We are looking at the role of the fivefold ministry in church planting today as we continue to work of taking the Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations. Especially the role of the apostle.

The apostles especially have an important role to play in planting churches because they are the establishers, master builders, and architects. Their essential call is to plant new churches as they reflect the intent of their Sender, Jesus Christ. While they do not necessarily plant all of the church plants, it is important for them to obtain experience in church planting before they are declared apostles. They need to know what others will go through. Because they have already done it, they have faith to see it happen again and train others.

When you are around an apostolic person, faith overflows and feeds into you and causes you to believe that you can accomplish what God is telling you to do. An apostle is always thinking about expansion, planting new churches, seeing the lost saved, and expanding what already is.

Someone with a pastoral anointing will have a hard time seeing the need to plant a church. He will be satisfied to help elders of existing churches learn how to pastorally care for the sheep under their care. He does not feel the need to plant another church. It takes someone with an apostolic anointing to jump start leadership into recognizing that they can send out some of their current members under apostolic oversight to plant a new church and keep the zeal for winning the lost alive and growing in the hearts and lives of the people and existing local churches.

An apostle will think in terms of sending out the best to get the job done while others may want to hold on to the best to help the already existing church to function smoothly. Local churches and the elders overseeing the work of the local church need the apostolic gift to help them think outside the box and dream.

An apostle understands that God’s desire is that none should perish. Knowing the heart of the Lord, the Head of the Church, requires that we continue to plant many more churches. We cannot be content with the status quo. In fact, if we are content with the stars quo, many more people will enter a Christless eternity and the Kingdom will not advance, and that is the worst case scenario there is for an apostle.

The apostolic gift will activate and impart spiritual gifts.

Paul anticipated that Timothy would need to act on what he had learned and what had been imparted into him through the laying on of hands of the apostles and prophets. 1 Timothy 1:8 states, “Timothy, my son, I give you instructions…according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare…”

Paul’s apostolic gift was used in his relationship with Timothy to fulfill his God-given destiny. He understood the tactics of the enemy and encouraged Timothy to press through. Timothy was used tremendously by the Holy Spirit in the early church plants. Timothy was an apostle trained and equipped, discipled and mentored, by Paul. So, the point is that we can’t just sit on what we have heard and learned. We need to do something with those words. Apostolic leaders encourage their people to activate and use their gifts and move out into their calling.

There are some danger signs to avoid when dealing with financing the fivefold ministry…

Talking about finances is always an issue that is close to the heart of every individual because finances are such a vital part of our lives. When we discuss finances there are always some things that we need to be aware of because if they are not dealt with, they will cause us to stumble. Here are some danger signs to avoid:

1> Dictating to God how to supply the needs of your family and ministry. If He is calling you to a be fivefold minister, then allow Him to tell you how He is planning on supporting you and your family while you do it. You will become frustrated and sometimes angry if the Lord does not come through in the way and method that you thought He should.

2> Comparing how God is meeting your financial needs with how He is meeting the needs of other fivefold ministers. He is the Supplier of your needs. Allow Him to do it in His fashion, according to His plan. Of course, you can observe how the Lord fills another person’s financial needs to spark some creativity in your own life as to how the Lord might supply your needs.

3> Seeing one area of provision as more spiritual than another, and it becomes an idol in your heart. God can use any number of ways to fill your financial needs. One way is not more spiritual than another. You must weed out those sentiments before you are placed into fivefold ministry. If you trust any one area as being more spiritual you get your eyes off of the Lord.

4> Not being willing to pay the “timing price.” Often finances are used to tell when a ministry is to be launched. It is all part of the training as well. The Lord uses the process of meeting your financial needs to prepare us spiritually for ministry. Our value system of finances may need to be overhauled, and it may take time to do that. Developing a financial track to fill our personal and ministry financial needs is always met with attack from the enemy. We need to know when we must stand against his devices and when it is purely the Lord saying, “It is not time yet, son.”

