And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…
Ephesians 4:11-13
What a rich blessing we have from the Lord in the gift of those He has called to declare His word to His church! Eph 4:11 sets forth the apostles and prophets first as they were still present in Paul’s day, but earlier in Eph 2, we learned the purpose of these servants of God. They were part of the foundation upon which the church is built, with Christ being the chief cornerstone. (Eph 2:20) We all know that you lay the foundation for a building only once. In the same way, the apostles and prophets have served their foundational purpose of giving us God’s inspired word, the text we now call The Bible. Their time has passed, but God still has servants being used by Him to build the church upon that initial foundation. It is these evangelists and pastors and teachers that God has gifted to expound and declare the word delivered by the apostles and prophets.
The “evangelists” are those men who are sent to minister to various churches (both Philip–not the apostle but one of the seven deacons chosen in Acts 6–and Timothy are listed as evangelists in the New Testament) while the “pastors and teachers” are those who are called to primarily serve in a single, local assembly. Both roles are of great benefit to the body. The pastors and teachers are involved in the day-to-day affairs of the church. They minister to that local flock, bearing their burdens with them and feeding the flock of God weekly. The evangelists, however, are with each assembly only for a season. This ministry can strengthen and instruct each local assembly in a unique way because of having an outside perspective. They can also be of great encouragement to the local pastors as they provide a time of relief from their labors by fulling the pulpit for them and as they bring a sense of understanding of the pastors’ burdens that may be difficult for the local body to comprehend.
Both the evangelists and pastors/teachers, however, serve the same overall purposes for the body of Christ. As our text tells us, 1) they equip the saints for ministry, 2) build them up in the faith, and 3) aid in conforming them to the image of Jesus Christ. The point is that we need them! The Lord has been so faithful over the years to provide these servants to feed His sheep, and this passage serves as a good reminder for us to be thankful for what He has supplied through them. May we express to them our appreciation for their faithful labor and encourage them in their efforts even as we are instructed to do in 1Th 5:12-13: “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” Remember, “they watch out for your souls.” (Heb 13:17)
Jamie