My Beef with the Five Fold
The Five-Fold Ministry Isn’t a Leadership Structure
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
— Ephesians 4:11–12 (NLT)
I’ve thought about the five-fold ministry a lot over the years. I’ve heard it used in all kinds of ways, I’ve read the books, I’ve sat through the conversations—but something has always felt a little off. So I thought I’d use this post to clarify some thoughts.
I love this verse. I love Ephesians. It’s the kind of letter that unfolds slowly, revealing layers you didn’t even know were there. I’ve been living in it for years, and I’m still finding treasure.
But when it comes to the so-called “five-fold ministry,” I’ve got some questions. Maybe even a little beef.
Not with Paul. Not with the gifts. But with how this one passage has been pulled out, polished up, and turned into something I don’t think it was ever meant to be—especially in some corners of the charismatic and apostolic world.
In some spaces, the five-fold has been used like a spiritual blueprint: “Find your apostle, then everything else will fall into place. Secure your prophet, then build out from there.” It’s like we’re assembling a kind of ministry dream team—mapping out spiritual roles like we’re filling positions on an executive board.
And I get it—we’re trying to build something good. Something that lasts. But sometimes, in our efforts to organize the Church, we unintentionally tame the wildness of the Spirit.
Because here’s the thing:
The “five-fold” has, in some contexts, become:
A rigid system, like a spiritual org chart.
A hierarchy, where “apostle” sits on top with too much weight and not enough accountability.
An identity badge: “I’m a prophet, not a teacher,” as if gifts define us more than Jesus does.
An exclusive role, instead of a gift the Spirit distributes—often seasonally and situationally—as the Church has need.
There are even Five-Fold Ministry assessments now. (Confession: I’ve taken them. I liked being told I might be a “teacher-apostle hybrid.” It felt weirdly validating.) Tools like that can be helpful—as long as they’re not the thing. But if we start using them to build hierarchies or entrench identity, we’ve missed the point.
So what was Paul doing. what did he mean when he wrote about these five gifts?
Let’s zoom out.
In Ephesians 4, Paul isn’t writing a church constitution. He’s not giving us an organizational flowchart. He’s calling the church—this wild, mixed, struggling community of Jews and Gentiles, men and women, insiders and outsiders—toward unity, maturity, and Christlikeness.
It’s not about titles. It’s about formation.
It’s not about rank.
Or who gets the mic.
Or who’s “in charge.”
It’s about who’s growing.
Who’s being equipped.
Who’s becoming like Jesus.
"Equipping the saints" doesn’t mean handing out job descriptions—it means helping the people of God become the people of God. It’s making space for everyone to serve, to contribute, to step into their God-given role in the Body. It’s about helping them figure out how to live out their faith in the world and bring glory to God through whatever they do.
Ephesians invites us to see the Church the way Christ sees her: a living, breathing, maturing Body, held together by love and gifted by grace. And those gifts? They’re more than five. Just look at Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12—giving, helping, encouraging, healing. These aren’t junior-varsity gifts. They’re essential. That’s Paul’s whole point in 1 Corinthians: we need every part of the Body.
So is the “five-fold” list a model for building a leadership team?
Maybe. As a lens? Sure. It can be helpful. But let’s hold it lightly—like most things not explicitly commanded but potentially useful. It’s a gift list, not a leadership mandate.
Do we need apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, and teaching gifts active in the Church today? Absolutely.
And we need all the other gifts too. Globally and locally. Public and hidden. Platformed and unseen.
But here’s where it gets sticky.
What about apostles?
Are there modern-day ones?
What does “apostle” even mean anymore?
Because let’s be honest: that title gets thrown around a lot these days. Sometimes with weight. Sometimes with swagger. Sometimes with very expensive business cards.
If apostles were the sent ones—the servant-founders who planted and sacrificed and built at great cost—what does it say about us when we start using the word like a brand?
Let’s talk about that another time.
For now, here’s some suggestions on using the Five-Fold—without getting weird:
All pastors I know aren’t trying to build empires—they’re just trying to be faithful. They want to lead well. They want to serve the church. They want people to grow. And somewhere in there, someone handed some of them a five-fold chart and said, “This is how you build.”
So let’s not throw the whole thing out. Let’s just hold it differently. Loosely. Lightly. Like a tool, not a template.
Here are a few ways to do that:
1. Use it as a lens, not a label.
Instead of handing out ministry titles, just ask: Which of these gifts do we see at work in our church right now? And which ones are missing?
Not every church has a strong evangelistic or prophetic voice—that’s okay. But it’s worth noticing. The goal isn’t balance for balance’s sake. It’s health. It’s growth. It’s the whole Body being built up.
2. Talk tendencies, not titles.
You don’t need to appoint “an apostle.” Just say:
“You’ve got that apostolic edge—you help us see where we need to go next.”
Or:
“You carry a prophetic weight—you remind us of what we’ve forgotten.”
It’s not about ranking people. It’s about recognizing grace and making space for it.
3. Use it to check your blind spots.
Most churches lean into shepherding and teaching (which, let’s be honest, is beautiful and necessary). But what if you asked:
Who’s pushing us outward? Who’s calling us deeper? Who’s dreaming bigger than the room?
It’s not about covering every base. It’s about staying open to how Jesus might be gifting His church in this season.
4. Equip everyone, not just a chosen few.
The five-fold isn’t a leadership elite. It’s not a spiritual justice league. It’s a picture of how Jesus builds His Body through all of us.
So don’t just look for the “gifted ones.” Train your whole church to live like ministers—because they are.
5. Let assessments spark conversation, not identity.
Sure, take the five-fold test if it helps. I’ve taken it too. It’s fine. Just don’t tattoo the results on your soul. Let it open up space for reflection, not lock you into a role.
We must always return to the text.
With every leadership strategy, every personality test, every ecclesial model—we come back to Scripture. Back to Christ. Back to the wild, grace-laced, Spirit-breathing vision Paul casts in Ephesians.
And when it comes to five-fold ministry, maybe it’s time for a little returning there, too.
Not a retreat into cynicism or suspicion. But a returning to humility.
To nuance.
To curiosity.
To the reminder that the gifts are just that—gifts.
Given by Christ, for the Church, for the building up of others. Not platforms. Not brands. Not titles.
So take the list.
Pray through it.
Use it as a lens, not a label.
Celebrate the gifts, without clinging to them as identity.
And build a church that’s not centered on five gifts—but on the Giver of them all.
Much love,
—Joel