5> Expecting another person, mission agency, or church to provide the funds to fill your financial needs. Let’s get it straight right now. Your trust and focus cannot be on other individuals. Sometimes we can look at a successful businessman or woman and think that they should be giving some of their money to us. When we begin to see others as our source, we take our eyes off of the Lord as our Provider.

Jesus told His disciples not to be ashamed to earn their living from the gospel, “for the worker deserves his wages.” I believe the Lord is giving fresh wisdom for many unique ways fivefold ministers can raise the financial support they need to enter into and stay in full time trans-local ministry.

How do we finance the fivefold ministry? We have been looking at this particular issue and problem for a few days. let’s continue…

Living from the Gospel

Those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel, according to 1 Corinthians 9:7-14. Galatians 6:6 says, “Let him who is taught the Word share in all good things with him who teaches.”

There are some fivefold ministers who have taken the step of faith and gone on the road, so to speak. This concept may conjure up ideas of an evangelist in a white suit with a mailing list. He blows into town, teaches a powerful message, has people sign up for his newsletter and then they are on his mailing list for years as he continues to send them material asking for finances to support what he is doing in other parts of the world. While this is not inherently bad, the problem comes when people begin sending him their tithe money that should e going to the local church.

Although the fivefold minister will pray for us when we send him a contribution with a prayer request on it. He is not going to take our spiritual growth personally. If one of our children gets sick. we are not going to call him to meet us at the hospital. These are the tasks of the local leader who should be paid from the tithes of the people.

We must be practical – a travelling fivefold minister cannot be our pastor, and we should be tithing to the storehouse, our local church, where we are receiving personal care and concern for our lives as well as being feed a steady diet of God’s Word.

Certainly, the travelling fivefold minister who lives from the Gospel is worth investing in. However, when they are earning their living through their travelling ministry and only through their ministry it can be quite difficult. Love offering are not always big and a fivefold minister does not usually minister every night but rather a few times on a weekend. However, his bills come in on a daily basis and need to be taken care of.

I believe that whether a fivefold minister is ministering to a small house church or home group or a large mega church, an opportunity for people to sow into the individual’s ministry should always be given. We need to be generous in blessing those who minister trans-locally. In doing so, as people and leaders, we are teaching others, by example, that it is good and godly to give.

Another method of financing a fivefold minister is to honour the one that a church or network (union) of churches sends out.

1 Timothy 5:17-18 tells us the labourer us worthy of his wages. Sometimes the local church leader will be supported as he ministers for a season in another part of the world. This, more or less, puts him in the trans-local category at least for a season. Because of their relationship with him and an affirmation of his gifts and calling, the church leadership team feels led of the Holy Spirit to continue the support of the outgoing minister for a season of time. It is almost as if he is on staff with the local church but absent. This can be for a short season or even a longer period. Communication and relationship must be continued, and leadership teams should evaluate yearly who they are supporting and how much they give toward support. The minister is counting on that support, so if there is going to be a change, church leadership should make sure that they let the individual know in advance. Give them at least three months notice so they can make preparations for the change.

We began to look at potential sources for provision for fivefold trans-local ministers who are not home often and long enough to hold down a full-time job to earn money to support their family and ministry. Let’s continue this brief overview where we left off yesterday.

One of the ways to finance both personal and ministry expenses as a five-fold minister is “tent-Making.”

This type of  provision is entirely funded by a person’s own secular work. In Acts 18:1-3, we see that there was no church money supporting Paul at this time. He earned his income by his own labours: “…because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them…” Tent-making is working at a job or business to earn income to finance a fivefold minister’s family and the next church plant if he is planting a church. We are hearing more and more about how the Lord is beginning to supply the needs of those in ministry by new business ventures. It is something that the Holy Spirit is doing.

Then there is the financial support that comes from a team consisting of family members and friends.

