Here’s a revolutionary idea: What if God has a plan for how things should operate in the marketplace and you can tap into it, turning your business into the most effective, powerful and successful one of its kind, ever, and in so doing become an even stronger witness to the glory of God? I know that’s quite a claim. But the truly revolutionary part of the idea is that the so-called five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11-16 is for your business and your life, not just the church, and in fact it is mainly for the marketplace, and it always has been, from the Beginning.
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 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;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (NKJV).
Here we have provision (the five leadership gifts), purpose (equipping people for the work God has planned for them or their organization), and results (the growth and prospering of the organization), all wrapped up in six short verses, all together in one neat little package.
Now before we say, “Wait a minute—this is just for the church,” we need to understand that for the people who first read this, and indeed going back at least to the time of Moses, there was no separation between church and everyday life, between church and marketplace. Hear this, from Deuteronomy 16:13 & 15:
13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your wine press. 15 For seven days celebrate the feast to the Lord your God in the place the lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete
The “produce of your threshing floor and your wine press,” that’s commerce. That’s business. And there is God right in the middle of it.
So we have to look at this with an Old Testament “Hebrew mindset,” which Dr. C. Peter Wagner sums up very well:
“Hebrews see both the spiritual and the natural realms (including work) as one entity under the hand of God. . . . the more we can switch our paradigm to the Hebrew mind-set, the better we will understand the Church in the workplace.”
(From The Church in the Workplace, Regal Books, Ventura CA, 2006, p. 15 [edited])
Today’s concept of a separation between the sacred and the secular does go back to Plato and ancient Greek philosophy, but it really wasn’t until the 17th and 18th Centuries and the Industrial Revolution that it gained traction in our Western culture, and even then the idea was to protect the church from the state, not the other way around as it is so wrongly interpreted today.
What evidence do we have that this five-fold leadership plan actually works? Think about this: Somehow, the church went from 12 mostly ordinary men in the First Century, whose leader was crucified, to being the largest religion in the world, lasting 2,000 years, with 2.2 billion believers, and still growing.
Certainly the central message of God’s love is the main reason for this success, but I think five-fold must have had a lot to do with getting that message across. Results like these are what I like to call “The Five-fold Effect.”
So maybe it’s a pretty good model.
What does this look like in an organization?
Here is a simple graphic of the “five-fold” model that shows the close relationships between each of its five elements and the organization they serve.
In any organization, this would be a body led by capable, mature people (in a church setting we might call them elders) representing each of the five-fold gifts and under the authority of a leader with apostolic gifting (and I’ll get more into that in a minute). These leaders train and equip others to operate in these five and other gifts in order to work together perfectly, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the organization accomplishes its mission.
See how the five gifts are interconnected? They work together, supporting each other and investing into the lives of the members of the organization, thereby equipping them for the work God has for them. Through this connectivity, people can exercise the multiple gifts they have and can move freely from current roles to others as they grow and move toward their calling and destiny and as seasons change in the vision, growth, and development of the organization.
We readily accept that there are evangelists, pastors and teachers in our midst, but also 1 Corinthians 14:31 says, “You all can prophesy,” and by the time you finish reading this I think you’ll also recognize apostolic characteristics in some people, maybe even yourself.
The lesson of Good to Great
You say, “Well that’s all very cosmic, but do we actually see this in the marketplace?” Let’s look at some modern evidence.
Good to Great by Jim Collins was THE business book of its day, and it’s still very relevant. Collins and his team of researchers at Stanford University identified 11 major companies that far out performed their peers. You would all be familiar with these companies if I named them.
The central question was, “What did the 11 great companies share in common that distinguished them from the comparison companies?” The answer boiled down to similarities in the characteristics of their presidents or CEOs.
What jumped out at me as I read about them was how much the CEOs were what we would call apostolic or apostle-like. By that I mean –
They had ambition, but it was mostly for their companies and not for themselves personally.
