Character is listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 …. “This is a faithful saying:If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober- minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

To serve the Church, a fivefold minister and leader … “is willing”

An evidence of God’s calling a person to serve is the presence of a desire or passion. This is not a human ambition; it is a calling from God – a deep desire and compulsion to lovingly serve the Lord’s people, the Church. A fivefold minister’s motivation is pure. It is not his ambition worked out in a spiritual atmosphere where he can hide his true motivation. He is doing it because it is the Lord’s call on his life. He loves the Lord and loves the Church that Jesus is building. He desires to see the Body of Christ strengthened and become mature. He would never knowingly do something that would bring disgrace or harm to the family of God or those in it.

To serve the Church, a fivefold minister and leader … “is above reproach”

“being above reproach” or blameless is not referring to perfection. Paul was calling attention to a person’s reputation. A fivefold minister lives his life in such a way that no one can legitimately find fault wth him. He is free from the taint of scandal and accusation  (Colossians 1:22) and has unquestionable integrity. If people look at his life and try to find something they can use against him, they will find it difficult, because he is blameless and above reproach. His character sets an example for all to follow. A man’s reputation will go before him. A fivefold trans-local minister must be above reproach because his is a travelling ministry; his reputation travels to a place before he does, and in many cases his reputation is part of the reason he is being invited.

To serve the Church, a fivefold minister and leader … “is the husband of one wife.”

The Greek translates this as a “one woman man.” He maintains God’s standard of morality. This passage is sometimes used as a proof text that a divorced person cannot serve as a fivefold minister in the Church. However, if we look at the time it was written, we see that some of the converted Jews still had several wives as permitted under Semitic Law. It was this practice of having multiple wives that was being discouraged at the time of Christ, hence the reference to “Being the husband of one wife.” When he came to Christ, the new convert was faced with a new standard of morality – God’s standard. The same standard applied for any Christian woman. She too was to to be faithful to one husband.

Regarding the question of “Can a previously divorced person serve in any capacity of leadership?” It seems biblically that they  can. While every divorce is the result of sin – sin can be forgiven. And, not every divorce is sinful. There are those who have been abandoned and had no choice to divorce or not to divorce. Their mates left them. Physical abuse and having to leave for fear of their lives is another common situation today. There are abused husbands as well as wives. Drug addiction, alcoholism result in a life out of control leads to separation and then, often, divorce.

But, whatever the reason for the divorce, the key here is if the individual acknowledges that divorce is sin. Did they work at bringing reconciliation to the broken relationship – acting redemptively in the marriage? Were they willing to continue to work through the broken relationship with the goal of restoration?

After all, God is a God of restoration. Initiating a divorce is not an option for a believer. However, often good people find themselves in a divorce situation because the spouse went for the divorce. If the person did everything possible to rescue and save the marriage but ended up divorced in spite of his effort, he is not disqualified from leadership or being a part of the fivefold ministry.

Those who have longevity in the fivefold ministry have made their character a focus and a priority. Like Stephen, they are full of faith (Acts 6:3-5). They have spent quality time with Jesus and allowed Him to form and mould them. They have determined that they will serve and view themselves as servants of God’s people, just as Jesus is, by nature, a servant. He, in fact, looks for those who have a servant’s heart.

He is not looking for those who are out to make a name for themselves or to build a ministry for themselves. He is looking for individuals who are sold out to Him and love Him with their whole heart and want to advance the Kingdom of God regardless of the personal cost. Leaders who are not looking to be noticed or recognized. Leaders who are looking to see the Kingdom move forward so that people are blessed by God and walking in obedience to all that Jesus commanded. He is looking for those with godly character because character plays a major role in releasing them into a sustainable fivefold ministry.

Character is not a foundation qualification for discipleship but it is always a qualifier for those in leadership roles, especially the fivefold ministry. Character, however, is what must be formed during a person’s initial discipleship stage and their walk with Jesus. It is more than knowing the faith they now claim – it is being formed into the very image of Jesus as they begin their walk with Him. It is learning from Him and becoming more like Him. It is seeing His character and letting Him change you into His likeness.

Jesus took the twelve “rough and ready” disciples, discipled them for three years, filled them with the Holy Spirit, released them to be world changers and leaders in His Church birthed on that day. During the three years they walked with Him character issues were a main focus and Jesus dealt directly with their character. As a result, after Pentecost, as leaders in the Church, they were able to withstand the ridicule and abuse as well as the praise and adoration that came to them at various stages of their ministry experience. They were able to go the distance and finish well. Finishing well should be the desire of everyone in leadership.

