Here's a posting I promised -- The FiveFold Ministry (Part IV)

So, to end our discussion on the Evangelist:

1. As usual, we are 5-fold Christians. So all of us are meant to spread the Gospel, not just the Evangelists;
2. The Evangelists are there to specialise, inspire and train;

Now let me add one more note about elders in general:
-- Elders come in all shapes and sizes; not just literally, but also in terms of personality. In 1 Cor 12:4-6, we see that not only are there "different kinds of spiritual gifts", but also "different workings of the gift". What that means for our discussion is that not all evangelists work the same way, just like how not all teachers and pastors work the same way too.

What accounts for the differences? Well,
1) The Spirit of God. He does not give ALL the attributes of the Evangelist to one person. Rather, perhaps out of 10 different things an Evangelist may do, Person A might be capable of good communication, word of knowledge, and signs and wonders. Then there'll be Person B who is also a good communicator, but who has deep theological knowledge and is able to use this effectively for apologetics. Then you'll have Person C who is not a good communicator, but one who, by the leading of the Spirit, is at the right place and the right time to perform signs and wonders. And so on and so forth. So you will have different "mixes" of the same gift. This is important for you especially as we start discussing the next 2 gifts: the Prophet and the Apostle. Always remember that there are different "mixes" of the same gift because the Spirit gives his gifts as He wills. And also because our God is a very creative God who loves diversity.
2) Our personalities. God is not asking us, because of our calling or our gifts, to change who he has made us. Some of us are more quiet while some are noisy. Some are flamboyant, and some are serious. Again, it shows the diversity of God. So since God made you and formed you the way you are, there's no need to change your style to fit someone else's (unless you have good reasons to do so). So if you have an introverted evangelist, the person most likely will end up getting a lot of people to believe the Gospel in a very quiet, non-intrusive way. On the other hand, take a hyper, life-of-the-party person and make him an Evangelist, and you will see the guy jumping up and down the stage, being very inspirational and all, and using catchy phrases that help people to remember the things he said. Very possible! Take also the expression of signs and wonders. Some people (like yours truly) are actually very serious people. So if ever we use the power of God, we always will tie it in with a serious purpose--changed lives, deeper love for God, etc, etc--basically, to use it for something significant for the glory of God. On the other hand, there are playful people around! And as much as it grates me sometimes, these people will use the power of God to have fun--it will be funny seeing someone staggering under the power of God, someone being unable to speak because he's just too overwhelmed by God, or people so jubilant they start doing cartwheels and jumping up and down. Yes, it happens in church. And yes, I don't like it ('cos it's just not my personality). But God can accept it. He's the one who created people to be serious and playful, outgoing and shy, flamboyant and measured. So long nothing is in excess (either the seriousness OR the playfulness), it is all for the glory of God.

Let me digress a bit here and suggest that part of the reason why we sometimes see so much drop-outs from church, is that we tend to have a cultural mindset that anything due to God must be SERIOUS. After all, when we take things 'seriously', it means we put our maximum effort and treat it with proper respect. As I suggested, this is all good. But in an extreme, people get tired out. And they soon lose their joy. Can we suggest that there needs to be a proper mix of fun and seriousness in our relationship with God? After all, in your romantic relationships, serious things are at stake: your whole future and lives together. Planning for marriage is a no-joking matter and it can often be very stressful as well. But there's always the fun in the relationship: the romance, the nights out, the marital union, the talking to each other, etc. Not to mention that as a couple you probably went on group dates as well and played board games or went for a holiday together. Same thing: in your relationship with Christ, there is always the fun element around. Let that fun element be present in our teaching, in our pastoral care, in our signs and wonders, and yes, in our evangelism. What matters is that there must always be a balance. =)

To be continued...