved! Evangelists see Jesus Christ as the solution to every person’s problem. Frequently ‘signs and wonders’ accompany their ministries, authenticating their message about Jesus Christ.
The Pastor guards, he loves, feeds, encourages, protects, and cares for the flock.
The Teacher grounds, he or she explains and clarifies the truth. They have an amazing capacity to take complex subjects and make them simple resulting in a strong foundation and deep roots in the Word of God for both the pastor and the flock.
The concept of the five-fold ministry comes from Ephesians 4:11, "It was He (Jesus) who gave some to be (1) apostles, some to be (2) prophets, some to be (3) evangelists, and some to be (4) pastors and (5) teachers."
Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Some say the five-fold ministry especially apostles and prophets ministry passed away at the end of the first century because we have reached the fullness in Ephesians 4:13
The concept of the five-fold ministry comes from Ephesians 4:11, "It was He (Jesus) who gave some to be (1) apostles, some to be (2) prophets, some to be (3) evangelists, and some to be (4) pastors and (5) teachers."
Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us that the purpose of the five-fold ministry is, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Some say the five-fold ministry especially apostles and prophets ministry passed away at the end of the first century because we have reached the fullness in Ephesians 4:13
But since the body of Christ definitely is not yet built up to unity in the faith and has not attained to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, the thinking goes that the offices of apostle and prophet must still exist.
What is the fullness of the Lord Jesus Christ?
When every man can be presented perfectly to Christ (Colossians 1:28) we can truly say that we, His body, His bride, His church, -- are totally filled with Him and that we have left the world, the flesh, and the devil far behind us. We will have totally died to self and will be living in union with him. We will be lovingly and joyfully obeying him.
When every man can be presented perfectly to Christ (Colossians 1:28) we can truly say that we, His body, His bride, His church, -- are totally filled with Him and that we have left the world, the flesh, and the devil far behind us. We will have totally died to self and will be living in union with him. We will be lovingly and joyfully obeying him.
Just because you don’t find yourself among the five-fold ministry doesn’t imply that you don’t have a ministry.
In fact, the five-fold ministry is there to equip the Saints (that’s you and me) to do the “front line” work of the church. So we are all called to minister because the church needs to grow and thrive.
In fact, the five-fold ministry is there to equip the Saints (that’s you and me) to do the “front line” work of the church. So we are all called to minister because the church needs to grow and thrive.
The five-fold ministers were given by Jesus to the Church. We need every minister that God has provided. Sadly, most churches have largely abandoned the broad-based “five-fold” ministry gifts of Ephesians 4:11 — that is, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and has too often settled for identifying most Christian ministers simply as “pastor”. But often those “pastors” are more precisely a combination of evangelists or bible teachers, or even prophets or apostles.
