How Jesus Builds His Church

A.P.E.S.T.

Have you ever looked around church and wondered, What am I actually supposed to do here?

Maybe you’ve been following Jesus for 30 years. Maybe you’re brand new to all this. Maybe you come on Sundays, sing a few songs, listen to some guy talk for half an hour, grab a coffee, and head home. And somewhere along the way, you’ve wondered, Is there more to being part of a church than this?

There is. And there’s a passage in the Bible that might change how you think about yourself, about the people around you, and about what it means to belong to a church.

It's all in Ephesians 4:1–16. Some folks call it A.P.E.S.T. That’s an acronym for five kinds of people Jesus gives to His church in Ephesians 4: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers.

Now, I need to name something up front. Some people in parts of the church around the world use words like “apostle” and “prophet” and mean something very different from what I mean. There’s a movement often called the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR. It teaches that God is restoring the offices of apostle and prophet today. That means certain leaders claim the same kind of authority the original apostles had, and some claim to receive new revelation from God that the church is supposed to follow.

We aren’t using these words that way.

Buck Creek is pretty traditional in what we believe. We’re evangelical, and our roots go back to the Reformation. That’s the end of the pool we swim in. We love our brothers and sisters on the charismatic end, but that’s not where we swim. We believe the Bible is God’s complete and final Word. Nobody gets to add to it. Nobody today has the authority of Peter or Paul. And our church is led by elders, not self-appointed "Apostles".

So when I talk about apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, I’m talking about five functions, five ways Jesus works through ordinary people to build His church. Not five titles anybody gets to put on a business card.

I know some of those words still sound a little intimidating. You hear “apostle” and think of Peter walking on water. You hear “prophet” and picture somebody predicting the end of the world. And you hear “teacher” and think, Well, that’s definitely not me. I barely remember what I had for breakfast.

Stick with me. This isn’t necessarily about becoming a pastor, a foreign missionary, or some kind of spiritual superhero.

1. The Church Is a Body, Not an Audience

Here’s what Paul writes:

“When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men… And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:8, 11–12)

Notice where all this comes from. Not from us, and not from some special experience. It comes from the risen, ascended Jesus, who gives His people what they need to grow.

And notice who does the work of ministry. The saints. That’s Bible language for ordinary Christians. Not just pastors. Not just elders. Not just people who’ve been to seminary. Everybody who belongs to Jesus.

Brad Brisco, a church planter who’s written a lot on this, says it was a game-changer when he realized these "gifts are given by Jesus to the body, not simply leaders.” That’s the whole point.

My job as a pastor isn’t to do all the ministry while everybody else watches. Part of my job is to help equip you to do the ministry Jesus has called you to.

Think about a football team. Imagine the coach runs onto the field, takes the snap, throws the pass, catches it himself, and then tries to tackle the other team. Meanwhile, the players are up in the stands cheering him on.

That’s ridiculous. And yet sometimes that’s exactly how we think church works. The pastor does the ministry, and everybody else shows up to watch.

That’s not the picture Paul gives us. The church is a body, and every part matters. Some parts are more visible than others. Some do things nobody ever notices. But every part is necessary.

Greg Getz puts it this way: God gave us the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, and Ephesians 4 might just be His Great Strategy.

2. Five Ways Jesus Builds His Church

Let’s walk through these five. As we do, think about two questions: Which of these sounds most like me? And which of these do I need to grow in?

A couple of quick cautions before we start.

First, Ephesians 4 says Christ gives these people to equip the church. It doesn’t say every Christian is stamped with exactly one of five types. So think of these as leanings, not labels. Most of us have one or two that come naturally and a few that don’t.

Second, some good, Bible-loving pastors get nervous about this. They’d say the apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), and that’s done. They’re right. Nobody today is writing Scripture or replacing the Twelve. But the work of being sent, of calling God’s people back to His Word, of telling people about Jesus, of caring and teaching? That never stopped. Jesus is still giving His church people to do it.

Apostle: “Let’s Go!”

Don’t get hung up on the word. The original Apostles had a one-time role in establishing the church, and nobody’s replacing Peter, James, or John.

But the word itself just means “sent one.” And the Bible uses it for more people than the Twelve. Barnabas gets called an apostle too (Acts 14:14). Today we’d probably call people like this missionaries or church planters.

So we’re talking about people with an instinct to go, to start, to reach new places and new people. They look around and ask, "Who aren’t we reaching? Where aren’t we going? What could we start?” They’re always coming up with ideas. They see opportunities in the neighborhood nobody else has noticed.

These people remind us that the church doesn’t exist just for the people already inside it. Jesus sends us into the world.

