“Pastor, as a Christian, what do I need to do to grow and be useful to God and His kingdom?
First, discover the gift of Christ that was given to you at the point of salvation.
For a very long time, believers have thought that the 5-fold ministry gifts are restricted to church workers or leaders. So as long as you’re not ordained an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor or Teacher, you should just be a member of the church. And to be honest, this has really affected the church and the growth of God’s kingdom on the earth.
Let me show you something you probably didn’t notice from that scripture:
Ephesians 4:
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Did you see that? When Jesus ascended, He gave gifts unto men. And verse 8 begins to unveil the gifts He gave unto men; apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. According to verse 12, these gifts are not only for the work of the ministry, but for the perfecting of the saints and the edifying of the body.
If that’s the case, then every believer should have at least one of these gifts. The assignment of the gift is to bring us to a place of perfection. In a family of 5, these 5 gifts should be operational to bring that family into perfection in Christ. In a family of ten, you may have more teachers, more pastors, more evangelists, and so on.
Apostle Paul mentioned more of these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. Although I believe he added the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let’s read from scriptures:
1 Corinthians 12:
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
So asides the gifts we already mentioned, there are also miracle workers, the gift of healing, helpers, people who are gifted for politics and governance, then we have gifted prayer warriors. Just look at that! This means that if my daughter cannot preach, she should be able to pray. And if she can’t pray, she should be able to provide unique help. And if she can’t provide help, then she should have a governmental gift. I used to wonder why my wife doesn’t like preaching, it was this scripture that helped me understand. She loves prayer, but when you ask her to teach, you both may have a problem. But since it’s a family, we all use our various gifts to perfect ourselves in Christ. We don’t have to wait for a church pastor or preacher to bring us to a place of perfection, no! That’s not God’s original agenda.
The Pandemic should have taught us this lesson. Many families got spiritually drained because they couldn’t stream online services. And even some that streamed online still dropped in their spiritual life. Technology is not the solution to spirituality, this mystery is! Every member of your family must have a gift.
Now I’m not disputing the place of your church pastors, there’s pastoring as a gift and pastoring as a calling. But I strongly believe that many pastors who opened churches today were not called. They had pastoral gifts, but not necessarily the anointing to Pastor a congregation. Most of the pastors who God called into ministry are those who maximized their gift well. Remember the parable of the talents? He who was faithful with the talents he had was given cities to manage.
Unfortunately, we rarely see Christians who developed their governmental gifts into a point that God anoints them to take cities, or even nations. We have more prophets, apostles and pastors, but fewer teachers, fewer political leaders, fewer helpers. This is probably why many African nations are still in the dark. Joseph was an helper, Daniel was an helper, Jacob was an helper, they all received an anointing to govern terrirtories. But before they got there, they invested their gifts well.
Today, every zealous believer wants to be a preacher that owns a church. Just because you can preach well doesn’t mean you’re called to Pastor a church, you may as well be destined to lead a government.
So find your gift. Once you find it, look for people who also have similar gifts but have gone ahead of you and follow them. Read their books, listen to their messages, sit under their mentorship. I have a friend who is always very prophetic when we fellowship, each time I recommend a preacher he should listen to, he’d tell you he’s not flowing with the preacher. I thought it was an attack until I introduced him to a teacher who is also a prophet. To my amazement, he loved the man. It was then that I realized that the only reason he couldn’t flow with the other preachers I recommended was because they didn’t operate in the prophetic.
If you’re gifted to be a teacher, there’s no need struggling to become a prophet. In fact, sitting under the mentorship of a prophet or prayer warrior may drain that gift. I’m not saying you can’t learn from them, but that you should follow someone who can relate with what you already are. That way, you’d grow faster and become useful to God and His kingdom.
I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.
Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!
#EmekaAnslem