When we speak about gifts in the church, what usually comes to mind first are the gifts that God’s Spirit has given to individual believers for the building up of the church. Some of these are mentioned in passages like Romans 12:6-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.

What we don’t consider often enough is the gifts that God has given to his church in various kinds of leaders.

In Sunday’s sermon, “Jesus’ Plan for Your Growth,” Ryan spent some time unpacking Ephesians 4:11-12, where Paul writes, “God gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”

If God has given these leaders to his church, and if they are integral to the growth of the church, then we should know who they are and what they are given to do. Some of these roles are clear from the title, but some require some dot-connecting.

Clues To Understanding The Gifts in Ephesians 4:11-12

First, from verses like Ephesians 2:19-20 and 3:3-5 we can discern that “apostles” and “prophets” were closely related to one another and were unique in their foundational role in the establishment of the church.

So then you are . . . members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone…
—Ephesians 2:19–20

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
—Ephesians 3:3–5

So, while there are different kinds of prophets and prophecy in the New Testament, there is also a more specific kind of “prophet,” as mentioned in Ephesians 4, closely related to the role of an apostle. These prophets were probably Scripture writers along with the apostles. Luke is an example of a Scripture writer who wasn’t an apostle.

Second, there is good reason to see a logical or chronological order to this list in Ephesians 4. Obviously, “apostles and prophets” are foundational, and they are first in Paul’s list. But in 1 Corinthians 12:28, another passage dealing with the unity and growth of the church, Paul gives us a similar list but this time he actually numbers a few of the roles: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.”

The whole list isn’t meant to be logical or chronological. But at least part of it is. Tongues is last for a reason, given the context. And the order of the first few are actually numbered, and probably according to a kind of priority: “. . .first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. . .”

So, here are some short role descriptions for each of the leaders in this Ephesians 4 list:

• Apostles – These are the twelve appointed by Jesus, which included Matthias who replaced Judas, and also, Paul.
• Prophets – These are men like Luke who wrote Scripture but weren’t an apostle.
• Evangelists – These are the men who took the Word and the gospel to places where it hadn’t reached. These were what we would call, “missionaries,” or, “church planters.”
• Pastors – These are the shepherds who led churches once they were established, most often raised up from within the church itself. These are in other places called, “elders,” or, “overseers” (1 Peter 5:1-2).
• Teachers – Since teaching is a function of pastoring, and since “pastors and teachers” seem to be paired grammatically, these are often seen as the same role. But if this is a list of five different kinds of roles in logical and chronological order, then teachers would be those in the church with a ministry of teaching under the authority of the elders of the church. In our immediate context, this would include Sunday School workers, Community Group leaders, Men’s and Women’s Ministry teachers, and others.

But then notice that each of these leaders is given in order to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.”

Some Implications

There are several neat implications that we can draw from Ephesians 4:11-12. Here are a few:

1. God has given special care to the establishment and structure of his church. He is a careful builder and has his own designs for the creation and growth of his people.
2. Each of the equipping roles that God has established work together to grow the church. We need the Scriptures given to us by the apostles and the prophets. We need some to go out and take the Word where it hasn’t gone. We need some to shepherd and lead established churches. And we need teachers.
3. Central to the church’s growth is the Word. Each of these roles is related in some fashion to the Word. There are Word-writers, Word-takers, Word-feeders, and Word-teachers.
4. Every member of the church is a minister. The role of each of these leaders is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Who are the “saints”? That’s all of us. From Ephesians 4:14-15 we learn that we grow as we mature in right doctrine, and we are held to the truth as we – the saints – speak the truth to one another in love.