Position Does Not Equal Identity
Recently, I was out playing disc golf, an activity where I can enjoy some time with the Lord to talk through many things, when I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered a statement to me. He said, “Your position does not outweigh your function.†As He said it, I was reminded of a season in my life when Melissa and I pastored a little church here in Greenville.
It was the early 2000’s, and we had been serving at a growing church with a dear friend of ours. I had received a call of God on my life to ministry when I was 19 years old. Because of this, I knew God had set me apart for His service in ministry, and I felt like that calling was pastoring. So, in 2001, when the pastor of that church sat me down and said he wanted to turn the church over to me, it seemed right. Melissa and I prayed and felt like this was God’s call for us. In 2002, we were installed as the pastors of the church. My mentors were there to ordain and install me into the position of Pastor. We spent the next six years pastoring and learning the joys and heartaches of ministry. In 2008, after much prayer, we painfully made the decision to close the church. The next five years that followed were some of the most painful years of my life. You see, the title of Pastor was an identity for me; and when that was stripped away, it left me wondering who I was. I felt like I had failed God and was in deep shame. I tried to find my identity in being a husband and a father, which would seem like good things; but again, I was looking for a title or a position to define who I was, and it still left me wanting.
The turning point was when the Holy Spirit brought the revelation that He had made me a pastor. It was a fact I vehemently denied because I was no longer pastoring and didn’t have that title. He said, “You don’t need a title to be what I have put in you to be.†Not entirely sure of what He meant, I simply decided I was going to begin to live out my calling every day that I could, the best way I knew how.
What I began to see was this joy in helping people see the principles of God’s Word more clearly. I found that God was putting people in my life on a regular basis to help them navigate life and with that came a wisdom that I had not seen before, an anointing, if you will, of the Holy Spirit, to carry out His gift in my life for His glory. No title needed.
We are all created by God and in His image and each of us have an aspect of His character and nature deposited inside of us that collectively allows us to have a bigger perspective of who God is. In other words, if the only perspective I ever get about God is my own, then my picture of God will be rather small. But when I get into community with other believers, I can gain a perspective from others who have a different aspect of His nature and character than me. We need each other and the deposit each person has, to see the fullness of God in operation. That being said, Paul taught us through the unction of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit, “gave some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be Pastors, some to be Evangelists and some to be Teachers.†(Eph 4:11) I believe, with my whole heart, that this was never meant to be titles that we attain, but instead, these are functions. Each of the five-fold ministries are deposits of God, through the Holy Spirit, into each believer that makes each believer unique. This gift will look different in each person, but every person represents an aspect of each of the five-fold ministries. Yes, some of you are apostles, (not a title, but a function), some of you are teachers, pastors, evangelists, and prophets. You have the gift of God on the inside of you that will look like one of the ministry gifts. It does not always mean you have a title; it means you are gifted to operate this way. These gifts are needed to help the body to grow and operate correctly.
Some of you have disqualified yourself from these giftings for whatever reason. Maybe you feel the call to teach God’s Word but don’t have a position to carry this out. I encourage you to just start somewhere. Perhaps, find one or two people at work to have a little devotional time 15 minutes before work and use that time to teach a verse God has shown you something about. Maybe you feel called to pastor and you just need to begin to realize your influence with a few people and encourage them with God’s principles and standards.
Some of you don’t even know what your gift is or if you even have one. I can promise you that you have one. As you serve the body and the local church, you give people an opportunity to be around you, and it will help you to start to identify the gift God placed inside of you.
Did you know that you can pastor people without the title or position of pastor? Jesus told Peter to ‘feed my sheep’ and ‘take care of my sheep.’ He did not call Peter ‘Pastor’ or say to him, ‘once you become a pastor, do this.’ He gave Peter the mandate to start taking care of His sheep. Each of these ministry functions can look different with different people. It is the beauty of the expression through you, who is unique and individual.
Did you know you could be a teacher and not even be able to read or write? You may not even have an education, but your heart is for people to understand a concept or information that you possess. You may be a teacher at heart.
Do you love seeing people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus? Do you enjoy sharing your faith with people who are not believers? Is there a yearning inside you for people to experience salvation through Jesus Christ? You may be an evangelist.
Do you see things in more black and white, right or wrong? Do you have strong inclinations to see the truth come out regardless of the effect? Are you finding yourself with a message of hope or courage for someone who is struggling? You might be a prophet.
Do you see things in the big picture? Do you find yourself leading people with an overhead view and forward thinking? Are you interested in advancing the Kingdom through empowering people to carry out duties and jobs that reflect their calling and gifting? You might be an apostle.
Again, I cannot stress enough that these are not titles Paul was talking about; they were functions within the Body of Christ (His Church). You don’t need a title or position to function in the gifting God has deposited in you. Find your area of influence and walk out the gift God has placed in you.
PRAYER/JOURNAL: Pray this prayer and write down what God reveals to you.
God, what five-fold ministry gift have you placed within me? What are some ways I can begin to express that gift to the body or even to people around me that I have influence with?
