The debate over the relation of spiritual gifts to church ministries is as old as the New Testament and has been vigorous since 1892[1]. The two cannot be separated in any meaningful way. No function of ministry can really be separated from the idea of charismata. For a Christian, the notion of holding an office devoid of any charismatic gifting can be dismissed because the whole Body of Christ is formed together based on gifting. If someone is in Christ, then spiritual gifting is part of the package. So to say that being charismatically endowed is required for a ministry is only to say that being in the Body of Christ is required for that ministry. Every believer will bring their own gift to whatever role they perform whether they know what that gift is or not.
It follows then that the reverse is also true: Charismata cannot be considered apart from the idea of ministry. Each gift is given to fill a necessary role in the life of the Church. “Since charismata are given to all believers in the community of faith, all believers will necessarily also function in some expression of ministry[2].” The New Testament enlarges the idea of “minister of the gospel” to include all believers. The focus here, however, will be on the gift-type theory and its implications for the discussion. Primarily, are specific gifts prerequisite for certain offices?
Are Specific Gifts Required For Office?
There is a long debate between the two-office and the three-office view of the local church. The two-office or “Presbyterian” view, dating back at least to the Didache of the mid-second century[3], maintains that only the offices of bishop and deacon are differentiated in the New Testament. The three-office, or “Episcopalian” view can be traced back to Ignatius’ letter to the Philadelphians in the early second century[4] and contends that elder and bishop (overseer) are separate positions along with deacons. The biblical evidence is ambiguous (Acts 20: 17, 28, and Titus 1:5-7), and in most Protestant churches the functions that would be expected of a bishop have been subsumed under the title of pastor. Therefore, the offices looked at here will be those of elder, deacon, and pastor.
Elder
The office of elder is sometimes taken to be the same as that of bishop. Neither the Greek terms for elder and bishop, nor the lists of requirements Paul gives in I Timothy and Titus suggest that any specific gifts were expected of those who hold the office. Bittlinger notes a view held by some that “elders are regarded as men with the charisma of leadership[5]”. Few churches, though, have any expectation of specific gifts for those who hold the office of elder, and an understanding of psychological type does not suggest that any one type would be better suited than the others for the task.
Deacon
The term “deacon” comes from the same root word as the gift of service (diakonia) listed in Romans 12:7. Does this mean that the gift of service should be expected for deacons? In Bittlinger’s view “Like all other ministers, the deacon is a charismatic. However, his charisma of diakonia is so pronounced as to induce the congregation to entrust him with a particular ministry[6].” Those with the gift of service would perhaps be better at performing the duties of a deacon than any other gift, but Paul does not include this as one of the conditions for seeking the office (I Timothy 3:8-10), something he easily could have done if he considered it important. Paul lists, rather, character traits, which he obviously considered more important than gifting.
Looking at the question with the gift-type theory in mind, the gift of service matches the ISTJ type, which observation will show is the most common psychological type to serve as deacons, perhaps with no close second. It is also clear that the next most common types to serve as deacons, ISFJ, ISTP, and probably a few others, also serve well in the office. Observationally, there is no more reason to emphasize gifting than is given in Scripture. In larger churches, there will be a high self-selection ratio of those with the gift of service seeking the office of deacon. In smaller churches, the narrower pool of candidates and the need may lead the Spirit to prompt persons with seemingly unrelated gifts to respond. There is no basis, then, for adding a requirement to the Biblical ones.
Pastor
The spiritual gifts literature of the Seventies and Eighties would often state that a pastor should have a specific gift or gifts, although they seldom agreed on what that gifting should be. For Neighbor it is prophecy[7]. Gilbert states emphatically that “the pastor must have the gift of shepherding[8]”, although he allows that others may have the gift as well. Wagner mentions that, apart from pastoring and encouraging, “two other gifts frequently but mistakenly considered necessary for the pastor of a growing church, are the gifts of evangelist and administration[9]”.
More recent literature tends to accept the variety of gifts among pastors and some authors, like Peter Wagner, even explore the effects of these different gifts in the pastoring role. Kenneth Carter has written a book, The Gifted Pastor, which celebrates that pastors have a diversity of gifts, and he encourages them to recognize and utilize those gifts.
