Apostle. Prophet. Evangelist. Shepherd. And Teacher. God has given these amazing gifts to the Church (Ephesians 4:1-13). Far too often we try to sum up leadership in the Church under the catchall title “pastor”, but what if God has a bigger picture for the equipping of the Church? What could local expressions of the Body of Christ look like organized around the gifts God has given us?

Luke 9:55-56 marks the last of three leadership lessons given while the disciples continue fighting over hierarchy. The fight began over who was the highest-ranked within their closed group of disciples; Jesus said, “no.” Their focus moved out towards other people, trying to draw a firm boundary between us and “those people;” Jesus said, “no.” Finally, a whole village said they wouldn’t extend hospitality to Jesus and his group. James and John, part of Jesus’ discipleship core, miss these lessons and react abruptly to defend Jesus’ honor by offering to call down fire from heaven to consume the village. Jesus expands their concept of leadership, “You do not know what manner of spirit you belong to….(I) do not come to destroy people, but to rescue them.” The disciples thought being leaders meant coercive power to control those under you, while Jesus pointed to a larger reality where leaders facilitated space for more people to join.

Poly-centric leadership is an attempt to embody this teaching. Rather than having a strict hierarchy, it moves from multiple (poly) centers of authority to ensure multiple voices guide the community’s growth. Following Paul in Ephesians, the different voices are understood as Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepard, and Teacher, or the fivefold leadership model.