5 fold ministry score (and the 5 equippers of churches)

For my coaching class this week we were supposed to take this five-fold survey, and then watch this set of videos by JR Woodward on 'The Five Equippers of Churches.' I did so earlier today.

I've taken this, and similar, tests before and I score pretty much the same. There is never much variance from my strongest to my least and that was no different this time (19-13). At different times my base (highest number) has alternated between Prophet and Apostle, and Evangelist is usually one of the lower. So it was no surprise that I scored a 19 as a Prophet this time. I feel that's fairly fitting regardless of what's happening in my life. Here is the score sheet from today:

5 Fold Ministry Score Sheet

Prophet - 19
Pastor - 16
Teacher - 16
Apostle - 15
Evangelist - 13


This is how they characterize Prophets from the test site:

Prophets
One who hears and listens to God (prophetes); the prophet foretells and tells forth revelation from God. Often they are able to stand back from circumstances to get a clear picture of what is happening and therefore see creative solutions and develop a vision for situations others don’t see. They understand the times and what people should do.

• Biblical examples—Anna and Simeon in Luke 2 as they prophesy over the infant Jesus. Agabus in Acts 11:28 and 21:10 when he predicts a famine and prophesies about Paul. Philip’s daughters in Acts 21:9 were all known as prophetesses.
• Jesus’ example—Every word spoken from the mouth of Jesus was revelation from God. He often foretold events such as Peter’s denial and the details of his own death. He, himself, is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah such as found in Isaiah 53.
• Mature Prophets enjoy being alone with God, waiting, listening.
• Secular examples—people who speak out their perceptions. They’re often creative types, musicians, and artists.
• Core question Prophets ask: Are the people of God hearing his voice and responding appropriately?
• Characteristics of immature Prophets: While they have a natural gift to "see beyond" what most people can see, immature prophets make two fundamental errors. First, if they sense God is saying something, they provide the interpretation themselves and don't release it to a community of people outside of them. Just as Paul said, the prophet will give their sense, but it's up to the community to weigh and give an interpretation. Their job is to share, release what they've received, back away and then see what other people make of it. The proper path goes like this: Revelation to Interpretation to Application. An immature prophet, having received some sort of revelation, wants to go straight to Application. This is incredibly harmful and not the pattern that scripture gives us. Second, they assume they are always right. The problem is that often times they are right and this builds a false sense of confidence that they get it 100% of the time. Because of this, they can become arrogant, haughty and difficult to deal with. In contrast, a mature prophet is actually quite humble because they know that any revelation they receive isn't their own and they entrust it to the community.

Copyrighted content and excerpted from Building a Discipling Culture

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After completing the survey I then watched the short video's of JR Woodward describing each "equipper" as he calls them. I have seen/read these before, and I do like the description he gives to each one. They are...

Prophet = "heart revealer"
Teacher = "light giver"
Pastor = "soul healer"
Apostle = "dream awakener"
Evangelist = "story teller"

JR says of the Prophet, among other things...
- they reveal the heart of God to people, and the heart of people to God.
- they're concerned with shalom (inner peace) for people.
- they have a passion for social justice, and generally embody it themselves.
- they are concerned with cultivation of a liberating environment - socially and societally.
- they are feel compelled to speak truth to those in power.

So, that's what I did before work today (and after working out). We will discuss them among my coaching class cohorts tomorrow. I think it's always nice to be reminded of who we are and why we do the things we do.