HEAD OF THE CHURCH

Do you remember the last time you sat in a doctor's office .... and waited .... and waited.... (I guess that's why we are called 'patients' or is it 'patience') --- while you waited you looked at all the charts and photos on the wall..... maybe you saw the one pictured above.... an anatomical photo of the head, with all it's parts, etc.

Have you ever stopped to think about the headship of the church lately?? Who really is the head of the "church" --- okay, you know this answer ..... Jesus Christ!  Right??  

Yes, you are right -- Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church!

In reality, we don't deal with the invisible head - Jesus - it is the visible "head" we deal with, don't we?

For much of the world, the "head" of the church is as pictured below.....

To another segment of the world the "head" of the church is the gentleman pictured below....

To millions of  people the "head" of the church is pictured below....

Now I mean NO disrespect to either of these men ... they are, I'm sure, wonderful and fine Christian men, who lead millions of people in their respected organizations. 

I'm writing this blog today to call our attention to the what I call the LOST MINISTERS and LOST MINISTRIES.....

Paul wrote to the Ephesians (Eph. 4:11-13 NIV)  "It was HE who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 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."

What Paul was saying -- CHRIST (the Head of the Church) gave 5 ministries to the church .... Christ gave these "office" ministries to the Church .... to prepare and unify the church.

We ALL know about the Pastors .... they are now the most prominent of the 5 ministries.  Everybody knows a pastor ....  who knows an apostle?  who knows a prophet?  who even knows an evangelist?

Everybody knows a teacher -- both in and out of the church world.

I did an unscientific survey --- called a google search -- of the words, 'Pastor', 'Apostle', 'Prophet', 'Evangelist', and 'Teacher'.

And the winner is .... (by how many 'hits' on google came up) .... 

Teacher -- 783 million

Pastors -- 186 million

Prophet  -- 97.3 million

Apostle -- 27 million

Evangelist -- 22.2 million

Now I love the Pastor ....  I've had the honor of being a Pastor for many years of my ministry years, so far.  I have so many friends in the ministry, who are called Pastor.  I honor them - love them - and bless them.

I also have the honor of saying that I know Apostles too!  I know some Prophets too! (real deal - not hit or miss men).  I know many Teachers too.  I even know many Evangelists..... fact is, I AM ONE !!

My point is .... as we look at the HEAD of the Church ... in the visible world today, we don't look to just one type minister -- but Christ, the Head, gave a 5-fold ministry to the church.

The Church today needs Apostles .... the Church needs Prophets ... the Church needs Teachers ... the Church needs Evangelists ... and of course the Church needs Pastors.

The Church needs the 5-fold Ministry that Christ gave.  The Pastor cannot do it all ... he is not called to do it all ... the healthy church locally should take advantage of the ministry gifts of all 5 that Christ gave so that we can be prepared and unified to do His Work!

Church member -- make sure your Pastor has all the help that Christ gave to the Church.  Talk with your Pastor about having an Evangelist come by ... have an Apostle visit ... have a true Prophet come ... have a Teacher come and instruct.... you as a congregation will be healthier than you can imagine, and your Pastor's hands will be "lifted up".

Think about it!  What do YOU think??  Let me know!