Their danger? They can get so excited about starting the next thing that they forget to take care of the thing they started last week.

Prophet: “Let’s Be Faithful!”

When you hear prophet, don’t think fortune-teller. And like I said earlier, I’m not talking about somebody claiming a new word from God. God has already spoken, and His Word is enough.

Think about the Old Testament prophets. Most of what Amos, Micah, and Jeremiah did wasn’t predicting the future. It was calling God’s people back to God’s Word. Back to obedience. Back to justice.

Micah summed it up: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

In fact, the Puritans called faithful preaching “prophesying.” William Perkins’ classic book on preaching was titled The Art of Prophesying. To them, being prophetic meant bringing God’s Word to bear on God’s people.

Prophetic people carry that same burden today. They’re the folks who ask uncomfortable questions. “Are we really doing what Jesus told us to do? Why are we ignoring the needs right down the street?” They don’t just want us to talk about following Jesus. They want us to actually follow Him.

We need them, because churches can get really good at looking religious without becoming more like Jesus.

Their danger? They can get so focused on what’s wrong that they forget to celebrate what God’s already doing right. They need people around them who keep reminding them of grace.

Evangelist: “Come Meet Jesus!”

You know these people. They can strike up a conversation with somebody in the grocery store and somehow end up talking about Jesus before they hit the checkout, and it doesn’t even seem weird.

Meanwhile, some of us are just trying to buy milk without making eye contact.

Evangelists love helping people discover Jesus. They don’t just believe the Gospel is good news. They can’t imagine keeping it to themselves. They remind the church that there are people all around us who need the hope we’ve found in Christ.

Their danger? They can be so focused on reaching the next person that they don’t stick around long enough to help the last one grow.

Shepherd: “How Are You Really Doing?”

Shepherds notice people. They notice when someone hasn’t been around for a couple of weeks. They remember your mom was having surgery and actually follow up. And when they ask, “How are you?” they don’t always accept “Fine” as the answer.

Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep, loves them, and lays down His life for them. And He gives His church people who reflect that kind of care.

Their danger? They can get so focused on keeping everybody comfortable that they resist change or dodge hard conversations. Sometimes the most loving thing isn’t keeping the peace.

Teacher: “Let’s Understand This!”

Teachers love helping people understand God’s Word. They’re the ones asking, “But what does that passage actually mean?” They’re not satisfied with, “Well, that’s just what I’ve always believed.”

We desperately need them, because it’s possible to be sincere and still be sincerely wrong. Truth matters.

Their danger? They can get so focused on learning more that they forget the point isn’t just to know more. It’s to become more like Jesus. You can know an awful lot about the Bible and still be a lousy neighbor.

What Does a Church Like Ours Look Like?

_{What a Church Like Ours Might Look Like
This isn’t hard data. It’s a rough picture of what I see at Buck Creek: lots of shepherds, some teachers, and only a few starters like me.}

Here’s a little confession. I’m a starter by wiring, what some folks would call "apostolic". I’m the guy who’s always asking, “What’s next? Who aren’t we reaching? What could we start?” And I’ll be honest, there aren’t many of us at Buck Creek. And that's good. And, as an apostolic guy, You probably don't want too many of us in the same room. We can be a little much.

Thankfully, most of our church is made up of shepherds. You’re the people who notice when somebody’s missing, who show up with a casserole, who actually remember to follow up. We’ve got some teachers too, folks who want to know what the text really says. That’s a gift, and I don’t take it for granted.

But it also means we need each other. Left to myself, I’ll start three new things and forget to check on the people involved in the first one. Left to themselves, shepherds can make a church so warm and safe that nobody ever thinks about the folks who aren’t here yet.

And this isn’t new. As churches get older, they almost always drift toward shepherds and teachers. But even John Calvin believed God raises up apostolic and evangelistic work when the church needs it most. In fact, he thought that’s exactly what God did through the Reformation. A neighborhood where most people don’t know Jesus anymore sounds like a time we need it again.

Greg Getz has a funny but painfully accurate way of describing where a lot of churches ended up. We dropped apostles because the Twelve died. We got nervous about prophets because some people used the title for power. We shipped evangelists off to parachurch ministries. And we smashed shepherd and teacher together into one guy on a stage.

Most of us are pretty good at making room for shepherds and teachers. We know what to do with the person who wants to lead a Bible study or drop off a meal. But what do we do with the person who keeps asking, “Who is our Bible study going to reach?" or "Why don’t we start something over on 28th Street?” Or the one who won’t stop asking why we’re ignoring the needs right down the road? Or the one who’d rather be striking up conversations at the bus stop than sitting through another meeting?