With the extra manpower of Silas and Timothy arriving to help Paul in his work, in Acts 18, we notice that Paul shifts from full-time secular work to having his finances provided for him so that he could devote all his time to others. “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching…” He could do this because additional breadwinners arrived, and they could pool their paycheques, so Paul would not have to work at a tent-making job. Paul now has a team supporting him financially while he ministered full-time.

In Luke 8:1-3, we read that Jesus had a team who supported Him from their substance. Many para-church ministries encourage workers and church planters to build a support team of family, friends, and churches who give financially on a regular basis to support them in their calling and ministry. This is a Scriptural way for the Lord to provide for the fivefold ministry. This idea is to find others who believe in your calling and ministry, and give them an opportunity to sow into your life financially as you accomplish that ministry.

We must be careful here that we place our dependency entirely on the Lord and do not become dependant on others to supply our needs. We should not become Christian beggars, constantly asking people for finances. If the Lord is calling you to fivefold ministry then He has a financial plan to see it happen without putting undue pressure or guilt on people to support you financially. I believe that you as an individual should be supplying at least some of your own finances, whether it is through a job or ministry work that you are paid for, in order to generate some of your own support.

In this type of ministry support some principles should be followed. There needs to be a communication link with those who are supporting you and the ministry that you are doing. We are all stewards of what the Lord has given us, and we are responsible to put our money into fruitful areas of ministry. Regular communication with updates and reporting ongoing vision are necessary to keep those supporting you aware of all that the Lord is doing in your life and the lives of those whom you are touching.

As we continue our look at the motivation any minister should have and fivefold ministers are going to certainly need to develop we see that the fourth motivation is to understand that we must get the job done.

If our ultimate motivation is to complete the job, then we will look for the best way for this to happen. We can call this being “vision-driven.” This is different from being “driven by the vision.”

Being vision-driven is looking for the most effective way to get the job done using the most effective people to do it. Being driven by the vision is when the vision drives us to sacrifice things that the Lord is not asking us to sacrifice in order to fulfill the vision. Too often, things like health, family, and relationships take a back seat to those who are driven by the ministry. Not that sacrifices do not need to be made, but we should not make sacrifices that the Lord is not asking us to make.

We must listen closely to the Holy Spirit: He is vision-driven. He has a vision that will be fulfilled. We must follow His lead and do as He asks. Self-preservation causes a fivefold minister to say and do that which promotes himself and his ministry. If he feels threatened by those who seem more gifted or qualified, he may not ask them to minister. Self-preservation may hold him in a limbo state and hinder him from growing.

God wants us to be fruitful and continue to grow. It was self-preservation that caused the Pharisees to hate Jesus so much. They realized His teachings would take away their authority and control over the people, so they rose up against Him.

Someone once said, “Worth and value are not the same as level and function.” Success is being what God created you to be. If God has called you to usher people to their seats every Sunday morning, your reward will be the same as the apostle who is sent to plant churches. It comes down to faithfulness and obedience. God rewards faithfulness. He sees our heart motivation and knows why we are doing what we are doing.

The Lord is glorified when we bear fruit – when we are doing that we were created and called to fo. Whatever the aspect of ministry, God is glorified when you fulfill your ministry. “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (John 15:8).

As we conclude our look at motivations for ministry – before we have a look at how to finance the fivefold ministers – It is not wrong to feel good and be excited about ministry. We can be joyful about ministry because people are pointed to Jesus. We are not on stage, but instead Jesus is being lifted up and people are being drawn to Him.

When ministry takes place, we can be excited because people are ministered to by the Holy Spirit. We begin to see the Holy Spirit working in their lives. The Holy Spirit can do it better than anyone.

Another thing that happens during ministry is that the enemy is crushed. When God invades someone’s life, it brings tremendous joy because the domaine of darkness receives a blow. That in itself should bring a resounding “yes!” in our spirits no matter who is getting the credit for the ministry. When someone scores a goal the whole team rejoices because they know that they win or lose as a team. As a team, they are vision-driven. If only we could grasp the same concept in the Church!