How Jesus Designed His Church | APEST

By Charley Dever

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his 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.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:11-16

There is a problem in the church at Ephesus. Division has taken root in the community, and it is spreading.

The Ephesian church has a handful of gifted teachers who communicate the Word of God to the community. However, a concerning trend has emerged: people have begun to "pick and choose" which teachers to follow. As a result, they are being “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (v.14).

The leaders themselves are only making matters worse. Instead of promoting unity, Paul writes that some are using “cunning and craftiness” to influence people and further divide the community. As this division grows, the teachings become increasingly polarized, leading Paul to warn the community against false teaching.

A Surprising Solution

It’s no surprise that Paul wants to confront this growing problem in Ephesus. What is surprising, however, is how he confronts the problem.

We might expect Paul to deal with the false teachings specifically. We can imagine the Christians in Ephesus crying out, “Tell us who’s right, Paul! Who is teaching the truth and who is misleading us? Who should we listen to and who should we ignore?” Yet, Paul doesn’t start with false teachings. Instead, he addresses their leadership structure.

From Heirarchy to Diversity

In his letter, Paul suggests that the root of the problem is not the content of the teaching—it’s the structure of their community. The Ephesians were polarizing around a few charismatic leaders rather than utilizing the collective gifts of the body. Paul’s solution is to give everyone a voice so that the community moves toward Jesus together.

The health of a community does not depend on the giftedness of a singular leader; it comes from its diversity. Paul reminds us that the Church is not made up of one or two gifted teachers and a crowd of followers. It is a family comprised of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds (pastors), and teachers—all of whom have unique perspectives that point us toward the heart of Jesus, the true Head of the Church.

Why APEST Matters

Jesus designed the Church this way so we all would have a voice. He gave us these different gifts so we could humbly keep each other in check. What we see in the church in Ephesus and throughout history is that:

When we polarize around a single charismatic leader, we inevitably veer off course. BUT, when we empower a community of people with diverse giftings, we remain unified around the person of Jesus.

This is the value of APEST (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher). This is why we pay attention to our unique giftings and strive to make space for them in our house churches. If we are missing any of these five gifts—or if certain gifts are ignored or dismissed—we will fail to become the church Jesus designed us to be.

What’s Next?

Over the next few months, we will explore each of these five gifts in a series of short blog posts.

If you don’t know your gifting, use this as a chance to reflect deeply on how God has wired you and called you to contribute. If you do know your gifting, use this series to better understand yourself and those around you. Together, we can help our house churches move toward Jesus’ amazing design.