Too often, we either ignore them or try to turn them into shepherds and teachers. My friend Dave Drake calls that keeping the "APE (apostles, prophets, and evangelists) in a cage", and he argues it’s stunted the church’s mission. "Release the APE's!" I think he’s onto something. If Jesus gave these people to His church, they’re not a problem to manage. They’re a gift to receive.

That doesn’t mean they get to run off on their own. They still need shepherds to care for them, teachers to keep them grounded, and elders to keep them accountable. But it does mean we need to make room for them, equip them, and send them. Because the church was never meant just to take care of the people already inside. It was meant to go.

3. Who Actually Makes It Grow?

One network describes these five like a garden. Apostles break up the hard ground. Prophets read the seasons. Evangelists scatter the seed. Shepherds water. Teachers prune so the plant bears fruit.

I love that picture. But Paul used a garden picture first, and he adds something we can’t miss.

The church in Corinth was splitting into fan clubs. “I follow Paul.” “Well, I follow Apollos.” And Paul says:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6–7)

Paul was about as apostolic as they come. Apollos was a gifted teacher. And Paul says neither of them is the point.

So here’s the twist. This was never really about figuring out your gift.

We’re not trying to figure out whether you’re an A, P, E, S, or T so we can stick a label on your forehead. And we’re definitely not handing out excuses. “Well, I’m a teacher, so I don’t have to share my faith.” Nope. “Well, I’m an evangelist, so Bible study isn’t really my thing.” Nice try.

Muskegon's own, Jeff Vanderstelt makes this point better than anybody: every one of these five is a reflection of somebody else.

Jesus is the One sent by the Father to seek and save the lost. He’s the Apostle.

Jesus speaks God’s truth and calls people to repentance, justice, and mercy. He’s the Prophet.

Jesus doesn’t just bring good news. He is the good news. He’s the Evangelist.

Jesus knows His sheep by name and lays down His life for them. He’s the Good Shepherd.

Jesus is the greatest Teacher who ever lived. He doesn’t just explain God’s Word. He lives it.

Every gift in the body is a little piece of Him. Which is why none of us can carry it alone.

And here’s the thing. Jesus didn’t just come to give us an example. He came to rescue us. Because none of us has loved perfectly. We’ve been selfish when we should have served, silent when we should have spoken, harsh when we should have been gentle, and comfortable when we should have gone.

Jesus went to the cross for people like us. He died for our sins, rose again, ascended to the Father, and gives us His Spirit, not only to forgive us but to change us.

So when Paul talks about growing into maturity, he isn’t saying, “Try harder to become five kinds of impressive Christians.” He’s saying Jesus is building His people into a body that looks more and more like Him.

Alan Hirsch sums it up with three little phrases: the Ministry of Christ is given to the Body of Christ so that we grow into the Fullness of Christ. It starts with Him. It works through us. And it ends with us looking like Him.

We plant. We water. But He gives the growth.

4. You Have a Part to Play

Look at how Paul wraps it up:

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15–16)

Did you catch that? When each part is working properly. Not just the pastor. Not just the elders. Not just the people who seem to have it all figured out.

Each part. That’s you.

Maybe you love starting things. Maybe you’ve got a deep concern for people who are hurting or overlooked. Maybe you love telling people about Jesus. Maybe you’re the person everybody calls when life falls apart. Maybe you love opening the Bible and helping someone understand it.

Those aren’t random personality traits. They may be clues to how Jesus wants to use you to strengthen His church.

And this isn’t just about what you do at church. The shepherd on second shift who notices when a coworker is falling apart? That counts. The guy who’s always training the new hire? That counts too. Jesus builds His church through His people, and His people go to work on Monday.

You don’t have to be equally strong in all five. But you do need to grow in all five. If you’re a teacher, you still need to learn to care for people. If you’re a shepherd, you still need to learn to share the Gospel. If you’re an evangelist, you still need to know God’s Word. Because the goal isn’t to become a better version of your personality. The goal is to become more like Jesus.

So here are three things to try this week:

Maybe you need to be braver about sharing your faith. Maybe you need to slow down and really listen to somebody. Maybe you need to spend more time in God’s Word. Maybe you need to stop talking about what Christians ought to do and actually go do something.

Or maybe you need to realize that God didn’t bring you to Buck Creek just to fill a chair on Sunday morning. He brought you here because you belong to the body, and the body needs you.

At Buck Creek, our mission is helping you find and follow Jesus. That’s not just my job. That’s our calling together.

So the question isn’t just, “What’s my gift?”

The better question is, “Jesus, how do You want to use me to help somebody else find and follow You?”

Because you have a part to play. And the church is better when we all play our part.