In today’s television and internet culture we often hear of leaders who had a tremendous anointing but did not have the character to handle that kind of anointing and fell into issues that destroyed their ministries. This is almost always the result of not focusing on and developing character. It is critical that leaders develop the character that the Lord lays out for them in His family, the Church. This character and its qualities are found in the New Testament. Otherwise, the pressure, fame, and demands of ministry cause them to stumble and fall and cause others to fall away from the faith as well. As believers and leaders, we should strive to be among those who run well and who finish well. Godly character is the key to making that a reality.

So, in the next few days I want to look at character and what is included in this important area of every believer’s life.

 

 

Fivefold ministers operate within a specific field of ministry. Paul encouraged the early Christians to boast only “within the limits of their sphere of ministry.” These fields of ministry, assigned by God to us, are our spheres of influence, responsibility, and anointing. Working within the sphere means we are working under His authority. If we move out of our sphere of influence we are then working without His authority which, of course, is very dangerous.

2 Corinthians 10:12-13 “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you.”

Paul understood his sphere of influence and reminded the Corinthians that he was only to operate in the sphere God had appointed to him. He only boasted of the Corinthian Church because he was responsible before the Lord for them. His sphere included the local church he was a part of (the Church in Antioch – Acts 13), the churches he planted and who looked to them as their spiritual father, and those who adopted him as their spiritual father and came in under his influence and protection.

Of course, when travelling outside his own home church the fivefold minister must stay within his geographic boundaries as set by the Lord. His sphere of influence or “metron.” But even within this sphere of influence he must wait to be invited in to a local church by the local leadership of that church.

As a fivefold minister, the only way I can effectively minister in another person’s area of responsibility is when I am invited. When I’m invited into their field, I need to understand and acknowledge that someone else has ultimate responsibility for the health and welfare of the people to whom I am going to minister. I must come into that “outside area” to help those who are in authority there acknowledging and understanding that someone else has final authority over their area. It is within my sphere of influence, the geographical area the Lord has called me to minister in; but, I still wait to be invited and called by the local authority over that specific local church or network.

For fivefold ministers, probably 95% of their ministry is in someone else’s field. A fivefold trans-local minister’s attitude must always be one of, “We are here to help others build what the Holy Spirit is building. It is not about building our own ministry, it is about serving the Lord and serving this particular church and local leadership, co-labouring with them in their field. They have final authority in their field.” Approaching ministry with that attitude and understanding, helps the fivefold ministry to be an asset rather than a threat to a local leadership team.

As we continue looking at the fivefold ministry roles within the local church we see that another task of the fivefold apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher is to release and mentor the callings upon people in the local church until they reach a place of maturity.

Those who are in the fivefold ministry see the local church as a training ground for ministry. They allow people to use their gifts in the church as much as possible even before the gift has matured. Of course, this means that the fivefold minister must be willing to mentor the gifts and the callings upon people. At times, this means bring correction when necessary, even in a public meeting.

When I am training people to flow in the gift of prophecy and they are working alongside of me in a public service, I correct their words if they are wrong. Of course this is done lovingly and with the understanding that the prophetic gift is given by the Holy Spirit but the skills to use that gift need to be learned.

For example, I had a young man with me in a service and he prophesied that God was giving a person the “gift of evangelism.” I stopped him and corrected him. There is no such gift as the “gift of evangelism.” Everyone is called to evangelize. If some have the gift then those that don’t are free not to tell others about Jesus. Obviously this is not the case. So, I corrected him and taught the people that some are called to the role of evangelist which is a gift to the church (Ephesians 4:11) but that there is no such individual gift as the “gift of evangelism.” Some are better at it than others but that is simply because they have been taught and trained and have been telling others about the Saviour and thus improving in their evangelistic skills.

Fivefold ministers will encourage those with the calling to fivefold teacher to work at writing teachings, learning to study, learning how to correctly work with Scripture, and release them to teach in small group settings or when travelling with them. The small group is an excellent place to develop the gifts and callings.

This fathering role cannot be done solely by phone. There has to be personal contact on a regular basis as all mentoring is done relationally. To be a spiritual father means you are caring for the spiritual health and well being of the one you are mentoring. This means having adequate and consistent personal contact. It also means that the person being trained must be willing to submit to the one fathering him. In this way the spiritual father can bring correction and direction; watch their borders to make sure they stay on track; sound an alarm if they see things going wrong; and generally make sure that the young person is moving forward, growing, and learning. Of course, they should also travel with the mentor and thus observe how the spiritual father ministers, how he deals with people and situations, and how they live their lives for Christ while on the road ministering.

The fathering role of the fivefold ministers cannot be overrated. It is seriously important and absolutely necessary for the Church to reach  maturity and for the next generation of fivefold ministers to reach maturity and continue to lead the Church into the fullness of Christ.