Are Apostles Still a Thing?
If the Fivefold Isn’t a Leadership Structure… What Is It?
As I said in my last blog, the fivefold ministry has been misunderstood, misused, and misapplied—often turned into a church org chart before we’ve even asked what Paul was actually saying in Ephesians 4.
So it raises the question:
Are these five gifts—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers—meant to be seen as the same as the other gift lists in the New Testament?
Or are they different?
Let’s start with this:
Not Just Skills—Callings
N.T. Wright suggests that we see the fivefold as vocational roles, given for the building of the church.
Not hierarchical offices or personality types, but people-gifts—callings Christ gives to help his Church grow up.
They’re less about who’s in charge, and more about who’s equipping. Not power positions, but service roles.
“Paul is not setting up a leadership hierarchy here, but describing various roles in the ministry of building up the body.”
— N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters
Different Kinds of Gifts
Some theologians have made helpful distinctions between the various gift lists in the New Testament.
One framework goes like this:
Manifestational gifts (like tongues, prophecy, healing — 1 Cor 12)
→ spiritual expressions that emerge in moments, not roles you walk around owningVocational gifts (like the fivefold in Eph 4)
→ longer arc callings, given to help shape and equip the Church
G.K. Beale weighs in here.
He sees the fivefold, especially apostles and prophets, as tied to the foundational authority of the early church—connected to the original revelation of the gospel.
That matters. He argues these aren’t ongoing roles in the same way, and we need to differentiate between:
First-century foundational apostles and prophets
Ongoing ministry roles like evangelist, pastor, and teacher
“The apostles and prophets are foundational, while the others continue to equip believers for ministry.”
— Beale, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
Don’t Turn This Into a Chart
D.A. Carson—never one to pull theological punches—warns against over-systematizing the gifts into neat boxes.
He pushes back against building doctrines or leadership models from a single list and cautions against categorizing gifts too rigidly into “motivational,” “manifestational,” etc.
“It is a mistake to elevate one list or treat one list as exhaustive or even normative.”
— D.A. Carson, Showing the Spirit
He agrees the fivefold gifts seem to have a teaching and equipping focus. But again, apostles and prophets likely refer to foundational figures in the first century, not current titles in the 21st.
A Pattern Emerges
When you zoom out, a clear pattern begins to emerge:
The fivefold are roles and callings, not ranks.
They are meant to equip, not elevate.
They are functional, not positional.
Apostles and prophets appear foundational.
Evangelists, pastors, and teachers carry on today as vocational equippers.
Other Heavy Hitters Weigh In
“The focus is not on rank, but on equipping; these ministries are for the sake of the whole body.”
— Craig Keener
“They are not officials, they are functions. Christ gives people to his Church to serve it.”
— John Stott
“The fivefold list is best understood in historical context — not as a perpetual church structure, but as a formative means of building up the Church.”
— Thomas Schreiner
“Spiritual gifts, including those of leadership, are not for status, but for service.”
— Gordon Fee
What About Pentecostal Theologians?
Let’s not skip the voices from our own stream.
Howard M. Ervin believed all the gifts—including apostolic and prophetic ministry—are still active today, but not in a foundational or authoritarian sense. For him, apostles today are more about pioneering and church planting than holding positional power.
Frank Macchia echoes this:
“The fivefold gifts serve the Church's sanctification and mission — not as fixed offices, but as pneumatic expressions of Christ’s continued ministry through his body.”
— Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit
Simon Chan warns that Pentecostalism can easily drift into pragmatism or shallow revivalism if we neglect theological depth. He sees the fivefold as Spirit-led functions, not ecclesial offices.
And Jack Hayford—always grounded in both Spirit and humility—affirmed the fivefold as active today, but warned against making them status symbols. He called for team ministry, servant leadership, and fruitfulness over title.
So What?
We need the fivefold.
We need all the gifts to be welcomed, affirmed, and activated.
But we also need to recognise that what was apostolic and prophetic in a foundational sense in the first century is different from what may be apostolic and prophetic today.
Today, those callings may show up in missionaries, visionaries, church planters, and prophetic voices—but always as servants, not CEOs.
A Final Thought
What would shift in your church or ministry if we treated the fivefold not as seats of power, but as gifts of service?
What if we stopped asking, “Who’s the apostle here?”
And started asking, “Who’s equipping others to grow up in Christ?”
Let’s not crown people.
Let’s release them.
Let’s build churches where gifts equip, not dominate.
Where fruit matters more than function.
Where calling is about laying your life down, not climbing up the ladder.
