Four-Fold Ministry – Part 5 – Pastors and Teachers

From The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

“Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are our Lord’s gifts to His Church to serve in the ministry. Strictly speaking, pastors and teachers are one gift, not two, because teaching and shepherding are closely related. In enumerating the gifts, apostles, prophets, and evangelists are all mentioned separately, while pastors and teachers are linked together. Further, the first three are each prefixed by the word “some,” whereas the word “some” is attached to pastors and teachers unitedly, thus – “some apostles,” “some prophets,” “some evangelists,” and “some pastors and teachers,” not “some pastors and some teachers.” The fact that the word “some” is used only four times in this list indicates that there are only four classes of persons in question. Pastors and teachers are two in one.

Pastoring and teaching may be regarded as one ministry, because those who teach must also shepherd, and those who shepherd must also teach. The two kinds of work are interrelated. Further, the word “pastor” as applied to any person is found nowhere else in the New Testament, but the word “teacher” is used on four other occasions. Nowhere in God’s Word do we find anyone referred to by name as a pastor. This confirms the fact that pastors and teachers are one class of men.

Teachers are men who have received the gift of teaching. This is not a miraculous gift but a gift of grace, which accounts for the fact of its being omitted from the list of miraculous gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and included in the list of the gifts of grace in Romans 12. It is a gift of grace which enables its possessors to understand the teachings of God’s Word and to discern His purposes, and thus equips them to instruct His people in doctrinal matters. In the church in Antioch there were several such persons thus equipped, Paul included. Teachers are individuals who have received the gift of teaching from Christ and have been given by the Lord to His Church for its upbuilding. The work of a teacher is to interpret to others the truths which have been revealed to him and to lead believers to an understanding of God’s Word. Their sphere of work is mainly among the children of God though at times they also teach the unsaved (1 Timothy 4:11; 6:2; 2 Timothy 2:2; Acts 4:2-18; 5:21, 25, 28, 42). Their work is more one of interpretation than of revelation, whereas the work of the prophets is one of revelation more than of interpretation.”

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The purpose of the four-fold ministry is “to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).

There’s something wrong with the church today. And the problem is that the church has left one man in charge of what’s supposed to be a four-fold ministry. Sure, we have counsel, board of directors, elders, deacons, etc. But God in his Word says that he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, so that the body of Christ may grow to a state of full maturity. There’s a reason why he said it. We find it in verses 14 through 16 of Ephesians 4. The Word of God says, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Now, I hope we really do notice what the Word of God emphasizes here. The reason of the four-fold ministry is that we would no longer be swayed by false teachings, but know the truth. We must be founded properly in order to understand and receive God’s truth. God, through his Word, establishes the foundations of the church so that it may grow to its full-blown maturity.

Brothers and sisters, we have a problem. I am not saying that we should not have a pastor, deacons, and elders in the church; but God’s Word is saying that we need prophets, apostles, and evangelists, and teachers and pastors.

The misunderstanding of this sound doctrine and what it is saying is causing a great division among the body of Christ, and it shows. We have wounded churches all over the world, and it’s because the church as a whole is not doing what God’s Word says it should be doing. We should be joined and held together in unity, growing and building each other up in love as each of us does our work. But there are parts of the body missing. And when you have a body that’s missing parts, that body is not whole; it is incapacitated.