If pastoring is a biblically commissioned office, then it might be reasonable to suggest that the office should come with the gift of the same name. To maintain this view the pastor (ποιμεν: poimen) must be synonymous with the bishop (episkopow). In favor of this position, some look to I Peter 5:1-2 where Peter exhorts the elders (presbuterouw) to shepherd (poimenate) the flock, serving as overseers or bishops (episkopow). This verse might suggest that the terms are interchangeable, but shepherd (poimen), which is used as a verb in this case to indicate the desired activity of a bishop, has a broader meaning than the gift of Ephesians 4:11. It is the ordinary biblical word for shepherds in the field and Peter might have wanted to convey this picture of protecting and providing rather than suggesting that bishops have the gift of a shepherding.
For many charismatics and some non-charismatics, Ephesians 4:11 contains a list of offices, not a list of gifts. Paul only states that the five gifts listed here have a common purpose of equipping the Body of Christ for service, not that they are official positions in the church. This view is considered more closely in the section on “categories of gifts.”
The empirical research also suggests that pastors have a variety of gifts. According to “Barna Research Online” 40% of pastors claim to have the gifts of preaching or teaching, 12% pastoring, 6% encouraging, and 4% leadership (www.barna.org, 2001). Ward observes that “the majority of pastors are ENFJ + ENFP[10].” While actually having observed all sixteen types serving as pastor, the author concurs that the ENFJ (encouragement) and ENFP (prophecy) are the two most common with a fair amount of INFJ (pastor / shepherd) and ESFJ (hospitality). When it comes to preachers with a national ministry, the results are similar.
With so many types and gifts observed among great pastors, it is unlikely that any gift was ever intended to be the “one gift” for the job. If that is the case then the majority of pastors are not equipped for the role, because no gift is possessed by a majority. Different churches have different needs, and it seems that they often find a pastor that is right for the need they have at the time.
References
[1] Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 279
[2] Siegfried S. Schatzmann, A Pauline Theology of Charismata (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1987), 87.
[3] Cyril C. Richardson, Early Christian Fathers, the Library of Christian Classics, Vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 178.
[4] Anne Fremantle, A Treasury of Early Christianity (New York: Viking, 1953), 33.
[5] Arnold Bittlinger, Gifts and Ministries (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eermans Pub. Co,1973), 24.
[6] Bittlinger, 41.
[7] Ralph W. Neighbor, This Gift is Mine: Spiritual Gifts and How They Build up the Body of Christ (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1974), 98.
[8] Larry Gilbert, Team Ministry: A Guide to Spiritual Gifts and Lay Involvement (Forest, VA: Church Growth Institute, 1987), 99.
[9] Peter Wagner, Your Spiritual Gifts can Help Your Church Grow (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1979), 155.
[10] Ruth M. Ward, Blending Temperaments: Improving Relationships—Yours and Others (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 236.
It follows then that the reverse is also true: Charismata cannot be considered apart from the idea of ministry. Each gift is given to fill a necessary role in the life of the Church. “Since charismata are given to all believers in the community of faith, all believers will necessarily also function in some expression of ministry[2].” The New Testament enlarges the idea of “minister of the gospel” to include all believers. The focus here, however, will be on the gift-type theory and its implications for the discussion. Primarily, are specific gifts prerequisite for certain offices?
Are Specific Gifts Required For Office?
There is a long debate between the two-office and the three-office view of the local church. The two-office or “Presbyterian” view, dating back at least to the Didache of the mid-second century[3], maintains that only the offices of bishop and deacon are differentiated in the New Testament. The three-office, or “Episcopalian” view can be traced back to Ignatius’ letter to the Philadelphians in the early second century[4] and contends that elder and bishop (overseer) are separate positions along with deacons. The biblical evidence is ambiguous (Acts 20: 17, 28, and Titus 1:5-7), and in most Protestant churches the functions that would be expected of a bishop have been subsumed under the title of pastor. Therefore, the offices looked at here will be those of elder, deacon, and pastor.
Elder
The office of elder is sometimes taken to be the same as that of bishop. Neither the Greek terms for elder and bishop, nor the lists of requirements Paul gives in I Timothy and Titus suggest that any specific gifts were expected of those who hold the office. Bittlinger notes a view held by some that “elders are regarded as men with the charisma of leadership[5]”. Few churches, though, have any expectation of specific gifts for those who hold the office of elder, and an understanding of psychological type does not suggest that any one type would be better suited than the others for the task.
Deacon
The term “deacon” comes from the same root word as the gift of service (diakonia) listed in Romans 12:7. Does this mean that the gift of service should be expected for deacons? In Bittlinger’s view “Like all other ministers, the deacon is a charismatic. However, his charisma of diakonia is so pronounced as to induce the congregation to entrust him with a particular ministry[6].” Those with the gift of service would perhaps be better at performing the duties of a deacon than any other gift, but Paul does not include this as one of the conditions for seeking the office (I Timothy 3:8-10), something he easily could have done if he considered it important. Paul lists, rather, character traits, which he obviously considered more important than gifting.
