For over five years I served as a leader in one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in the U.S. The longer I served, the more I questioned the glaring inconsistencies between their stated doctrinal beliefs and the actual leadership of churches and the denomination as a whole.
The two key questions that were never answered with any clarity were: “What happened to the apostle and prophet in the “five-fold ministry” (they only recognized the pastor, teacher and evangelist) that Jesus gave to the church to perfect the saints? And, “Why was there no exercise of spiritual gifts (except speaking in tongues, which was very rare) if this is a Pentecostal denomination? Further inquistion caused me to conclude that it is highly probable that there is a connection between the two.
I said all that to direct you to a wonderful article by Alan Hirsch on the absence of the apostolic and prophetic dimension of ministry and the effects it has had on the American church.
Click here to read the article that was written for Leadership Journal.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Robert Hartzell // Jun 5, 2008 at 7:22 am
Great article, I believe this speaks much to how the Body of Christ needs to grow.
2 Greg // Jun 5, 2008 at 7:32 am
Even though there is not clear consensus as to what this will look like, it is definitely part of the reformation that the winds of change are bringing to the Body of Christ and the Western church in particular.
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