Leadership categories got you down?

Believe it or not, I am not much for categories and titles. It may seem ironic when you consider that I like to walk people through the Myers-Briggs types from time to time. (You can read more about that here: Why chose the MBTI?)

The saying goes that ‘no one likes being put in a box’, meaning that no one likes to be typecast, labelled, sorted out, etc. Unless they like the label or the category they have been given, of course. The reality of the ‘box’ analogy is that no one really likes to be placed in a box before they have been truly known, or it is not helping them understand themselves, and most importantly, they have not been part of the choice of where they are placed. We can all evaluate the other guy from a distance, but we like to know why we are known for what we are known.

In my just released book on leadership (Click here to learn more), basically a compilation of ideas from this blog and past observations on ministry work, I talk about categories we find in the book of Ephesians. Unfortunately, just like any other idea where things get sorted, we have done this passage more than a little disservice over time. Either things are ignored completely as being too rigid or they are minimized to the point where there is absolutely no nuance what is represented, or we simply pass them off as being a set of ideas for one group, at one time. Ephesians 4 sounds more like a common group of people learning about how they are to work and grow together as the body of Christ, in a way that reflects Christ, and speaks life into the ‘doing’ of community together.

The first time I seriously encountered the so-called APEST (From Ephesians 4:11 – Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds/Pastors, Teachers. You can learn a bit more here: www.5qcentral.com) list was through a secondary spiritual gift study from a ‘charismatic’ group. It was not completely in line with some of the teachers I grew up with at the time, so I moved forward with little thought. Then we entered the 2000’s and there was a stirring in the waters, if you will, as many began to rethink how we were doing church, and more importantly, how we expressed our faith together, mostly in the Western evangelical church scene. Words like ‘missional’ and ‘contemplative’ and ‘postmodern’ became strong topics for discussion. Within the circles really starting to talk, most focused on a collective view of leadership and more focus on a participatory gathering, not just a moralistic attendance sheet. Within some circles, and we see it increasing in favour more and more today, attention is given to APEST as a Spirit-driven way of God inspiring many to work together for leadership in a collective manner. The hope is that, as the next verses in chapter 4 would say,

“…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”

There are more than a few resources out there that talk about the 5 expressions of APEST, or some might call them offices, or as the passage says, gifting. I very briefly outline them this way:

Apostles: Vision – To send off, like an emissary – Focus on establishing the big picture

Prophets: Process – Speak into, discern – Focus on how it all comes together

Evangelists: Communication – Witness and share – Connect the world to what God is doing

Pastors: Health – Taking care – Helping people see God at work in them

Teachers: Foundation – Teaching, helping maintain an understanding of faith

We may not like to use terms for categories or be ‘put into a box’ when it comes to how we function in our circles, but we can agree that there are certain ways we are all seen in relation to how we lead and influence. We all play a role in this world, regardless of the setting. We may need to shift the box or learn more about the label, either way we do better in understanding how our fit in our community makes a difference.

So how are you learning to grow in the spot you have been called?

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Speaking of the book…

If you would like to learn more about Leading Freely just click on the book cover now! It contains some of my insights, background thinking on how I approach leadership in church, and a collection of my favourite blog posts on Lead Freely. It will be available on other platforms soon, but for now it is in the Lulu Press Bookstore. Enjoy!