Looking at the question with the gift-type theory in mind, the gift of service matches the ISTJ type, which observation will show is the most common psychological type to serve as deacons, perhaps with no close second. It is also clear that the next most common types to serve as deacons, ISFJ, ISTP, and probably a few others, also serve well in the office. Observationally, there is no more reason to emphasize gifting than is given in Scripture. In larger churches, there will be a high self-selection ratio of those with the gift of service seeking the office of deacon. In smaller churches, the narrower pool of candidates and the need may lead the Spirit to prompt persons with seemingly unrelated gifts to respond. There is no basis, then, for adding a requirement to the Biblical ones.
Pastor
The spiritual gifts literature of the Seventies and Eighties would often state that a pastor should have a specific gift or gifts, although they seldom agreed on what that gifting should be. For Neighbor it is prophecy[7]. Gilbert states emphatically that “the pastor must have the gift of shepherding[8]”, although he allows that others may have the gift as well. Wagner mentions that, apart from pastoring and encouraging, “two other gifts frequently but mistakenly considered necessary for the pastor of a growing church, are the gifts of evangelist and administration[9]”.
More recent literature tends to accept the variety of gifts among pastors and some authors, like Peter Wagner, even explore the effects of these different gifts in the pastoring role. Kenneth Carter has written a book, The Gifted Pastor, which celebrates that pastors have a diversity of gifts, and he encourages them to recognize and utilize those gifts.
If pastoring is a biblically commissioned office, then it might be reasonable to suggest that the office should come with the gift of the same name. To maintain this view the pastor (ποιμεν: poimen) must be synonymous with the bishop (episkopow). In favor of this position, some look to I Peter 5:1-2 where Peter exhorts the elders (presbuterouw) to shepherd (poimenate) the flock, serving as overseers or bishops (episkopow). This verse might suggest that the terms are interchangeable, but shepherd (poimen), which is used as a verb in this case to indicate the desired activity of a bishop, has a broader meaning than the gift of Ephesians 4:11. It is the ordinary biblical word for shepherds in the field and Peter might have wanted to convey this picture of protecting and providing rather than suggesting that bishops have the gift of a shepherding.
For many charismatics and some non-charismatics, Ephesians 4:11 contains a list of offices, not a list of gifts. Paul only states that the five gifts listed here have a common purpose of equipping the Body of Christ for service, not that they are official positions in the church. This view is considered more closely in the section on “categories of gifts.”
The empirical research also suggests that pastors have a variety of gifts. According to “Barna Research Online” 40% of pastors claim to have the gifts of preaching or teaching, 12% pastoring, 6% encouraging, and 4% leadership (www.barna.org, 2001). Ward observes that “the majority of pastors are ENFJ + ENFP[10].” While actually having observed all sixteen types serving as pastor, the author concurs that the ENFJ (encouragement) and ENFP (prophecy) are the two most common with a fair amount of INFJ (pastor / shepherd) and ESFJ (hospitality). When it comes to preachers with a national ministry, the results are similar.
With so many types and gifts observed among great pastors, it is unlikely that any gift was ever intended to be the “one gift” for the job. If that is the case then the majority of pastors are not equipped for the role, because no gift is possessed by a majority. Different churches have different needs, and it seems that they often find a pastor that is right for the need they have at the time.
References
[1] Max Turner, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 279
[2] Siegfried S. Schatzmann, A Pauline Theology of Charismata (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1987), 87.
[3] Cyril C. Richardson, Early Christian Fathers, the Library of Christian Classics, Vol. 1 (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 178.
[4] Anne Fremantle, A Treasury of Early Christianity (New York: Viking, 1953), 33.
[5] Arnold Bittlinger, Gifts and Ministries (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eermans Pub. Co,1973), 24.
[6] Bittlinger, 41.
[7] Ralph W. Neighbor, This Gift is Mine: Spiritual Gifts and How They Build up the Body of Christ (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1974), 98.
[8] Larry Gilbert, Team Ministry: A Guide to Spiritual Gifts and Lay Involvement (Forest, VA: Church Growth Institute, 1987), 99.
[9] Peter Wagner, Your Spiritual Gifts can Help Your Church Grow (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1979), 155.
[10] Ruth M. Ward, Blending Temperaments: Improving Relationships—Yours and Others (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 236.
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