Types of Teaching Missionality Gifting
Quite possibly many people reading this will think that
the "teaching" of Ephesians 4:11 refers to "preaching sermons" and "teaching
Sunday School." However, while it could be applied in this way, to do so
is anachronistic -- in other words, there were no pulpits, church buildings, or
Sunday School classes in the first century -- so understanding scripture as
meaning this imposes current practices upon the first century text. So the
question remains, what was Teaching Missionality in the New Testament era?
And how do we recapture teaching missionality for today? The gift of
teaching in the New Testament is the special ability that God gives to certain
members of the Body of Christ to equip others through organizing biblical
information in the context of ministry programming and communicating those
truths in culturally relevant ways.
Those who have a teaching gift are designed
to be Missional and Ministry Trainers -- those who
multiply leadership through biblical training that is
culturally-appropriate and contextually delivered, and organize (and
manage) ministry and missional processes. Missional
Trainers multiply APEPT missional leadership. They come
alongside the apostolic, evangelistic, pastoral and prophetic roles
and provide structure and training. Missional Trainers
understand the need to provide biblical and missional training that
addresses the spiritual and cultural issues of the social or ethnic
groups in the community. They develop culturally-appropriate
learning methods so that the delivery of their training can be
readily received by the cultural groups with whom they are working.
Ministry Trainers multiply WIFOM
ministry leadership. WIFOM is an acronym that stands for
Worship, Instruction (or discipleship /education), Fellowship (body
life), Outreach (evangelism & missions), and Ministry (serving the
needs of others). Ministry Trainers come alongside the
ministry leaders in the congregation and provide organization and
training for their ministries. They understand that the forms
of WIFOM that are used must be indigenous to the group that is being
reached. As the Missionary Anthropologist Alan Tippet wrote:
"When the indigenous people of a community think of the Lord as
their own, not a foreign Christ; when they do things as unto the
Lord meeting the cultural needs around them, worshipping in patterns
they understand; when their congregations function in participation
in a body; which is structurally indigenous; then you have an
indigenous Church." Ministry Trainers multiply indigenous
ministry leadership.
Dimensions of the Teaching Missionality Gift
Because of their teaching giftedness, Missional and Ministry Trainers 1) want
to see missional ministry developed by competent leaders, 2) desire ministry
stability through trained leadership, and 3) desire accountability and
proper oversight to be in place. Those with teaching giftedness are
internally-focused on establishing the ministry through structure and direction.
They create a "permanence culture" in which the maintenance of the organization
becomes critically important. Committed to efficiency, they want policies
and procedures to be implemented that provides an approval process for new
ventures and administrative control.
Because they value consistency and structure to ensure the attainment of
ministry goals, those with the teaching gift tend to emphasis programmatic
leadership and goal attainment.
|
 |
Summary of Teaching Missionality Gifting
Trainers
The Teacher
(T) Gift has a primary teaching gifted role.
This gift produces “Trainers” who may believe they are called
to establish missional ministry through organization, supervision
and training. To prepare
for this type of ministry you will need to use
culturally-appropriate learning methods, training materials and
customized content in light of the cultural groups in the community
and the church.
You may need to equip believers for involvement in specific ministry
teams (both internal and external) that relate to the 5 ministry
functions (worship, instruction, fellowship, outreach, and service).
You may also need to equip believers for involvement in
specific missional teams that relate to the 5 missional roles
(apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher).
Your desire for competency and orderliness may need to be
tempered if it produces a “hardening of the categories” that
prevents flexibility and adaptability. "Doing things
right" becomes a theme that drives much of this person's
orientation.
Variants of the Teaching Gift
The following APEPT gifted blends are variants of the Teaching
Gift:
- Teaching-Apostolic (TA) Gift Cluster
- Teaching-Prophetic (TPr) Gift Cluster
- Teaching-Evangelistic (TE) Gift Cluster
- Teaching-Pastoral (TPa) Gift Cluster
|