It was the early 2000’s, and we had been serving at a growing church with a dear friend of ours. I had received a call of God on my life to ministry when I was 19 years old. Because of this, I knew God had set me apart for His service in ministry, and I felt like that calling was pastoring. So, in 2001, when the pastor of that church sat me down and said he wanted to turn the church over to me, it seemed right. Melissa and I prayed and felt like this was God’s call for us. In 2002, we were installed as the pastors of the church. My mentors were there to ordain and install me into the position of Pastor. We spent the next six years pastoring and learning the joys and heartaches of ministry. In 2008, after much prayer, we painfully made the decision to close the church. The next five years that followed were some of the most painful years of my life. You see, the title of Pastor was an identity for me; and when that was stripped away, it left me wondering who I was. I felt like I had failed God and was in deep shame. I tried to find my identity in being a husband and a father, which would seem like good things; but again, I was looking for a title or a position to define who I was, and it still left me wanting.
The turning point was when the Holy Spirit brought the revelation that He had made me a pastor. It was a fact I vehemently denied because I was no longer pastoring and didn’t have that title. He said, “You don’t need a title to be what I have put in you to be.†Not entirely sure of what He meant, I simply decided I was going to begin to live out my calling every day that I could, the best way I knew how.
What I began to see was this joy in helping people see the principles of God’s Word more clearly. I found that God was putting people in my life on a regular basis to help them navigate life and with that came a wisdom that I had not seen before, an anointing, if you will, of the Holy Spirit, to carry out His gift in my life for His glory. No title needed.
We are all created by God and in His image and each of us have an aspect of His character and nature deposited inside of us that collectively allows us to have a bigger perspective of who God is. In other words, if the only perspective I ever get about God is my own, then my picture of God will be rather small. But when I get into community with other believers, I can gain a perspective from others who have a different aspect of His nature and character than me. We need each other and the deposit each person has, to see the fullness of God in operation. That being said, Paul taught us through the unction of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit, “gave some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be Pastors, some to be Evangelists and some to be Teachers.†(Eph 4:11) I believe, with my whole heart, that this was never meant to be titles that we attain, but instead, these are functions. Each of the five-fold ministries are deposits of God, through the Holy Spirit, into each believer that makes each believer unique. This gift will look different in each person, but every person represents an aspect of each of the five-fold ministries. Yes, some of you are apostles, (not a title, but a function), some of you are teachers, pastors, evangelists, and prophets. You have the gift of God on the inside of you that will look like one of the ministry gifts. It does not always mean you have a title; it means you are gifted to operate this way. These gifts are needed to help the body to grow and operate correctly.
Some of you have disqualified yourself from these giftings for whatever reason. Maybe you feel the call to teach God’s Word but don’t have a position to carry this out. I encourage you to just start somewhere. Perhaps, find one or two people at work to have a little devotional time 15 minutes before work and use that time to teach a verse God has shown you something about. Maybe you feel called to pastor and you just need to begin to realize your influence with a few people and encourage them with God’s principles and standards.
Some of you don’t even know what your gift is or if you even have one. I can promise you that you have one. As you serve the body and the local church, you give people an opportunity to be around you, and it will help you to start to identify the gift God placed inside of you.
Did you know that you can pastor people without the title or position of pastor? Jesus told Peter to ‘feed my sheep’ and ‘take care of my sheep.’ He did not call Peter ‘Pastor’ or say to him, ‘once you become a pastor, do this.’ He gave Peter the mandate to start taking care of His sheep. Each of these ministry functions can look different with different people. It is the beauty of the expression through you, who is unique and individual.
Did you know you could be a teacher and not even be able to read or write? You may not even have an education, but your heart is for people to understand a concept or information that you possess. You may be a teacher at heart.
Do you love seeing people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus? Do you enjoy sharing your faith with people who are not believers? Is there a yearning inside you for people to experience salvation through Jesus Christ? You may be an evangelist.
Do you see things in more black and white, right or wrong? Do you have strong inclinations to see the truth come out regardless of the effect? Are you finding yourself with a message of hope or courage for someone who is struggling? You might be a prophet.
Do you see things in the big picture? Do you find yourself leading people with an overhead view and forward thinking? Are you interested in advancing the Kingdom through empowering people to carry out duties and jobs that reflect their calling and gifting? You might be an apostle.
Again, I cannot stress enough that these are not titles Paul was talking about; they were functions within the Body of Christ (His Church). You don’t need a title or position to function in the gifting God has deposited in you. Find your area of influence and walk out the gift God has placed in you.
PRAYER/JOURNAL: Pray this prayer and write down what God reveals to you.
God, what five-fold ministry gift have you placed within me? What are some ways I can begin to express that gift to the body or even to people around me that I have influence with?
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5 Comments
Elliotte,
nThis was the best explanation I have ever read on how we can each identify our gift God has given us and work it out in our community & world today. Thank you
So good 🙌
So insightful. Thank you for the reminder and encouragement!
This helped me so much. Being able to understand the differences.
Such encouraging words for me! I used to find my identity in my position as a medical speech pathologist. My husband was blessed with a double lung transplant 7/3/19 and my identity was a caregiver. My husband of 40 years was promoted to Heaven 8/14/21. Open Door had a series on I believe your purpose... about a year or so ago. I had a discussion with Pastor Aaron about my purpose because I did not have one. He said he didn't mean to be harsh, but sometimes God puts you on a shelf for awhile. That was so true and I found that that I needed to get through my Grief before I could be used for his glory. Now here I am being used as I am recovering from a subarachnoid hemorrhage (while on vacation in IN). I had many opportunities to pray with patients and staff and share Open Door website in some instances. It's been a humbling experience for me and I'm just overwhelmed with how God is using me to give him glory! God is in this story!