“Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, travelling missionaries), some pastors (shepherd of the flock) and teachers.” Eph 4:8, 11 (Amplified)
In the anchor passage above, Apostle Paul was alluding to the Roman triumphant parade that was usually organised to celebrate the homecoming of a victorious general and honour him for his military exploits. Preceding him were his disarmed army, captives in chains as well as replica of landmarks and different samples and smells peculiar to the location he conquered. Following him were men bearing bags of gold coins which they throw into the crowd as gift to the people. It was the general’s way of sharing his victory with the people of the imperial city and further ingratiating himself with them. So what does this spectacle have to do with Jesus Christ?
All Christians are agreed on the fact that Jesus did not meet His end on the cross, but that He descended into hell, freed the captives, reclaimed the key to the rulership of the world that Satan tricked Adam into relinquishing and delegated His authority to rule over the world to His Church. So, all Jesus accomplished, He did for the Church. Nevertheless, despite all He has given so far, He still wasn’t finished in giving gifts to the Church. In order to enable her to achieve her goal, Jesus did one more thing. He gave the Church, not houses, land, money or any of those things that normally comes to mind to give to someone we love. Instead, He gave the gift of leaders to His people. This is because Jesus Christ understood that absolutely everything depends on leaders. The fate of any enterprise and its impact on people hangs on the leadership abilities of those at the helm.
The five-fold ministries are vital to coordinating and facilitating the effectiveness of the other ministry gifts within the body of Christ. They are there to help maximise the Church’s potential to achieve her God-given goal of winning the world for Christ. So, just how are they supposed to facilitate this ideal? They are to lead in integrity with vision in line with God’s direction. They are to set the tone and provide examples for other s to emulate even as they emulate the ultimate example of Jesus Christ. They are to know God’s ways as well as understand His acts so as to enable the Church to function as the agent for change in a world desperately in need of God’s power.
The truth is that the Church is utterly lost without her leaders and she will only be able to fulfil her purpose when these spiritual gifts are functioning as they should. The implication for you is that your destiny and the ability to fulfil God’s purpose for your life lies in the hands of your Church leaders. So, pray for your local leaders for vision and direction and ask that God should uphold them in integrity, for therein lies your safety as well as temporal and eternal fulfilment.
Prayer:
Father, I pray for those whom you have placed in authority over me. I ask that you energise them with your power and envision them to lead with a kingdom mindset so that I can indeed fulfil the potential you have placed in me in Jesus name. Amen.