They were fearless, yet humble and modest.
Unlike their domineering CEO counterparts in other companies, they motivated people through inspired standards, not personal charisma, or rank, or fear.
They were father figures, casting vision, setting the tone for the culture of their companies and providing consistency that people could count on and identify with. (By the way, that makes it sound like only men can be apostle-like, but that simply isn’t true.)
Furthermore, these CEOs brought in people who had talents and skills that complemented their own so as to build well rounded leadership teams. Collins called this “Getting the right people on the bus.” Maybe you’ve heard that expression. The book didn’t focus on those people, but it was pretty clear they brought to the table at least some of the other gifts of Ephesians 4:11 – that is, prophetic or perceptive, evangelistic or spreading good reports, teaching or communicating, and pastoral or compassionate.
Why did the 11 great companies far outpace their peer companies? What they had in common was that they were apparently using the five-fold gifts of Ephesians 4, even if they didn’t know it and weren’t consistent about it
A marketplace model
There is evidence that many other secular organizations do indeed already apply some Ephesians 4 principles in the way they are organized and staffed, although probably without knowing they are from the Bible. For example, let’s see where you might find the five-fold gifts in a business organization.a vision caster, often the president, who faithfully keeps the organization focused on its mission (apostolic)
- a vision caster, often the president, who faithfully keeps the organization focused on its mission (apostolic)
- people with foresight and a sense of timing to see opportunities and potential pitfalls; analyze situations; encourage and exhort; create and develop; such as marketing or financial managers and strategic planners (prophetic)
- people who spread the good word about the company (inside and out), win friends and create the means for growth, such as sales people, recruiters, marketers, and PR people (evangelistic)
- people who understand the vision and translate it for others into practical action in each functional area, such as managers and trainers (teaching)
- people who have compassion for those struggling to find their place, such as HR people, coaches, ombudsmen, or even outplacement people (pastoral)
It’s no accident that these functions correspond to the five-fold gifts. The Spirit is poured out on all people, according to Acts 2:17a. Therefore, every one of us has some of these gifts. Think about where you work, or a committee you’re on, or some civic or hobby group you belong to.
How many times have you heard somebody say, “Fred is a great salesman – a real evangelist for our company!”?
“Ginger really cares about people. She always has something encouraging and comforting to say to you, no matter how bad things look.”
“Whenever I get stuck, I know I can go to Sheila to show me what to do. She explains things so well. What a great teacher she is!”
“That guy Ralph, in Accounting? I don’t know how he does it, but he always seems to know what’s going on and where we’re headed. He really knows how to read the tea leaves. The boss is always asking his advice. It’s almost like he’s. . . he’s, like, prophetic or something!”
And could it be that anyone is talking about you this way too?
Now all of a sudden we’ve made a transition in the way we’re thinking about this, haven’t we? It sure looks like these gifts are operating out here in the marketplace, doesn’t it?
Successful organizations like those in Good to Great probably never read Ephesians 4:11, but they operate this way because they’ve learned it makes them more successful. It allows them to enjoy some measure of The Five-fold Effect even if they don’t know what that is.
Now, add the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit, and the happy result for a truly apostolic organization is potentially unlimited success.
The Big Idea
The secret of The Five-fold Effect is this: When people use their apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, teaching and pastoral gifts, working together under Holy Spirit guidance, any organization they are involved in can tap into supernatural resources more powerful than they can imagine, leading to success that is potentially unlimited.
Now if this really is God’s plan for how things should operate in the marketplace, how much more successful would organizations be if they really knew how to apply the five-fold leadership principles with intentionality? This plan has been hiding in plain sight for centuries, yet it’s as close as our fingertips and very easy to apply in everyday life and work. And I think it’s potentially world-changing.
Read more about this in The Five-fold Effect: Unlocking Power Leadership for Amazing Results in Your Organization.
And stay tuned for Part Two of this Blog series, coming soon!