By the end of 2003, I was ready to completely give up on the Church.
After nearly ten years of youth ministry, worship leading and staff meetings, I’d had it. Maybe you know the feeling. Maybe you are in a rough spot, a dark place, banging your head against the wall wondering why your ministry is so complicated, so difficult, so contrary to what you are reading, praying and preaching.
If that’s you, we know what you are going through.
You’re Not Crazy
Here’s some good news: You’re not as crazy as you think, and you’re definitely not alone.
At the heart of the 5Q movement, we believe that you will discover your tribe; a community seeking a fresh way to align ourselves within the body of Christ – together. 5Q (what we have also referred to as APEST) will help you discover new things about your ministry identity. It will help you understand the shape of your core gifts and how they fit with other gifts in the dynamic of Kingdom mission.
When we gain access to a tribe where our gifting makes sense, seasons of challenge become less likely to lead to burnout.
[bctt tweet=”At the heart of the #5Q movement, we believe that you will discover your tribe, a community learning together.”]In my most difficult moments, I knew that there had to be more than I was seeing and experiencing. I also believed whole-heartedly that there was so much more kingdom life than we were living in our local church. I didn’t see the Mission coming alive and I wanted it so bad I could feel it in my bones.
My burning question was, “Why didn’t I feel like I was a part of the same movement I saw in the Scriptures?”
Perspective and Paradigm Shift
Eventually those frustrations grew until one day I was ready to just walk away from ministry altogether. I was moments away from going back to work in the “marketplace” and as my heart was about to leave the building, I opened my hands and, out of heaven, this book just kind of fell into it.
Truth be told, UPS dropped it off at my door – in a box.
I read it and everything started to change. It started me on a new adventure in my life as a disciple of Jesus and my calling in ministry.
The book was The Shaping Of Things To Come (2003), cowritten by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. It was written to remind Christian leaders that there is this DNA in us, this genetic structure that is waiting to be re-activated in the body of Christ, a dance waiting to be re-learned.
[bctt tweet=”There is this DNA in us, waiting to be re-activated in the body of Christ. #5Q”]It was a spirit-refreshing, soul-energizing, eye-opening vision of everything my heart had dreamt for the family of God. I was like, “THIS IS IT!” I knew I had to get involved somehow and that’s how I ended up on the 5Q team.
5Q is a tool that provides a theological platform for re-activating the western church. The work didn’t end with The Shaping Of Things To Come. That was only the beginning. A decade and half later, Alan is launching his latest work:
5Q: Re-activating the Original Intelligence and Capacities of the Body of Christ.
So, What is 5Q?
In Ephesians 4:11, the apostle Paul gives the church the sequence of it’s genetic structure: The Apostle, The Prophet, The Evangelist, The Shepherd and the Teacher. Those are the 5 quotients, or 5Q.
[bctt tweet=”The Church’s Genetic Structure: Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher. #5Q”]It’s probably not the first time you have heard this, but all of these gifts, these caligns, these spiritual quotients provide nutrition, life, vitality, purpose and movement to the Church. Jesus Christ himself has given each as a gift “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ,” Eph 4:12-13 (CEB).
In most churches today, we defer to the Teachers and Shepherds (Pastors) and expect them to live as though they exercised in all five quotients. For instance, we look to pastors to preach, administrate with clarity, equip mature disciples, empower volunteer leaders, align leaders and mission, spend time in the community converting new Christians, spend hours in hospital rooms, teach biblically-relevant classes for all ages, respond to complaints and concerns in a timely manner, spend ample time in contemplative prayer and study, maintain a joy-filled, model marriage and coach the soccer teams of at least two out of three biblically behaved children.
That’s insane.
No wonder people burn out. There’s no way we can be the body of Christ as Jesus intended if we take that approach. We need to be in touch with the fivefold paradigm. 5Q is the genetic code of a Jesus movement that plants new kingdom seeds in the home, the school, the local church, the neighborhood and non-christian environments.
[bctt tweet=”#5Q is the genetic code of a Jesus movement that plants new kingdom seeds.”]One reason many church leaders feel like they are stuck, like they have hit the wall is that they are not operating in their 5Q gifting. The sign on your door may say “Pastor,” but you would rather be dreaming of new out of the box ways to bring the Kingdom of God into places where it is latent, invisible or simply not there. That’s a sign of the Apostlic Quotient.
You might be on your way to your Discipleship Committee meeting, but all you can think about is the neighbor’s birthday party that you have been invited to after months of private spiritual conversations. Jesus has unleashed the Evangelist Quotient in you! Your church might look to you to entertaining and encouraging sermons, but the Lord is giving you a bold word of admonishment because they are not living into the fullness of their holy calling. They may expect the Teach ear, but God has given them a leader with Prophetic Quotient.
Connecting to your core 5Q identity is an antidote for burnout.
Seeing it in Practice
Applying the 5Q to your calling, your leadership and your organization will help you identify the gifts of the men and women Jesus has called to serve with you. In the same way, it will help align Jesus’s mission in your community to the 5Q gifts of your leaders and disciplers. A 5Q perspective will provide help you really dial in your outreach focus based upon the APEST gifts of those who are serving with you.
Understanding 5Q has made all the difference for me and the 5Q test has helped to identify my 5Q gifting, freeing me to grow in what I am uniquely gifted to do and to feel connected to Christ’s Kingdom movement in real ways. We want the same for you! Do you feel strength and passion in your calling, but are unable to connect it Christ’s mission and movement? Do you feel like you’re sitting in a Ferrari stuck in neutral? You were built for speed, my friend. It’s time to shift into 5Q.
[bctt tweet=”Do you feel like you’re sitting in a Ferrari stuck in neutral? It’s time to shift into 5Q!”]Take the test yourself and then have your staff, your leaders, your church join the movement. Group discounts can be applied on the site. Then, bookmark and return to the blog and join the adventure as we explore together how to become who we have benemies created to be: 5Q.
5Q is available for pre-order now. Click here to reserve your copy.